The Claimed Promise

Bad News Day

Samara and I walked hand in hand back to the castle, cheers still filled the night air, but the events of the evening kept us both wrapped up into our own thoughts. As we walked through the door, Liam limped over to us, Lindsey at his side with tears flowing like a river down her face, holding sweatpants and shirts for both of us. Before I could even grab the clothing, Lindsey had thrown herself at me and wrapped me into a tight hug.

“Thank goodness your ok Kora and thank you so much for saving Liam. I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost either of you.” Lindsey hiccupped up in between sobs and I wrapped her tightly into my arms.

“It’s ok Lindsey. Everyone is here and safe. You have to stop crying if we’re ever going to go get drunk and celebrate. Plus, you’re touching my nakedness and it’s a little weird.” I laughed and squeezed her hoping to hear her laugh and soon, that’s exactly what I heard. She sniffled before giving me a smile and laughing.

“Well, maybe if you were wearing clothes, I wouldn’t be touching you naked. This is clearly your fault.” Her red eyes leaked at the corners, and I gave her one more hug before releasing her and grabbing the clothes from Liam. Samara had already put the change of clothes on and was smiling softly at both of us. I hastily dressed and walked arm in arm with Lindsey to the ball room where the rest of the pack had continued the celebration. The last thing I wanted to do was celebrate. We needed to figure out who had attacked us and why, but Lindsey needed this and so did the pack. We entered the ballroom, and we were greeted by applause and cheering. Arezu’s proud aura radiated off of me and that just brought on my cheers as the four of us made our way through the room towards the front. We’re stopped many times by the crowd and one pack member catches my attention immediately. Claudia stands before us, her eyes wet from recently fallen tears.

“Oh Samara! I thought I had lost you when word traveled of an attack!” She whaled loudly before pushing past me and throwing herself into Samara’s arms. The woman was completely inconsolable and many pack members quieted down to watch the scene. Samara stood there, holding Claudia for what seemed like an eternity, and I decided I didn’t need this right now.

“Samara, why don’t you take Claudia out of the ballroom and calm her down? Clearly, you’re the only one here that can do so.” Whispers spread through the room and to my surprise, Samara’s face flushes and she pulls Claudia out of the ballroom with her. Liam stands there, shock evident on his face. Instead of entertaining the dramatic exit, I walked over to the nearby bar, grabbed a beer and raised into the air before throwing back half of it. The ballroom again erupts in cheers and anyone holding drinks soon follows my lead throwing back their drinks. Music fills the room and, to my relief, the moment with Claudia is gone. Arezu whines in my head to follow after them, she hates Claudia being so close to her mate especially since we’re both unmarked.

“Arezu, what does it mean to be marked?” My eyes glaze over as hold a conversation with my wolf while still sipping on my drink.

“To be marked by our mate is to be claimed. This usually happens to complete the mating process, but some alphas are known to mark their mates on first meeting. The mark is a bite on the collarbone, shoulder area. Once completed, a special mark will appear in place, their two scents will merge, and they’ll be able to feel what the other ones feeling and hear each other’s thoughts from anywhere when the link is open.” As Arezu finishes explaining, I can feel the desperation course through my body to not only bare the mark of Samara, but for her to bare my own mark. Arezu goes quiet and I know it's to help me not lose control right now in front of the pack.

As the night progresses, I continue to down drinks surprisingly quickly. Because of my new werewolf blood, alcohol doesn’t affect me the way it used to and now, I’m drinking straight whiskey instead of beer. An hour goes by, and the alcohol has finally started to have an effect on me. Lindsey and I dance together in the middle of the room, surrounded by the pack. Samara’s scent is the first thing to gain my attention and I catch her staring at me by the door.

“Why was she gone so long, Arezu?” My brows wrinkle together as I speak to my wolf.

My question goes unanswered as I feel sparks shoot through my arm. Samara has a hold of me and is pulling me through the crowd to the front and soon, out the door. We don’t stop until she has me in the elevator and once the door closes, the atmosphere between us changes. The energy coming off of Samara feels almost angry and neither me nor my wolf feel comfortable.

“What the hell do you think you were doing dancing like that in the middle of the pack?” Our eyes meet and to my surprise, hers are clear. With how angry she is, I thought for sure Yuri would be pushing for control.

“Rather I was in the middle of the pack or on the sidelines, I always dance like that with Lindsey. If it bothers you so much, you could have been there dancing with me.” I snap at her just as the door dings to our floor. As soon as the doors slide open, I stomp out towards my room, and I’m soon stopped and swung backwards to face Samara.

“Don’t walk away from me when I’m trying to talk to you.” This time, I see the darkening of her eyes’, indicating Yuri is present. She presses her nose into my neck and inhales deeply. Arousal heats up my core and the thought of being marked and marking my mate almost sends Arezu into control. I quickly press our bodies together and latch my lips onto the area where my mark should be. Arezu is pleased and demanding I mark our mate now.

A sudden shove brings us out of the moment and my eyes meet Samara’s. Her eyes change colors and for a moment, I think Yuri will win before her eyes clear and she’s staring at me with a very serious expression.

“We cannot mark each other yet, Kora.” Her serious expression brings tears to my eyes as I find Yuri completely undetectable. Without another word, I push Samara away from me and force open the door to my room. I throw it shut, the door slams loudly and I lock it, so she knows she isn’t welcome. However, part of me feels as if this is a wasted gesture because now, I’m not so sure she even wants in here with me.

Shadows of Samra’s feet in front of the door cast through the room and for a moment, my heart races in anticipation for her to bust the door down to claim me. Time ticks by and soon the shadow of her feet disappeared. Sadness overtakes my emotions and I consider stomping into her room and marking her first, but my wolf stops me from doing so. Instead, I crawl into bed and small sobs escape my throat as I cry myself to sleep. Rejection has filled my heart in this moment and insecurity has clouded my thoughts.

Sleep had come quickly but had been restless and full of nightmares pertaining to Samara rejecting me. When I awoke the next morning, my head throbbed from the lack of sleep and crying. Arezu remained silent this morning; only the occasional whimper came out.

“Come on Arezu, we’re not this weak. Let’s take a shower and go find Samara. There has to be some kind of misunderstanding and we have to at least hear our mate out.”

Arezu perked up and nodded in agreement. This had to be some kind of mistake and we would get to the bottom of it together.

Showering took little to no time and before I had the nerve to face my mate, I felt like talking to my parents could really help. I dug the satellite phone out of the suitcase and dialed my parents.

“You’ve reached the house of wong, how would you like your duck today?” My dad snickering on the other end and the sound of my smack rang through the receiver.”

“Uh, yes, I’d like to order the super crispy duck. Not just lightly crispy though. If it doesn’t shatter like a chip, I expect it to be free.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, we all burst out laughing.

My mom was the first to compose herself and instantly started with the questions. “How have you been, sweetie? Have you been having fun? Did you meet any new friends?”

“I’ve been good mom. I have been having tons of fun and yes, I’ve made some friends. How are you guys doing? Did you figure anything out with the review for the café?”

Silence is the initial response and at first, I thought maybe our connection dropped before my dad finally spoke up. “Kora, Mandi's Aunt, gave us a very horrible review. She said the customer service was awful, the place was filthy and that she had found a bug in her food. Of course, not all of our customers believed the review, but we’ve been struggling and we’re looking at having to sell the business.” Sniffling, clearly mom’s, is all I can hear now, and my own tears threaten to fall.

“Is there anything that can be done to fix this?” My voice is shaky, but I manage to keep it together for the sake of my parents.

“Well, sort of. That’s why we’re looking at selling now. We hired a private investigator and an attorney. With everything that’s been found, we’ve proven that the review was false. Her Aunt even lost her job…”

“But?”

“But we came up twenty thousand dollars short of what we owe the attorney and it’s looking like this is the only way to resolve the debt.” Frustration rings through my dad’s voice and I can already tell they’ve fought about this a lot.

“Well, what about the money you gave me? I haven’t spent any of it and I don’t plan to. I’ve found a job here and I’m actually getting by fantastically. Take the money back and pay the attorney.”

“It’s not enough. We had already thought of that and even offered that to him as a payment and he refused.” Dad’s voice changed to the sound of defeat and my heart wrenched.

“Well, keep positive Mom and Dad, because we’re going to figure this out. I have my own money saved and I bet it’s enough. I’ll call you guys back later and let you know.”

This time, my mom answers, “Kora, don’t do that honey. We’ll figure it out. You need to have your money for traveling.”

“No mom. This time we’re not talking about it. I’m going to help you like you have helped me all my life. Let me do this, please.” Tears now steadily streamed from my eyes as I awaited the response.

After what felt like an eternity, she finally answered. “How could we have ever been so lucky to end up with a daughter as amazing as you? We love you Kora and thank you.” Shortly after, we said our goodbyes and I prepared myself to talk to Samara about lending me the money for my parents if I didn’t have enough in my own savings.