More Than Just A Mate

Chapter 5

"And what is your name?" Diego asked the next girl. She was a bit chubby and had very large breasts. "Dorothy, my lord," she answered. Diego cast a bored look at her arm, and saw the freshness of the "mark". Did this girl go through this illegal pain just to be chosen? Moreover, his Lycan was quiet; she wasn't her mate. He touched her left shoulder tenderly. "You gave this mark to yourself with a hot knife," he said. "Deny it."

The wench fell on her knees, grabbing his shoe. "I plead mercy, my lord," she cried. Diego kicked her face off his shoe. "I'm not Messiah. Kill her." Mart pulled the trigger himself. Good, reliable Mart. Then Diego approached the next girl. The first sensation to hit him was her odour. Where did this one come from? The rest of the girls looked more or less royal. He decided to ignore that. "How did you get this mark?" he asked her. "It appears new to me."

At first, she jolted, as though from a deep dream. Then began to stutter. "I... It..." There goes another liar, he thought, and aloud: "Kill her." Mart raised the gun, but Diego felt a sharp pang in his head. "Wait!" the King said. He came close to her again and raised her jaw with a finger. Her breath was warm and strangely sweet. Diego felt his lycan suddenly jump in his head. 'Mate?' his lycan breathed. 'What? Shut up, please.' Then a loud one: 'Mate!' Diego couldn't believe this. How on earth would he, an immortal Lycan be mated to a dirty, smelly wo...

...Wait a minute.

He came closer and sniffed the air around her face. He touched her ear. Something was missing. Then it struck him with an unpleasant shock. She was human‽ "I've never been insulted this way all my life," he said. "You are human, too!" She didn't fall to her knees to beg like the rest. She only tightened the muscles of her face. Was this defiance?

'It's Mate!'

"Shut up!" Diego said out loud and recoiled when he realized it. Mart and the rest of them looked at him. They were surprised at his unsettled behaviour towards a dirty human. Diego himself was almost close to tears with embarrassment. "How can you have me mated to a human?" he whispered. "Is this here going to stop me from the so-called curse? This?" But the pull he felt towards her was indescribable. Her odour turned into an intoxicating scent that he didn't want to move away from. By now, his Lycan was jumping non-stop in his head, pushing him to make the pronouncement already. So, left with no choice, he did. "What is your full name, girl?" he asked.

***

"Oriana Englund," she said. Her mind was on a rollercoaster now. Why did he stop her from getting killed? Why did he shout "shut up" when no one was speaking? Why was his voice so soothing to her ears and mind? Why did she feel this yearning to both be beside him and to flee from him? She felt his hands behind her hair, loosening the blindfold. Oriana held her breath, anticipating to see the old, hideous-looking man who killed innocent girls easily. The fold came off. She looked up immediately, then quickly looked down. Her heartbeat doubled again. She had just looked into the eyes of the handsomest man she'd beheld. And he looked nowhere below thirty! His jaws were perfectly cut. His nose was long and commanded power. His eyebrows had this upward arch to them, lowering in the middle. His hair was long, silky-wet, and fell on his shoulders.

And there were his eyes. Those orbs of fire had struck her so hard with their brilliance and depth, that she felt unworthy to stand before this demigod king. Why hadn't he killed her yet? "Look up to him!" the man with the gun snapped. Trembling, she raised her eyes to his. He frowned a bit. But it wasn't of anger; it was of interest. Then he began to speak. "I, Lycan Diego Onesimus, hereby accept you, Oriana Englund, as my —"

"This is a big mistake!" Oriana whispered under her breath. But it was loud, because the king stopped, a displeased scowl on his face. "You mustn't make a sound," Mart hissed at her. Oriana's eyes fell to the left at Laura, the predestined mate. Oh gosh, she thought, why hadn't the king reached the end of the line? There was his mate! The Lycan began to speak. "I, Lycan King Diego Onesimus, hereby accept you, Oriana Englund, as my fated mate."

Oriana knew there should be a response. But she didn't know how. "Accept his acceptance," Mart snarled. "I accept your acceptance," Oriana said quickly. The Lycan wasn't smiling.

"That's all right," he said, already heading to his car. "Come, Oriana. You have a long destiny before you, my dear." Oriana was far from being relaxed. She was about to be part of the biggest mistake known to the werewolf world. "My lord," she asked as she ran behind the Lycan. "What happens to the rest of the girls?"

He stopped, looked at her with care, and said, "Turn around." She did, and her eyes were rounded in horror. Mart was beginning to pump the bullets into them. Oriana fell to her knees in excruciating agony as the shooter reached Laura. She was shot through the right eye. Oriana felt Diego's strong hand grip her shoulder. "Rise! We have a long way to go tonight." Oriana staggered to her feet, the tears streaming down her face. He gently pushed her into the car. Then sat beside her. "We're going home," he said. "I'll have you cleaned up. There is a full exotic wardrobe just for you. A large room, fourteen maids, and five bodyguards. You shall have access to every leisure. Do you play chess?" Oriana was surprised at his sudden comeliness.

"Yes, my lord." Her father taught her. "You're perfect." But Oriana knew she wasn't. In fact, she was an imposter who had no single power to lift the curse. The real Mate had been shot dead. Laura. She glanced at the Lycan, thinking, "When will you find out this mistake, my lord?"