Mated to the Devil

Chapter 2

Taking my seat I turned to face my mom, the scent of lilies filling my senses. My mom's unique and familiar scent that always seemed to have a calming effect on me.

My mom was the pack doctor, a intelligent women with a deep sense of pride in what she did. She had thick, golden, wavy blonde hair, similar to mine, that ended just as it touched her shoulders. She was slim and short, with strong legs and flawless skin that I often admired. Dynamite in a small package so my father liked to say. She lifted her gaze to meet mine. Her warm, sandy brown eyes staring back at me before she spoke.

"So now I'm a second choice", she chuckled, glancing over her shoulder in the direction to where Bryce and James sat arguing over who gets the last pancake at their table, her laugh sounding just like my brothers.

"No, I really just missed you mom", I replied, batting my eyelashes, a smile forming on my lips. Reaching forwards to where a large pile of pancakes sat, I dished up a few onto my plate and grabbed the syrup from next to my moms plate, eager to load those bad boys up, making my mouth water slightly.

"Hey, leave some for the rest of us wont ya", A deep voice bellowed from behind me, one that I recognised as belonging to my brother. 

Spinning around in my barstool, I looked up at the face of my brother. Obsidian eyes framed by long dark eye lashes. A square jaw and long dark hair tied up into a bun to match his dark features. Izaak took most of my fathers characteristics apart form his obsidian eyes he seemed to have gotten from my mothers father. He was a proud man, just two years older than me and fiercely loyal, all good qualities of a Beta. Izaak was almost as good as my father when it came to being a combat. He was tall and 200 pounds of pure muscle. On his 21st birthday he had every shewolf in our pack pretty much on the edge of their seats hoping the mate bond would snap into place at the stroke of midnight for them. All of them were disappointed. Izaak said his mate isn't in our pack, and he has yet to find her, but he is always searching.

"I was honestly enjoying being an only child for a bit" I grinned before I turned around and started cutting my pancakes, swallowing the drool that was forming in my mouth at their sweet aroma.

"As if I would let you take all the millions" he shot me a playful wink, while pulling up the barstool next to me.

"Alright, alright you two" my mother scolded, a smile dancing on her lips.

"You would think that with a few weeks apart that there may actually be a small chance there would be no more bickering" she continued. Placing her dainty hands around her cup of coffee before taking a sip. Knowing full well this is just the way my brother and I were and that was never going to change.

I took another bite of my pancakes. Still warm from the pan, smothered in syrup, exploding with butterscotch flavour in my mouth. In all the years I had been having pancakes in this kitchen, they haven't changed one bit. Maggie our packhouse chef was to thank for that, she was a Omega, and one of the sweetest women I've ever met. Her hot coco being one of my favourites, I'm not sure what she put into that mug but it definitely wasn't something that could be bought in a store. I made a mental note to catch up with her soon, missing her company and our late night meaningful talks when she or I couldn't sleep. Having a musical mind has the downfall of sleep deprivation, I often tossed and turned at night, lyrics and notes forming in my mind, building up only to be released once I write them down or sing them.

"You know, they aren't just taking shewolves." Izaak grimaced, his voice in a low register while my father also pulled up a seat at our now crammed breakfast nook after placing a kiss on my moms forehead. I always seem to notice the hair raise on my moms arms at their contact, the magical works of the mate bond.

"Do you know who exactly "they" are?", I asked, unable to hold back my curiosity.

A part of me wanted to know who they were so I could help Bryce figure out a way for our small pack to help fight back when I became Luna next week.

"We aren't sure who exactly just yet, but I do know what", he replied, taking a sip of his hot coffee before he continued, "Demons seem to be the ringleaders, with a mixture of Vampires and Warewolves working for them, we think it is all connected to the Bloodmoon pack".

I sat there stunned, trying to wrap my head around the whole situation which just seemed so foreign for us in our small uneventful town. Demons were somewhat of mystery for us, they didn't actually live amongst us, they very much came from help, the underworld if you will, they popped up all over, a result of telepathy I guess. They also didn't look like any sort of creature, they looked human, just like us. 

We were governed by the devil himself, King Lucifer to be exact, being our creator in defiance against God, he kept order amongst us. Which is why I find it a bit strange that Demons are the ringleader in this whole thing, never actually having seen one myself .The Alpha's of each pack could communicate with him, him being our king, ruler of beasts. King Lucifer was more active in other packs than in ours, a bonus for being small, but it had it's downfalls, we only knew what we were told by our parents growing up about demons and their parents before them, that demons were the most powerful of all supernaturals next to Angel's, that they were immortal, craving power, deceit and destruction along with killer instincts, whilst Angel's were rarely seen or heard, more focused on the humans than to be bothered with the rest of us.

"Their taking females from all supernatural species, leaving just the humans" Izaak continued.

My father paused, his fork mid air as he seemed to be contemplating something.

A lot of supernatural beings thought of humans as something beneath them. Something in excess on earth, easily disposable and weak, like ants. But I on the other hand actually found them to be the opposite. I envied them. They were able to live freely, a slave to no one but themselves. How ironic that a lot of them spent most of their lives chasing ways to make themselves like the supernaturals, while many of us longed to be like them, many fleeing the mate bond or a simple release from a life they no longer wanted.

My grandmother once told me that the mate bond actually existed for all species that roamed earth once upon a time, a gift from God and a countermeasure to King Lucifers creation of supernaturals. Each one of us having another half, perfectly sculpted to be ours, their soul fitting together with ours like a puzzle piece, designed for one an other, the soul constantly calling out and stopping at nothing to be whole. But people grew tired of destiny and fate, wanting to create their own, eager to defy God, some species took it upon themselves to defy the mate bond linking them to their soulmates. Generation after generation choosing to break the bond, leading to some species not feeling the bond as strongly as their ancestors once did, the product of evolution, a prime example of this is humans,  for centuries they have chosen to marry one an other for money, power, lust, now days they hardly feel the pull when their soulmate comes along.

Warewolves being traditional pack creatures by nature, the mate bond was still very strong within each one of us, with strength in numbers, our bonds made us stronger.

"Arabella....", my mothers voice rang in my ears, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I snapped my head up in her direction, nodding as if I was actually listening to what she was saying a moment ago.

"So it's settled then, you'll come back to the packhouse for a while, until this whole thing is under control" she said matter of factly, a look of satisfaction taking over her dainty features.

"f**k", I cursed under my breath, realising my little day dream had now caused me to unwillingly agree to temporarily move back to the packhouse. I understood my parents just wanted to keep me safe, but I had honestly been training in combat since I was 12, I think I could handle myself if anything happened.

I stood up from the breakfast nook, my stomach full and satisfied. I kissed my mom on the cheek and hugged my father and brother goodbye while they continued to go over the details around Izaaks trip, who he met and what he saw.

I walked over to Bryces table to kiss him goodbye before I headed back to my apartment to pack up some of my belongings to take over to the packhouse.

Walking up the three flights of stairs that lead to my unit. Ava stood at my door, eating a bag of cheetos with an annoyed look on her face as she tapped her watch. I completely forgot that we had plans this afternoon. I had promised to hit the new bar on campus with her this afternoon.

"You are late, as usual" she muttered rolling her eyes and stepping aside so I could open up the door to my apartment.

"I'm sorry, I got caught up at the packhouse." I apologized shooting her my best I'm sorry face.

"My father has ramped up training, the shewolf trafficking thing is more like a supernatural female trafficking thing, and it's really freaked him out" I huffed, shoving open the door.

I walked into the apartment first as if seeing for the first time that I really needed to tidy up the place. My books laid sprawled all over the countertops of the open plan kitchen and lounge area, some text books and some music sheets that I had been frantically working on a few days prior. In the middle of the small living area sat a ugly green two seater love couch that my mom absolutely loathed, making me want to buy it even more, a tall beige lounge lamp next to it. I didn't have a TV because I simply just never had time to watch. I spent almost all of my free time writing and playing music. Behind the loveseat was the entrance to my bedroom where my most prized possession sat. My luxuriously expensive keyboard.

I flopped down on my loveseat with a sigh, while Ava made a straight Bline to the fridge.

"So are you actually going to go get dressed so we can go, or are you going to make me stand here and b***h about it" she grunted, taking two beers out the fridge.

Ava had been absolutely obsessed with a guy who I had literature lectures with, Trevor. He was a warewolf from our pack. Ava had basically been slightly stalking the guy for the past month, fully aware of our world from what I had told her. I couldn't lie about who I am to my best friend. It wasn't uncommon for humans to find warewolves attractive. Something about their feral nature was a foreign turn on I guess. Ava was gorgeous, even for a human. She had raven coloured hair that ran down to her waist, although she often had it tied up. Big doe brown eyes, and caramel coloured skin. When she walked into a room, eyes definitely wondered in her direction.

"Fine, I'm going" I groaned, dragging my aching limbs off the couch, Ava following in my wake towards my bedroom.

I cleared some of the sheet music off the bed so Ava could sit down while I headed for the bathroom for a quick shower to wash away the sweat from today's training.

I didn't take long in the shower, Ava banging on the door for me to hurry up was motivation enough. Once I had showered and dried my hair, deciding to leave it down my back in it's natural waves, I slipped on a navy summer dress that ended just above the knees with spaghetti straps and a matching pair of sandals. Ava opted for a tight fitting black maxi dress, accentuating all of her curves.

I texted Bryce before we left, letting him know where we were going and that I'd see him later back at my apartment. He stayed over most nights away.

The walk to the bar wasn't too far, just three blocks, which my legs thanked me for.

"So have they figured out why people are taking the shewolves in the first place?" Ava asked, her eyes fixed on the street crossing ahead. "They show the faces of the missing girls on the Tonight show almost every evening now".

"Not exactly why, but we know that other supernaturals are behind the whole thing" I spat the last part, the mere thought of what was happening to those poor girls twisting my stomach and surging anger through my veins.

"Wow, I half expected it to be some mafia gang" she laughed, her subtle way of trying to make me smile.

"A mafia gang may have been easier to deal with", I chimed.

"Have they asked yours truly for help in the matter?" She asked curiously, I knew who she was referring to, and I'm sure he being the devil aka King Lucifer, knew everything, I just don't think he cared enough to intervene.

"I assume he would know, our Alpha's report into him regularly", looking left and right before we crossed the busy street. "But I doubt he would be too concerned over a few missing women".

"That's sad", Ava sniffed glancing down at her phone in her hand to check the time.

"Well, if there's anything I can do to help, please let me know", she offered, honesty beaming in her eyes as she looked at me. This girl would go to war for our pack I thought, smiling to myself.