The Rogue Duchess

Pineapples, Coconuts, and the Ocean

                                                                           Caiden

I know I’m probably being an overprotective dad, but I just could not miss my pup’s first day of kindergarten. I’m peeking into his class from the empty hallway, while I listen to his teacher go over our history. The pups are sitting perfectly still at their desks listening to omega Anderson as she draws a picture while she explains everything. When I see a familiar hand go up, it was my beautiful boy Jayce. With his light brown skin, freckled face, adorable big brown eyes, cute little funnel shaped nose, and that mess of curly red hair. His hair was about the only thing he got from me, looking at him makes my heart explode. I made the cutest kid ever and I know it.

    “Ms. Anderson what happens if your mate is really mean and you don’t like them?” asked Jayce.

    She stopped her drawing and a sad knowing look flashed in her eyes.

    “Well sweetheart, our mate is made for us by Moon Goddess to be our partner, best friend, lover, and soulmate. They are supposed to be your person, but if they are always mean to you or hurting you. You can reject your mate, which you do not want to do because it can really hurt you and your wolf as well as your mate’s wolf. There’s always the possibility of a second chance mate, but that rarely happens.” She answered.

                                                                Kealamauloa

When I couldn’t find my beta and best friend for our meeting, I knew to head from our office to his son Jayce’s school. With him being the pack’s beta, I know the staff of the school let him in with no questions asked. I parked my Cullinan in the spot reserved for the alpha and I walked into the school waving to the staff as I followed Caiden’s scent through the halls.

     It didn’t take me long to find my favorite lanky red-haired Irish man standing like a creeper in front of the classroom door. I could hear the teacher informing the students about rejection. I saw the change in Caiden’s posture go from happy dad, to dejected wolf in seconds. What happened to him was nothing short of a tragedy and it is a part of the reason I am so glad that at the age of twenty-six I am still without my mate. A sentiment not shared by my wolf Keahi; he has been calling out for our mate for the last eight years. I tried looking for her across the world for four years, I know she’s alive because I can feel her life force. So, the only logical conclusion is that she didn’t want to be found, fine by me I’ve no shortage of female companions.

     Aiming to spare Caiden from the dark void that is his inner thoughts, I walked over to him and tapped his shoulder. He gave me a classic ‘caught red handed look’, which made me laugh. Without me saying anything we started walking away from Jayce’s classroom and back to the parking lot.

    “We have a meeting at the UMPH in an hour and I find you here stalking poor Jayce.” I said with a smirk.

    “Loa do not tell him I came here, I’ll never hear the end of it!” Caiden said with mild panic in his voice.

    “Relax I’m no snitch, but you know the traffic on H-1 is bad around noon, we need to get from Honolulu to Waipahu in the next thirty minutes.” I stated.

    “I know we’ve been planning this meeting for months, but goddess do I have to go deal with these horny lads that only want their mates for guilt free jagging?” He asked while moving his curls out of his face in frustration.

    “You know what Caid, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” I said with a devilish smirk. Caiden stopped walking as we reached the entrance to the parking lot, he looked at me like I had three heads.

“Are you taking the piss?” he asked eyeing me with distrust. Not that I blame him, as an alpha werewolf giving orders to your subordinates is much more common than giving them choices. What the alpha says goes, which is why it’s imperative to wield the power Selene granted me, properly.

    “I’m serious you do not have to attend the unmated male pack house meeting if you don’t want to. You don’t have to be there when I announce that we’re going to Atlanta in a week and you certainly don’t have to get your free first-class ticket for the flight.” I replied. Caiden full on stopped like I hit ctrl + alt + delete on his brain’s computer. I’m pretty sure the office staff is staring through the window wondering what’s wrong with us.

    “Bruv did you just say Atlanta?” Caiden asked still firmly planted to his spot.

    “Yes.” I stated flatly.

    “Neutral territory, mixed species strip clubs, some of the best restaurants in the world Atlanta?” Caiden asked with excitement lacing his voice.

    “Yeah bro.” I said trying not to laugh. With my answer Caiden threw his head back and howled with glee.

    “Well what are we loitering around here for then?” Caiden asked incredulously. 

    “We’ve got a meeting to get to and I get to go step-parent hunting in a week!” Caiden exclaimed. He bolted to his Karma GT, as I made my way back to my Rolls Royce so we could head to the meeting. I may not want my mate, but I really hope his second chance mate is in Atlanta.

                                                                            # 

A few hours after the UMPH meeting I headed back to my office to finish up some work. I was glad the guys were excited to be going to a neutral zone. A lot of them were surprised I picked a neutral zone. The Moon Tide pack, my pack, is the largest in North America we cover my native land of Hawaii, the rest of Polynesia, California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Canada’s British Columbia.

    As an international resort owner, I have plenty of treaties with local packs in territories that don’t belong to me. So, I have a lot of land mass of my own that I could’ve picked from, but sometimes even alphas need a break. In the neutral zones we’re all just people, free non-human people, that get to live our lives without all the politics, bravado, and nonsense.

    My thoughts get interrupted by a familiar sweet scent and purposeful steps towards my office door. A few minutes go by and I hear a few soft knocks at my door. Hello Friday fun, goodbye work.

    “Alpha may I enter?” asks the equally sweet voice.

    “You may enter Laklynn.” I said, continuing to check the contract I was reviewing. In walks the six-foot beach blonde that’s aura radiated ‘SoCal’. Laklynn was wearing a tight pastel pink strapless dress and some strappy heels. Her outfit told me everything I needed to know; she wasn’t here for pack business.

    Alpha male werewolves are known for their virility and eight years without my mate has made mine heighten. Meaningless s*x for temporary satisfaction to cope? I’m a willing participant, let’s see if Ms. Friday is, after all consent is sexy. Laklynn gave me a sultry smile as she strutted around my desk. She gently removed my tablet from my hands and straddled my lap with eyes full of lust.

    “Get this filthy skank off me! I don’t want her, I want mate!” Keahi growled in my head.

    “Our mate doesn’t want us, and I have needs so hush!” I snapped at Keahi as I shut off our mind link. I understand how he feels, I would much rather have my gorgeous mate under me writhing in pleasure. But I couldn’t find her no matter what I did and where in the world I searched. My soul, my wolf, and my heart will always call out for her, but I’m still a man. Even the strongest man has his vices. I’m snapped out of my thoughts by the overwhelming scent of arousal and the unzipping of my pants. With consent being applied liberally, let the games begin.

                                                                                #

                                                                            Jade

It’s the middle of the night here in Atlanta, it’s cool in my apartment because the air conditioning is on high, but I am burning up. Pain is scorching through my body in waves, it’s my mate. He’s at it again, he waited a year before he gave up on finding me and ever since then I go through hell at least once a day. Every time he mates with someone that’s not me, it feels like a thousand branding irons are touching every part of me, while millions of fire needles stab and burn my insides. It doesn’t stop until he does and the insufferable bastard lasts for hours. If we had a normal mate bond, I wouldn’t feel anything until after we met, mated, and marked one another. However, I’m not a normal she-wolf, I’m Jade Silver the werewitch. According to the governing body of all witches, I’m a mistake that shouldn’t be allowed to live.

    The positively lovely Elder Council of Witches decreed during the first mystic war that the completion of mate bonds between witches and shifters was illegal. It became a witch’s duty to reject his or her mate and erase the bond with magic to ensure the survival of the witch race. Nonsense at its finest, but they’re deadly serious about it, if you don’t break your bond you become a pariah and an outlaw in witch society. If you’re bold enough to mark, mate, marry, and bear children with your shifter mate like my mother was. The council will send the seekers after you and your children. The seekers are a horrible group of witches that found their niche in hunting down other witches. They kill the so-called traitors to the witch race and they typically kill the hybrid child or children too. Unless otherwise directed to bring them back to the council for experimentation.

    My wolf Mercury loves to use my magic to subconsciously tap into our mate bond so she can feel him and his wolf. What she didn’t consider is that tapping into the mate bond prematurely would mean I could feel him too and the repercussions of disrespecting the bond. So now I’ll be forced to endure this hell until I die.

    I would love nothing more than to channel our bond so I can teleport to where he is and kill the w***e that’s touching him. Then of course I’d have to snap his neck for cheating on me, if he’s in his human form that won’t kill him, he’ll get back up in twenty minutes. Then I’d let him grovel, apologize, and beg some more for my forgiveness for all the pain he’s caused me. Then I’d make him clean and sanitize every surface that smells of another she-wolf before he cleans himself. When the only scents I can smell are his personal scent, soap, and bleach we could mate and mark each other. But I can’t do any of that, so I have no choice, but to endure the suffering and accept that heartbreak is my lot in life.

    I love my mystery mate, despite him being a sl*t, and I crave to be with him. However if I went to him like I want to, I would bring a war with me. His pack doesn’t deserve a fight they’re not a part of. I can’t tell what his pack rank is from the bit of the bond Mercury tapped into. Which makes coming near my mate even more troubling, if he’s an omega and they discover I’m a witch hybrid they’ll exile him to ensure the pack’s safety. I know from firsthand experience that you do not want to be a rogue, I can't do that to him.

                                                                One Week Later

It’s a beautiful Friday morning in the ATL, and I’m currently stretching in my living room before I go for my run. I hear some shuffling in the hallway and out walks a vision of Mexican beauty. Honestly, my best friend Sarahi is so gorgeous that sometimes I feel personally attacked. She is five foot, has a rose beige skin tone, long wavy dark brown hair, a diamond shaped face, heart shaped lips, brown round eyes and a petite pear-shaped frame. She’s the type of girl that the high school bully would torture to make up for their own feelings of inadequacy.

    “You are out of your mind for running first thing in the morning, I could never.” Sarahi states.

    “As a half vampire, your opinion on morning runs is invalid.” I reply.

    “As a half werewolf, you should stick to howling at the moon.” She fires back with a laugh.

    “As a half human, go into debt for things that aren’t beneficial to your life because people told you it matters.” I retort.

    “As a half witch, go burn at the stake.” she says with an attitude.

    “The next time hunters come after us I’m not saving you.” I deadpan.

    “And live your life without your best friend?” she questions while giving me an incredulous look.

    “I don’t think so mocha mami you love me.” She says blowing me a kiss with a wink. I couldn’t help, but to roll my eyes at the nickname she gave me, it’s cringeworthy at best. She saunters off into the kitchen with a smirk knowing she got the last word. She opens the fridge and grabs one of her pineapple, mango, ginger, apple juice, rabbit blood and beet smoothies for breakfast. I know I’m a werewitch and a vampire drinking blood should be low on the list of things that freak me out, but I just cannot! The scent mixture alone nauseates me. Before I gag, I slip on my sneakers and head outside, I get into my optima and drive towards Cascade Springs Nature Preserve.

                                                                            #

As I pull into the parking lot of the park, I am grateful for being a morning person. The sun is just coming up and no one is here yet. Which means I get to run and so does my wolf Mercury. I bound off on the most arduous trail since it’s less traveled, and I jog about five miles before I stop at a thicket. I use wolf hearing and detection magic to make sure no one is around. Then I strip, put my clothes and shoes into a bag, put the bag under a bush and start shifting.

    I feel my skin as it turns to fur, my teeth become fangs, my bones crack and reshape into my wolf, and my hands and feet become my paws. Mercury is a beautiful silver wolf and as soon as we’re done shifting, we take off into the forest. I love the feeling of the wind blowing in my fur, the dirt under my paws. The beauty and purity of nature call to me and the forest fills me with unimaginable glee. I smell a lake nearby, so I went to get some water, and as I was lapping up water suddenly, I smelled paradise.

    The intoxicating smell of pineapples, coconuts and the ocean took over my senses. This alluring scent made me think of the ultimate relaxing vacation. I envisioned myself laid out on the beach of a tropical island sipping a pina colada as I basked in the fading light of the sunset. This scent made my heart race like nothing had before, I forgot myself and my situation in the moment.

    I turned my head in the direction of the tantalizing aroma and that’s when I saw him. A beautiful, large and alluring black wolf with ocean blue eyes that set my soul ablaze. As our wolves made eye contact, I could hear Mercury scream “MATE!”. By the other wolf’s expression his wolf recognized me too. After five long years he found me, and despite myself I knew I loved him from the moment he looked at me. But I know better, I can never be with my mate. My baggage is full of weapons and bombs no one deserves to be hurt by. So, I took the reins from Mercury as he approached us and with all my might and strength, I hid my scent and ran from him. I escaped back to my car and as I got in, I heard his distant pained howl, causing Mercury to whine and tears to pour from my eyes.

    “I’m sorry, but I can’t.” was all I could manage to choke out through the tears as I sped away.