Chapter 4. Will Selene Accept It?

"You?" Selene looks at Jackson in surprise, who currently occupies her entire frontal view. Her brow furrows, and for a few seconds, she seems incredulous about what is happening. Saya is also watching attentively from Selene's eyes, but when Connor slowly arrives at her position and stands in front of his cousin, her heart races like never before.

"Mate!" Saya chirps inside her mind, almost surfacing, but Selene doesn't give her space. The young woman opens her mouth but fails to say anything at all.

Connor looks directly into her eyes, and from his expression, he seems as confused as she is. When he tries to take a step towards her, Selene transforms and runs towards the path, quickly disappearing into the dense forest. Connor makes a move to transform as well to follow her, but a hand on his shoulder stops him.

"Give her some space," Ethan says, looking sternly at what he now knows is his sister's destined mate. He felt it when Connor passed by him a moment ago to reach her. He had imagined this could happen and didn't hesitate to follow him to prevent any mishap between them.

By the time Connor and Sorem calm down a bit, there are already several people around them, including Katrina and Uriel. The alpha of the Alba Noctis pack glances at her father, and he gives her a brief nod. Some things she had heard from her father's mouth a few months ago now start to make complete sense. That's why she had insisted so much on inviting him, even though he had declined her invitation on other occasions.

"She and I..." Connor doesn't manage to finish his sentence due to the turmoil in his chest. Sorem is restless, and this escape from their mate is not a good sign for them. Is she rejecting them?

"I'll go talk to her," Ethan adds. "She needs some time to process this."

"Time to process? There's nothing to process. She's our mate," Sorem complains in Connor's mind.

Ethan walks away and transforms before entering the forest to follow her. Connor remains fixed on that spot for longer than he's aware of.

"Let's go to my office to talk more calmly, Alpha Connor," Katrina's sweet voice interrupts Connor's troubled mind. He turns to look at her and nods before following her.

"Stay vigilant. If you can approach and make sure she's okay, do it," Connor instructs his beta and cousin, Jackson, through the mental link.

"I will, Alpha," Jackson confirms and joins a group of young wolves heading towards the forest.

Katrina and Connor head to the spacious office. She offers him a drink, and to her surprise, he refuses. It's a good sign that he doesn't like alcohol.

"You can take a seat, Alpha Connor," Katrina indicates to Connor before taking her own place. "As you may have noticed, Selene is our daughter with Ragnar. It's a great surprise to me that the goddess has predestined them."

"Selené? Our mate's name is Selené, like the Moon goddess," Sorem exclaims excitedly.

"So her name is Selené?" Connor seems lost in thought as he asks. When they met three days ago, she hadn't been indifferent to him or Sorem, and now he understands why. Even when she was in his lap and clung to his waist all that time, their bodies seemed to have recognized each other more than they themselves could understand.

A brief smile appears on his face as he remembers how she had called him "Mr. Carrot" and the urge he felt to spank her at that moment to teach her respect.

"Yes, she's our eldest daughter, twin of my son, Alpha Ethan. As you may have noticed, she's a bit confused and..."

"Confused? Why would she be? I'm her mate, end of story. There's not much to comprehend."

"Well..." Katrina clears her throat before continuing. "They haven't fully accepted each other yet. So technically, she's not your mate yet, even though the Moon has destined her to you," This makes Sorem growl. "You can still reject each other if you want to sever the bond or..."

"Why would I do such a thing?" Connor stands up angrily from his chair and walks to the window. His eyes start to shine, and the hairs on his hands grow. He knows Sorem is on edge, but he doesn't want to cause any problems with his mate's mother and in his own pack. He takes a deep breath and tries to focus on what's really important now.

"I'm not saying you should, Alpha Connor, but my daughter, well... she's quite a challenging young woman at times, and it might take a little effort to convince her."

A smile creeps onto Connor's face, which Katrina doesn't see because he's facing away.

"I know," he responds, causing intrigue in Katrina and approaching her again. Do they already know each other? That's technically impossible due to the distance between both packs, and Connor had never attended their mate-matching parties until now. "I'll let her come to terms with it tonight as Alpha Ethan requested, but my beta will be nearby to make sure she's okay in the meantime, if that's alright with you, of course."

Katrina nods.

"I request an audience with you and your husband tomorrow before lunch to officially claim her," Connor adds, and Katrina agrees. "We must leave for Redwood Wolves by tomorrow night at the latest."

Connor heads for the exit, leaving Katrina somewhat worried about what might happen tomorrow. Connor Blazeheart is an Alpha, and no one can stop him from claiming his mate if that's what he has decided, but will Selene accept it?