Aries:
Was it true? Was she really my mate? No! It couldn’t be! But I felt it, so it couldn’t be a lie. Right?
“Yes!” Bain growled with anticipation and excitement. My counterpart could hardly contain himself and it was at that moment that I realized that it had to be true. Though I imagine any virile male would have a hard time containing themselves in front of such a rare beauty, and yes, she was beautiful.
There was a darkness about her, however. It was as if the years of her absence had changed her in ways that caused resentment. Death could do that to a person, I’d imagine. Still, though, she carried it quite well:
Unlike before, when she was human, her hair was long and wavy, as if the wild itself tamed it into something feral. It fit her well. Her eyes were dark and almost cold, a stark difference from what I remembered. It was disheartening to see.
Everything about her changed over the laste few years of her absence. What didn’t change, however, were those voluptuous curves, that sensual and subtle allure, and that potent and almost intoxicating scent. It was good to see her again. I wouldn’t tell her that, though.
“Ares,” said the alpha wolf. It was only then that I remembered that he was standing there. It was hard to focus on anything other than the little human-ah, or shall I say inhuman, when she was in the vicinity.
“Yes, alpha.” I answered quickly as my stare settled on her. One could say that I was still in shock from Bain’s desperate cry for her. My mate. Our mate.
“Is everything alright?”
I could tell that this wasn’t what the alpha wanted to say. I finally regarded him. “I am fine, alpha Wade.” I turned my gaze to her again. “I imagine you are elated to have found your daughter again.”
To be honest, the alpha’s response was lost on me. As I mentioned before, it was very difficult not to focus on the little pequenina.
“Our mate,” said Bain. “Why have we not gone to her?” He was quite anxious, but what did he expect me to do? How did he expect me to react? Did he expect me to run to her? “Surely, you don’t expect me to run to her?” I directly asked my lycan incredulously while I continuously watched the young woman standing ten feet away glaring in my direction.
I knew that she had experienced what I had. I didn’t know what was lying within her; whether there was a second soul, or even just a sixth sense of some sort, if it was anything like Bain, there was no ignoring the exciting shock emanating throughout my whole existence.
I knew that she felt the same thing that I felt. That she experienced the same thing that I experienced. It was evident in her eyes. And that little inhuman was not happy about it.
“Alpha,” she finally broke the silence. “Good to see you again, I guess,”
“You guess?” I didn’t like that, and she knew that I didn’t. Was she trying to provoke me in front of her father?
The great alpha wolf was staring awkwardly at me and then at her. He knew that there was a tension there. She tried to hide it more than I did. There was no point really.
“Yes,” she responded with a hint of sharpness. “I guess.”
Yeah, she was trying to aggravate me and it was working. “Glad to see you’re alive,” I grinned. “Though I hear that it didn’t take the first time around,” I quipped, referring to her death. Sure, it was a low blow but she’d taken me there at this point.
“Ares!” The alpha said in a reprimanding tone.
“It’s alright, dad.” Valene cut in before her father could continue to attempt to reprimand me.
I could tell that she was not a big fan of my remark. In fact, for a split second, she was visibly surprised and then quickly irritated by my comment. The glint of anger in her eyes lasted only a split second before it was replaced with a sneer.
“Oh, I don’t know…I think life took pretty well the second time around…don’t you?” I didn’t answer. I was too irritated to. “I’m sure you can agree…alpha.”
Was she trying to provoke me? “Had you stayed put it wouldn’t have had to?” I snapped.
Before I knew it, I was standing directly in front of her. No longer did I care about the one-wolf audience standing only a few feet away nor did I care about hiding any lingering frustrations that I was trying to keep at bay. If the alpha was not happy about my candor, then so be it. I’d deal with it later. Until then, however, my concerns only lied with the fiery young inhuman standing before me.
“You seem upset, alpha” she lingered on the word of my title for a teasing moment and without my extensive ability of mentality based kinesis, I could tell that she was being sarcastic. “Maybe…I should leave you to deal with whatever unresolved feelings you seem to be feeling about our last departure.”
I didn’t know if it was the newfound connection between us by the goddess mother herself or just the mix of emotions I had about seeing her gain; whatever it was, however, it was causing a tension that was too thick to cut through and quite hard to ignore.
“Alpha Wade!” called one of the pack members.
Alastair was reluctant to leave us but whomever it was that called him sounded urgent. He glanced uneasily at both of us and then walked away.
As soon as he was out of earshot, however, I quickly made my moderations known. “We need to talk.”
“No,” she quipped, her gaze unwavering as she said, “We don’t.”
She brushed past me without another word and I fought with every ounce of my being not to yank her up and force her into seclusion so that we could hash it out. Something told me, however that if I did, I’d only succeed in making things worse.
I turned and watched her saunter away from me, my arms crossed in aggravation. “We’re not done here, little one.”
She paused, turned only slightly and looked at me. “Yes, we are.” without another word, she did something that I had never seen before of an inhuman. Her body seemed to burst into a flight of shadow-like bats and suddenly she disappeared into the sky.
“She is going to be a problem.” Bain seemed to realize this as he witnessed what I did.
“A challenge she will be,” I agreed with my beastly counterpart.
“Yes….why do I feel like you welcome the challenge?”
When he said this a grin played across my lips and gradually became wider. I was amused and a tad bit excited. I could tell that Bain was too.
“Well…don’t you?” I asked him, already knowing the answer.
“Yess,” he hissed with fervent excitement. And I couldn’t lie…I certainly was intrigued on how I would tame that one.
“We need to call a meeting.”
When I turned around, there stood Alastair Wade, his countenance cause for concern. For now, I’d push the feisty little human to the back of my thoughts.
“What is it, alpha Wade?”
“There was another death.”
This was starting to become routine of late, so I wasn’t surprised. “Well, we know it wasn’t your daughter this time,” I said. “She just left.”
“I noticed.” The alpha’s suspicion did not waver as he looked at me but we both knew that this was of utmost importance.
“So, I expect you think that it was another rogue.”
“I’m not sure,” said Alastair. “Something’s telling me that it’s…more to it than that.”
“Well we have no proof of it. Whoever has been doing this-if they’ve been doing it all this time has never left a witness.” This made me consider the possibility. “Do you think the little inhuman was really the one committing bloodlust crimes this whole time?”
“I’m not sure,” said Alpha Wade. “But the only way to find out is to call a meeting. I want everyone in immediate power to attend,” he said.
There was something in the alpha’s thoughts that he was considering heavily as he watched me. “Say it, alpha,” I pressed. I knew exactly what was bothering him. I crossed my arms expectantly, and watched him.
“Well since you brought it up,” he said. “Are you sure you are going to be cognizant enough to make it?” he asked me.
“I’ll be there, alpha Wade,” I reassured him.
Part of him didn’t seem to believe me, but another part of him knew I’d be there, and we both knew why.
“I guess you will,” he said. “I must say, you’ve seemed to develop a pep in your step after engaging my daughter today.”
I tried to hide the twitch that I suddenly felt from his blatant confrontation of my…interaction with Vale. I knew that this would be a difficult conversation to have with him-telling the great wolf that it turns out his daughter was my mate.
“Just because she is inhuman does not give you free reign with her.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Of course, I knew what he meant.
“You do.” He called my bluff with ease. “Her blood is still potent-probably even more than before.” The alpha was right. I’d have thought that being inhuman would have made her blood less desirable. That wasn’t the case at all.
“Alpha, Wade,” I said calmly. “Your daughter is alive, and I will have no part in causing her harm.”
“Why such intrigue in her, Ares?” he took a step closer to me, his arms folded and impatience rising in him. It was all stemming from overprotection. “You’ve always been drawn to Val. I know that she is a gold blood, but there is something in your eyes…that I’m not sure I like. You always respect my boundaries and yet you have a problem with this one.”
I didn’t realize that he was right until now. I had always seemed to magnetize to the girl, and it wasn’t like I was addicted to her blood-not after the first slip up, though the desire was still there. Was it because we were mates all this time and…that she had to be awakened for me to finally realize our connection?
To be honest, I wasn’t sure and probably would never know. I also wasn’t going to have this particular conversation with him either. But I also wasn’t going to back down from the truth either. Or at least the partial truth.
“I’ve always found your daughter both attractive and intriguing, alpha Wade, but I also found myself wanting to protect her just as you had. The day that she left, I told you that I had offered to accompany her. I thought I had convinced her to stay, and she left. And then died because of it. I’m glad that she is alive, Alpha Wade.” I then started to walk away. “Me and my two hands will be in attendance tonight and yes,” I added. “I will be cognizant enough to attend, and I apologize for not being who you needed me to be up until this moment. It won’t happen again.”
“I hope not,” said the alpha as I continued off. “But the true test will come when Valene leaves again.”
For some reason this made me pause. What did he mean by this? Did he mean that Vale’s presence in Shadow Veil was a temporary arrangement? Trying to read him was a lost cause because even he didn’t know.
“Ah, you thought that she was staying, did you?”
“To be honest, she seems quite attached to you, Alastair,” I said and turned to face him. “It wouldn’t surprise me that she did.”
“Hmph, right,” he rolled his eyes. Not at me but at the conflicting thoughts and emotions that he seemed to have about his daughter and the woman who was his true mate. “Val has changed, Ares,” said the alpha. “And I’m not sure it’s for the better. When she leaves, I need-”
“When?” I interrupted the alpha. “You seem quite sure that she is only visiting.”
“I’m not sure of anything, to be honest, Ares. What I do know is that if she is anything like her mother, she can be flighty and very…unpredictable. It’s easier for me to expect the worst.” He walked away from me. “You should do the same,” said Alastair. “You seem so sure of most everything…everything except her.” On this he was right. “I’ll see you tonight, Ares. My home. Eight o’clock.”
As I watched him leave, I realized that there was a great deal of truth in what he said.
“Seems we’re going to have to confront this situation far sooner than previously realized,” said my counterpart.
“I think you’re right about that, Bain.” I agreed. "You'll not be leaving again, little inhuman. Not like this. Not without a fight from me."