His Luna and His Mate

Chapter 2- Preparing to fight

I woke up as soon as the sun began to shine through the windows. I was exhausted after staying up so late. My mind drifted off to spending time with Ephraim last night. Of course the thoughts of my mate were never too far away. Ezra had been so angry to find Ephraim and me alone together. Part of me is so angry that he even thinks he has the right to be upset. However, there is another part... This part kinda likes that he is jealous for me. No! Ugh.. no, no, no! He has a wife. He has a Luna. He f*****g marked her. Why he can't let me go, I do not understand. I cover my face and let out a very frustrated groan.

I hear a knock at the door, startling me from my thoughts. I walk up and open it not thinking about the fact I am wearing my tank and sleep shorts which both leave little to the imagination.  I am met with a pair of brown eyes that instantly turn red as they look me up and down. I feel my body heat up at the sight of him looking at me hungrily.  He steps closer and places a lock of my dark hair behind my ear. His touch sends chills down my body straight to my core. He smells my arousal and instantly I'm against the wall as he attacks my lips. I can't help but moan into his lips. He pushes me down on the bed and begins to kiss down my neck. I feel him hard against my stomach.

As he kisses my mating spot, I snap back to the reality that he has marked another. I try to push him off but his strength keeps me down, his wolf in control. "Ezra... stop... please" he returns to my lips but continues. I begin to panic thinking he will not stop. I didn't even realize what happened as he looks at me with a mixture of emotions, mainly confused, angry, and even hurt. My hand begins to sting and I realize I had slapped him. The look on his face makes me want to apologize but I remember why I did it and find my strength again. "Get off. NOW!" I yell, trying to push him off. He finally gets off and stands there with pain in his eyes.

"Leave. Please, just leave me alone. I cant... I cant do this." Tears well up in my eyes as he nods and walks to the door. "Your assessment starts in an hour" he mumbles without looking back at me. He closes the door and I break down. Why cant he just let me go. Why does he keep torturing me? The both of us. Why cant he just accept my rejection. He has marked someone, he obviously loves her. Why must he keep pushing me. I sigh as I get up and get dressed.

I go to the kitchen to grab something small to put on my stomach before the assessment.  As I walked in I see Ephraim sitting in the same place as night before. As our eyes meet, I cant hold back a smile. He smiles back and I cant help but feel a bit happier. "So, is this like your spot to hang or are you just waiting for me to show up?" I tease. "Ha, I mean I like food but it doesn't hurt that I know a beautiful woman is gonna walk through" he winked. I blushed and shook my head. I grabbed an apple and a bottle of water. "Please tell me you are not one of those girls who barely eats to maintain your figure?" He says eyeing my apple. I laugh thinking if he only knew how much food I can put down. "Definitely not. I can out eat an Alpha any day. Just going light before my placement assessment.  Speaking of, I need to get going. Gotta get prepared." He jumps up quickly and runs the back of his neck embarrassed.  "Sorry... uhm... think maybe I can join you?" I raise my eyebrows in surprise before shrugging. "If you think you van keep up" I wink before running out the door. He follows behind me.

I always pride myself on my strength and speed but he catches up well. When we get to the training grounds we start stretching and warming up. We talk and just start getting to know each other.  The big shocker is he is actually the beta of the pack and Ezra's younger brother by 2 years. I told him about our pack being attacked and when he asked about my mom, I felt comfortable enough to expose the weaker side of me. I must be losing my mind to open up to practically a stranger so easily but he just makes me feel at ease. "So, uhm.. I told you about my mate. Have you... met yours yet?" He asks carefully.  The smile I have had plastered from being around him fades and I look down. "I.. uhm.. it's a bit complicated..." I look up into his eyes and feel drawn to open up about it.

As I open my mouth we are interrupted by a red headed woman throwing herself in his arms. "Ephraim! I have missed you so much!" He hugs her tightly and laughs. "I missed you too Red" she playfully smacks his arm. "You know I hate that nickname!" He just smiles at her. I start to excuse myself when he turns to me. "Rhea, this my cousin Scarlett. She grew up with us. Scarlett, this beauty here is Rhea. She is being assessed for membership into the pack as a warrior" I was quickly grabbed into a hug. "It is so nice to meet you! I'm sorry if you have had to put up with Ephraim here. He is a wild one. Always after the ladies." I giggle as Ephraim glares. "You make me sound like a dog. I haven been that way since..." he trails off. "I know, I'm just kidding. You have grown up well." She grins.

As I watch their exchange, I think of my friends and family that was lost. I think of my mother and older brother Ryan. I miss our banter with him. We were always teasing each other. He was always protecting me, even up to his last moments. I'm brought out of my thought by Ephraim putting his arm around my shoulder. "Rhea, are you ok? You kinda space out there." When I looked up, there were tears in my eyes. "I just miss my family". I fought back a sob. He wiped my tears away and pulled me into a tight hug. I buried my head into his chest inhaling his scent.

I was quickly pulled away as I heard a low growl behind me. I didn't have to look back to know it was Ezra. Thankfully nobody was around but Ephraim and Scarlett. "MINE!" He growled out with his red eyes shining. He pulled me into him and buried his head into the crook of my neck. My eyes went wide as I noticed the shock on Ephraim's face. I quickly spin around and push Ezra away. With him being caught off guard, I had actually managed to make him stumble back a couple of steps. "I HAVE TOLD YOU, EZRA! I AM NOT YOURS! YOU ARE ALREADY MATED TO LUNA EMMA!" I turn to Ephraim with fear in my eyes that he would be angry with me. He looked furious, but I did not appear to be the target of his anger.

"Rhea is your mate? You told us that Emma was your mate! You marked and mated her! You said the fact she was human made the bond different. You son of a b***h!" Ephraim snarled. I walked over and put my hand on his chest. "Ephraim, please, calm down" He took a few deep breaths and tried to calm himself. "I WAITED! I WAITED FOR 10 YEARS! YOU HAD ALREADY FOUND YOUR MATE, SCARLETT HAD FOUND HER MATE! I AM THE ALPHA! I NEEDED A LUNA! I DID WHAT I HAD TO DO FOR OUR PACK!" He yelled. After a moment of deep breaths, he looked at me. "I didn't think I would find my mate. i waited for 10 years. I waited..." By now his voice almost pleading. Again I found myself with tears in my eyes. What the hell is up with that. I haven't cried in years and now it seems I can't stop!

"I understand, Ezra. That doesn't change the fact that you mated her. You married her. You made her to luna of your pack and she gave you an heir. Everything that was supposed to be shared with your mate was shared with her. Im not asking you to leave her. I'm asking you to let me go, please" I pleaded with him.

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, he was back to his Alpha mode, ignoring my request again. "It's time for your assessment. Follow me." Without another word he turned and walked away. I turned back to look at Ephraim and Scarlett. Scarlett looked understandably shocked. However, several emotions played out on Ephraim's face. Most of all was disappointment and anger, though I couldn't tell who the anger was towards. I was planning on telling him, truly, but it had only been a couple of days. I was steel reeling from the whole situation myself. I began to mutter and apology, however he wrapped me up in a hug before I could say anything. "We can talk later, ok?" I took and deep breath and wrapped him tighter. "Thank you. I promise I was going to tell you." he gave me a small sad smile. "I know. Just focus on your assessment. I know you are going to kick ass. I can't wait to see it" I grinned and nodded.

"You don't have all day. Let's go" Ezra growled out loudly. I fought back an eye roll and turned to follow him. He lead me out to a large opening behind the packhouse. The was a flat area of land that was used to train warriors. I followed Ezra to the middle where a warrior stood. "James will be your first competitor. You will fight in 3 different phases. First you will fight James in human form, as he is one of our best at fighting in human form . Next you will fight Marcus in your wolf form. Same as James, he is one of our best in wolf form. Lastly, you will fight in both human and wolf form." I looked at him curiously. "Who will I fight against then?" He looked at me and I saw a flash of some emotion I couldn't understand. Almost prideful look missed with worry. "That would be me."

To say I was shocked is an understatement. "Are you sure that's is a good idea, Alpha?" He arched an eyebrow before smirking. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you." I narrowed my eyes. "I'm more concerned about me hurting you. I expect that you will treat me as you would any other competitor, Alpha" he stated at me intently, the word Alpha causing him to tense as it rolled off my tongue. I studied his face and felt my heart rate speeding up slightly. Neither of us broke our state down until a chuckle from James drew our attention. "Don't worry, Alpha won't treat you differently because you are a woman. None of us will" 

I smirked at him. "Good, I would hate for you to change routine for little ol'me. Ya know since I'm just a woman" I winked at him before walking over to my starting area. I began to stretch while studying his moves. This was going to be fun.