Killian’s POV
“What of the women and children?” I asked Joe, playing the role of a concerned alpha when really, all I wanted to ask about were the young girls. Alek had been stirring and uncomfortable from the moment I had smelt that soul-stirring lavender and a mix of pinewood smell.
It had felt so comfortable and at home at that very moment, yet, I didn’t want my mate to meet in the middle of a takeover of her hometown.
I didn’t want her to hold any grudge against me because I have waited more than ten years for her. Even if I could, I wasn’t sure Alek could handle rejection from her.
“They seemed to have even more young girls and children than the adult males, maybe that’s part of why Sebastian’s turnover has been lower.” Joe said with a thoughtful expression before he realized that wasn’t the question I had asked him.
“They have been taken to the decamping house. Orders have been passed down to prepare them for the mate selection tonight. For the ones that haven’t been marked by a mate.”
I nodded my head in satisfaction, I would get to meet her tonight. “I need to get some rest,” I told him as I walked off.
Having battled with Sebastian for more than an hour and then coming back on foot with Joe and the other generals, I needed a good bath and sleep.
After a soaking bath, I climbed into bed, my heart lurching with expectation. After now, I would not have to lay in bed alone.
***
I dressed up quickly, with how much Alek was stirring in me, I didn’t want to keep him waiting.
“Our mate isn’t going anywhere. You have to calm down.” I warned Alek as I pulled out one of my favorite shirts. I was done in less than five minutes and went into the big hall.
The moment I entered the hall, the sweet scent of my mate wafted toward me and I looked around to find where the pull was the strongest.
“Mate.” Alek growled threatening to leap out and I had to exert every bit of control to have him stay in place while my eyes searched the hall wildly.
There were close to eighty girls and one of them was my mate.
Joe stood beside me as we watched the whole process from the stage.
“There are still about fifty female children. At least, we know that 50 males that are still growing would have mates.” He said with a sigh.
I could understand the pressure, for a clan like mine, food, and resources were abundant and we needed females for our males to mate with.
Over the years, the turnover of female shifters had declined and some clans even had human slaves that were used as whores for their pleasure and release.
“We will find a way around it.” The confidence and authority in my voice made Joe nod his head as his shoulders relaxed.
“When would you be picking a mate? The elders are starting to complain.” He said after a while looking around to be sure no one was close enough to hear him.
If he had asked me this question two days ago, my mood would have gone downhill. But now that I could smell my mate, and feel her close, I didn’t even feel uncomfortable as I replied.
“Very soon.”
The moon goddess had at last decided to take pity on me.
I went back to scanning each girl and I could feel my being aching for her the moment I laid my eyes on her.
Even in an outfit that they were all putting on, she called out to me. Her head was lowered like she didn’t want to be noticed. She was probably uncomfortable with being stared at by everyone.
Having to look at her from a large crowd of people was torture to me. I wanted to talk to her, wrap my arms around her and have her talk to me.
Unable to bear it anymore, I closed the gap between Joe and me. “Can you bring that girl with the bright auburn hair to my suite later? She looks like someone I used to know.” I instructed him and he nodded in understanding while also looking at her.
Axel growled with disagreement. Clearly, he wanted me to go right there and claim my mate.
I didn’t want to do it the crude way. I wanted to know her and get her to feel comfortable around me before claiming her.
I cast one more look at her before striding out of the hall.
Erika’s POV I stiffened as the huge man that had just addressed all of us pointed me out from the crowd of girls. I had thought that I could hide in the middle there and make myself so invisible. Some of the girls around me pushed me out and I walked slowly to the stage with my head bent hoping one of them would not raise the kind of questioning I had gotten in my room earlier today. I wouldn’t have imagined that I would be fighting for my life so desperately amidst a pack of wolves. “Follow me.” He commanded the moment I walked up to where he was. I nodded gently and followed after him, the difference in our height putting a distance between us as each of his strides was about four of mine. “Hurry up, you don’t want to keep the Alpha waiting.” He said with a tinge of impatience in his tone making me start to jog after him. After some minutes, we stopped in front of a mansion, even the richest man in my town didn’t have a house this huge. The front gates were adorned with golden
Killian’s POV All these years, I had waited for my mate. Longed for her and even had my expectations high. Yet, just when I had thought she wasn’t going to come. That I wasn’t one of those lucky enough to be blessed with a fated mate. The moon goddess had finally sent one my way. Sent a freaking human that probably had no idea what it was like being a shifter. “The moon goddess never makes mistakes.” Alek growled through my mind, eliciting an eye roll from me. That was clearly a mistake. A mistake wrapped in a stunning body and the most innocent and clearest pair of eyes I had ever seen. Those eyes haunted me so much that I didn’t dare to tell anyone that she was human. That she had the option to either die or become a whore they slept with. Just the thought of that had Alex growling in my head and my chest tightened miserably. Regardless, she was still my mate. The least I could do was protect her…. While the fate of shifters was decided by the moon according t
Erika’s POV A loud bang had me jerking up from the bed. Even though I didn’t have the hypersensitivity that I have come to understand that shifters had, from past experiences, I was a very light sleeper. Most importantly, the last two days at this new pack had seemed a bit too peaceful to be true. A part of me had found it hard to believe that my life could go that smoothly. Squinting my eyes, I saw three girls dressed to the tooth and subconsciously, I looked around me to be sure I was still in the right place. Beside me, Anita also sat up with a startle and shot me a glance before looking at the intruders. The omega quarters were built like human dormitories. We had four single beds in this room and up until now, it was just me and Anita. To be honest? I wasn’t looking forward to roommates. It was kind of perfect with just me and Anita. “Who’s the one?” One of the girls standing by our doorway asked and some other girl that I hadn’t noticed before stepped forward.
The last two days had been hell. From the moment that girl had made a call to have people avoid us, everything that had seemed to look surreal had taken a turn for the worse. Every moment, there was only someone there to make my life a living hell. “You have to use your hand to wipe these sinks, there’s no other way around it.” The older woman in front of me said as she shot me a disgusting glance. I nodded and took some soaps. Thankfully, I had gotten sufficient training in the previous pack. Carefully, I washed the sinks and then rinsed my hands. “Who gave you the audacity to wash your hands?” The woman asked, before I could reply, a dirty slap resounded in the room and I could swear that I saw stars. “I… I... I’m done with my tasks for today.” I muttered. I had been up since the break of dawn, and in my mind, I had hoped that I would be able to get my work done before most of the other omegas were ready to work. Since I had my share of work that thankfully didn’t
Erika’s POV As much as I didn’t want her to know, Anita had found out about my hand when the ointment had been sent over, and bless heavens! She was pissed as I had imagined. “We need to let these people know we can’t be bullied like this.” She said and I nodded. At this point, arguing or reasoning with Anita was fruitless. “I think running away is a more feasible option. How can we attack all of them? We are being dealt with by only omegas now and we already can’t stand it.” While most omegas had equaling strength. It was important to know that some of them had a top family and were just unlucky. People like that couldn’t exactly be offended unless their family had rejected them. In some cases, they even got to marry a normal male wolf and would later move into the interior of the pack again. We didn’t understand the dynamics here and didn’t know who couldn’t be offended. There was no way we could actually face them head-on. “Erika..” “Living as a rogue is most likely
Killian’s POV From the moment she walked into the room, everything had changed. This couldn’t be how it felt after rejection. Which made me believe that perhaps, Ciro had been right. This bond between us seemed to still be intact. However, there was a dull ache in there. Just a moment ago, she looked like some scared pet that could run away at any moment, yet, the moment she realized what Ciro had done to her, she had changed into another person entirely. Her eyes blazing with her wild and beautiful hair framing that perfect face. She had every being of me entranced. “You know, little bunny, if you had been willing to talk, I would not have had to use my special ability on you,” Ciro said but I could feel Alek’s anger from how he had addressed my mate. “Ciro.” I growled and it took some minutes for him to understand what just happened. “Bro, I can’t help it when she looks like some fallen Angel right? Besides, you guy’s bond has been broken off and you can’t be with her. Let
Killian’s POV “Don’t you think your reaction to her is too much for a rejected mate?” Ciro asked as soon as he got back from sending Erika back to her room. I had many things I thought I wanted to ask her. Something along the line of if she wanted to leave was also there. Yet, the moment I saw her, all thoughts of that flew out of my mind. “You are overthinking, it’s just Alek being reluctant to part with the fated mate thing.” My reply was curt. I was unwilling to go there even though I knew that he had been right. There was no way the bond between me and Erika was broken. No way. “Are you sure that this is what you want? To lie to yourself? The most important thing about breaking a fated mate bond is your wolf also agrees with you. In fact, the name of your wolf is what is usually used to break it off so how can you say you broke it off and Alek is reluctant now?” Ciro said and I rolled my eyes at him being long-winded. But the wolf’s name was what was used to brea
Erika’s POV The last few days in Killian’s pack could be considered quite peaceful. I had a feeling that he must have done something and even though I wanted to be out of there, I was still grateful that I didn’t have to leave like some criminal. “Let’s go and grab lunch first,” Anita said as she pulled away the knitting pins from my hands. Unlike back in our old pack, the knighthowl pack didn’t use omega for unnecessary labor like washing clothes for spoilt brats and ironing. Instead, everyone picked something they could do to assist the pack and while Anita had decided to join the food production team during the day, I had opted for joining the clothing department. We mended clothes and made brand-new ones on request while the money went into the pack’s account for other things. More importantly, we also got a percentage share of the money and I really couldn’t wait to start selling some of the dresses that I would make. “You can just bring some for me, I don’t want to le