Lycan's unexpected mate

Early training

Atalanta

I wake up in the room which has been given to me. I open my eyes and I am greeted with the smell of a rogue and the distinct pine smell. David's smell. He claimed that yesterday was his night guard duty and he didn't need his room. Well, I only hope that he didn't need to sleep outside. Last night was very cold because the window is all misted and I can sense the moisture. And it doesn't solve the problem for tonight, either. He can't claim to have two night duties in a row.

'Good morning, Diana,' I greet my Lycan and stretch lazily. It's early morning and the sky is still fiery red at the horizon. I get up and go to the bathroom. I go through my quick morning routine and get changed into my running clothes. I put on a sweatshirt, too, place my phone into a pocket and set off for a short jog. I silently tiptoe down the stairs and out of the building so that I don't wake anyone up. The scent-covering potion stopped working completely after less than three hours and it was David who let me know. Then I masked my scent the normal way with Diana's help, claiming that Daniel has given me another vial. David warned me not to take it anymore unless I was meeting others. I guess there are side effects if taken too often.

Then Carson woke up, ate and told me some more details about his group and the layout of this place. I let him talk and listened intently. Then I persuaded the two men to take a photo with me on my phone. I have no idea how I did that, but I have several pictures of the three of us and one with Carson only which was taken by David. Obviously, it wasn't repeated the other way round due to Carson's foot which still negatively impacted his balance when stepped on. And my Mum received a message with their face and first names, just as I had promised.

I trot off to the outskirts of the settlement. Yesterday after dinner with everyone, I noticed a nice secluded area to the east and I hope that I can exercise a little before the people wake up. I mean, my father has taught me a few difficult defensive and offensive moves with pirouettes and changing into my Lycan form and I struggle with the timing. But I don't give up because I know how important it is to stay safe and repeat the known and the new tactics.

However, to my surprise, I hear voices and action coming from the direction where I'm heading. I cover my scent again and proceed carefully. I reach the meadow and see many people from Carson's group, training how to defend themselves in hand-to-hand combat. There are both men and women; I can see werewolves who are often paired with sorcerers. At the front, there are Carson, David, Daniel and Mia. Having Amelia here surely means that some vampires are also training here and I do find them close to the hillside where the foursome is showing the moves from different angles. I observe the training and notice that there are some professional fighters, some amateur ones but also complete beginners and they are helping one another. A young sorceress loses her footing and falls on a werewolf from a different couple. He steadies them both and exchanges her with his own partner. Then he encourages her to try again and watches her carefully. Sometime in the middle of the move, he stops her with a hand on her shoulder and helps her turn a little more so that she doesn't tangle her legs in the following part. The joy of achievement is radiating from her smiling face. The man pats her back and suggests trying once more. She nods and gets to it and, although the end is still a little sloppy, she doesn't lose her footing.

I am too caught-up in the image that I don't notice the change in training immediately - the pairs have turned to one another and crouched into battle stances. I can hear Carson say: "Try to use the new moves. And pay attention to where you aim. We don't want to confine anyone in the hospital!"

The crowd bursts into a short laugh and then they begin to circle each other. Suddenly, two hands circle me around my middle. I act on impulse and choose the easiest way out while hiding who I am and what training I have - I relax my muscles, slip out of the hold enough to put my right foot behind my attacker and trip them easily without much force. I hold my ground and look at the person. To my surprise, it's only Mia. "Damn, I didn't mean to hurt you; I just wanted to give you a friendly hug," she complains to me as she carefully tries to get up. "And my ass hurts now," she adds.

I offer her my hand and help her up. "Sorry, it's just a reflex," I tell her with a shrug. Then I look at the training again and comment: "They're practising quite advanced moves."

Mia follows my gaze and says absentmindedly: "Well, it's the one thing to help us survive. See that man with a small redhead over there?" She points to the couple that I watched a while ago. "That's Jerry. He's a professional fighter and he has even had a career in the human world. He helps us master these moves."

I nod in understanding. He has held himself differently than others and now I know why. Then a thought comes to my mind. "Are you Carson's Vampire second-in-command?"

She barks out in laughter and looks at me as if I have just said the most ridiculous joke in the world. "No way in hell and heaven," she answers seriously. "Sometimes, I'm helping out Carson, but I would never take it upon myself to be the Servus. But Amy is away on a big patrol so I'm her substitute. Something like the Second Servus only that we don't have such a position here."

I inhale understandingly and continue observing the sparring. The better partner in the pairs always encourages the other and supports them. I can hear the closest man tell his young male partner: "Don't be afraid. I know I can well be your father but we won't hurt each other."

The young boy nods shyly and whispers almost breathlessly: "Let's . . . Let's try it then."

They trade a few blows and hits but the boy lacks strength. I wish I could help him because in a real fight, he would be among the first the die. Ha, and then someone can say that these people are impossibly bad criminals. A trained pack would butcher half of them!

I can also see two women seriously using all the moves, frowning at one another. I can't help but feel drawn to them, the fire in their movement. I enter the clearing and everyone looks at me. Many of them can recognise me so they only nod in my direction and resume their fights. Suddenly I can feel a body close to my back and I can say that it isn't Amelia. I tense slightly but keep my face straight. The person doesn't have any scent on them so they are probably a sorcerer or another vampire.

However, their surprised voice discloses their identity immediately. "Tali?"

I turn my head and smile at him kindly. "Good morning, Carson."

Carson bites his upper lip and looks to the ground rather than meeting my eyes. "I thought you'd still be asleep. We train early."

"You know where I come from. I do, too," I say with a shrug and look all around us.

"But you're a guest," Carson argues. "I thought you would want to do something . . . fun."

I lift my brow. "What if I consider this fun?"

Carson inhales and probably contemplates his response. His eyes cloud over when Zeus reaches out for him, and then they clear. "OK then," he relents. "I'll take you to a nice place where we can practise without all the other people. But we should have breakfast first."

I shake my head. "No need unless you are hungry." Carson turns his head no and I decide to contact David. "Hi, David, it's Atalanta. Can you do me a favour?" I mindlink him.

His voice in my head sounds astonished. "Ye-yes, Atalanta. What do you need?"

"Carson is taking me outside. Could you bring us some breakfast at his favourite place, please? I'll make it up to you," I promise.

"Uh . . . Fine. I . . . will," he says uncertainly. "But be careful, I have no idea what the trail looks like now."

"We will. Thanks for the reminder," I say and cut the mindlink. Then I blink and look at Carson who's frowning. "I've taken care of our food. Now, lead the way."

Carson gives me a small smile and shoves me gently. "You really are a born leader," he tells me and I detect hints of sadness in his voice.

I don't know what's wrong but I feel unhappy, too. I hide it from my features and start to bounce impatiently on my feet as if expecting the biggest and nicest gift. It distracts Carson from his black thoughts as he chuckles and motions for me to set off. I look around and realise that the training has finished and everyone is about to leave. I lag behind somewhat due to that so Carson walks to me and takes my hand. His simple touch is electrifying. He zaps me or I zap him, I don't know, with quite strong static electricity and both of us apologise at the same time. Then we grin and an idea strikes me. I prepare my hand as if to grab him again. Carson's eyes widen and he starts backing from me. I rub my hand over my sweatshirt meaningfully while he turns his head. "You wouldn't," he tells me worriedly.

"Try me," I laugh back and start extending my arm at him.

He turns and tries to escape me in the forest. I give him a head start, let him weave through the trees but I never lose him from my sight because his lack of smell doesn't allow me to track him normally. But he's silent and very agile. What's more, he has the benefit of a known terrain. Suddenly, he disappears behind a tree and I lose sight of him. I slow down my running and look everywhere around me. However, there is no trace of Carson, no hole in which he could have fallen. I let my senses detect all the sounds but I also subconsciously let my scent surround me . . .

It doesn't take long. There's something different about ten meters to my 8 hours. The change of rhythm in a steady heartbeat. A stronger intake of breath with a sniff. My heart starts racing and I hope it's Carson. I carefully inch closer in that direction, using all my muscles not to make any sound. The heartbeat intensifies the closer I get to it. I smile in triumph as I round a tree trunk, only to end up empty-handed. I frown but then someone tackles me to the ground and we start rolling in the leaves and needles. During that, I manage to turn so I look at Carson's face as we play, turning, tossing, holding one another down. We stop our movements with me beneath Carson as we both try to catch our breaths. Carson's holding my arms on the ground and he's gently sitting on my thighs. Once he realises that, he changes his position into kneeling but he doesn't release my arms and I don't want to throw him off just yet. I wiggle my hips between Carson's legs and he growls a little.

"Oh, don't you dare growl at me," I tell him playfully. I move some more and touch something semi-hard with my thigh. It grows harder with my touch and I stop moving immediately. My question from our last meeting pops into my mind again: But you don't feel any s****l desire for me, do you? Well, if I recall it correctly, he didn't answer me because he was helping David. And I only assumed that he would say no. I look into his eyes and flushed face. He's breathing deeply and his pupils are slightly dilated. I can't help but marvel at his features. And then I allow myself to imagine spending more time with him as I know how difficult my future is going to be according to the Moon Goddess. He could help me when I am down and when, once, I get rejected.

I blink several times and notice that Carson's face is hovering closer to mine. I smile and say: "I'm fine, just breathless."

Carson shakes his head and moves away. I immediately miss his closeness. If I didn't know better, I would say that he is my Mate. I swallow uneasily and sigh. Everything would be much easier if he were the One. And, unluckily, I feel like this more and more intensely.

"I'm sorry," I apologise although I don't really know what I'm sorry for.

Carson gets up and offers me his hand to help me get up. I grasp it and feel gentle tingling as I pull myself to the standing position. He holds my hand and admits: "You have nothing to be sorry about. It was all my fault." He looks at my feet, then at my face again. "I'll make it up to you," he swears.

I look at our crumpled and dirty clothes and say jokingly: "If you want to take me somewhere nice, we should get changed first."

He blinks at me and frowns in thought. His eyes cloud over but clear up in a second. Then he suggests: "I know a close place with a magnificent view. We can't exactly spar there as we have agreed but it's nice and I go there often." He swallows timidly and asks: "Would you like to go there with me?"

My lips form a genuine smile as I look him in the eyes. "I'd love to."

Carson breaks the contact and turns his back to me. And then the most bizarre thing happens - he starts to undress. I take a few breaths during which he takes off almost everything and folds it hastily, before I carefully wonder: "Should I follow suit?" Surely he doesn't mean anything inappropriate and asking can't hurt in the situation.

He turns at me with only his boxers on. He notices my shocked expression, then he looks at the goosebumps appearing all over his body. "Not at all. It's just more easily accessible with Zeus."

My lips form an O as I realise what's going on. Carson is going to change into his werewolf form and I'm probably going to ride on him because I can't show him Diana.

Carson sheds the last piece of his clothing and asks: "Can you fold it and keep it on you?" When I give him an incomprehensive look, he turns to face me and explains: "I won't force you to show Diana so I will be your ride today." I nod giddily at the idea, feeling lightheaded. I love this prospect because I haven't ridden on a wolf or a Lycan for years! The last time was my father's gift for my fiftieth birthday and he claimed that it would be the last time for a very long time. But he has never told me when the next time will be.

Anyway, with all my willpower, I manage to keep looking at Carson's face and chest all the time although I have an urge to glimpse downwards to check if what I felt is still there. Carson notices my unease, looks down and covers himself with his underwear. I follow his move but I am too late to see anything. He coughs and blushes when he demands: "Have you already sat on a wolf before?"

I bite my lower lip and shake my head no. There's no need to explain my past because it would only lead to more questions. "Not that I can remember," I answer simply as I foolishly hope he won't call me out on my lie.

Carson grins at me. "So it's going to be a first time for both of us," he teases me. "You will be able to understand me in my wolf form, won't you?" he verifies a piece of information with me.

"Of course. I will mindlink you," I agree with him.

"Good," Carson says with an elated grin and throws his underwear to the pile of his other clothes. And then he shifts. In only a few seconds, the black-haired handsome man morphs into a white wolf brighter than the first snow. This colour isn't normal in our species because he isn't a real albino. Plus, he keeps his brown eyes, the gates to his soul. I stare at him. His fur looks very soft and I outstretch my hand to touch it. It's so silky and smooth! I don't mind the static electricity; in fact, after the huge zap in the training, I have decided to associate this phenomenon with Carson and the bond between us. Just like being able to feel when we are in distress.

I caress Zeus, push my face into his fur and inhale deeply, trying to catch his scent. The only smell I can capture is a faint smell of mint. I shake my head with an incredulous expression that no-one can see because I'm in the hairs. Zeus nudges me with his snout and I can see a question in his eyes. I hug his big head and open the mindlink so that we can communicate.