Chapter 5: Mercury

Josh’s POV

“I don’t NEED a fiancé!” I try to keep my voice down, my emotions under control. But my father is interfering in my life! Again! This isn’t the first time we’d had this talk.

And I have a sinking feeling it wasn’t going to be the last. My father has been pressuring me for a while now to get engaged. I clench my fists, trying to push back my anger.

“Be reasonable, Josh,” he says in a steady, calm tone. “You can’t succeed me without a mate.”

“You don’t think I know that?” I snap at him. He reminds me almost every day! “But why are you forcing Brooke on me? Let me choose my own mate!”

“Brooke is the mate Luna Crestina has chosen for you,” he calmly states. My eyes flick to Luna Crestina. She’s standing calmly in the corner, watching us argue.

I take a deep breath and run my hands through my hair. “Luna Crestina, I thank you. I really do. For your ‘kindness’.” I try to cover the sarcasm in my voice but it leaks out. “But I really don’t need your help with this.”

“Brooke is a very good fiance,” my father says. “She’s kind. And loyal. She’s strong and sensible. She’ll be a good Luna. You should be more gracious, SON.” He emphasizes the last word with his alpha tone.

I can’t believe this. I really can’t. I won't marry Brooke.

Suvi’s eyes flash into my mind. I’m confused and they’re pressuring me. I need time. Time to think. Time to sort this out. Time to figure out what this thing with Suvi really is.

“One month,” I say flatly. “If I don’t find a mate in one month, I’ll marry Brooke.”

“Joshua,” my father says sternly.

“But if I do, then you’re calling off this engagement.”

I don’t even give them time to respond. I march out of the room while they look at each other, bewildered.

It’s not like me to stand up to my father like that. But he’s backed me into a corner with this whole forced engagement. I’m a grown man now and I should have the right to make my own decisions.

I burst through the front doors of the pack house and head out to the garden. I need some fresh air, need some time to clear my head, need….

“She’s up to no good. Luna Crestina.” Mercury surfaces in my head. He begins pacing around.

“I know,” I say to him. Because I have a feeling it’s true. My mother died a long time ago, and I’ve never been able to shake the feeling that Crestina had something to do with her death. Of course, I’ve never been able to prove it. And I can’t exactly accuse the Luna of murder without proof. But…

“We’ve never liked her,” Mercury finishes for me.

“No. We never have,” I agree. It’s put a strain on my relationship with my father. He can tell I don’t like Crestina although he never comes out and says it. But still. She causes tension between us.

“Like now,” Mercury says. I nod.

“There’s a reason she chose Brooke,” I tell him. “Something suspicious. I just can’t put my finger on it.”

“And Suvi?” Mercury asks. I smile in spite of myself at the mention of her name. I flash back to our date. My hands on her hips. The look in her eyes. Our lips getting closer and closer together.

And then…

That feeling. Strange and warm. Unfamiliar but comforting at the same time. I felt it when we touched. It was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. Did she feel it, too? I had to find out. 

“I don’t feel a matebond with Suvi,” Mercury says bluntly.

“You can’t,” I shrug. “She doesn’t have a wolf.”

“But I do feel like she’s familiar,” he muses, settling down and resting his head on his front paws. This is how he sits when he’s content. And for whatever reason, thinking about Suvi makes Mercury feel content. “I feel like we’ve met her before.”

“Yeah, I feel that too. But I thought about it. A lot. I don’t think we have,” I tell him. Mercury yawns, a slow, wide, lazy yawn.

“If I’m not destined to find a mate,” I tell Mercury, “if I have to be assigned one…”

“Then you would rather choose Suvi,” he finishes.

“Josh?” A female voice breaks me from my thoughts. I turn around. It’s Brooke. She’s coming towards me.

‘Oh great,’ I sigh. Just what I need. She’s all dressed up in a fancy evening gown. Her makeup is perfectly done, and her curly hair cascades around her bare shoulders. She’s pretty, I’ll give her that. And elegant. She’s also smart.

But I don’t like her. There’s something about her that puts me on edge, that just doesn’t sit well with me.

“It’s her scent,” Mercury comments. “At least it is for me. Bleh. Sandalwood. It’s offensive.”

I suppress my smile at Mercury’s comment.

“Can I talk to you for a minute? Your father said you would probably be out here.” She sees my hesitation. “Just a minute. I promise. I’m off to a gala tonight so I can’t stay long anyway.”

“Fine,” I sigh. If I have to talk to her, at least it will be quick. I’m consoled by that. She has somewhere to be. And there’s no way Brooke would ever show up late to a gala.

“Luna Crestina mindlinked me. She told me about your little…hm…how should I put this? Outburst?

Well that’s a passive aggressive comment if ever I heard one.

“And?” I raise my eyebrows.

“And I rushed right over.”

“Because?”

“Because I had to ask you, face to face, Josh. Why do you want to call off our engagement? Have I done something wrong?” Her eyes search my face. “If I have, we can talk about it. I’ll fix it.”

I shake my head.

“I feel perhaps you’re making a snap decision here. If you just think about it awhile, I’m sure you’ll see that we’re perfectly compatible.” She reaches for my hand but I pull it away. “Josh?” Her tone is tense now. Her expression is questioning. She furrows her brows.

“Just tell her already,” Mercury yawns.

“You haven’t done anything wrong,” I said, my tone polite.

“Then why?” she asks.

“There’s someone else,” I shrug.

It’s cold, I know. But like I said, I don’t like her.

“Plus you smell like Sandalwood,” Mercury adds, but of course she doesn’t hear that.   

“Someone else?” She looks shocked.

“Yes. A mate, actually. I can’t be engaged to you because I already have a mate.”