The Mate Inside

Chapter Two

As I raised my head slowly to witness the gigantic wolf standing before me, my eyes almost fell off the socket. It was huge, way bigger than any wolf I had seen in my entire life. Even my father's wolf who was considered the oldest and strongest amongst other alphas would have seemed like a pup in front of it. Its head alone was equal to the size of my torso, or maybe even bigger than that. It's fur, the only way I could describe it was by comparing it with the darkness of a moonless night. Despite being so huge in size, the wolf's spotless black fur was doing a great job at making its presence merge with its dark surroundings.

This was no ordinary wolf. This was a perfect predator carved and aided by nature itself, and the predator was directly at me. Its appearance had intimidated me such that I was scared of looking into his eyes.

'Father must have sensed by now that a wolf of some unknown origin has crossed the border. I just need to keep myself safe until the pack warriors arrive.'

Gulping inaudibly, I straightened my slumped figure as I crouched on the ground, trying to slowly get away from the wolf.

Contrary to its look, the wolf's stance didn't look menacing at all. From the moment I had noticed it, it hadn't changed its position. It was standing still on all fours with its head tilted to one side as its golden eyes continued observing me quietly.

'Wait, golden eyes? Isn't that a king's trait?'

"Yes, they are."

'Oh, my God.'

I almost jumped out of my skin as the deep voice that had called out to me before once again echoed in my head.

'W–Who?'

My brain had shut down for a good few minutes after spotting that large wolf but as I slowly came back to my senses and started paying more attention to my environment, I realised a few things; there was no one else in that area except for us two which meant which meant that there was a good chance that the voice in my head belonged to the wolf standing in front of me. Moreover, it had golden eyes, the king's trait, which probably made it easier for it to talk to me as kings had the ability to mind-link any wolf that came under their rule.

'Is it you? Are you speaking into my head?'

I tried my best to keep my voice from trembling as I directed this question to this black wolf while staring wide-eyed at him.

"Yes I am."

Hearing his voice, I jumped again unable to hold in my surprise. This feeling was foreign to me. I had never shifted, therefore I wasn't able to form a mind-link with the rest of my packet. Surprisingly, this golden eyed crest holder was able to talk inside my head without any problems.

'Maybe, this is a king's trait too?'

'But how is that even possible? We don't share a mind-link.'

"Every wolf in this kingdom shares a mind-link with me."

'As expected, he's a crest holder.'

I was already expecting this answer yet the realisation of being in a king's presence was so overwhelming that I almost forgot the lake behold me. As I backed up in surprise, my foot landed on a wet stone, making me stumble. Seeing this, the wolf started running towards me, making me panic even more. In my haste of getting away from the wolf, I ended up losing my balance completely.

Time slowed down as I felt the cold water touching my legs before I felt myself tumbling backwards. Sensing this, I squinched my eyes closed, in mental preparation for the painful impact of the pebbles in the freezing lake but it never came. Instead, my fall was broken by something warm wrapping in between my back and the small stones.

As I stabilised myself a bit, I tilted my head backwards only to find the wolf cushioning my body in the lake.

'The wolf....it helped me.'

"He, not it."

Hearing him speak again in my head, I flipped my body to meet his golden eyes. They were only an inch away from my face now. Surprisingly, I wasn't scared of him up close.The close contact had actually put my heart to ease.

We were both in the middle of the lake; I was on my knees, my legs and the hem of my white dress drenched in water, whilst the wolf appearing unaffected by the cold had only gotten its paws wet.

Suddenly, I was reminded of the legend about this lake's water; soaking in this water with your mate strengthened your bond for life.

'What am I even thinking?'

Shaking the thought off I asked him, "Who are you, crest holder?"

"Erebus."

His golden eyes, his huge body, and the name I had seen in every history book I had read since I was born, made it easier for me to put two and two together.

'King Erebus?'

"Yes."

'So, he's not a new candidate.'

'My king.'

Bowing my head down, I went on to show him my neck as a sign of submission.

"It seems Alpha Adrian has raised you well."

Hearing my father's name, I flinched unknowingly.

'How does he know about my father? Does being a king mean you know everything about every pack member?'

"Relax."

My chains of thought broke as Erebus nudged my chin with his nose.

'Huh?'

"I couldn't use my paws on your face."

Nudging another wolf with your head was considered a playful act and he was giving an explanation for why he did that.

I was still peering into his mesmerising golden eyes. They remained impassive, but their intimidation on me was long gone. It was an indescribable emotion, like how you meet a stranger but the moment you start talking to them, it feels like you've known them for a lifetime.

'What's the purpose of my king's visit? Have you come to visit my father? Is he aware that you've arrived?"

"I'm here because of you. You woke me up."

'What?'

The air around had somehow turned more serious than before.

"I haven't come to meet your father. I live inside you, Starr. My soul has resided in you for years."

'I-I don't get what you're saying."

With a frown on my face, I was staring hard at him as I stumbled to find the right words.

"You weren't breathing at the time of your birth. At the same moment, I was losing consciousness, going into what you can refer to as hibernation to recuperate from the toll the war had taken on my body. Leaving this kingdom without a functioning king right after the battle wasn't safe, so I decided on transferring the king's crest to you. I guess something wrong happened considering how instead of the crest, a part of my soul shifted to you."

By the end of hearing his speech in my head, I had slumped back in the water, knee deep.

'I don't get you.'

Denial was my first reaction after comprehending his words.

"Then I'll make you understand me."

As he said this in my head, the wolf stood up to his full height before bringing its head down near my chest. The moment his muzzle touched my chest, I felt a warm feeling spreading inside my chest. Before I could even bat an eyelash the wolf had disappeared from my view.

'Huh...'

A surprise sound escaped my lips as I watched the enormous wolf disappear into the thin air.

'King Erebus!' Where did you go?'

I was looking around as I called out to him in the empty forest.

"Inside you."

I didn't want to accept it but it was undeniably true, whatever that wolf had told me. It was scary how in a blink of an eye, my world had turned upside down.

'Come out.'

The burning pain in my chest I had come to hate returned the moment I said those words. It was followed by painful heaving for a minute or two before my back arched before I felt something clawing its way out of my chest.

If I had blinked for even one second, I'd have missed the moment when a burst of light came out of my chest taking all the pains away with it. Next thing I saw, a humongous black wolf was towering over me proudly.

"Don't make a habit of it. I'm not strong enough to gain a perceptible form at will. For now, I can only materialise before you on full moons."

He was saying this in my head as well yet somewhere he felt closer to me than before. Swallowing nervously, I reached out my hand to him.

As my hand touched the side of his wolf's head, tingles erupted on my palm reaching all the way up to my neck.

'Why do I feel this pull towards you?'

"It's because we share souls just as mates do."

'Are you my mate then?'

What I heard next made my blood run cold.

"A king can never have a mate, Starr."