Falling into Mythica

Chapter Four

KENNEALLY’S POV

“Harou seemed antsy this morning. Is everything OK?” Alpha Conri asked me as we were cooling down after morning training.

“Yeah, I’m not really sure what is going on with him. He’s been extra antsy since yesterday. The longer we go without finding our mate, the worse he seems to get,” I replied.

I was well past the age of finding a mate and, whilst all those around me found their soul’s other half not long after coming of age, for some reason, there didn’t appear to be anyone for me here in the Werewolf kingdom, and it had me wondering if my mate was not a werewolf.

It’s rare but occasionally happens when a wolf is mated with another species. I mean, I had plenty of options for a chosen mate. Women threw themselves at me, but I really wasn’t interested in taking a chosen until I’d exhausted all avenues to find my fated mate.

“I have been thinking about this for a while. As my Beta, I need you at full capacity and with Harou being this antsy, you aren’t in your best form. I would like you to head to the Capital and see if you can find your mate there.”

I turned and looked at him, shocked. Every species knew that if you hadn’t found your mate within a certain amount of time in your own Kingdom, the Capital was the place to go, as many mateless hung out there looking for their soul’s other half.

“But what would you do without me here?” I asked. As Beta, I was responsible for ensuring that the Alpha had everything he needed to run the Kingdom properly.

“It’s fine. Gamma Mingan and Delta Seath can pick up the slack.”

“You know, if I find my mate in the Capital, she more than likely isn’t a wolf. Are you OK with having another species as your Beta’s mate?” I asked.

When we were still divided into smaller packs before uniting into one large Kingdom, having a leader with a mate of a different species was frowned upon.

“Yes, as long as she fully accepts you and is willing to live in the pack, then I don’t care what she is.” Alpha Conri said, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

“OK, if you are sure, I will head to the Capital today. No point putting it off any longer,” I said as we headed back towards the pack house.

“Sounds like a plan. We will talk to the others over breakfast, and you can leave straight after that. I really hope you find your mate.” Alpha said, and I nodded.

We talked to the other leaders during breakfast, and like our Alpha, they were totally supportive of me going to find my mate.

I packed a small bag and headed off to the Capital. I had rung ahead and booked into a small hotel on the edge of town, so I made my way there first.

I was lying on the small bed contemplating my next step when the most mouth-watering scent entered my room. It was faint, but I picked it up easily with my heightened werewolf senses.

It had to be my mate; what were the chances of me finding her straight after arriving in the Capital?

I jumped to my feet and followed the incredible scent of citrus and cinnamon, which reminded me of the cinnamon lemon cookies my grandmother used to make.

Harou was going nuts in my head, and I had to fight hard to keep him under control. “Mate, I smell our mate”, he shouted.

“I know. Please calm down, so I can focus on finding her.”

“Let me out, and I’ll find her in no time,” he said, and I could see his wolfy grin in my mind. Yeah, I don’t think so.

“No, just simmer down and let me focus”, I scalded the very excited wolf. He huffed in annoyance and moved to the back of my mind, giving me the peace I needed to focus on following the faint scent of our mate.

I wound my way through alleys and walkways. It was almost as if my mate was trying to hide from me. Does she know I’m here and is trying not to be found by me? But why would she do that? No, I can’t believe that; there must be another reason.

I continued to follow her scent until it got incredibly strong. I had to be close. I turned down another alleyway that led out of town to a stream. There, I saw two women. One was clearly a fairy in human form, and the other… was my mate.

I raced towards them, my breath coming out like pants as I fought with Harou for control. When I was within reaching distance, I said, “You’re here; I can’t believe it; you’re finally here.”

The fairy clapped her hand over her mouth with a gasp, and the other woman, my mate, just stared with wide eyes and an open mouth.

They both stood to their feet, and I took a step towards my mate, but she took a step back, pulling the fairy woman in front of her as she did.

Was my mate scared of me? “Excuse me, sir, if you could please take a step back, we can explain,” The fairy said, and I couldn’t control the growl that escaped from me, which only served to scare my mate further.

Tears were shimmering in her gorgeous blue-grey eyes, and my heart broke at the sight. I stumbled backward, grabbing my chest over my heart as I did. I think my heart was actually breaking.

“You are a werewolf, yes? And by my calculations, you are of high-ranking blood, correct?” the fairy asked. I couldn’t speak, so I just nodded.

“OK, do you have a name?” She asked.

“Kenneally, Beta to the Werewolf Kingdom,” I managed to get out, and the fairy gasped again before she started to mutter to herself.

“This is bad; this is really, really bad.”

“Who are you?” I asked the fairy, pacing back and forth in front of my mate.

“Oh, I’m Elida, Fairy Princess, and this is… well, actually, you might want to take a seat whilst I explain,” she said, pointing to the grass where they had just been sitting.

“I didn’t know you were a princess,” I heard my mate whisper to her fairy companion.

“Yeah, sorry about that; I didn’t want to freak you out,” the fairy Elida whispered back as they retook their seats. I sat down opposite them.

“Beta Kenneally, may I assume you believe this is your mate?” Princess Elida asked me, pointing to the woman beside her. I nodded.

“OK, well, that is Vida. I found her yesterday wandering around in the forest. It seems that she fell through the tear in the realm that was caused by the Dragon King and Phoenix Queen fighting. Vida is not from this realm. She is a human.”

Oh, for crying out loud… Those idiots caused a rift between the realms, and a human fell through, but she’s my mate, so it had to be fate… right?

“It seems fate was at play. I have waited so long to find my mate, and here she is from the human realm,” I said, grinning like an iđïôt.

My mate, Vida, had been sitting behind the fairy princess and was ducking down, hiding from me; at my words, she peeked up from behind the Princess and whispered, “I saw him in my dream last night.”

This made me grin even more; she had seen me. “You did?” Elida asked her.

“Yes, but he was with four other people.” I frowned; what the hell did she mean I was with four other people? That’s preposterous.

Many species in Mythica believe that one or both parties will have a dream about their mate before they find them, so why had this woman, this human woman, seen me with four other people? Multiple mates are almost unheard of, and having five mates was just unimaginable. I will not share my mate with anyone.

I growled again at the thought of having to share her. Vida flinched and ducked back down behind Elida.

“Vida, can you tell me exactly what you saw in the dream,” the fairy princess asked, turning on the spot to face Vida now.

Vida whispered what she had seen to the Princess. Thanks to my enhanced hearing, I was able to pick up bits and pieces, and from what I could gather, Vida had to choose between five different species, including myself, or we could share her.

Werewolves were incredibly possessive of their mates, and there was no way in hell I would share this woman with anyone else, not even other women. I had to bring her to our pack and mark her, thereby hiding her natural scent from others, and hopefully, they would never find her.

My thoughts were interrupted by another whisper from my mate to the fairy princess, and this one sentence made my heart hurt so badly. “I just want to go home, back to my realm.”