What Lurks Beneath

Chapter 10

Kaida POV

    I look up at Brone, intrigued to see how he’s going to handle this situation. Considering he’s been insistently claiming we were mates. I cross my arms over my chest and c**k an eyebrow at him, pushing the limits to see just how far he would let me go. He gently removes her arms from around him and side steps her, shooting her a sympathetic look. This irks me, he’s being awfully gentle with her despite her insulting his supposed mate. My mind flashes to when I hadn’t addressed her as Luna. She hadn’t even been his mate. I had done nothing wrong. Yet he reacted far more aggressively then than now. Here she was, clearly insulting his real Luna, clearly overstepping her boundaries and he was treating her gingerly.  

    “Some mate bond” I mutter and I don’t fail to notice the flash of hurt cross his face. Good. He makes to move toward me but Claudia's hands reach out, grabbing his harm and pulling him closer to her.  

    “What the hell is she talking about. You are MINE.”  

    The air around us starts growing ominous, and I notice Claudia shrinking back, cowering and lowering her head in submission. My eyes turn toward Brones and they’re black as night. A threatening growl erupts from his chest as he grabs Claudia by the neck, tightening his grip just enough that she can barely breath. 

    “You are not my mate”  

    Tears streak her face as she begs and pleads with him, but nothing works. This isn’t Brone she’s talking to, it was Alastor. Whatever doubts I feel about our mate bond are dashed. His wolf would only react this way for one way, and I've been trying desperately to discount all the signs. They had been there yelling in my face from the moment he crossed that forbidden border but I was too traumatized to acknowledge or trust them. I still had my doubts about Brone, but not about the mate bond itself, and definitely not about Alastor. He had honestly never done me any harm, even stepping in a few times when he felt Brone was taking things dangerously too far. I always had found that to be a little odd, but it makes sense now. He instinctively felt protective of me, his mate. I’m Brones mate. Future Luna to Blue Moon pack. This is not going to go over well.  

    I place my hand softly on his arm and his grip around her neck loosens. I guess its true, mates can calm their partners down. I pull his arm away from her and toward me, running my fingers along his arm, trying to further calm him down. It seems to be working, he releases Claudia and turns to me hugging me and resting his chin on the top of my head.  

    “I love the feeling of the sparks, it reassures me this isn’t all just a dream. My mate really is here with me” he whispers, now rubbing his calloused hands along my neck and shoulder, slipping them under the fabric covering my back so he can have more skin to skin contact.  

    “I wish I could feel it too” 

    His body tenses and I chastise myself for upsetting him during this intimate moment. I couldn’t help myself though. Its not as if I had been in a rush to find my mate, I never felt like that was the number one priority in my life, just a happy bonus. I had however, always looked forward to eventually feeling the closeness the mate bond was supposed to bring. I had imagined that whenever I did eventually find my mate, we would relish in the intimacy together.  It seems life just wasn’t done with its cruel tricks. Had I done something to deserve this? Wolves who had taken a chosen mate were cursed to never feel the mate bond, even after finding their true mates, Nikita had just informed me of this recently, but we had done no such thing. 

    Right? 

    Of course not. I would know, and you would have a mating mark. This isn’t that. 

    Then what is it? It sounds just like the curse 

    I catch Alastor attempting to discreetly move the fabric away from my neck, taking advantage of my distracted state while talking to Nikita. Realization hits me that he is having the same concerns and I let him inspect both sides before addressing him. 

    “I didn’t take a chosen mate. Nikita would never allow me, but I understand your confusion. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I momentarily doubted myself. That’s actually what Nikita and I were just talking about.” 

     He lets out a breath he had been holding in and I notice he’s feeling slightly uncomfortable with the fact that I had caught on to what he was doing.  

    “I'm sorry mate, fore doubting you. It’s just... I’ve never heard of this in any other situation.” I shrug, not knowing what else to say. There had to be an explanation for it, but none that either of us apparently knew. His eyes look to mine, ocean blue irises staring back at me, hoping I had some solution to this dilemma. 

    “Maybe we can do some research? Or ask your father?” 

    “We could go talk to him right now, He’s been trying to get me to meet with him since last night” 

    “Maybe you should go on your own” I drop my gaze suddenly finding my shoes incredibly interesting. Has that stain always been there? 

    “He’s been wanting me to find my mate. That’s what he was going to talk about yesterday. This will be the perfect time to fill him in on … this.” he points from him to me with a devilish grin. 

    “Yeah... I don’t think he’s going to take the news so well when he hears it's me. Neither is the rest of the pack for that matter.” 

    His gaze drops, obviously troubled. He knew what I was saying was fact. I’m surprised he’s even taking this so well. I glance at him trying to study his face, desperate to find any trace of whatever it was that was going through his head. Whether it be good or bad I needed to know. I found myself wishing we were marked so that I would be able to feel his emotion through the bond, and maybe catch an unguarded thought or two. 

    If he Marks us there’s no going back. Be careful before you make that choice. It’s too soon. 

    Too soon? Most wolves are mated and marked the day they find each other. 

    Most wolves feel the pull on both sides. I think it’s clear this isn’t most cases.  

    She’s right, and it was a foolish thought. Being marked was like the equivalent of human marriages but much more permanent. It would either take an exceptionally strong witch or the Goddess herself to sever the bond. We would be bound to him for the rest of our lives. I shiver ran down my spine and the thought made my stomach twist in knots. It would take time to get over his abuse without the assistance of the bond.  

    We need to find a way to fix our bond 

    If there’s any fixing to be done 

    I turn to look at Brone and take a deep breath trying to settle my nerves. I was not looking forward to this. 

    “Ok, Let’s go meet your father.” 

    His face lights up with a huge smile, momentarily putting my nerves to rest. His warm hands wrap around my own and he slowly leads me upstairs towards his father’s office. I walk slowly, not letting him drag me too fast, no need to rush toward danger. We reach the huge oak double doors that lead to his father’s office and Brone makes some quick raspy knocks before opening the doors and stepping in. I halt dead in my tracks, my brain yelling to stop. We can’t just walk in, this is the Alpha’s office, we need permission first. I definitely did not hear a single word being uttered from the other side of the doors. 

    “Relax, he knows we’re coming and I'm his son. I can enter without his verbal consent” 

    I let him drag me in albeit reluctantly. It still feels so wrong and forbidden. Like I'm about to step out of line and get my head detached from my neck.  

    His father is sitting at his desk, looking at some papers. His office is immaculate...unlike his bedroom but, considering this room is used for meetings and such, it made sense. He looks up briefly from his paperwork to greet his son and frowns at me before his gaze lowers back to his work. 

    “What is the Omega still doing here, shouldn't she be banished already? She smells rogue, so what happened?” I’m a little taken aback, not by his statement but by his lack of awareness as to what was going on in his own pack. Shouldn’t he already have known I was here? I’ve been on his lands for almost a whole day at this point.  

    “She is my mate father” 

    His father takes a second to look at his son before exasperatedly stating  

    “Then Reject her already”