Mated In The Shadows

Chapter Four

Seth Pov

"Mate!" my wolf growled.

Rage.

The emotion I tried to bury years ago came gushing forth like a spring, and all I wanted was to tear the man responsible for causing her pain.

No. He wasn't just any man, for he was the stepbrother I failed to kill years ago.

Damn.

The bruises on her skin could only mean one thing: a lot had happened before my arrival.

Shit!

Two weeks ago.

Yes. Exactly two weeks ago, it was when my wolf came screaming after being dormant for five years. Thanks to the bite I sustained during the battle with Blue moon park, the very park I had tried to exterminate.

There were exactly two things I loved the most. One was to eliminate the werewolves I considered to be hybrids. And the second would be to rescue my mate—my present assignment. My experience on the battlefield told me hybrids were a threat to other werewolves. The same species had made my wolf dormant for five years.

For five years, I could only hang out in clubs and fool around the park as my wolf laid dormant. But during that time, I also figured out a way to deal with hybrid threats.

Decapitate the werewolves that couldn't shift once they turned seventeen. This, I figured, would be the only way to put an end to these cursed species of creatures.

But the Moon goddess had smiled at me. And now, my wolf is back. There were now better things to worry about. And my mate, I could not but search for the lady I had waited for years to see. And the search led me to nowhere but Snow moon park, the good-for-nothing park that was next on my list to take over.

I had no difficulty in arranging the marriage. For the present, I once sent to Alpha Greenwood did better to convince him not to mess with me.

All that was needed was her signature, for mine was already appended on the white piece of paper. And I arrived at Snow moon park thirty minutes ago not only to retrieve the paper but to leave with my mate.

Ten minutes.

That was all I had to complete my assignment, and by my stopwatch, I was already behind time. The park was a little bit difficult to navigate. I missed a few turns but finally arrived at a spacious room I figured to be an office.

The desk was in ruins.

Wrong place.

But the blond-haired lady made it more wrong when she said, "You must be the worthless man who married my worthless sister."

Again, Rage.

My wolf snarled. It'd been five years since Mika had done that to anybody, but he was glad to have found his mate, whom he perceived to be in danger.

If only the blond-haired lady knew who she was talking to.

I turned and left to stop my claws from wrapping her apart. I stumbled upon the Alpha, who could not but waste my time with how glad he was to finally have the union.

But I wanted nothing to do with whatever he had to say.

Danger!

That was all Mika could say, and I dashed towards an ill-lit alley where I saw a door.

A loud scream echoed.

Fuck

My right foot shattered the door into pieces. And there she was, my mate, lying face down and screaming the whole time. Mika flared and almost jumped out, but I managed to calm him down.

"Touch her again, and your hand will never touch anything for the rest of your lives!"

Were those my thoughts?

No.

But it took but a few seconds to figure out that those were nothing but the words of RAGE. My mate was lying helplessly on the floor. But what annoyed me the most was the man causing her pain.

"How dare you say that to me," he barked.

Wrong words. In fact, the wrongest words he could ever say. Maybe he forgot he was breathing by my mercy.

I dashed forward and the next swing of the belt fell on my back.

His biggest mistake of all.

But I was a man of my word, and I confirmed it when I broke his wrist. Mika sighed at the cracking sound of the bone. But the sigh gave way when his eyes met the swollen spots on her pale skin.

The bruises couldn't stop her impeccable beauty, and I wondered how bad her life must have been. Such beauty didn't deserve this, especially from a man who continued to scream.

"You broke your arm!" He screamed. The pain coursing down his body gave some relief.

Did I just say relief?

Glad is the word; for in spite of the fact that I couldn't kill him because he was a brother—No. Not a brother but a stepbrother—I have at least caused him pain. But he didn't deserve to be breathing.

I steadied her to a seat. The blue gown hanging on her body had been torn. Her hair, though dark and dangling behind her back, looked battered.

Where the hell have you been? Mika exclaimed when she saw a black strip on her neck.

I dashed towards my stepbrother, and he bled profusely after landing a few punches to his nose. The Alpha came begging, but Mika would not forgive the man that had caused pain to his mate.

"Where is the paper?" I growled.

Feeling sick at the sight of my mate in such a battered state, I could not but want to leave. The Alpha scrambled into his pocket and handed the paper with some trembling hands. He should be glad; for had I not found my mate in his park, he would not have lived to tell the story.

I couldn't change into a wolf, so the running took more time than expected. And soon, I arrived at the park I ruled over. Memories of my father came flooding my mind when I passed by his grave that sat just after the main gates.

Such a good man, and above all, a good alpha.

"Welcome Alpha!" Iris, the beta, greeted him. But my eyes were fixed on another lady being pulled by her hair. She screamed, but Tobias and Justin would not hear of that until she reached the spot.

Yes. The spot, I called it. Not just any spot but where the wolfless got beheaded.

"Take her upstairs. And be careful, she is badly injured." I turned my attention after Iris made her way to my chambers.

The crowd parted and soon, one of the ladies I had suspected came into sight.

"Alpha, she is one of them," Tobias declared.

"Alpha! Alpha! Alpha!"

The crowd cheered when I held the decapitated head in the air.

*****

The least I wanted was to scare her. She had been through a lot and the horrible scene she saw confirmed the stories she had heard about the monster I was.

Escape.

That was what she did three days ago. But Iris had found her, and I was left to convince her that she misunderstood the whole thing.

But how could she have misunderstood when she clearly saw me holding a decapitated head.

Damn Iris.

"Murderer! You killed her, she cried.

Yes. I was a murderer who killed the wolfless. I could not allow more hybrids to roam around freely, not after they almost killed Mika with their bite.

But I was not about to drop my uncensored thoughts in front of her.

"You have to listen. They are dangerous, very dangerous. The wolfless are creatures who cannot undergo basic werewolf transformation at seventeen, for they are nothing but hybrids," I explained.

The look on her face told me my words didn't make any sense.

Confused?

Indeed, she was. But I had to explain to earn her trust.

I found a seat beside her.

"You've heard of hybrids?" I asked. But I couldn't tell her that the same species had made my wolf inactive for the past five years.

"No!" she blurted. Her voice could not be more confused with my words.

I sighed. I needed to assure her that she was safe. No harm would befall her; that I had vowed the very day I saw her.

She was my mate, but I was not ready to put myself in a vulnerable position. Besides, Sonia, the woman I fell in love with, knows so much about White-Moon park—my park.

"Look, there is so much you don't understand. But I hope to explain everything tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow?" she blurted.

"It's a full moon," I replied.

Full-moon! The only time werewolves could transform into their beast form.

Did I just say beast?

Yes. And no substitute for the word.

I paced back and forth in the spacious room. I could feel the connection. Mika wanted to take her raw each time she was present

You have to tell her! Mika screamed in my head.

Mika, my wolf, could be crazy; for all he wanted was to have his mate, not minding I could lose the position of Alpha.

I contemplated it for a while.

But no. That would endanger our position, so I kept Mika calm.

Gazing at her green eyes, I said, "At full-moon, everybody, except the wolfless whom I considered the hybrids, would transform. And that's the reason I killed the wolfless, because they can be unstoppable if left to live."

"What!" she exclaimed.

Terrified?

Certainly she was. That was the only emotion I saw on her face, yet I couldn't explain why.