The Alpha's Forgotten Mate

23. Reeks Of You

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Hope gagged and coughed as the golden cup slipped out of her grasp. She wretched, Rowan holding on to her as Maria poured lemonade she had prepared in advance into the Luna's mouth.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad!" Orion, a wizard from the west side of the Northern Mountains, exclaimed.

Hope looked up at him, her eyes red and watery. She looked at the coffee table separating them and the vase sitting on it flew into the air, smacking him in his face.

Rowan groaned as he gathered his mate into his lap, taking the lemonade from Maria's hand and feeding it to her, patting her back with his free hand.

"Well, it didn't work fucker!" He glared at his best friend.

"Hey, it's not my fault your mate is weird!" He threw his hands up in the air, surrendering. "I swear, there is no concoction in the world that would affect her. It's not because I am incompetent."

"It's impossible to bind boundless magic." Hope clutched her head, the bitterness of the potion making her nerves throb. "That's what my mother used to say."

"Well, we wouldn't be in this position if you had used it wisely." Orion stuck his tongue out at her like the manchild he was, and Hope didn't waste time to retaliate.

"Maria, help me to my room." She reached out to her friend, who eagerly took her hand helping her to her feet.

"I will get you some nice tea." She murmured as they walked away.

Orion shook his head to himself and sat back down, cracking his knuckles. He sighed when he became increasingly aware of the cold set of eyes on him, drilling a hole into his head.

He looked up at the pitch-black eyes of his best friend. He was not kidding around.

"I tried," Orion said, his voice genuine. "I have been trying for the past four years, Ro. You know that. It is just impossible to make anything that works. It's impossible to bind her powers."

"How hard can it be, Orion? She does not even have a wolf." Rowan glowered at him.

"She has a wolf." Orion rolled his eyes, repeating the same thing for the umpteenth time. "It is just AWOL."

"Then she should be controlled before it comes back." Rowan gritted his teeth, thinking back to the horror that her wolf was. The killer it was.

"Do you remember how many lives you have taken?"

"Yes."

"How many?"

"Three hundred and thirty-eight. The first being my own mother."

Three hundred and thirty-eight. She had taken the lives of three hundred and thirty-eight lives as her bloodthirsty wolf.

And another fourteen.

Those fourteen were not directly killed by her, but they were the ones who tried to assassinate her, and then went crazy and killed themselves.

Rowan and everyone else believed that Hope had something to do with it, but she denied it.

And he believed it - as much as he hated himself for it - because he did not think the numbers made a difference to her. She did not care about the lives she had taken, not even her own mother's.

That was the reminder that he needed. That was his reminder of what a monster his mate was.

"I need to secure the pack before I leave for war." Rowan ran a hand through his hair, pulling at it. "I don't know what to do."

"I don't think you need to worry," Orion said, understanding his friend's position. "Hope is a sweetheart despite her past and the people who work here adore her. It will be fine. And it's not like the war is going to last long. As if these dumb humans would stand a chance against werewolves. You will be back before you know it."

"No." Rowan shook his head. "It's not about the pack members who work here. It's about the rest. They are not trapped by her pretense. They worry about the safety of their home in my absence. They are worried that Thorn's wolf would reemerge as soon as I leave, and pick up where she had left off."

Orion smiled at the nickname he had for his mate, but that was not the point here.

Rowan was in a quandary.

Orion knew that even though Rowan would never want to admit it, he wanted to make sure that his pack remained safe while ensuring not just Hope's safety as well, but also her happiness. He could not lock her up in the dungeons or in the mountains. He cared for her well-being.

It was one thing if her wolf reappeared, but if not she was simply a spoilt little brat who indulged herself in romantic comedies and Taylor Swift songs. He could not make her suffer.

And for that, he hated himself yet again. He hated that he cared so fervently for her despite their bumpy history, despite the physical and emotional pain she had inflicted on him and felt no remorse about.

"Maybe take her away from the magical species." Orion put forth the best idea he could come up with. "I would have said werewolves because that's the species that hate her. But for everyone's safety, take her away from all things magical."

"And what if she shifts in the human territory?" Rowan asked. He was considering the idea but he could not just put innocent lives at risk for the sake of his pack.

"Well, she has only werewolves till death." Orion shrugged. "It's werewolves she has beef with, so maybe she would not hurt them puny creatures?"

"I can't risk everything on a maybe." Rowan sighed, shaking his head. "I need to find some other way."

"There's no stopping her if she does shift, Ro." Orion said, accepting the truth to himself and wanting Rowan to do the same. "The only thing you can do is lower the apprehension of your pack members, and for that, you will have to take her somewhere."

"He's right."

The duo turned back to the doorway. Hope stood there, leaning against the frame.

"Thorn, how long have you been standing there?"

"I promise you. I won't kill a soul while you are away so chill."

She sent shivers up his spine with those words, but he had to take a moment to weigh those words. Was this her ploy? How long had she been planning this?

Anything was possible.

She might look like a dainty little thing but she was the plague. She could do anything, just about anything.

"And I can do all that just fine with you here, Rowan." Hope shrugged, taking a seat beside him. "But I promise to not do anything. I am over that phase."

Rowan huffed. The lives she took - she saw it as nothing but a bad phase. She did not care about the lives that were lost because of her.

She really was a demon.

"Be a little more empathetic, Hope." Orion said.

Rowan gave him a look. It was clear that he wasn't too affected by all the deaths either. After all, he was a wizard and as long as it did not affect the wizarding community, he couldn't care less.

In fact, the real reason that he had chosen to help out in the first place was because he was worried that if Hope started using her witch powers to kill then it could cause problems in the harmony between the werewolf and wizarding communities.

Everyone had their own selfish reasons for doing what they did.

But Hope was a psychopath when it came to it because she did all of what she did because, "It seemed like a cool idea at that point."

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to put it that way." Hope said in her sweetest voice.

'But you meant exactly that.' Rowan thought bitterly.

If she had shown any remorse, even the tiniest bit, then he would have been able to justify the soft spot he had for her. But she didn't. She did not care.

But what was the use? At the end of the day, she was going to go back to being the sweet, saccharine version of herself who had everyone wrapped around her finger.

And in his losing fight, he would forget about the things she would say and only remember about her obvious sweetness and poise.

It really was a curse to have her as a mate.

"So..." Rowan sighed. "The only thing I can do is reassure the pack and the only way I can do it is by having her moved to somewhere else."

Orion nodded.

Hope watched her mate, waiting for his decision. She really did not care where she went as long as she got to live her royal life and not kill random people. She was okay with just about everything.

"Then so be it."

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"You used to live here?" Hope asked as soon as Rowan opened the door to the apartment.

It was in a small town in the human territory, four hours from the pack border.

He arranged her a tinted van to travel in, but she knew the road back to the pack just fine. And she was sure that Rowan kenw that too. He was just making sure that the pack members believed that their Alpha really was doing all in his power to keep them safe.

He had been keeping them in the dark for all these years.

He really had them convinced that Hope could not hurt them as long as the Alpha was around, and that it was the mate bond that bound the murderous wolf inside her. No one even knew the fact that she was a half witch.

And those who knew were too smitten with her to leak it out to the rest of the pack.

"I come here at times." He said. To get away from my overwhelming feelings towards you. He swallowed that part.

"You visit more frequently than 'at times'." Hope laughed, again that melodious laughter than would prick at his heart. "This place reeks of you."

"Reeks?" He raised a brow.

She looked over at him, biting her bottom lip to not laugh at the childish annoyance in his face.

"I do not mean it in a bad sense. I just could not find a better word for smell strongly." She shrugged.

Rowan was not convinced. No matter how small the matter may be, he always doubted her. He never gave her any grace. She was always in his radar of skepticism.

"Whatever." He breathed out as he heard the two heavy sets of footsteps approaching them.

He turned and smiled solemnly at the two of the best new warriors that he had handpicked to protect - keep an eye on - the Luna.

"Meet the warriors who will be with you during your stay." He gestured to them.

Hope turned around, her sky blues falling on two men who looked no older than twenty. One was tan with the blondest hair she had ever seen and the other had skin the color of chocolate and hair the color of midnight.

"Boys." She flashed them that smile, that blinding smile of a siren that the Alpha had warned them against. But no warning could ever prepare them for this and they fell face first just like the many who had met her. Much to Rowan's chagrin.

"Here we go again." He breathed out, annoyance evident in his voice.

Hope turned to him, her eyes twinkling. "One would think you would have gotten used to it by now." She winked.

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