Mate

Chapter 2

Mate.

Lilian.

There was a sickening shatter of bones beside me and a shrill scream pierced the evening sky. I turned in horror, and that was when I saw him. The midnight black wolf which crushed every bone he stepped on.

I stood in shock, watching how the remaining pack warriors struggled to fight the beast, but nothing could penetrate its hide, instead, their bones shattered anytime they made bodily contact with it.

But something was even more wrong…

I found myself rooted to the spot, entranced by the magnificent beast in front of me. I was all but afraid as I stared at it.

And as if he could feel himself being watched, he slowly turned around and his stormy grey eyes met my dull blue ones, and everything went silent in my head.

I was feeling new things… things I hadn't felt in a really long while. I could feel my heart pounding against my ribcage, and it wasn't out of fear this time, instead my body hummed and thrummed with excitement.

“Lilian!” I heard a scream somewhere in the back of my mind, like a dim echo in my head, my eyes still fixated on the huge wolf that was making its way towards me.

“Lilian! Snap out of it! Run!” The voice came in sharper this time and I was jolted back to reality.

The wolf was coming even closer now, and I was paralysed with fear.

“Lilian! Run!” Hailey shouted again, and my legs moved on their own this time, and I ran with the remaining strength in my life.

I ran with only one destination in mind –the big oak tree– the only thing in the pack that was rumoured to survive any kind of destruction.

I bounded with Cailan in my arms, not stopping to see if the wolf was behind me. I didn't stop to think about the way I was feeling towards the wolf, my family mattered the most to me.

I could see the oak now, it was getting nearer and nearer, my legs were about to give out, but I wasn't ready to give up, not when my life depended on it.

But it was like fate didn't want anything good happening to me as I stumbled on a pile of firewood and fell forward.

Remembering the child I held in my arms, I twisted my body to fall on my back, protecting Cailan. I heard a crack and I screamed in pain. Some of the firewood had broken and the splints lodged itself into several parts of my body. The pain was unbearable as I screamed in agony.

At this time, I heard bounding footsteps nearing where I lay and I knew the beast was getting closer. I was surprised that with all the ruckus, Cailan hadn't woken up.

“Stay away from her!” I heard a pained voice cry out.

It was Hailey again. I lifted my head the little I could to see what was going on. She was crying now as she threw stones, sticks and pebbles at the beast, but they just shattered as soon as they made contact with its hide.

“I surrender,” I said, tears streaming down my eyes. There was a painful lump in my throat as the beast towered over me. “I surrender.” I breathed out again, wincing in pain as the splinters buried itself deeper into my body.

But he was not stopping, he was still coming closer, his grey eyes searching mine. “I swear I will kill you if you do as little as harm to this child.” I shouted this time, my voice laced with pain and tears. I didn't know where the boldness had come from as I shivered from the sudden adrenaline rush.

But the beast paid no attention as he stomped closer, slowly transitioning to the most handsome man I have ever laid my eyes on – a demigod.

“You little creature.” His voice was mocking but soft.

I eyed him cautiously and turned over to hide Cailan deeper in my arms. “Please, leave us alone,” I whimpered as his face neared mine. The adrenaline rush was gone after his large bulky frame bent over mine.

A short laugh escaped from his lips, it was so soft that I turned back and refocused my eyes to meet his eyes, and my next words stuck in my throat when he whispered one word.

“Mate.”

The air around me seemed to freeze.

Mate?

A word I never considered in my entire life. I had a destined mate? I shook my head slowly in denial. It couldn't be possible.

“No. No. No. That can't be possible.” I shook my head vigorously this time as I said breathlessly. I tried looking at him once again and was startled by the dimness in his eyes.

Was that disappointment or relief in his eyes? I just couldn't tell.

“Stay away from my son!” There was an angry roar behind us that shook the pack grounds.

Looking past the huge towering man in front of me, I breathed out a sigh of relief when the Alpha came into view.

The beast–my supposed mate–turned towards the sound of the voice. Seeing the Alpha, he was unperturbed as he turned around to train his eyes on me again.

A delicious scent was wafting into my nose, and I couldn't help but want to inhale every single breath of it. I could feel electricity coursing the areas of my body that his eyes traced. It was all so entrancing… like being in another world.

“Alpha…no…dangerous…” We heard a wheezy voice call out. It was another fallen pack warrior who had blood streaming through his nose. “Bone…break…shatter…” he continued incoherently with so much pain laced in his voice.

I watched as the eyes of Alpha Blackthorn widened, as if he had just realised something horrible, and he stumbled backwards, away from the beast–my mate.

Alpha Blackthorn raised up his hands slowly in surrender and a gasp of air escaped my mouth.

“Look,” Alpha Blackthorn started saying softly. “I know we can't beat you in a fight. Please, there have already been a lot of casualties. Let us go so I can tend to my wounded. If you have any grievances with any of us, we can all talk it out.”

The Alpha was surrendering! Our Alpha never surrendered to anything or anyone, not even someone remotely brutal like our Alpha King. Just who was my mate to instil so much fear in the Alpha?

My mate turned away from the Alpha and gave me a really long and soft look.

“If it's the woman you want, you can take her and do anything you like with her,” the Alpha's voice came again, stronger and closer this time. “We don't really have any use for her. You can take her with you. Please, just don't hurt my child.”

“Alpha!” I really protested as new emotions welled inside me and furious tears filled my eyes. After everything I have done for the pack?

“Shut up, Lilian!” The Alpha fiercely commanded me.

And in that instant, like a taut string snapped, his movements were a blur until my mate towered over the Alpha.

“You would never speak to her again in that manner!” I heard an angry growl of hatred tear out of my mate's throat as he firmly wrapped a hand around the Alpha's neck and lifted him off the ground.

“No! No! No! Stop!” I didn't know when I started screaming in protest for my mate to stop.

Not like I cared if the Alpha lived or died, but my family were still in his hands. He had my family where no one else knew and only he could give them back to me. He couldn't die, not just yet…

I watched as the broad back of my mate tense for a second or two. He listened…I breathed out of relief in my heart.

But in the next second, everything flipped over, and a loud crack filled the pack grounds and there was a short thud on the floor.

I watched in horror as the Alpha's mangled body lay on the floor.

…And everywhere was quiet.