CHAPTER 4

ALFRED POV

“Mate”

The word was a massive shift in my soul. I could sense her faintly, like a delicious pull at the edge of my consciousness. She was here.

Geo, my wolf, didn’t just purr, he slammed against my consciousness, like a beast feeling it’s cage for the first time. ‘Mate! Now!’

“Stop it, Geo! I need to concentrate!” I hissed, and buckled my belt. He snarl was like a physical pain, a sharp pressure behind my eyes. I messaged the sides of my head, as I finally agreed to his whining. “Easy, boy. I feel her too.”

His character is understandable. He had never shown interest in any of the she-wolves I had taken to bed, leaving me to enjoy them with human strength alone. But this… this was different. Her scent—a delicious mix of strawberries and rain, was already seeping into me, like an intoxicating drug. I inhaled deeply with my heart racing. What did she look like? Was her hair as gold as her scent was sweet? I chuckled, feeling like a kid unwrapping a present excitedly, eager to to see what is inside.

I was brought back to reality by my Beta, Andre, as he strolled in holding my spear.

“It’s time, Alpha. Everyone is seated already and your opponents are prepared.”

“Opponents?” I grinned, the predator in me rising to meet Geo’s hunger. “More than one?”

“As you requested. One is a rogue, the other a spy from the High Mountains. A hunter, they say. Brave.”

“Where did you get the rogue from?” I asked, testing my spear.

“He is also a spy, Alpha. Our men caught him last week trying to sneak information through a messenger, the messenger has also been apprehended. They have been in the dungeons ever since.”

“Good. I need a warrior today, not a mouse to squeak and run.” I could feel Geo’s purr of approval. He was not just ready to fight, he was ready to kill, to prove himself to a mate he had not even seen.

The stadium greeted me with cheers and howls as my pack members greeted me excitedly but all I could think of….was the owner of the scent that’s making Geo excited, for he couldn’t wait for the tournament to begin - and end, so he could go find his mate.

The tournament was less a fight and more a slaughter. Geo took control as our body moved with brutal efficiency. The spy, the so called ‘brave hunter,’ lasted only three seconds before my claws tore through his shoulder, and filled the air with the metallic scent of blood. The rogue met a similar fate. It was over in minutes, with two bodies bleeding out in the sand. It did nothing to calm Geo’s restlessness, it only fed it.

“Andre!” I barked. “Get the she-wolf out of my chambers. Now!”

“Ok Alpha. Is everything ok?” He asked.

“I am fine,” I lied, hastening up my pace. “I just need to find what is mine.”

I quickly head to my chambers, to see everywhere clean, tidy and the scent of my love making with the she wolf, cleared. I quickly took my shower, worn my clothes and I was about to bolt out the door when I heard a sound.

I turned back to see Marcus and Andre. Both siting on my couch with a smile on their faces.

“Here here, what do we have here?” Marcus snickered, looking at me with a lopsided grin on his face. “You look like a man running to a fire…or from one.”

Marcus and Andre have been my friends since childhood, their fathers had assisted my father in his royal duties as Beta and head warrior, thereby placing us in each other’s company most of the time, therefore strengthening our bond in the process. Andre, my beta is very calm and collected, unlike my other friend, Marcus, who is very jovial and enjoys a good laugh, making him the clown in the trio. He already found his mate in a beautiful young she wolf called Simeon.

Lucky him!

“I need to go,” I gritted out, as Geo pushes relentlessly around in my subconscious. ‘MATE IS CLOSE!’

“For a walk?” Andre asked calmly.

The truth spilled out. “I think…I have found her. My mate.”

“Really?” Marcus’s eye lit up “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

I looked at him hesitantly, I wanted to go find her alone, but knowing Marcus, he won’t budge and I can’t afford to waste anymore time.

I quickly let Geo out and immediately, he took a long sniff, trailing her scent. We ran passed the arena, passed the market square, with her scent getting stronger each minute, till we stopped at the fountain behind the pack’s school, at the end of the town.

And there she was.

Curled on a bench, bathed in moonlight, was a girl with a canopy of golden hair. She looked like a dream, fragile and formless. Geo howled excitedly into the night… a sound of possession, of longing, of home.

She woke up instantly, her eyes wide with terror until they found mine.

*************

Locked in her eyes, stuck on her gaze, I shifted back and held up my hands in a gesture of peace, even as Geo raged to touch her. “Easy boy. You will scare her.”

Her gaze landed behind me to where Andre and Marcus stood silently. “Stay back,” I commanded them without turning around. They obeyed.

I focused on her and saw the fear in her eyes softened into something else…shock, awe. I closed the distance and stretched out my hand. When her small, cool fingers slipped into mine, I felt a jolt of pure energy shot up my arm, silencing Geo for one blissful second.

“I am Alfred Longhorn, Alpha of the East Dwellers Pack.”

She just stared at me with her lips slightly parted, which gave her a dreamy look.

“Oh those lips….Goddess.” I said inwardly as Geo purred.

“My lady,” I said, my voice husky. “A beautiful girl like you should not be out here alone. Be my guest tonight. You have my word, you will be safe.”

She gave a small, hesitant smile and shook her head. No.

My patience evaporated, instantly replaced by a possessive urge to claim what is mine. The Alpha command crept into my voice, like an undeniable growl. “Let me be clear. You are my mate. It is cold. I am tired. And you are coming with me.”

She lifted her chin and raised her huge blue eyes to meet mine with a spark of defiance I had not expected. “No.”