The Alpha’s not-so Human Mate

9. Mark me

Esnie POV

I was overjoyed when Jace came to save me from Alpha Kaiah. When the latter unlocked the bronze chain around my ankle, I returned to my body. I waited for three days to be in Jace's arms again. Honestly, almost losing my body made me realize that I have spent too much time stuck in the past that I have failed to live my life to its fullest.

Reina returned that night. This brought relief to all of us. I never liked her, but I didn't wish her harm.

She was given time to mourn her mate fully, but surprisingly, she didn't take as much time as I expected. It didn't take her two days to completely forget about him. I guess she didn't love him at all.

I was busy in the kitchen with Rowena when Reina sauntered in and grabbed an apple from the counter.

"Hey! I need that for my apple pie! Why don't you go pluck your own?". Rowena whined, but she was silenced by Reina's threatening snarl.

"That's why we have omegas hun, to make life easier for us". Reina said nonchalantly and took a bite out of the red apple. Rowena said nothing, she only continued mixing the ingredients while throwing glares in Reina's way.

"Omegas are not your slaves, Reina". I countered.

Reina laughed: "Says the food. My dear human, you don't want to know how your beloved Jace feeds his wolf,,, you really don't want to know". She relaxed her backside against the island opposite me and casually bared one side of her neck, revealing a scar from a bite.

"How did you get that?" I asked, pointing at the scar.

"Oh, this". She touched the scar. "It was given to me by Jace".

"What? Why would he do that?". I asked, confused.

"Oh, you don't know what this is? Go on, omega, make yourself useful and tell her what a mark is".

Rowena frowned at her and turned to me. I could see from her face that she wasn't in the mood to talk, but she explained anyway: " A mark is like a love bite from your mate. It's what Jace is supposed to give you when you both, you know, mate".

"And by 'mate', you mean 'have s*x'?" I asked.

"Yeah". Replied Rowena as she continued what she was doing... she then looked at me with skepticism. "You and Jace have mated, I know that for sure".

I felt uncomfortable: "Why do you say that?"

"Cause I can smell his scent all over you. Everyone can".

"Oh". I was short of words.

"But why didn't he mark you then?". Asked Rowena before turning the other way to open the microwave and placing a tray inside.

"Uh, I don't know...". I started but Reina cut me short.

"It's probably because he doesn't want to be bonded to you". She mocked. "I mean, look at this, he gave me this mark when we were only children because we hoped that we would turn out to be mates someday, but then the goddess decided to test us by bringing you and West along. I guess now, she has realized her mistake and is correcting them-" She took another bite of her apple.

"How can you say that about your dead mate?". I am just appalled by this female.

"Oh, come off it, human. Are you stupid? Would Jace love you if you weren't his mate? Would he have even noticed someone like you if there wasn't some kind of forced attraction between you two? The mood goddess is vile and cruel, she forces a pointless connection where there shouldn't be one, and that's what you are in Jace's life, a pointless mistake."

I couldn't take any more of her insults, so I dashed out of the kitchen and ran up the stairs to mine and Jace's bedroom; I shut the door behind me and started to cry. Her words hit me hard.

"Baby, what's wrong?". Jace came out of the bathroom with only a pair of black yoga pants on and a towel over his wet hair. He held my shoulders and placed a kiss on my forehead. "Why are you crying?"

I pulled away from him: "Tell me, Jace, why didn't you mark me?".

He had a perplexed look. "What?"

"You marked Reina, and she ain't even your mate". I was jealous and not ashamed to show it.

He smiled in realization: "Don't be like that, princess, that's not even a real mark-"

"Then why didn't you give it to me?"

"You're not ready. A mark isn't something you just give. It's a ritual performed on a very special night". He cupped my cheeks in his palms. "You are my mate, no one else. We have all the time in the world to mark each other"

"I want it now". I demanded.

He looked at me as though I was crazy. "What?"

"I want you to mark me now. Or do you prefer Reina coz she's blonde and has blue eyes? I'm not pretty enough, am I?"

"Listen to me... I. love. you. Nothing can change that. You are my mate, not her"

"What if she had turned out to be your mate? Would you even look at me? Would we have met if I wasn't forced on you by the moon goddess?". I had tears in my eyes... his silence broke my heart even more.

"There are billions of people in this world, but why do we fall in love with just one?". He asked with his eyes fixed on mine. "It doesn't matter who put us together, all that matters is that we ARE together". He brought his face nearer to mine until our lips brushed against each other and I felt his breath fan my face as he whispered: "Esnie, you are my world, my everything, nothing will change that". He captured my lips with his own in a kiss that felt like a thousand dreams. His hands traveled down to my waist and further down to my butt as he pulled me closest to himself, leaving no room between us.

The kiss ended against our will. I looked into his gorgeous eyes: "Mark me, Jace".

"I promise you, I will do that when I get back".

"Back? Back from where?"

"The other packs that we dominated, I have some work to do concerning merging and other boring stuff". He walked off, dropped his towel on the couch, and pulled down his yoga pants. He threw on a white shirt, black jacket, and black pants.

I watched him get ready, hoping he would just change his mind and stay. "Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?"

He kissed my forehead. "I won't take long, I promise". He smiled and winked at me before opening the door. A mischievous smile appeared across his face: "I have an idea, come with me".

He offered me his hand and I took it. He led me downstairs to where his men were waiting for him. Fiona and other pack members were there, Reina was chatting with her fellow mean girls. Everyone's eyes were on Jace and me.

Jace held my waist, brushed off the hair on my face, and captured my lips in a French kiss. From the corner of my eyes, I noticed Reina scowling at both of us and walked away. He broke the kiss and whispered near my ear: "That should keep them quiet". I smiled and bade him farewell as he left with his men.

***

I played around the pack house after Jace left, but deep down, I missed him greatly. After dinner, I walked lazily to the bedroom thinking about how lonely tonight is gonna be, then I heard Fiona call me from behind. I turned to see her in a lovely blue dress, she walked up to me with a smile on her beautifully aging face. "My dear, how are you?". She asked.

"I'm fine". I answered, unsure how to act around her.

"You must be upset with me because of what I said the other day, I'm sorry".

"No, Fiona, don't say that, please. I am sorry for causing such trouble, I didn't mean for it to happen".

She embraced me in a warm, motherly hug, then pulled away: "Tomorrow, the girls and I will be having a little quiet time at the spa. Would you like to join us?".

My face lit up: "Yeah, sure. What time?".

"Noon". She smiled some more.

"Oh! I'll be there for certain!" I giggled as she touched my cheek and watched me enter my bedroom.

I slept like a baby that night, it felt good having something to look forward to... But worries pulled at the hem of my mind;

Is Kaiah really dead like Jace said? And what about his informant? I had forgotten to tell Jace about it. I hope that my forgetfulness will not cause us harm.