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Mate

Neeko's P.O.V

I remained stunned even after the weird man left me alone. With all the known and unknown questions roaming around my head, I pondered whether or not to believe him. It wasn't until the moment that I heard some noises that I broke through my confusing thoughts and looked over my shoulder. About a dozen of rouge wolves came to my view, snarling and growling as they gradually circled around me.

With Rex by my side, they wouldn't be a problem. I smirked and easily dodged the incoming attacks and kicked them to the ground as they wailed like dogs. I was almost done with the rouges but I was suddenly paralyzed, unable to mobilize my own body. Witches! I felt panic rush in my chest as that thought crossed my mind.

Then a person came into my view, she had a long brunette hair and she was wearing a long black dress. She smiled coyly as she squeezed my cheeks harshly for a minute. Finally, she let go of my cheeks and turned to the rouges and ordered them to take me with them.

"Father will be pleased with me" the girl said to herself, pleased with her own achievement. The rouges carried me as they followed behind the girl.

"Wait!" she ordered and everyone stopped at her command. She walked to the rouges who were carrying me, her eyes turned to me as she smiled, "can't let you find out our hideout, can we?" she casted a spell on me and I felt extremely exhausted till I felt it even harder to open my eyelids. I tried to fight the urge to sleep but soon gave in when I could no longer hold on. "Even though you're going to die anyway" I heard the girl mumble before finally losing my consciousness.

~~~~~~

I woke up to find an unknown woman frantically trying to wake me up. She smelled familiar but I couldn't recall where I'd met her as my memory was still hazy due to the spell the girl had casted. I blinked my eyes multiple times to clear my vision. When my vision was clear, I saw a somewhat familiar face of a woman staring at me with concern.

"Are you OK? Do feel uneasy anywhere?" the woman asked, her voice laced with concern. I gave her a confused look instead of replying to her. She chuckled when I didn't say a word and said, "I'm Nathan, your brother"

That's when the aura of my wolf hit me and after what felt like decades, I felt at ease, a totally different kind of ease being in the presence of my wolf. I guess Nathan felt the same way too as his complexion looked much better. He pulled me in for a hug and I leaned in his arms feeling secured again. This was another way of feeling close to our wolves. We could communicate and share our feelings. It was as if the the barrier created by our bodies didn't exist at all. But we needed to be close to feel this type of connection, and I was not sure when we could switch our wolves again.

I finally got the chance to look around the room as I pulled away from my brother's warm hug. The horrible scene of the room slightly pricked my heart as I roamed my eyes at the dead bodies lying on the floor. Judging by the circumstances, I didn't have to question who did this and why? Part of me understood why Nathan had to do this but part of me was slightly scared of him too, in a manner that almost felt too foreign. He was my big brother who always protected me, who faced everything before me, who kept me under his shadow of protection from every little thing, and for the first time in my life, he felt somehow distant. I don't know if I was shaken by his power or I was away from him for too long, I was scared of him.

Maybe Nathan felt my insecurities too through the shared bond of our wolves because he pulled me in his hug again. This time, to clear my doubts, to relay that he is still my brother and he'd protect me forever. "You know I'll never hurt you. You're my baby sister" he said softly and I nodded in his arms, hating myself for doubting him even if it was just for a minute.

Suddenly his body went rigid under my hold and he seemed to have stopped breathing. I pulled away and looked at him in concern. He only gave me his smile before rushing away from me, leaving me puzzled. It wasn't long before the Alpha rushed into the room, looking fiercely anxious. I could tell that his wolf was in charge. I thought he was mad at me for going missing but when he passed swiftly by me, I knew it wasn't the case. He followed behind the traces of my brother as he quickly disappeared like a ghost leaving me all the more confused. Could he be after my brother? Did he find out our secret? I didn't have time to ponder over these questions as I made clumsy attempts to stand on my feet but failed miserably. Damn those spells! I don't know how many spells that girl casted on me while I was unconscious, but it felt like my whole body had been drained out of energy.

Ruth burst into the room followed by Dylan and Tyler. I was engulfed in a bone crushing hug before I could produce a sound. Damn she's strong. I was panting heavily after she released me and Ruth gave me an apologetic look but that soon turned into an angered one. "Where the heck did you go?"

I didn't want to answer her question, instead I asked, "where's the Alpha?"

"Why do you always care about that damn Alpha? I don't know where he is." she turned away angrily. I didn't blame her. She was right, I cared too much about him, so much that his absence had started to agitate me. I was kinda annoyed when he didn't acknowledge my presence while he was still chasing after my brother. I shouldn't be having these emotions.

I looked around to find Dylan examining the dead bodies while Tyler was looking for remaining clues. Ruth didn't seem to be in a good mood as she paced back and forth, tiring my mind further. There was no time to be feeling lost or insecure. I had to find out why my kidnappers wanted to kill me. Nathan might know but I wasn't sure myself when we'd be meeting again.

Pushing the unnecessary thoughts aside, I called to get everyone's attention.

"Guys! Let's investigate this place. Get as much information as possible"

~~~~~

Elijah's P.O.V

Mate. I was surprised when my wolf, Hunter said that word. I was desperately trying to find Nathan, and the sudden appearance of my mate put me in a dilemma. I wanted to find Nathan but I wanted to find my mate too. Hunter had been trying to take over my body and on top of that, Nathan was still missing.

It didn't take long for Hunter to take charge of my body and run swiftly towards the direction of my mate. My mind was hazy as Hunter went crazy over the mate bond. I couldn't sense my environment at all, and all that was left for me to do was sit back and watch him run like a mad person.

We saw a tiny figure running in the distance as we ran after it like there was no tomorrow. But she vanished in the thin air like she never existed at all and all that was left was her lingering scent, which surprisingly, wasn't as intoxicating as Nathan's.

I got back and was glad to find that Nathan had been found. He didn't seem to be injured, thankfully.

Nathan told me everything that had happened and everyone reported me their findings. But I was too distracted to even care. I ignored Nathan too. Honestly, I didn't want to, but I felt the need to. Only I know how hard it was to be away from him when every cell in my body longed for his touch. I was afraid of hurting him if I couldn't reject the mate bond and hurting him was the last thing I wanted to do in my life.

Since the beginning I knew that Nathan wasn't my mate. Yet, I crossed the barriers that weren't supposed to be crossed despite his protests. And now he's finally somewhat into me, my mate appeared in the picture and I didn't know how to manage this matter without hurting him. Considering his nature, he'll be unhappy even if I choose him over my mate. And leaving him....., I'm too selfish to do that. I can't let him go. So, finding my mate before Nathan was the only way to settle this issue.

I avoided Nathan for several days to prevent myself from getting distracted. He'd just do as I say, sometimes stare at me in silent questioning but never voiced out his discomforting feelings. I wouldn't lie if he asked me but at that moment, I didn't want him to question me, I didn't want to see him hurt.