Chapter 3

Grrrrrrrr!!!! I growled in agony when it hit.  A hot sharp shock ran from the base of my back up to my neck and I arched until it felt like my spine would snap.  

I growled and groaned so loudly my father came rushing into the room but at that point my wolf leapt out and started to prowl and jump around the room, shaking its huge black head and baring it teeth.  

Father knew not to interfere, I had to go through this like every other Lycan and werewolf.  Like me, my wolf felt the intense heat. It came from somewhere deep inside and it rolled and clawed the ground to find some relief.  

 Then he came back to me and I was naked on the floor pulling at my hair like a lunatic and trying to catch my breath....slowly bit by bit I regained some control.

  I was covered in sweat and every inch of my body ached.   I held my head, pulled my knees up and rocked, trying to slow my heart and fight the panic that had overwhelmed me when all my senses screamed at me with new force. Everything was louder, brighter, harsher....and then.  There it was.

The scent of my mate.  It reached me from where ever she was.  She must know now as well.  Even in my pain and unbearable desire to mate with her this instant, I couldn't help but smile...she must know she is MINE.

.....

The hours I've had to wait until the ceremony have been agonising.  Worse than all the years I've already waited put together.  

My body is hers and I can't think of anything else.  With my heightened senses everything is crowding me, confusing my thoughts, I can't sit still as I feel like I'm being assaulted from all sides.  My wolf is pacing, ready to run.

  I can't control both him and myself....it needs to be over soon. When we arrived I felt her nearby.  My body trembled so hard I missed a step. Concentrating is difficult.   

I can smell her scent more clearly now. It is a strange scent and nothing like I expected or I'm used to. It's adding to my confusion and anxiety. 

 Father is no help at the moment....all he can say is "it will get better".  Right now I don't believe him.   I can barely control the shaking and the pain, but the pull of my mate is driving me to distraction.

It is almost done, my hair is cut.  It feels strange not to have my long plait hanging heavily over my shoulder.  With great care my mother took it into her hands, tears in her eyes as she realised I now belong to another woman.  It was passed on to one of the wardens of the chapel and taken away to rest with the thousands of others in the vault.

The time has come, I know she is here, my body is trembling because she is so close.  The scent is driving me insane and trying to appear the calm future leader is becoming more difficult.  In truth, my strength is waning by the second.  I don't feel in control, I don't know who I am looking for in the crowd and I am trusting my instincts to find her.  

I follow the scent, pass by one hopeful female after another.  Their smiles fade as I pass. She must be feeling like me so there won't be any doubt when I see her.  It is taking forever though, row after row and the scent is getting stronger.  The way I feel right now I will mark her on the spot.  My wolf is growling loudly in my ear, impatient and angry with me.

I'm confused, I am almost out the doors of the auditorium. The pack members start to part as I sniff and look beyond them.  She is there!!!! 

 I take a few more steps and everyone now is whispering, I can hear every word they say.  

They are making me angrier by the minute.  "His mate is the freak."  I hear it over and over again.  When everyone has moved out of my way I finally set eyes on a young boy slumped against the wall.  

From his dishevelled appearance, it's obvious he is feverish, sweating, and feeling the aching pull between us.  It suddenly struck me he may not even realise what is happening. When he opens his beautiful hooded eyes and looks at me I feel like some invisible force took hold of my heart and squeezed.   I hear more mocking voices, and unbelievable insults considering who I am.  Believe me, they won't get away with it.

I have to admit I am as shocked as they are.  He's a boy, not even a man.  I'm humiliated, angry, confused but most of all ANGRY.   What the fuck.  I could rip someone's throat open without a second thought right now and if I hear one more word I will do just that......I gave my growl full force and the building shook. "Be silent!" I repeat the last words to the pack members standing around me.  I stared into their eyes and dared them to repeat their insults to my face.  My fangs dropped and I was ready, almost hoping for someone to argue with me.

My growl held such force now that it demanded both fear and obedience....as I turned back to the boy I saw the shock on his face just before he fainted.

....

Ravy watched the boy slide down the wall.  One of his entourage quickly ran to the boy, picked him up and took him outside. He didn't dare touch him, even though he had never once considered sex with another male, he still felt the same as he did before finding out his mate wasn't a woman.  The logic, reality, and his wounded pride may have said one thing, but his wolf and every fibre of his body still acknowledged the boy as his mate. 

 The pull was just as strong.  The body he longed to caress and possess was the wrong shape, wrong gender but the desire was still as powerful.  He thought if he touched him, even once, he would not be able to make the difficult decisions that needed to be made.

He had to reject him.  Ravy felt he had no other choice.  He was too young by both human and Lycan law to become his mate.  It would also be impossible for either of them to endure the pain and torture of such intense longing until he was of age.    But the real problem was that he was totally unsuitable as a mate for the future Alpha of a prestigious pack with a long history of royal pure blood.  His gender was wrong, his appearance was wrong, his rank was wrong, and everything about the boy was wrong, what was The Goddess thinking?

Axen was laid gently in the back of Ravy's Merc.  He sat in the driver's seat for all of two seconds before he couldn't bear to be in the car any longer without getting into the back with the boy and ravishing him on the spot.  He jumped out of the car and squatted trying to catch his breath.  The urge to take the boy had been so strong...OMG, this is going to be so difficult.  He switched cars with his father.

          

                

My father read through the few paragraphs on the sheet of paper and shook his head.  "It's even worse than I thought."  He handed it to me.

I read the first few words.  "Axen." Stupidly my first thought was that his name suited him.  I read the next line.  "Dear Lord...he's only 15.  How could I possibly take him as a mate."  I tipped back my head and howled loud enough to make my father jump and left the room before I did something I would regret.   I couldn't let him see what was going through my mind at the moment.  "As soon as he is well enough, we will end this." I bellowed as I slammed the door behind me.

My emotions were in turmoil, a battle between logic and mindless, unrelenting lust.  It was a toss-up what I was more disgusted with, the fact that my mate was a male and a boy at that, or even worse, I still wanted him so desperately.  I know in my heart of hearts if the circumstances were different; if we were left to our own devices; if I wasn't who I am and had to consider the pack first; I would have taken him as soon as we were alone. No matter what age, what sex, what rank, what history he had, I would have ravished him and marked him as mine.  I howled to my core at the thought of him whimpering as I held him tight, driving my fangs into the soft flesh of his neck until his blood ran into my mouth and I tasted him for the first time.  Oh!!! my wolf's deep tortured growl tore at my heart.