My mate is gone, and I don’t know where she went. That’s enough to break me out of my fog. I shove Theresa away from me.
“Fine time for you to act now son.” My father says. “I am so disappointed in you. Your mother and I raised you better than that. The moon goddess gave you a second chance mate, and that is how you treat her. I hope she never comes back. You don’t deserve her.”
My mother just looks at me with disappointment.
“I can’t even stand to look at you right now.” My mother says as she grabs my father’s hand, and they walk away from me.
I look around and I see the disappointment on the faces of all the pack members around me.
“I used to have so much respect for you. I constantly told Seleste what a great guy you were. I prayed to the moon goddess to make you Seleste’s second chance mate because I thought you would cherish her well. I wish I had not spoken so highly of you, so she wouldn’t have accepted you so readily.” Talia says and walks off.
“My cousin did not deserve that. I will let the council know I can no longer work with you. I have lost all respect I had for you. What kind of male allows another woman to completely disrespect his mate like that? You know, she waited to see if you would push that female away from you, but you didn’t. You let her kiss you in the mouth twice. Talia had to push her away. Then you let her come right back into your arms. Your actions said it all.” Sam said.
“Like my brother, I can no longer work with you. You are a disgrace to everything we stand for. If I have my way, you and your pack will be removed from the protector team. I no longer trust you with my cousin.” Drew says and walks off to join his brother and mate.
“What the hell is going on, Jarvis?” Theresa says.
“That’s alpha to you. I never told you, you could address me by my name and I never told you, you would be my luna”
“But we’ve been together for months.”
“No, we’ve been fucking for months. We have never been in a relationship. We had an understanding. Maybe I was a little lax in letting you have your way around here, but you knew we would never be more than what we were.”
“So it's true? You were granted a second chance mate. I thought it was just gossip when I heard it around the pack.”
“You knew I had a mate before you pulled that little stunt just now?” I asked her.
“I had heard it, yes, but when you held on to me and didn’t push me away, I figured the rumors were false. Why would you allow it if I meant nothing to you? After all, you kissed me back. Why else did your mate feel the pain when we kissed? She would not have felt the pain if you didn’t kiss me back.”
“It is over between us. Stay away from me. If you come before me again, I will banish you. The fact that you purposely tried to hurt my mate says a lot about you. I thought better of you than that. I respected you as a person. I was coming to tell you about my mate face to face instead of calling you and dumping you over the phone. I apparently gave you more consideration than you gave me.”
“So, you are going to end things just like that. Your mate left. She will not want you back after what you did and baby, no matter how much you deny it, it was you. You let me do all of that in front of your mate. So, you need to check yourself.”
“Even if she never comes back to me, I will still wait for her. As you can see, I am already marked. This is for life.”
“Well then, you should have stopped me, at the very least. You should have pushed me away. Ask yourself why you didn’t. I’ll leave you with that.” Theresa says and walks away.
I go up to my room. I don’t know what to do right now. I hurt my mate in the worst way. I don’t know if she will ever forgive me, but we are mated, and this is for life. It will hurt us to be away from each other. I can already feel the pain of separation.
“I told you to end it before we got back. Now my mate is gone.”
“I’ll make it up to her when she comes back. The mate bond should bring her back to us.”
“You are an idiot. She is the moon goddess’ chosen one. Do you not know that there is a way for her to completely break the bond between us and reject us even after we’ve marked each other? Do you not remember the reason the young alpha did not lose his wolf was that Tamaska broke the bond and released him and walked away? Don’t think she can’t do it again and guess what? If she breaks the bond with us, the moon goddess will give her the option of having another mate. So yeah. You fucked up royally, and I will never forgive you. Why did you mate and mark her if you still wanted that female?”
“I don’t want that female. I want our mate.”
“I was there Jarvis. For a minute, you kissed her back. The only thing that stopped you was the pain our mate felt. It should not have gotten that far. I think she may have even forgiven you if it didn’t get that far. You betrayed our mate. Something you promised her you wouldn’t do. Tamaska told me before they left, she will never allow you to hurt her human again and that she will break the bond herself before she allows that to happen. Do you know how rare it is for a wolf to want to break the bond with her mate? You did that to our mate.”
“I never meant to hurt her. It was always my intention to end it with Theresa. I wasn’t expecting her to do what she did. You know she has never done anything like that before. I was in shock. I still don’t know what happened. It was like I was watching everything happen, with no control over my actions for a moment. I can’t explain it, but I know I never meant to hurt Seleste. Seleste is my world, and I am lost without her.”
After a while of me sitting quietly in my room, I got a link from my beta asking me to come to my office for a conference call with a pissed-off gamma, a few alphas, and a councilman. I guess the shit has hit the fan. I walk into my office and on the screen is Gamma True glaring at me, along with Alpha Clark, Alpha Connor, young Alpha Trevor, Prince Julian, and councilman Bari,
“From the look of things, you know why we called you.” Councilman Bari says.
I just nod. They even brought the vampire prince in. This is really bad.
“We need to discuss your role with the Protector team moving forward.”
“He has no role with my daughter’s team after this. Alpha Blake, I warned you that if you hurt my daughter, I would kill you. I meant what I said. When this war is over, I plan to challenge you for your pack in a fight to the death.” Gamma True says looking at me with so much hate.
I know he means it. I growl at him. After all, I am an alpha. There is only so much disrespect I can take. Who is he to challenge me?
“Did you forget that Gamma True is a direct descendent of the Original Protector? He is an alpha wolf in his own right.” Onyx says.
That makes me stop and think. This may be a real challenge. One that could result in one of our deaths.
“Calm down gamma. There is no need for that. Right now, we need to focus on Seleste and the rebellion. We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted.” Councilman Bari says. “Alpha Blake, as of now, everyone on the team is refusing to work with you. What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I am Seleste’s mate. I need to be there to protect her.”
“Did you protect her when that shewolf was wrapped around you?” Alpha Clark growled.
“Did you protect her heart when she teleported all the way to my castle just to be as far away from you as she could get? The scary thing is that she wasn’t even aiming for my castle. She was aiming for her parent’s home. Thank the goddess she found me. She could have ended up anywhere thanks to you.” Prince Julian says.
“I just need to talk to her. I can straighten this out. I love Seleste. I never meant to hurt her.”
“If you think we will let you anywhere near her, you are sadly mistaken.” Alpha Connor says. “We will meet and discuss ending our alliance between our packs when things calm down.”
“As will I.” Alpha Clark says.
“You all are willing to end years of alliance without even hearing my side of the story?” I asked.
“I don’t need to hear your side. I saw Seleste after she teleported to Prince Julian. I saw how broken she was. I witness the strongest person I know doubt herself for the first time in her life. I was on the phone with her and my mate when she wasn’t able to use her powers and Prince Julian had to teleport her to the safe house where she is now, so no, Alpha Blake. I don’t need to hear anything from you.”
“As a member of the council, it is my role to stay neutral, but I will tell you, personally, as a male, I have lost all respect for you and I will recommend to the council that we discontinue our affiliation with you. If you can’t be trusted to take care of the gift that the goddess gave you, why should we trust you with anything else? As a male who lost their mate several years ago, do you know how bad I want a second chance mate? Someone was chosen for me by the goddess. To feel that connection again. To be whole again. The goddess gave you that, and you tossed it away, and for what? A shewolf who went into a relationship with you, knowing that you were not her mate. A female who flaunted her relationship with you when she knew you had been given a second chance. That’s what you threw the goddess’ gift away for. If I would have known your character better, I would have never encouraged her to give you a chance.”
“I never meant to hurt her. When that female jumped on me, I froze. I was not expecting that to happen. I literally froze. I didn’t snap out of it until Seleste left. By then the damage was done, but I will do anything to make it up to her. Seleste is my mate, dammit. We have already marked each other. She has to come back to me. I can’t be without her and she can’t be without me for long. We need each other.”
“Is that what you think, Alpha Blake?” Gamma True said, “You think my daughter needs you? You forget, my daughter is the direct descendant of an original. She can survive without you. The mate bond is not what drives her. She chose to accept you because she wanted you, not because the bond pulled her. She also knows what she needs to do to sever the bond with you and yes, she is considering it and I support her completely.”
“As do I,” Councilman Bai says.
“What can I do to make you all see that I never meant to hurt Seleste? I love her. I want her in my life. Look at me. I’m an alpha who is broken and begging for a second chance with my mate.”
Just as I was pleading my case, another party joined the call.
“Greetings, your majesty.” Everyone said to the Alpha King.
“To what do we owe the honor of your participation in this call?” Councilman Bari says.
“As you all know, my royal gamma is cousins with Seleste. In fact, we are all distant relatives, so seeing her hurt is something I will not tolerate. She was not even this distraught when she went through the rejection with young Trevor. She has asked me to sever the mate bond between her and Alpha Blake. I am seriously considering it. The bond is weakening her to the point that if we went to war right now, she would not be able to fight. I never go against the will of the goddess without good reason, but what you have done, Alpha Blake is unforgivable. So Tell me, Alpha Blake, why shouldn’t I grant Seleste’s wish?” The king asked.
“Your Majesty. I made a mistake. I was not expecting that female to jump on me like that, and I froze. This sort of thing has never happened to me before. I have served the kingdom faithfully all of my life. My Character has never come into question before. I am truly sorry for the way things happened, and I didn’t mean to hurt Seleste. I just froze. I know I should have pushed her off of me. I can’t even explain what happened. I just seemed to be rooted in that one spot.” I say.
“Seriously Jarvis. That is your excuse. You just froze? You got to be fucking kidding me. Do I look like an idiot to you? I gave you a chance to push her away. I stood there for two whole minutes. Two whole fucking minutes waiting for you to push her away, acknowledge my presence. Anything, but you did nothing but look at me. I could have forgiven you if that was all that you did, but you kissed her right in front of me. That I cannot forgive. You knew I would feel that. You knew it would cause me pain, and you still did it. You kissed another female after marking me. You knew the consequences of that. We discussed this the night before. I told you I would go to my parents for a time to give you time to get yourself and that relationship sorted out, but you insisted I stay with you. Why? I gave you an out, but you refused. Why? So that you could disrespect and hurt me. I told you that night that you would get one chance and one chance only. That was your chance. I am done. After this call, we will never contact each other again.”
My mate stepped back away from the camera after saying that.
“Seleste, please. I need you. Please give me another chance.”
“Your crocodile tears mean nothing to me,” Seleste says.
“Seleste, the goddess put us together for a reason. Please don’t let my mistake ruin everything we can be together.” I begged.
“That’s just it, Jar. I mean, Alpha Blake, you made a choice, not a mistake. Kissing her, knowing I would feel it was a choice.”
“I didn’t even know I was doing that. Please Seleste. You are my everything. I can’t live without you.”
“Alpha Blake, you are a grown-ass alpha male. How can you not know when you are kissing someone? That is just bull. I am done with this conversation. Your majesty. I have made my request. Please grant me my freedom. We have a battle coming soon and I cannot access all of my powers while I am still bonded to him. I need to be at full strength.”
“Your Majesty. My daughter has been through enough. She is willing to sacrifice everything for the kingdom. Please don’t let her sacrifice her happiness. That’s the one area she should not have to worry about. He was supposed to be her sanctuary. That’s what the moon goddess promised her. He is clearly not capable of being that. Please free her.” Gamma True says.
At this point, I feel totally defeated. There is nothing I can say to explain or justify what I did. I was given a second chance mate by the goddess and somehow I ruined it all. I still don’t know what happened. It was almost like I was under a spell or something. I didn’t want her hands on me, and I didn’t realize that I kissed her. That can’t be normal, but at this point, no one will believe me. Moon goddess, please help me. You know my heart better than anyone. You know I would never intentionally hurt or disrespect my mate. Please moon goddess. Please save and restore my relationship with my mate.
“Alpha Blake, I have known you pretty much all of your life.” The king says. “I have never had a reason to doubt your integrity before. While I am disappointed in your actions, something about this does not sit right with me. I did not detect any deceit in you when you said you did not realize you kissed her. I heard your thoughts just now when you said you felt like you could have been under a spell. I think there is something more at play here and all is this may be connected to the rebellion or it is an attempt to weaken Seleste. For now, I will not agree to sever the mate bond. I will send one of our witch allies to your pack, Alpha Blake. I want her to examine you and the clothes you were wearing at the time of the incident. Please don’t wash them. We will investigate this. Alpha Blake, If I determine your actions were based on your own free will, I will break the bond and free Seleste, but if you were influenced by magic, I will not grant the request and would ask you two to spend time together and try to repair the bond. If after a time, you cannot repair the bond, I will reconsider breaking your bond. Is that agreeable to everyone?”
I can see everyone looking thoughtful. Many of the ones on this call have known me for years. I hope they can give me a chance to prove myself.
Everyone agrees with the king to do an investigation. If I was attacked by magic, this is a threat to the kingdom. If there are spells strong enough to briefly control or influence an alpha, that would be bad news for all of us. The king is sending a powerful witch and a few of his delta forces to come and investigate. This is making me feel like I was a test dummy for the mind control that we heard the traitor councilman talking about. But it should not have worked on me because I am mated. Maybe they were testing a new formula, but how did Theresa get it? There are too many unanswered questions.
I try to get one more look at my mate, but she is back out of the camera. I miss her so much. I hope she can forgive me and help me overcome this. I know that I would have never done anything like that to her.
“Ok, everyone. We all have homework to do. We all need to take a few moments and calm down. So we can refocus on dealing with the threat to our kingdom. If I am right and they used some type of spell on Alpha Blake, there are implications for all of us. He is one of the strongest alphas in our kingdom. Seleste, you will stay at the safe house with royal guards. We still don’t know if you were the target or not. We will not take a chance on your safety, especially while you don’t have full access to your powers. I will arrange for your friends to be sent to you. Alpha Blake, you will not have any contact with Seleste during the investigation. She will determine if she wants to talk to you after the investigation is completed. My team is already on the way to you. They should be there within a couple of hours. For everyone else, let’s get some rest. We have a lot to do. Young Alpha Trevor will contact everyone within the next couple of days about the situation with the councilman and their claim that the grandson is the offspring of a royal. You are all dismissed.” The king says and ends the conference call.
“Well, son, that went better than I thought. I hope for your sake, they find you were under a spell and did not purposely hurt Seleste. But son, I think you should probably leave the pack in the hand of beta until we know you are free of their control just to be on the safe side.” My father says.
I didn’t even realize my parents were in the room with me. My mom still has not said anything to me.
“I will make this right,” I say to my parents and walk out of my office to wait for the king’s team to get here.