The Unmated Love

CHAPTER 14

“Leyla…” Caleb whispered, licking his lips, as if he was tasting her name on his tongue.

Leyla waited patiently but alert. She wasn’t going to initiate any conversation or provoke any reaction from the werewolves present in the hall. She stayed completely passive.

Caleb’s strong and loud voice suddenly echoed in the hall. 

“Please, everyone. Let me introduce you to my mate; Lady Leyla.”

A collective gasp sounded from the crowd. Leyla glanced around, noticing a lot of open mouths and wide eyes in surprise and disbelief. All the attention made her feel uncomfortable.

Caleb, on the other hand, loved to be the center of attention. His lips broadened in a smug smirk, while he stared at Leyla with eyes shining with greed.

“From this day on, you will address her as befits her rank at my side.” He paused a second, probably for the dramatic effect. “Anyone who dares to touch her will have to deal with me personally.” His voice was dripping with venom, clearly threatening. Just the thought of any other male laying a hand on her, was enough to make him see red. “For the record… Any form of attention uncalled for, will have consequences.”

He stared into the back, making eye contact with the wolf, who whistled at Leyla earlier. The male wolf gulped. In light of the occasion, his birthday and the reunion with his mate, Caleb felt merciful, and decided not to take further actions – just this once, though.

Suddenly, he turned on a platter; from being a full-on threatening alpha to the cheerful host.

“Now, if you will excuse us. We’ll be leaving to celebrate my birthday.”

The pack erupted in cheers, and some of the men encouraged Caleb with dirty words. Leyla’s cheeks flashed red, as her face heated with anger, as his last words sunk in. Hell no… If he thought, he was going to get some tonight, he thought wrong.

Caleb grabbed her hand with a lusty smirk and dragged her along with him. Even if she wanted to resist, she didn’t have the strength, and quite frankly, she wanted nothing more, than to leave the damn hall behind. The eyes of the entire pack staring at her, made her feel like prey pushed into a corner, and she felt a bit of the tension leave her body, as they finally got out of sight.

She could feel the vibrations originating from Caleb’s chest, as he cheerfully hummed, while he dragged her towards a large tent. None of them said a word, before they reached the opening of the tent, which Caleb opened up for her.

“Ladies first,” he said, sounding like a real gentleman, but Leyla knew better. She snorted and rolled her eyes, which just resulted in a cheeky smirk on his lips.

The tent was large and decorated with a king size bed and a closet; a huge table covered in, what looked like strategies and maps with several marks drawn upon; and a corner with couches and a big cozy chair.

On one of the couches, the shaman was seated, apparently waiting for the two of them to arrive.

Caleb slumped into the chair, making himself comfortable, looking at Leyla expectantly. She glanced between the two of them, not exactly sure, what they were expecting her to do.

The shaman nodded to the empty couch. “Take a seat, girl.”

Leyla did just that, though in contrast to the shaman and Caleb, who were both very much relaxed, she was tense, sitting up straight and obviously alert.

Caleb looked at her with curiosity shining in his eyes. “So… My dear, I want to know everything about you.”

He paused for a second, seemingly thinking about questions to ask her.

“What was your former pack and position?”

Leyla payed special notice to the way, he mentioned her pack in past tense. She chose to ignore it but made sure to point out that she was still a member of her “former” pack.

“I am the beta of the Gold Moon pack,” she said, putting pressure on the word “am”.

Caleb’s lip twitched in annoyance, as she made it clear that she still saw herself, as a member of her former pack. He would have to deal with that later…

“So… You were Jonathan’s beta?” He asked, tilting his head. He was quite eager to hear the answer to that question. Having a female warrior, and a beta at that, was very unconventional, and in Caleb’s opinion a signal of weakness, had he not known the abilities of this specific female beta.

Leyla stiffened at the mention of Jon. She nodded courtly. “Yes, I am.”

The shaman stared at Leyla intensely. It felt like her eyes saw right through her, and Leyla’s neck hair rose in alert.

Caleb continued questioning her, and she answered like a robot, staring straight into the room.

“Age?”

“25”

The shaman nodded; “Mating age.”

“Parents?”

“Dead.”

“Favorite s*x position?”

Leyla’s gaze turned to Caleb, scrunching her nose in disgust. His eyes were full of amusement, as he chuckled, making his body vibrate. He wanted her to look at him and provoking her had been the perfect way to do it.

Before any of them had a chance to continue, the shaman interrupted.

“Let’s get to the point of this.” She said, sounding as if both Leyla and Caleb were two disobedient kids, who were already testing her patience.

“You’re lucky with this one, Caleb. Your mating will increase your strength significantly.”

Caleb didn’t really seem to listen to her. All he did was checking out Leyla with a cloud of lust covering his eyes. “I really am lucky.”

Leyla shivered underneath his gaze. Her treacherous body made it difficult for her to know, whether it was from disgust or pleasure. Her feelings were one big mess, when it came to Caleb, and it was seriously disturbing that she didn’t have any control of it.

The shaman smacked Caleb on his forehead, which made Caleb turn his stare to the old woman with a low grumble. “Watch it, old hag.”

The old hag ignored his outburst. “Concentrate. You’re an alpha. You should be able to control your hormones for a while.”

Caleb scowled at her, but he didn’t say much.

Leyla’s eyes had gone wide with surprise. This was not a scene, she had ever imagined, she would witness. It was almost normal. At this moment, Caleb seemed like a naughty boy, getting scolded for misbehaving, and he didn’t even seem to mind that much.

The shaman looked at Leyla with a strange searching glance, while talking to Caleb.

“As I was saying, and as you might already know… As an alpha, you will increase your strength according to the strength of your mate, when the mating bond is completed. This fine young specimen will increase your strength significantly.”

Leyla went cold at her words. She had never heard of this phenomenon before. She would somehow increase his strength, if the mating bond was completed? This was bad… She wouldn’t let him, but if he really wanted to, she knew, she didn’t stand a chance against him.

“And I complete the mating bond in what way?” Caleb asked.

The old hag rolled her eyes, making it very obvious how ignorant she thought, Caleb was, when it came to the mating bond.  “You need to mark her, and you should do it soon.”

Leyla bristled. “That’s illegal without my consent, and you’re not getting that.” she said out loud, staring at both the shaman and Caleb in defiance.

Caleb just looked at her with amusement, fully aware that her resisting wouldn’t make a damn difference. It made her grit her teeth. She felt like a stupid four-year-old, the way he found everything she did slightly amusing. He disrespected her, and it made her furious.

The shaman raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m sorry dear, but you don’t have a say in this. It’s for your own good too. Resisting a mating bond can be deadly. You were pretty close to leaving this world, when I first saw you.” She turned her attention back to Caleb, pretending that Leyla wasn’t there anymore.

“Not only will your strength increase, but she will also become an asset, since she won’t be able to refuse your commands as an alpha. No matter how much, she wants to. We could use her strength.”

Leyla went pale. What the f**k was all of this? She had never ever heard about this. The law of consent certainly made sense, if this was the consequence of mating with an alpha. If she had known, she might’ve thought twice about putting herself in this position.  

Caleb watched Leyla with interest, checking her out. All the things he could make her do… Of course, he was distracted by all the things, they would do, when they were alone. Not the important things, like how this would benefit them in the war.

He was pulled out of his thoughts, as the old hag once again smacked him with her staff. “We also need you to focus. When you’ve claimed her, you will be able to think with your head again. Not your d**k. We have no use of you, if s*x is all that’s on your mind.”

Caleb huffed, making his body jump. “Like I care about, what you need. I like her feistiness. I’m not going to claim her yet, if I’ll lose that the moment I do.”

The old woman sighed in annoyance. “She’ll still be herself. Only when you use your alpha tone, she won’t have a choice. Just don’t wait too long… And keep her close. If you’re too far away from each other, while she’s resisting the bond, she will die.”

Caleb’s eyes slightly widened in surprise. He looked at Leyla, studying her carefully, before a hum escaped his smug lips. “I’ll just have to keep her really close then.”  His eyes glinted, as he winked at her.

Leyla just stared back with empty eyes. She wasn’t listening anymore. She had pretty much left the room, escaped into her mind, as she processed all of this new information. According to the shaman, she would die, if the distance between her and Caleb became too large for too long. She didn’t question this, as she had already confirmed it on her own body. If she stayed, she risked Caleb becoming even stronger, than he already was, and she would probably have to join the fight against her own pack. What was she going to do?

If she was honest with herself, it wasn’t even a question. The decision was already made. She couldn’t risk the lives of thousands of werewolves, just to save her own. Fighting against her own pack, wasn’t something she could bear either. So there really was no choice to make. She had to escape. Even if it meant losing her life.

Caleb watched Leyla with interest, as she seemed to have zoned out completely. Her eyes were out of focus, seeing nothing. Well… If he was in her shoes, he would be quite shocked too.

The old hag, whose name was Tiana, just continued with all her wise, but unbelievably annoying advice. He didn’t really have a choice in listening or not, as he knew, just how powerful she was. He had felt that on his own body and mind, during his childhood and younger years, as she had raised him, after his mother lost her mind and took her own life.

“If you’re forced to leave her in the hands of your underlings, make sure to put Hackle in charge of her, and give him the silver collar. Without it, I doubt any of the idiots will be able to control her.”

This made Caleb smile with pride, as he remembered how the team, he sent for her, struggled to get her inside the hall.

“You should’ve seen her standing against the others, even giving Hackle a hard time. It was magnificent to watch.”  

The old hag just looked at him with a look on her face, which told him that she was done with all of this. She was sick of hearing him praise her and looking at her, like he was a damn puppy. She needed him focused to carry out their plan, and as they had planned to move soon, she needed him focused now.

“I suggest, you claim and mark her tonight.” She said, which just made Caleb hum, like the lovesick puppy he was. With those words, she left the tent, leaving Caleb alone.

As Leyla didn’t react to Tiana’s words, Caleb guessed that she wasn’t listening anymore.

He got out of the cozy chair and crouched down in front of Leyla, his head in level with her chest, as he gently, carefully, put his hands on her bare knees. He stared straight into her eyes, as his touch made her flinch, bringing her back to reality.

The sight of him so close, his scent, his touch and his piercing glance full of want, made a shiver go down her spine. His touch sent warmth from her knees to her stomach, making it turn in both disgust and a desire for more. It was so confusing, too confusing. She couldn’t think straight.

She leaned back, desperate to make some distance between them, but as she tried to move her knees from his grasp, his grip on her knees tightened, keeping her in place.

She looked at him with terror in her eyes, scared of his next move, but Caleb noticed a flash of desire too. He hummed, as he took in her intoxicating scent, which made it damn hard to restrain himself. He let go of her right knee, freeing his right hand, so that he could gently stroke her bare inner thigh. The gentle touch made her shiver, which made his eyes cloud with lust.

“Tonight, I will make you beg for me to claim you”, he said with a husky voice.