The Fourth Mate

Chapter 5: Edge's Pain

Edge stood at the window thinking of what he had done to Lucky, his fated mate. Instead of seeing the setting sun and the rays painting the sky orange and pink, he saw her. The tears that streaked her reddened face. Her eyes were glassy and pain filled. Her clothes were bunched up from thrashing at the burning pain of her rejecting his mark. It drove anguish through him, but he understood when her feelings flooded him. She does not trust anyone for some reason. Her wolf sealed off the connection between them before he could find out the full truth of why.

He had not known what she was to him, which is why he dropped her onto the floor, but now, he regrets it. His heart thuds with the hurt filling it and has not stopped since he marked her. He almost feels like a heart attack is imminent, but he knows that it is from the forced marking. He hated himself for causing her to hurt when he knew he needed to have patience and to prepare her for his mark.

His mate’s rejection is more painful than seeing her like that. She was not ready to receive his mark. He should have done more than acted like an arrogant prick to her, but she pushed his temper. Everything about her, from her clothes to her attitude and her resistance towards him had his anger thrumming through him. He wanted her to know who the boss was, and now, she will never believe he would be good to her. It showed as much when she broke her twin bond and declared that she was not going to accept his mark no matter what the pain.

I did warn you, Edge. And now, we face the possibility that the bond will break, too!

I’m sorry, Liken, but even you were angered by her attitude, so don’t put the blame all onto me.

You’re the only one who is feeling sorry for yourself and doing nothing to make things better. We should be soothing our mate, not looking for her out the bedroom window.

Her wolf would not let me help her when she was thrashing on the office floor. Do you think she will now?

Liken knows Edge is right. They must become the predator they are and hunt their mate, but differently. This will be a hunt for her heart and any weaknesses to give them a chance to make it all up to her for what they did. They only have seven days to do this, which is not a lot of time.

Edge sighed heavily right before his children walked into his white-walled bedroom. He knew they were coming to talk to him about what he did to Lucky. It was a conversation he did not want to have with them. He is sure that they will be happy that he has a fated mate, but he is not one hundred percent sure about that. They have been through a lot and still mourn their mothers, who have gone back to the goddess. They may even see it as the goddess’ way of preventing them from becoming alpha. It is him who has prevented them from taking over his pack when he is not sure if they will live to see fifty.

“Father,” Andrew greeted sharply with his right hand clasped around his left wrist while standing by his bed.

The beige covers are neatly made and ready for his weary body to lie down and sleep. Even the pillows were fluffed against the brown headboard looking inviting to sleep on, if his children did not demand attention.

“Dorran, Rick, and I have spoken,” Andrew stated, “and decided that we would like to know why you marked Lucky. We understand that she was disrespectful, but there are other ways to punish her.”

“If you want her as a liaison, then you could have told me, and I would back off,” Rick added with a pout.

“I think what Rick means is that we want you happy,” Dorran explained. “If Lucky Green does that for you, then we will support you, but what you did to her was wrong. You needed to give her a different punishment for her disrespect. She will not trust you or us now, and we were brought here to find out about what happened the night she drank the potion.”

Edge forgot about that in his anger and anguish. Lucky has information regarding the problem in the Blue Crescent Pack. She will not easily give any information, or she will give only part of it when they corner her.

If he had not forcibly marked her, he could have had her in his bed without forcing her will. Then, there is the dresser near it that could have her clothes tucked in it until they leave. Everything in this elegant room could have her touch to it, which drew his sadness to swell more.

“Dad,” Rick scoffed. “Are you going to leave things as they are or are you going to explain to us why you did it?”

“We are here to look for why Lucky was in that temple and drank the potion,” Edge snapped. His son’s disrespect brought back his anger, which made him glare at them. “There is nothing more that you need to know than that.”

“I guess we will talk once everything is done,” Dorran sighed.

“At least tell us what we should call her?” Andrew said. “We are confused about this situation and need to know how to proceed."

Edge wanted to snort at the way his eldest son was acting. He wanted to shake him out of this robotic mode that he goes into whenever he won’t give answers. Still, he taught Andrew to behave like that.

“Lucky,” Edge clipped. “That is her name, isn’t it?”

It should be Luna or stepmother, not her name. They need to give her respect.

“It is her name,” Andrew agreed with a nod, “but you marked her. By rights, she is supposed to be the Luna with your blessing. Are you saying that she is nothing more than a toy for you?”

Edge winced at his blunt words. He did not want anyone to think that way about her, but he knew she would not want to become Luna. Well, she would not want to become it yet. He must sway her to accept his mark, and then she can become Luna.

“She has not accepted the mark,” he pointed out. “For now, it is a bruise with my scent on it. She will be known as Lucky until she accepts it.”

“Good luck on getting her to that point,” Dorran muttered. His father jerked his head towards him with his aura growing menacing as the frown on his face deepened. “What I mean is that she and her wolf have trust issues. We all felt it. She will not be easily persuaded to accept your mark. That is another reason why we are concerned about you.”

Edge would have said something, but he received a mind-link that concerns Lucky. The guard he sent after her when she ran from the office reported about her ongoing. He was mad about leaving without telling him where she was going, but at the same time, he knew it was his fault. It added to the hurt weighing on him when he knew it was the right call to make. He could not forget his duties to the surrounding packs and to his own pack.

He gave instructions to the guard to continue watching her, then he mind-linked another giving him instructions.

“Well, one of our guards is doing his duties unlike you three,” Edge prodded.