War of Shadows

Already Promised

Chapter 2

He must be mistaken. I mean, I don't even have a wolf.

I hold onto this thought as if it were an anchor to keep my wits about myself, and partly to chain down the excitement fighting to break the surface. Could the Goddess actually have given me a mate?

“Hi,” I awkwardly croak out. “I-I’m sorry, I don’t have a wolf. You’ve got to have the wrong person.” I try to be as gentle as I can while bearing the news for this man that he had just missed his mate.

I’m something of a realist, really.

He ignores my words, cautiously taking a step toward me while slowly shaking his head. Even in the dull alleyway, the moonlight above us highlights the loose waves of his thick black hair, brushed lazily away from his face and resting just above his ears. A hesitant, lopsided smile slowly creeps across his face, his thin almond, onyx eyes searching mine curiously. The harsh lines of his tall cupid’s bow contrast the soft pout of his lower lip, their lightly rosy shade complimentary to his naturally creamy skin.

I feel my heart stumble and goosebumps raise as the thoughts in my head become a quiet echo. Finally standing in front of me, my head barely reaches the crest of his broad shoulders. The fragrance of balsam and mint floats around me, and I find myself suddenly drawn to this stranger. Every logical thought in my head is telling me that I shouldn’t be letting a man approach me in a dark alleyway, but a deep part of myself, one I never knew was there to begin with, urges me to reach out to this man. In a faraway corner of my subconscious, I take comfort in his nearness to me, even though it makes my belly flutter.

“No,” He declares. “It’s you. Can’t you feel it?” His smile falters slightly, his dark brows pull together.

“Maybe I do,” I suggest honestly. “I can’t…” What exactly do I feel? Is this the bond? The longer I stand before him, wrapped is his sweet aroma-

We’re interrupted by another man, who stops before the alleyway. Seeming to know what’s happening, his eyes widen in shock.

“No!” he shouts in horror. “Absolutely not, Eli, are you f*****g insane!” He runs his hands through his cropped brown hair in distress as he rushes over and grabs Eli’s arm. “Eli, don’t do this. Diane-”

“Just give me a gods-damned second, Jacob,” Eli snaps at Jacob, throwing him an expression that I can’t quite decipher.

Who’s Diane? A pang of jealousy knicks my heart for this man that I just met.

Shit! I need to get Lauren and Carter.

Like a bucket of cold water thrown over my head, I’m taken out of whatever daze I was trapped in for that moment. I bet they’ve been waiting for me or thought I’ve been kidnapped.

“Hey!” I call to get their attention, “Listen, it sounds like you guys need a second to talk about something, and I need to go grab my friends. I was supposed to be inside by now, so I’m gonna go get them and I’ll be right back, okay?” I rush my words as I shuffle around the two large men. Without waiting for their response, I hurry back inside The Yellow Viper and manage to bump straight into Carter and Lauren and we all head back outside together. “I’m so sorry guys, I didn’t get a ride ordered because this guy came over and-”

“Did he hurt you?” Carter urges, resting his hand between my neck and my shoulder and searching my eyes for any sign that something had gone wrong. His brows draw together in concern.

“No, he didn’t hurt me!” I reassure him. “He uh-well I-” I stutter off, not knowing how to explain what might be happening. “He said he’s my mate, but I just don’t know if I’m supposed to know the way that he does. It’s not like there’s some manual written for half-breeds or anything.”

“Stella, oh my god!” Lauren yells in excitement “Oh my god, are you kidding me? Where is he?” She whips her head behind me, expecting to see him around and frowning when she sees nobody is with me.

“Okay. Lauren, you take my car to Stella’s. I’ll wait here with Stel and see what’s going on.” Carter is always good with situations like this.

“No way am I missing out on-”

“Lauren, I promise I’ll give you all the details when I get home but I don’t know how long I’ll be. The clubs are about to close and you have the bladder the size of a tic-tac.”

Lauren opens her mouth to argue, but decides against it and holds her hand out to Carter while giving me a stink eye that promised me bodily harm if she didn’t hear absolutely every detail later. Carter drops the keys in her hand and hugs her goodbye while Lauren grumbles about being left out. Carter slides his phone out of his pocket and fumbles through his apps for a second.

“I’m ordering us a ride, it should give you and…your mate?” He glances at me for confirmation and I shrug in response. “Anyway, it’ll give you two a few minutes to figure out what’s going on.”

“Thank you Carter, you didn’t have to do all this for me. I appreciate it,” I express my appreciation sincerely. Carter has been more like an older brother to me the past few years. He’s always erring on the side of caution to make sure I’m safe and comfortable. As I’m about to head back to the alleyway, Carter gently grabs my wrist to hold me back.

“Stel?” He starts. “Look I-” Carter looks away and inhales deeply before setting his big brown eyes back on mine, the glow of his phone creating stark shadows across his face. “I don’t really know how else to put this so I’m just gonna rip the band-aid off here.” I quickly nod at him to continue. “Mates aren’t really common, you know that. Not to mention the fact that you’re not a full-blooded Shifter and you’ve never gotten a wolf. I’m not trying to say that this is bullshit but I just want you to be careful, okay? Something about this just doesn’t add up for me. I’m going with you-”

“Carter, no,” I cut him off, shaking my head. “I want to talk to him alone. This is huge, and I think there’s really something going on here. I’ve been praying to the Goddess for so long to just throw me something. Just please Carter, don’t take this away from me,” I plead.

I’m aware that it doesn’t make sense, that it shouldn’t happen. I’ve always felt a step out of line, like I don’t quite measure up with the people around me. I’ve kept my heritage a secret, diligently playing the role of a human, but it feels suffocating; Like I’m forced to wear this disguise, to hide who I actually am so that a community will accept me. But what if it’s the wrong community for me? Having a mate, though I never got a wolf, would make me feel connected to my dad in some way. I want to inherit something from him because he does exist, and I’m so tired of acting like he doesn’t. He’s a part of me, yet I don’t feel as though I have a part of him in myself.

“Just stay close, that way you’ll know if I need help but I can still have some privacy,” I offer instead.

Carter folds in his lips before abruptly nodding and gesturing to me to lead the way. I lead him along the wide sidewalk, around the scatter of club-goers drunkenly making their way out of The Yellow Viper and into their taxis and giggling together as they walk along the street. I pull him behind me and motion for him to stay put as we near the entrance of the alley. I take a deep breath, preparing myself for whatever this is going to mean for the rest of my life. Mustering up enough courage, I round the corner and see the man…gone? How is he gone? Didn’t I tell him that I’d be right back?

A lump forms in my throat, and my hands get damp at the thought that I had just let my mate fall through my fingers. No. Please, no.

I’m so stupid! Why didn’t I just stay, or at least get a phone number?

The dread settles like a stone in my gut, threatening to push up the contents of my dinner.

A reflexive gasp forces me out of my thoughts as a large callused hand firmly wraps around my arm. I make eye contact with a pair of onyx eyes and feel myself relax under his touch.

“I went to find you” He lets out. His voice is deep and thick, and his aura swirls around us, demanding attention. I read the unsaid words behind his furrowed gaze; He thought he lost me too. The thought sends a flutter through my belly. “We need to talk, can you promise me that you’ll hear me out?” I ignore the unease that his tone sends through me and follow him into a parking lot across the street, motioning to Carter to stay there.

Is this one of those moments where I’m going to blissfully ignore the red flags? Probably.

We near a large black SUV with heavily tinted windows and silver accents. He pulls open the passenger door, revealing a set of matte red leather seats and a sleek interior. I turn to him to ask what’s going on as he gently grabs my hips and lifts me into the seat, the strain of his muscle causing tension under the stretched fabric of his shirt.

Focus, Stel. Jesus.

Reigning in my tantruming hormones, I place a hand on one of his arms and try to meet his gaze.

“Eli, what’s going on? I just met you and you’re already trying to kidnap me,” I pathetically breathe out a laugh, trying to ease the uncomfortable feeling growing in my gut. He doesn’t answer me, rather looks up at me with warm, depthless brown eyes with a ring of gold around the center. I furrow my brows in confusion. “Your eyes. They changed. At least I could have sworn they were-”

A slow smirk pulls teasingly at the side of his lips. “So you don’t have a wolf, I got that part right.” After seeing my confused expression, he continues. “It happens when my wolf comes out, they look dilated.

I scoff. “You call that dilating? Eli, your entire eye was black.”

He breaks eye contact and holds back a chuckle. I find myself wanting nothing else in the world than to hear the sound of his laughter.

“What’s your name?” He asks quietly.

“Stella, but some people just call me Stel.”

“Stella.” I shiver at the way it rolls past his lips like a prayer. His composure quickly shifts, the air carrying a slight tension to it. Eli places his hands on my thighs, respectfully close to my knees. I ignore the tingling that settles under his touch. “I don’t even know where to start, or how to properly explain everything the way that you deserve.”

The unease grows inside of me, and I feel myself getting weak as he holds my gaze.

He’s rejecting me. Please, Goddess, Please.

A rejection, when accepted by both parties, cannot be undone. There are stories of people staying together after a rejection, but it’s never the same. The bond deteriorates, and you won’t find another mate. If he’s already rejecting me, is he really someone that I should hold onto? Someone who didn’t even give it a chance? A bond between mates is sacred in the supernatural realm, it cannot be recreated. Forget the fact that it’s taboo to reject a mate, this is the only thing I have that proves to me that I carry a part of my father with me. That I’m more than just a human left behind by her mother the second she was self-sufficient just because her father was a ware. If that’s a reason to leave, then at least make it worth leaving for.

Oblivious to the swarm of doubt swirling around in my head, Eli continues.

“My father made a trade with the King of Ikraim when the Fae started to form an army. King Aldo had a daughter that wouldn’t be permitted to rule alone when he died, but his armies are ruthless, trained since they could shift. The only thing my father had that Aldo didn’t was a son, so he traded me for a union of our armies.” Eli subtly drops his gaze, as if he were ashamed of the news that he was bringing me. “Stel, I’m engaged and it can’t be broken. The Fae are worlds ahead of us when it comes to advantage, and we can’t afford to lose this army” He was starting to quicken his words, to rush them out as if it would soften the blow.

He’s the prince? He’s engaged? The Fae are rallying against us?

The information flooded through my head like a tornado, and it felt like I was on overdrive.

“We’d be the first ones to be attacked if the Fae chose to do so, this was the only way that we could even try to defend ourselves,” Eli pleads.

I sit there, completely dumbfounded and overwhelmed. I mean, where do I even start? Eli calmly watches for my reaction and twitches his hand on my thigh as though he wants to touch me.

“Oh” I croak out.

Eli drops his head into his hands and moves closer to me, cupping my cheek. My skin immediately reacts to his touch, as I feel a blush creep up my neck and the tingly feeling returns under his touch.

“I’m so sorry Stel, I wish I could have told you in a different way. I wish I didn’t have to tell you at all. Stella, I can’t accept our mate bond.”

The world tilts around me and drops from beneath my feet. The prick in my heart slowly cracks through my chest as I process the loss of the only thing I had been holding out hope for. Gone, just as fast as it was given.