5.

CASTIEL’S POV

Cinnamon with a mix of honeysuckle. 

Her overwhelming scent still clouded my senses, thick and unrelenting. It was like my beast had refused to let go of that single whiff he has of her. He clung to it like a curse. I had smelled her that night and convinced myself it was nothing more than pent-up desire, the consequence of not bedding a female for far too long. 

I was wrong. What had drawn me to her wasn’t lust.

I didn't know what actually attracted me to her was the fact that she was my mate. Not even any species. Human. She was human. My second chance mate was human. 

When the realization hit, all I saw was red. Red—the color of blood pool my first mate was lying when I found her after some human gang has attacked us at home. 

They did not only killed her, they raped and used her until they slit her throat like she was nothing. The image burned behind my eyes, vivid and unforgiving.

I rejected her without hesitation. I wanted nothing to do with that race. 

I could work alongside humans. Tolerate them. But to be bound to one? To call one my mate?

Impossible. 

I didn’t know what the moon-motherfucking goddess had been thinking, mating me to the very species I despised most—but I refused.

A knock sounded on the door, subtly distracting me from my thoughts. “Come in,” I said, picking up my pen to write my signature on a file before placing it on the pile of files I had already worked on. 

“Castiel,” Eminence, my Beta, said in from of greeting before plopping on the chair before me. “You have locked yourself inside this place since yesterday when you came back from the Alphas summit.  Is everything well?” He arched a brow at me, giving me that questioning look. 

He’d been busy overseeing the construction of the new training grounds, so we hadn’t spoken much.

I held his gaze before shaking my head. “No. There’s nothing wrong. Just needed to sort these files. Any updates on what I asked you check before leaving?” I asked, changing the topic. 

“Yes,” He replied. “Apparently the attackers have stopped being anonymous. They go by the name, Wolf Seekers. I do not know their objectives but Caleb is looking through everything to find out their base.” He explained. Caleb was the head of the security guild. 

I nodded in approval. At least that was something. 

“The Alphas believe that we are yet to know who they are. I would like to keep it that way for a while. The fight is not only theirs and I don't want any foolish Alpha running into war with them without knowing what these wolf seekers truly seek.” 

He gave me a concurring nod. 

Silence descended into our midst and I flicked my gaze to look at him, his nose was flared like he was trying to catch some scent off me. I released a pulse of my Alpha energy and it slammed into him. He let out a soft cough, shooting me a glare.  

“If you want to ask something,” I growled, “then ask.”

He scoffed. “Castiel, ever since you returned, there’s a strange scent around you. It is totally different from—”

“Don't.” I stopped him from mentioning that name. I didn't want to be reminded of that name for the second time today again. 

“Castiel, you… I can't explain but the scent is different. So many scents coming together to form one strong one. Who were you with?” He asked, confusion creasing his brows. 

I was also confused as I didn't understand what he was saying. I hadn't felt any strange scent around me either. 

“Eminence, I don't —”

“What is it you are not telling me, Castiel?” He cut me off, glaring at me. 

He knew me. He was the brother my parents never gave me. He knew when I didn't want to talk about something. When I had lost my first mate, I talked to no one. He tried though. He tried to get me to grieve her but I didn't. I didn't know how to do that so I kept going and going until a particular day when I broke down and I was forced to let it all out. He let me do that through a spar. I injured him so badly that he ended up in the hospital for two weeks. Seeing him in that state left me in utter despair. 

What he said broke me even more. “For as long as you let out all that hate and loathe within you, Castiel. I am fine.” He said with a crooked smile. 

Since then, he was always be my side. 

“I met my mate,” I muttered, expecting some sort of reaction but all I met was his intense gaze. 

I cocked my head to the side, waiting for him to react. 

He relaxed against the chair. “And where is she?”He glanced around the office like I was hiding her somewhere and didn't want to reveal her yet. 

I let out a deep sigh. “I rejected her immediately.” 

At that, his brows went up and he leaned on the desk. “For what reason?” 

I met his gaze. “She’s everything I loathe, Eminence. A human.” Anger surged through me at the reminder. 

He nodded, biting his inner cheeks. “I see. So what’s the plan now? You need to have a Luna Queen by the end of the first Blue Moon, Castiel.” 

Shock flickered across my face at his non-judgemental reaction. 

That was it? No judging?

“What?” He asked. “You think I’m going to fault you for rejecting her? No, I am not. Your hate for their kind is valid and I will be stupid to try to reason with you on that. In fact, no one in the pack will accept her so… she is already out of the equation.” He lifted his shoulders in a shrug. He seemed to go into a deep thinking for a brief moment. His brows furrowed slightly before realisation dawned on him. 

“Wait, you slept with her?” 

I gave him a sharp nod. He drew a deep breath. “No wonder there’s a change in your scent. She altered your scent. You will have some explanation to do when Kira comes to find you, you know.” He shook his head. 

I closed my eyes at the mention of that name. Kira—the wolf who’d been circling me since my first mate’s death. I’d refused her every time.

I didn’t want someone who fed on darkness. I wanted light. Kira wasn’t it.

“But wait,” Eminence said slowly. “Sleeping with her alone shouldn’t alter your scent like this.”

I opened my eyes. “What do you mean?”

“There’s more going on,” he said grimly. “Scent alteration can mean many things. And none of them are simple.”

My chest tightened.

“We need to consult Jarred.”

Jarred?