Lycan Princess

Challenge between mates

~Evan~

‘What are you doing!’ I snapped as my wolf howled and foced me to shift. He wouldn’t answer me as he raced through the forest away from my brothers. ‘Where the hell are we going! My bothers were waiting to watch us shift and you forced the shift and took off. You haven’t even told me your name.’

‘Raven,’ He growled as the scent of Forget-me-nots filled the air.

‘You are not about to do what I think you are!’

‘He is with her! She is our mate!’ He snapped as his running slowed down and he came to a clearing. Standing before us were two wolves. One so silver that he practically shined and the other so blonde she was practically white.

‘Beautiful,’ was all I could say as I stared at the wolf who looked at us with a mix of excitement and fear.

‘She is ours!’ He growled, entering the clearing.

‘They have a chosen mate and are not property!’ I snapped, trying to stop him. However, his pull was stronger than I expected, and he kept walking until he was standing before our mate. The other wolf smirked and retreated to the tree line to watch us.

‘Mate!’ He growled, forcing me from our Mindspace and into our mates, probably ready to get rid of me as soon as possible.

Frowning, I looked around the Mindspace until I saw her. She was just as beautiful as she had been in the club. She was toned enough to tell me that she could kick my butt if needed and that made me feel proud that she could hold her own. However, she was a petite woman and she looked afraid of the wind at times. Did her chosen mate not let her feel safe enough in this world? Anger filled me as I thought about him possibly making her feel less than in any way.

My mate looked around frantically, clearly having caught my scent, and I took a deep breath to settle my nerves. The mate bond was strong enough that I wanted nothing more to hold her close to me, but I knew I could not do that because she already had a home, and it wasn’t with me. Slowly, I left the shadows of her Mindspace and stood before her, and I could see the fear in her eyes. It broke my heart that just being near me was enough to scare her.

I wanted to tell her how much I wanted to hold her but I knew that would only hurt her in the end. Sighing, I smiled softly at her and said the only thing I thought was okay to say, “You’re wolf is beautiful.”

I watched as she looked at me as if I was a mystery to her and something she had to figure out. “I… I will make sure to tell Zion that,” She said quietly, as if she was picking her words carefully.

“Zion… Raven will love that name,” I laughed softly as I watched Raven and Zion sniff one another.

“Raven?” She asked, clearly confused.

Smiling, I pointed to my wolf, “His name is Raven. He took over the second he could and raced to the river. I did not mean to interrupt your time with your mate.”

“Aren’t you and Raven our mates?” She asked, looking even more confused than she had before.

“By fate, yes,” I whispered sadly. “However, you clearly already have a chosen mate. A strangely supportive one at that.”

“Cam?” She looked at me confused again before she burst into laughter.

“What is funny?” I growled, getting angry about the fact that my mate was laughing at me for talking about her chosen mate. What was so funny about already having a mate!

She froze at my growl and I saw fear enter her eyes once again. “Sorry…”

Sighing, I rubbed my eyes and shook my head, “Do not apologize. I am sorry I shouldn’t have growled. It is hard enough to find my mate already mated to another. But then to be laughed at when I talk about her mate is another level of pain. I mean I have no intention of forcing you into our bond or breaking our bond, so I feel like I at least deserve some respect as your fated mate to not be laughed at.”

“You’re right,” She sighed softly, nodding. “I am sorry it is just… what you said made me laugh.”

“Why?”

“I… I don’t want to say why yet.” She smiled up at me, making my heart race. “Is it okay if we do not talk about Cam?”

“I would honestly prefer that,” I laughed softly.

“So… why are you not trying to take me away from Cam?”

“You have your own life and your own pack. Why would I force you to give up all of that for me when you do not even know my name? “

She paused and looked at me, “You are right.” I opened my mouth to say something when she giggled softly. “We do not even know one another's names. Maybe we should fix that?”

“I think that is a good place to start,” I nodded in agreement. “I am Evan.”

“I’m Lilly,” She said with a happy smile on her face as we looked at one another.

“Lilly,” I whispered, committing the name to memory.

“Yep, just five little letters,” She blushed softly, looking at me.

“Five important letters,” I corrected her.

“To some,” She whispered, covering her face in an attempt to hide her blush. However, little did she know but the blush was all over her ears and neck too.

“To me,” I whispered, reaching out to take one of her hands in mine as I slowly uncovered her face, making sure not to pull on her hand. If she resisted, I would stop but she didn’t. She simply watched me as I watched her. “They are very important to me… and probably Cam as well.”

“I thought we agreed not to talk about him,” She reminded me with a soft giggle.

“I felt the need to remind myself about his existence,” I answered honestly as I looked at her memorizing her face. “Otherwise I might start to give into our bond when I do not want to.”

“You don’t want to?” She frowned, looking at the ground.

“That came out wrong,” I groaned, running my hand through my hair. “I want to… but you have a mate and I do not want to upend your life by forcing you into this bond.”

“So, you want to force me but you won’t…” she asked, still looking at the ground.

“That’s as good a way of saying it as any,” I laughed softly. “Can you please look at me?”

“Why?” She sighed even as she looked up at me.

“Because for this moment you and I are alone and I want to look at you while I can.”

“What do you mean while you can?”

“Well, your mate is the future alpha of the Moonlight pack, right?” I asked as I saw shock fill her eyes. “That means that eventually you will be returning to the pack's land, right?”

“Um…. Cam is the future Alpha.”

“Which means that I won’t see you around much.” I whispered sadly, “So while I can see you… I want to be seen as well.”

“And your okay with that?” She asked, confused, as she searched my eyes.

Smiling softly, I nodded, “I can live with it. As long as you are happy.”

“You would be totally fine with me marrying Cam and having children with him… I mean can’t you feel what I do with another through the bond?”

My face went pale as I thought about feeling her mate with her chosen one. I opened my mouth to say that I would be fine with it but I couldn’t bring myself to lie to her. Looking at her, I searched for the right words to say, but no matter how much I thought, I couldn’t come up with anything. Sighing, I decided that honesty was best. Slowly, I cupped her cheek and raised her face to look at mine head on, “I cannot say that I would be happy about it. However, I won’t stop you from living the life that you have chosen.”

“And what if I ask you not to mate with anyone else because I don’t want to feel it?” She asked, a clear challenge in her voice.

Laughing softly, I couldn’t help myself from smiling as I looked at her. She had a fire in her that I already loved and I wanted to make sure that she kept that fire forever even if I wasn't beside her to see it. So I decided that for the rest of my life I would be nothing but honest with her, even if it was embarrassing for me. “You don’t have to worry about that. I decided long ago that I would only ever mate with my fated mate. If I am not going to be with the mate that the moon goddess has chosen for me, then I will not mate with anyone.”