Call me Mardeo
1494 Words
~ MARDEO ~
Kelani was late today. We had agreed to meet by noon but he was at least an hour late. As I waited, I scanned the paper that showed the little profile I had of him.
An Alpha blood - I would remember to ask the name of his pack today.
No wolf.
Eighteen years old.
Born sickly.
Those were some of the things on my paper. There were others on my mind.
Blue eyes clearer than the sea.
Zero self protection skills.
A sharp witty tongue.
A suspicious faint scent of the princess on him.
Beyond the experiment, I was curious about Kelani even though he met all my questions with answers that either made me laugh or flare. He seemed like an interesting person and if I was being honest, I could use some company in this perpetually deserted laboratory.
There were other labs in Shanakoi but this was the oldest and, well… oldest-looking. Shanas who were interested in chemistry preferred to use the other labs but this was where Master Syril held his practice and he was the best potioneer in Shanakoi so I chose to practice here too.
I had been learning from him for the past sixteen months and besides the fact that old age had caught up with his hearing, he was an excellent teacher..
I dropped the paper that held Kelani’s profile and picked up another one with details of a research I had just concluded. I was happy to be starting another project as I mostly hated being idle. Just the preparations for Kelani’s experiment these past few days gave me something else to think about aside from my unfortunate mating to Princess Orlanda and I was grateful for that.
I knew I was stalling. As someone whose life motto revolved around courage and ‘doing what needs to be done regardless of how it makes you feel’, I wasn’t abiding by my rules.
I should have visited Orlanda by now. Apologized properly for the death of her lover. Let her know she is my fated mate - explain what the f*ck that is to her if she doesn’t know. Then watch her reaction and hear her thoughts. That would determine what my next line of actions would be.
If she accepted - which I doubt she would, I would mark her. But before that, I would lay down my rules. There weren’t a lot but and if there’s anything I have learnt about arrangements with females on relationship matters, they never kept their part. That is why we would have to sign a contract.
I had no plans to hurt my mate but I had no plans to love her either. It would be a relationship of mutual respect and understanding. I would get a Luna by my side to solidify my image as an Alpha and bear pups who will be my heir. She would get a mate who made sure she lacked nothing… protection, money, orgasms.
With the right mindset, we could build a decent home that didn’t leave our children with trauma. We didn’t need to be in love to achieve that. We just needed to be kind and reasonable.
But Orlanda was anything but kind. Her reputation of being a mean girl was spoken in hush tones around the kingdom. And it takes a lot for even Shanas to consider you mean. That is why many were unsympathetic when the news of her madness broke out.
In many ways, she reminded me of Luna Rivena. I didn’t want a mate like my stepmother. My father would never say it out loud but I saw how miserable he was with Rivena as his Luna. She had him around her fingers and he could not do a f*cking thing about it.
“Alpha Mardeo.” a cool voice greeted greeted from the entrance of the lab..
Again, I could perceive my mate’s scent before I turned to see Kelani. “You’re late.” I noted.
“Sorry.”
“At least, today you don’t look like you’re coming from the farm after a long day of work.” I joked.
“What?”
“The last time you were here, you looked…”
“Oh. That’s because I got a horse ride from a Shana.”
I didn’t understand what that had to do with anything but I didn’t have the will to ask further questions so I dropped it. I noticed he was fidgeting but of course, that was expected. The actual experiment would begin today and I was pretty much still a stranger to him. His life could be in danger for all he knew.
“Alpha Mardeo?” he called.
“You can drop the formalities now. Call me Mardeo. You’re an Alpha too.”
“Not as alpha as you.”
I laughed at that. “Is that a compliment coming from you? I'll remember this day forever.”
He nodded in a way that I thought was too solemn for the joke. “Yes, you will.”
In no time, we began the experiment. I was actually determined to find a cure to Kelani’s sickness. Asides wanting to test the efficacy of my potions, I was proudly an advocate of the werewolf realm and a weak Alpha? That is something that should be unheard of. An oxymoron.
The first step was to test for allergies. I handed him a few labeled containers of the major ingredients we would be working with and a paper that already had the names of each ingredient.
“You will ingest each of these twenty minutes apart and record how you feel on this paper. If you feel any discomfort, let me know immediately. Understand?”
“Yes, I understand.” he muttered. He still seemed very uneasy.
“Relax. You’re in safe hands.” I said to him.
“I’m relaxed.”
“If this is how you look when relaxed, I’d hate to see you when you aren’t.”
He let out a deep breath he had been holding.
While Kelani carried out his allergy tests, I attended to my other duties around the lab. Checking off hypotheses and registering facts. Confirming that the lab animals were well fed. Trying to finish a book on the composition of wolfsbane.
“You like to read.” Kelani commented. He was watching me from his stool on the opposite aisle of the lab.
“No, I don’t.“ I replied.
“But you’ve been reading both times I’ve been here.” he insisted.
“I like chemistry. Love it actually. And the things I want to know about chemistry, well they happen to be hidden in books. So I read. I would very much prefer it if someone would read to me.”
“That means you’re an auditory learner. You learn-“
“Stop trying to study me, Kelani.” I interrupted before he could ‘diagnose’ me further. I could tell he had been trying to demystify me since the first day. Everybody tried. And failed.
Just then, I received a mindlink from Warren. “I’m at Lady Ambery’s. She’s invited us to lunch. Asked me to pass the message to you. Coming?”
“What bachelor in his right mind says no to food?” I mindlinked right back.
He laughed.
I looked at Kelani. He had spent hours here and those ingredients were guaranteed to leave him hungry. “Can I bring an extra person?” I asked Warren.
“You can bring the entire kingdom. It’s a feast over here. See you soon.” he answered and closed the mindlink.
Besides Warren and I, Lady Ambery was the only other werewolf in Shanakoi who wasn’t a slave. She was the head librarian of Shanakoi’s central library, a position she had inherited from her husband, a Shana lord, after his death. Our friendship started from my constant visits to the library to borrow books on chemistry and alchemy.
She was always cheerful and ready to help. We bonded over werewolf realm politics, chemistry, leadership discourse - she knew a little about everything. Lady Ambery didn’t know it but she was like the mother I never had, proven by her constant desire to stuff me with food. Like now.
“Feeling hungry? I’ve been invited for lunch and can bring a plus-one.” I said to Kelani who was now popping what I guessed was the last ingredient into his mouth. No allergies so far. Good.
His face lit up immediately. “Wow! Yes of course, I’d love it. I mean, I’m famished.” he rambled on with a smile.
My eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You’re being well fed at the palace, right?
He seemed to collect himself quickly. “Yes. Actually, very well.”
I didn’t believe him. Princess Orlanda was definitely starving him. Why else would he be so happy at the mention of food?
- Writer
