Chapter 40: 40. Return of the blue

Following the announcement he'd made to his people, though it was in the mindlink rather than the outspoken one, Shayde sat down at the table. On the surface he simply appeared to have been introducing Danika to his people at large, when in his mind he was ordering all of them to stay the fuck away from her. It was the only way to ensure her safety.

The moment he used the alpha voice on them his people would have no chance but to heed the orders of their alpha, no matter how much they wished to do otherwise. He knew there were the occasional times when people were able to overpower the pull, but was honestly hoping this time that wouldn't be the case. Shayde honestly didn't want to hurt his own people because they'd been too stupid not to listen to his orders tonight and had caused her any further harm. And he would he knew.

As frightening as it was for Shayde to come to this realization, when it came down to it if it was between her safety and the acceptance of the pack, she'd win out every time. He tried to blame the overwhelming need to keep her safe on Caspar, that his wolf was calling the shots, but he knew that'd be a complete lie. It hadn't been Caspar who'd tracked down the girls that thought to hurt his mate, nor who had gone toe to toe with Justin for coming to their defense.

That was all him. Despite the fact that it'd barely been forty-eight hours since this beautiful woman stalked into his bedroom, she had come to consume his every thought and emotion. No matter what he was doing at the time or where he'd gone to escape, it was Danika he thought about, Danika who he wanted to be with. It'd taken every ounce of self-control he had to keep away from her all of this time, creating an aching pain he didn't completely understand.

Where was all of this coming from? Why did it hurt so fucking much? None of it made any sense. Although Shayde knew the bond between mates could be intense and completely overpowering, it wasn't supposed to be to these insane depths. Because if the men felt even half of the intense connection he felt for her for their own mates, then there was no way in hell they'd ever leave their sides. It'd only been by his own sheer will, determination and the bloodline he'd descended from, that enabled him to stay back for as long as he had. Anyone else in the kingdom would've crumbled the second she walked into their lives, locking her away where they could fuck senseless for the rest of their lives.

Grumbling beneath his breath he leaned back in his seat and reached for his drink, in the hopes of the alcohol curbing the lust that surged up inside of him. Bad move. Because this simply brought the people gathered around the pack dining hall into sharper focus, noticing all the eyes were trained on the head table. Though there were various different people that were clustered around him at the table, it wasn't lost to him who they were presently looking at.

He saw the hatred and disgust in their eyes. The hatred for the human girl that seemed to have completely overtaken him and he was disgusted he'd allowed himself to be smitten by a human. In that moment Shayde had little doubt if he hadn't been in the room all of them would've swarmed the girl, killing her for what she'd done to him. He gnashed his teeth in anger at the thought of them laying a single hand on her, clenching hands tightly at his side to hold in his raging emotions.

Although he'd known from the beginning this wasn't going to be easy for any of them to accept, he never imagined how difficult it would be for him not to react to it. All he wanted to do was lash out at the people showing such hatred to her, when Danika had never done anything to them. He knew he could always try to make them understand what was really going on, but none of his explanations would sway their feelings.

How could they understand? Okay, if they knew his desires for a child all of them would calmly accept his decision and might even be rooting for him to conceive an heir. Not with a human though. None of them would ever be able to understand the reason why their beloved alpha, their precious king, had chosen a human to bear his son. Especially when there were so many different unmated she-wolves who'd happily produce the child to ascend to the throne. That idea was far more suitable in their eyes, as at least the mother was of their kind and none of them would have to worry about the risk of exposure.

For them to comprehend the choice he'd made for the mother of his child, he'd have to tell them the truth only Delilah knew. That he would've gladly produced a child with a blooded werewolf, but unfortunately a spell ensured only his mate was allowed to carry his seed.

Of course, this knowledge would only bring about a whole new set of problems for them and more risks than he was willing to take with her. By admitting the complications of the spell he'd unknowingly be admitting the truth of who she was to him, that Danika was in fact his mate. Though a wolf finding their destined mate had always been a joyous occasion and a cause of celebration in the pack, he doubted that'd be the case this time. None of them would be able to understand how their all-powerful alpha king had been mated to a filthy human by the goddess rather than one of them.

It was something that'd never been done before. As far back in the history ledgers that Shayde could go a wolf had never been mated to a human, as their kinds simply didn't mix together. After all, half-bloods were considered to be abominations in the eyes of his people, having at one time been killed from the moment of their first breath. Their mixed blood with the humans always tainted the mind of the child, the two sides of their being always at odds with one another.

Eventually over time the wolf side became almost rabid, vengeful and angry for being locked away, it twisted the minds of the humans into something dark and unnatural. Pure evil. Though the mutation in their genes took decades to take effect, normally not until somewhere in their forties, the fear they caused could not be ignored. It'd only been about twenty years ago when the Guard, the dark little bitches that helped lay down the law when they'd receded the execution decree. It had been decided the half-bloods would be enabled to live out the course of their lives in safety until evidence of their mixed blood taking over came to light.

Meaning the body count began.

So it begged the question, how come had he? Why had he been mated to a human? And she was most definitely human, of that he had no doubt. When he'd first encountered her Shayde sensed the humanity in her but had kept careful watch due to Caspar's suspicions he was wrong. Nothing supernatural about her had popped out. Granted, she was braver and stronger than the average human, with a courage he'd never encountered in them before, but she was still human.

It was one of the reasons he'd taken her to the doctor, in the hopes the man would help him make sense of what was really going on. Dr. Kline didn't understand the concerns he had on her species, by all accounts she was human, if not a little more advanced than the average. Although he'd gone on to ensure him that he'd run all the necessary tests and backgrounds needed, just to be absolutely certain of that.

Shaking off the thoughts before they had the chance to distract him any further, he set down his drink in a bid to reach for his cutlery to eat. A hand touched his shoulder. "We need to talk."

"Delilah," he started.

"It's important," she reasoned, "Gravely so."

Aware this wasn't a situation that could be postponed for a second longer, bowing his head to defeat, he slowly rose to his feet. "Watch her," he ordered his guards, "If anyone dares to harm her you will do your duty and protect her, am I understood?"

The nearby warriors immediately bowed their heads in acceptance of his orders, aware that she wouldn't come to any harm in his absence. Deeply relieved she'd be completely protected in his absence, issuing a command for her to be on her best behavior, he walked out of the dining room. Time to see what the insufferable witch needed.

"What is it?" he demanded.

"Not here," she denied.

He was trying to understand what was going on when she led him even further away from the dining hall, to one of the offices downstairs. Shayde was alarmed at her need to take him so far away, as if she was scared of anyone overhearing the conversation between them.

"Spit it out," he growled.

Allowing the door to close behind their entrance into the office, Delilah finally turned around to face the man, arms crossed over her chest defiantly. "I need to know the truth. Who is this girl?"

He frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Where did you find her?" she insisted.

Groaning in frustration at the litany of questions that continued to come out of her mouth, truly wondering what she could be rambling about. He took a deep breath. "She's from Wolfsdale, she broke into my house."

She gaped. "Seriously?"

He nodded. "Yes, I was quite surprised by that knowledge too. I'd woken up to find the girl looting around in my shit while I'd been sleeping, in the course of stopping her I chose to bring her here."

"Cause she's your mate?" she guessed accurately.

He arched a brow. "Really?"

She bobbed her head. "Right, keep focused."

Raking fingers through his hair he groaned in frustration, growing irritated the longer that he was kept there, than where he wanted to be. "What is going on, Delilah? Just tell me whatever you want to."

Delilah anxiously paced on her first, looking increasingly uncomfortable. "The first time I saw the girl I knew something was off about her, I sensed something different that I've never felt before in my life. When I'd taken hold of her hand earlier something happened, at skin contact I'd felt this overwhelming surge of power shoot through me. It only lasted a brief second and then it was gone, but it was enough to know where it had come from. It came from her."

He laughed roughly. "She's a human, Delilah."

The witch vehemently shook her head. "I sensed the humanity inside of her too, kind of hard to hide from someone like me, but I honestly think whatever that is, is just a cloak."

He didn't like the sound of that. "Meaning?"

Delilah looked him directly in the eyes as she spoke. "When I'd been examining the injuries that'd been left on her, I had noticed this scar on her hip, the one that I had asked her about."

"The bear attack?" he mused thoughtfully, having been present during the conversation between them, having too felt the panic at the thought of what she'd endured.

She bobbed her head. "That wasn't from no damn bear attack. Not only that grizzlies haven't been seen in these woods in over two hundred years. The markings I'd seen on her had been too massive for a bear, the slashes were a good three inches wide and more than three feet in length."

"Don't say it," he warned her.

It was too late.

"It was a werewolf," she told him.

His mind was spinning at the realization of what he was being told, at the reality of what had really happened to the girl in her youth. "Are you trying to tell me that you think a werewolf attacked her?"

"No," she denied, giving him a momentary sense of relief. "I'm not telling you I think it was a werewolf, I'm telling you I know it was a werewolf that attacked her. I'd seen the scars left behind from the bite of the animal, it was a werewolf bite."

Shit! This wasn't good. It wasn't good at all. Shayde was forced to acknowledge that she'd encountered the supernatural wolf long before he'd entered her life, she'd been attacked by one of his own people. He gulped. "Could it have been a rogue?"

"No," Delilah dashed his momentary hope. "When she'd been talking about the attack she'd let her guard down a little and I was able to get snippets of what'd happened back then. She'd been walking around the woods when she'd heard a growl, then had turned around to find an enormous black wolf behind her, who'd given chase. The thing had been ripping into her tiny body, she'd been blacking out when suddenly another had come from out of nowhere, protecting her."

He jerked up, "What?"

Her eyes mirrored her shock. "No matter how shocking it was this wolf had come out of nowhere, it'd knocked the wolf back and then started tearing into the animal. Protecting her. As she'd faded in and out she'd had slight impressions, one of them was of hands placing her onto the back of the enormous beast, as she was carried away."

Shayde slumped back in his seat, astonished by what he was being told. "It is more imperative than ever for us to find out the truth of who this girl is and where she came from. There had to be a reason why a werewolf came to her defense, against one of their own."

"One last thing," she said.

He froze, "What now?"

Her voice softened. "It wasn't just any wolf."

"What do you mean?"

She stared into his eyes, "The wolf that had come to her defense that day, it wasn't one of the ordinary werewolves known to these forests. It was...it was a...." Delilah took a deep breath, to muster her courage. "A Cerulean haze."

"What?" he roared, "A blue wolf?"

She nodded, "Yes."

Holy shit! This was more unbelievable than he'd ever imagined to be possible. The Cerulean Haze were a mysterious breed of werewolves unseen in the world, that both amazed and frightened their people to the pit of their stomachs. Mostly due to the legends of the creatures, since that was all they'd had to go off since one hadn't been seen in more than three hundred years. The creatures were so unique they were almost a breed of their own, believed to be larger, stronger, faster and capable of rare abilities.

Once having acted as protectors of the werewolves, those they'd once protected had sought to use them, as one wolf could annihilate entire armies. Outraged at the betrayal they experienced at the hands of their own people the Cerulean had broken apart from them and completely vanished.

"We need to find out the truth," he told her. Preferably before anyone else managed to catch wind of what had happened to the girl in her youth and deemed her too dangerous to remain alive.