The Alpha’s Bald Luna

Mate!

~ MARDEO ~

“And what use could that be?” the princess queried.

“A lab rat.” I supplied.

The slave was appalled. “By the Goddess, what does that even mean?”

His voice was melodic and if I wasn’t looking at a bald headed young male in a masculine attire, I would have sworn it was a female speaking.

He was a pretty boy, no doubt. Off the top of my head, I could count five Shana males he should stay far away from, including the Shanakoi prince. Especially the Shanakoi prince.

“I am experimenting with potions at the laboratory and I need someone to test my samples on. I have heard - and now seen - that you are sickly so you are the perfect match. Who knows, we could find a cure for your illness.”

The bald Alpha looked physically slapped by my response but he boldly stepped forward to face me. A distinct scent hit me but I ignored it to focus on the words that defiantly left his mouth.

“I would NOT be your lab rat.”

I stood squarely and returned his glare, genuinely amused. “It’s a pity you don’t have a say in the matter. I hear you are an Alpha blood so you must be used to your words holding so much power. Not here, not anymore. You are now a slave and it would do you a lot of good to remind yourself of that often.” I advised calmly.

“For someone I’ve never met in my life, you seem to know a lot about me. I don’t even know your name!” he blurted.

“The name is Alpha Mardeo. That is all you need to know for now,” I replied before turning to the princess who still appeared paralyzed by the sight of her unmoving lover, “What do you say, princess? Your slave in exchange for my silence.”

“How long would he be with you?” she asked.

“He won’t be with me. He would only visit the laboratory when I need him to. For as long as it takes to see results.”

“Fine,” she snapped, “How about him?” She pointed to the man on the ground.

"I would give you an update on him tomorrow. You should go back to your chamber before you get caught sneaking around."

“Don’t worry about me getting caught. Worry about keeping him alive!”

I could tell from the way her lips quivered that she was going to say more, probably hurl a couple of vulgarities at me (she had quite the reputation of bringing people to tears with her words) but she held her tongue and stormed away, her slave throwing me one last hateful look before following closely behind.

The wind blew from their direction and I caught the distinct scent again. It was stronger this time. Different from anything I’d ever perceived before. Before I could say a word, Ripper confirmed my fear, “Mate! She is our mate!”

Mate??? The princess of Shanakoi was my fated mate? That was ridiculous!

But it was true. I couldn’t deny the mate scent I had just perceived. And there was no other female around except Princess Orlanda.

Finding your mate is a big deal in the werewolf realm. Any other wolf would have ran after the princess and claimed her. Not me. Not Mardeo Argon. I was more annoyed than excited. For many reasons.

I watched them retreat furtively into the night until they were out of sight. With an angry sigh, I covered myself with my cloak, threw the unconscious man over my shoulder and took the shortest route out of the woods to Warren’s chamber.

A knock. Our coded knock so that we always knew when the other person was at the door.

Warren opened on the second knock, sleepy eyes widening when he saw the man slung on my shoulder.

“What in hell’s fury, Mardeo. What is going on?”

“Well, for the first time, big news is coming from me.”

“We should drink to that next time. What happened?” he asked, shutting the door as I walked in.

“First of all, Princess Orlanda is sane.”

“No way. Not with those blank stares and manic laughter.”

“Well, that was what I thought until a few minutes ago. I went into the woods to let Ripper run and I saw her and the bald Alpha you mentioned. They were sneaking around with this man.” I set the body down on the floor then continued.

“He is Princess Orlanda’s lover and they were attempting to elope.”

Warren peered at the man. “He’s human. That’s some romance story gold for the drama theaters. The princess of a powerful magical kingdom falling in love with a common human slave.”

I offered a small laugh. “I’m sure your love story would be better. Chronic philanderer who hates humans falls in love with… a human girl and now wants no one but her?”

“Not a chance in hell,” Warren spat, “Okay, so this man is the princess’s lover. That still doesn’t explain why he is half dead and in my room.”

“He’s half dead because he tried to hit me. He’s in your room because I need you to resuscitate him.”

I knew Warren would know what to do. He took most of the potion classes with me even though he preferred to spend his time with the Shana warriors, picking up fighting tricks. I had no complaints. A strong Beta was to my benefit.

Warren heaved a tired sigh. “Mardeo, I have-”

“I’m not in the right state of mind to do it myself,” I countered his oncoming objection, “I still have to let Ripper run tonight. And-“

“Warren?” a female voice called out from a part of his chamber I couldn’t place.

I gave him a knowing look. He winked at me. We laughed noiselessly.

“I see you have company but please, take some minutes to nurse that man back to health. I’ll give you the remaining details tomorrow.” I turned to leave but paused. “The bald Alpha... you didn’t lie. He’s just as good looking as he is frail looking.”

“I never lie, Mardeo. Especially not to you. About his good looks, you could use some competition around here.”

I laughed. “Goodnight, Beta Warren.”

“Goodnight, Alpha Mardeo.”

I kept the discovery of the princess being my fated mate to myself. One problem at a time.

The walk back to my chamber seemed shorter than usual; maybe time flies when you are annoyed. It was another full moon night of not letting Ripper run. I was just warming up to shift into my wolf before the interruption of the trio. And now, I was too pissed to continue.

I could expect Ripper to completely ignore me till he got his run, hopefully by the next full moon. Petty wolf; sometimes I wondered how he was even my wolf. We were two different sides of two different coins.

A few minutes after I hung my cloak, I heard a knock on my door. It wasn’t Warren because it wasn’t our coded knock. Who else could be at my door at this ungodly hour?

I tried to ignore the knock. Maybe if whoever it was got tired of knocking, they would find some sense and go away.

Unfortunately, the knocking didn’t stop. If anything, it got more persistent. I mumbled a mouthful of curses as I wore my cloak again and opened the door.

My forehead creased at the sight of Julia. She was one of my mistresses. Actually, the only one I had f*cked in the last few months.

I have never been a fan of having too many females warm my bed especially after I realized they never kept to the only condition I had; NO FEELINGS. It is strictly a s*xual relationship and nothing more. Don’t expect romance and don’t give it.

Julia was pretty much the only female who seemed to play by the rules and so I kept her. Why she was standing in front of my door at past midnight, I would have to find out.

“Alpha Mardeo.” she cooed, looking up at me.

“What do you want, Julia?”

“I want to suck your d*ck.”