Chapter 02

SYDNEY

Victor stilled, body tensing as the word left the unknown Alpha's lips. The Alpha's two men shared a thunderstruck glance before shifting their shocked looking faces to me. The patrol wolf had left to grab the three clothes since they were standing in all their naked glory and I made sure to keep my eyes up, never once allowing them to dip and take in what lied below.

Dimitri chuckled quietly, shaking his head and his mate visibly relaxed as confusion set in. Half breeds did not always have mates. Because human's could pick who they wanted to be with, I had the will to choose my life partner. I had never expected to find a mate, had never prepared for such a possibility.

He was the epitome of handsome though, so that was a bonus. His sharp jaw, tattooed physic that had muscles rippling throughout his body, jade orbs, and dark chocolate strands made him the definition of a fuck boy and screamed 'stay the FUCK away'. I watched as he clenched his jaw, eyes ablaze when Victor circled his fingers around the crook of my arm.

I looked into Victor's eyes as they searched mine. Hurt was the most prominent emotion he felt but just as I caught the emotion, he covered it up with his stoic mask which he never usually used on me. The question that his eyes asked me which his mouth couldn't be clear. 'Is it true?'

Everyone had heard stories about the mate bond, even me. They said that it would be love at first smell. The scent would lure you to them and that was exactly what this tattooed alpha's scent did. They also said that you would instantly feel a connection with them, as if you had known the person for years. When I gazed into the stranger's beautiful green eyes, that was the feeling I felt.

So the answer was simple and although it would hurt Victor, I had to be honest because he could smell a lie a mile away. He just wanted confirmation and I had to give it to him, "It's true, Vicky," I sighed, resting my forehead onto his chest, "Crapcakes!"

"I swear, the connection you two have creeps me out sometimes," Dimitri shivered just to be the drama King we all knew him to be, "but that's going to be a problem with him around," he then nodded his head to the stranger who was glaring daggers at Victor, "If you want, I can take care of him for you..."

"Dimitri," I chastised, "what's with you and wanting to drink everyone's blood?"

"I'm a vampire, princess. It's what we do," he deadpanned, "Although, I'd have to be really hungry and desperate to drink the blood of a mongrel," his face contorted into utter disgust, "It's smell and taste is putrid."

"Shut it, blood sucker," the stranger growled furiously, a think British accent lacing into his words. His voice almost sounded as silky as Dimitri's.

"Oh, how original," Dimitri rolled his eyes, stepping toward the alpha with a devilish smirk twisting his lips; a smirk he only used when he asserted his council position, "I'll warn you once, mutt. No offense Victor and Sydney," Dimitri called before continuing, "it doesn't matter who the council member is, if any species disrespects them or tries to harm them in any way, you pay with your life."

"I could give two shits about the council so I'd request you back the bloody hell off before they need to find a new Vampire to take your place," the Alpha snarled, closing the gap between Dimitri and him as they stared each other down.

Finally the wolf that was guarding them returned with clothes and I waited patiently for them to change before ordering, "State your name, pack, and reason for trespassing on this territory."

"My name is Quade Holt, Alpha of the Midnight Sun pack," he gestured to the guy on his left who had blonde hair and teal coloured eyes, "this is my Beta, Enzo," then he gestured to the guy on his right, "and my Delta, Zen. We apologize for stepping onto your territory but we were chasing after a pesky bloodsucker and hadn't realized we had crossed a pack's borders."

Victor growled and I know exactly why. I didn't need Victor's ability to know when someone was lying to know that Alpha Quade was spewing lies faster than a sewage pipe. Dimitri picked up on that too, practically choking on fresh air as his eyes widened in surprise.

"Actually, they were sneaking onto the territory until Ambrosia and I zipped by. We just lured them here so they could get caught," Dimitri clarified.

Victor was silent again, Dimitri clearly telling the truth. Alpha Quade did not like that fact, irritation flashing in his beautiful green orbs. Since he had shorts on, I allowed my eyes to trail down his muscular torso. He had tattoos everywhere! There wasn't an inch of skin that didn't have a tattoo licking it. His fists balled at his sides, the veins in his arms protruding and throbbing from the tension.

I eyed Alpha Quade's men behind him who stared at me skeptically. They hadn't spoken but they seemed like the type to only speak when spoken to. Their white skin had red scars littering it. The Beta had three nasty scars going across his chest, the claws of a werewolf clearly making those scars. They seemed like trouble and not the fun kind.

"I want to speak to your alpha," Alpha Quade's silky British voice mused. He may have spoken to the men around me harshly but when addressing me, he made his tone soft, like a gentle caress of the skin.

I kept my face impassive, not allowing him to see how I was internally swooning over him, "You're speaking to the Alpha."

He scoffed, "A human female as alpha?" He didn't seem impressed by it.

"A half breed female," I corrected, "and I'd suggest you not underestimate me Alpha Quade. You're not exactly in a position to do so," the amusement dancing in his eyes annoyed me. I knew I wouldn't get any information out of him and if I let him go, he could continue watching my pack and gathering information. There was no telling how much he had already seen. So in a calculated decision, I said, "Vicky, get someone to prepare three rooms at the pack house, these three will be staying."

"There's no need, mate," Alpha Quade murmured.

I scowled, "You accept the rooms or we take you to the cells. There's no in-between."

"You'd do that," he cocked a brow, "to me?"

I took a step toward him against my better judgment, gripping the blade behind me tighter than ever, "I'd do that to anyone who spied on my pack and then lied after being caught. Mate or not, my pack comes first," I gritted, "now, start walking pretty boy."

He snorted, "Pretty boy? You think I look pretty?" The question left his lips as if he read a piece of poetry. It made me feel as if he unleashed a zoo in my stomach and I didn't like it.

"You don't want to know what I think," I admitted, sounding repulsed so he wouldn't catch onto my meaning but he didn't seem convinced.

Dimitri and Ambrosia walked in front of the three wolves whilst Victor and I walked behind them, watching them closely so they wouldn't try anything to escape. I could tell Victor was mad at me, at my decision to make them stay but I preferred having them around me so I could keep a watchfil eye until I figured out what they wanted. Strategically speaking, this plan made the most sense. But logically, it had my warming bells going off so loud that I was certain I'd be deaf soon.

I had to, at the very least, discuss things with my Beta first before taking anymore hasty decisions. Beta Xander had been my father's Beta before becoming mine. He had met his mate a few years after my dad met Grace and had a son, Tane, who was too young to take over the position yet. However, Tane was in training to take over the roll as soon as he turned eighteen. 

Victor held my wrist in an attempt to get my attention. Because he couldn't speak, Victor had developed the habit of touching me to get me to notice him. That meant he had his hands on me most of the time and that also meant people around up generally got the wrong impression of us. My mom had even suspected that we were mates once. She'd be pretty heartbroken to find out we weren't because apparently my mate was some English prick.

"What are you doing?" Victor signed out. His hand gestures where faster than normal but still somehow accurate. I guess after years of using his hands to speak, it became second nature.

I looked at the backs of the three large men walking in front of me and then met Victor's confusion riddled face once more, "Do you trust me?" I signed, my hand gestures weren't as perfect as Victor's but I tried. Mostly, I spoke aloud so I never needed to perfect signing.

His jaw clenched and he shook his head before gesturing, "You're crazy, princess."

Princess was something only my dad called me at one stage in my life. When I took on the alpha role, I felt a bit odd being called by the term. Considering I was technically a princess since my father was the king, I had requested everyone just call me by that title. It made me cringe a whole lot less, but I still cringed nonetheless.

After another ten minutes or so, we reached the pack house. The extremely large, cottage styled building wore its age. We were in the middle of deciding whether to build a new pack house, a bigger one to cater for the bigger pack or to just revamp the current one. I was leaning toward building a new one but we would have to find a place to house the current members staying in the house. It was all just a big headache waiting to happen.

"Take them inside and lead them to their rooms, Dimitri and Ambrosia, follow me," I instructed, heading into the house and navigating my way to my father's office which had become mine for the past few years.

I had moved into the pack house when I took on the Alpha role, allowing my mom and dad to have some privacy. My brother had also moved into the pack house when he turned eighteen, hoping to travel to other packs soon so he could find his mate. It was something he couldn't stop talking about.

Finally, I reached the heavy wooden double doors that now held a golden plaque with my name engraved in stunning cursive writing on it. Pushing the door open, I gestured for Dimitri and Ambrosia to enter first before following behind them and closing the door.

"Mind telling me what you're doing here?" I got straight to the point, folding my arms across my chest, "and more importantly, does my dad know of your arrival?"

Dimitri made himself comfortable on the royal red velvet sofa that sat opposite me, tugging Ambrosia down so she could sit beside him. The style of the office hadn't changed much. It still had that bookcase behind a table and chair to my left and still had dim lighting. Antique vases still decorated the place and I had managed to add to the antic decor with pieces dating back to the eighteen hundreds. There was just something about vintage that I loved.

"We were just passing through when I smelt something unfamiliar. We're heading to your mom's old pack. It seems like they've been having problems with a vampire hunting on their territory — hunting by the numbers mind you. It's our duty to take care of that," he informed me with a shrug of his shoulder, "It's not a big deal really. Just a fledgling who can't seem to control it's thirst. But, if they continue on this rampage then humans will grow suspicious and we will have a lot more to deal with than just ordinary hunters. We don't need a repetition of the Salem Witch Trials."

"What will happen to the new born?" I quizzed, clearly having undue interest in the topic.

"We will train it, but if the new born fails our test, we will have to remove it from the equation."

"Must everything end with death?" I groaned. Of course I had killed my fair share of wolves but I kept my promise to my dad. I only resorted to killing them when completely necessary. That didn't mean I liked it.

"Everything begins with life so everything must end with death, princess," Dimitri's slithery voice cooed, "Tell me, how do you plan on dealing with the Alpha now that he's your mate?"

"The same way I deal with all my problems. Evaluate the situation and find a way to deal with it so it doesn't spread panic. If you say he was watching the pack, then I'm not sure how much he's seen. For now, I'm going to change patrol schedules and try to figure out as much as I can. I don't get a good feeling off him and his men," that was only partly true. Looking at Alpha Quade made my insides melt but that wasn't something I cared to reveal, "If you can, try to find out as much as possible on him. The Midnight Sun pack is located in Northumberland, there's a plush forest there to hide them well. Can you make a trip there for me?"

"For you princess, anything," Ambrosia smiled warmly, "Don't want your dad knowing?"

"Not right now. I don't want to stress him."

"We will do what we can," Ambrosia sent me a reassuring smile. If only she knew that smile did little to calm my raging mind.