Chapter 12 Chapter 12
~ Suki POV cont. ~
About a week had passed, I’d finished my school day and was trying to kill time until Rey and I could meet up. We’d barely seen each other since my birthday; he was busy with his warrior training, and I was busy finishing sixth form. When I wasn’t at school, I was doing my duties bestowed on me by my father.
In my free time, I would read a lot, but I also liked to conduct my own research on things. I was reading a lot of books about plants used in certain remedies. Not elixirs like what witches create, but genuine remedies that packs used to make back in the days of the first werewolves.
I think it stemmed from the stories my great-grandmother would tell my mum. It made me grow a fascination with alternatives to how to heal others, even if it wasn’t through the flashiness of magic.
Anyway, I was admiring some apple blossoms when I heard a familiar voice call my name.
“Suki?”
Turning to the voice. “Zale?” I straightened and bowed my head. “I mean, Alpha-son.”
He scoffed, “Suki, please, we grew up together, remember? Forced to play together as kids while our Dads had their thousandth meeting of the day.” He rolled his eyes and chuckled.
I smiled, scratching the back of my neck. “Yeah, you’re right, sorry. It’s been a while, I didn’t know if we were…”
“We’ll always be friends, Suki, promise.”
Zale, future Alpha of the Moonstone pack, was probably one of the only people who understood what it was like to appreciate making friends who weren’t forced through family relationships. Although people questioned his choice in friendships, after all, he was friends with–
“Why have we stopped?” A voice groaned behind me. Even complaining, there was a weird pull from his deep voice.
My body tensed at his voice, becoming stone as I inhaled a sharp breath; it was like my body thought that if he saw me move, he would kill me on sight.
“What’s her deal?” he asked in a condescending tone. I couldn’t see his face, and I refused to turn around, but I just knew he was rolling his eyes at me based on the attitude in his voice.
My deal? I’d never encountered a Rogue before, and we had one living casually in our pack. My father made me swear to stay away from the Rogue, so that meant I rarely got to see Zale anymore, which sucked.
Zale sighed, “Her father is super strict about who she hangs out with.” He gave me a sympathetic smile and squeezed my upper arm, almost as if it was his way of saying ‘I missed you too’. “Come on, Brendan, we’ve got to get back before my father gets pissed at us for being late.”
“He doesn’t care if I’m late, only you. You go ahead, I’ll catch up. I had some other things I wanted to do.”
Furrowing his brows, he looked at his watch and swore under his breath. “Don’t cause any trouble, and leave her alone.”
I smiled at his protectiveness; it was heartwarming. I did see Zale as an older brother. But my smile faded the second Zale rushed off and left me alone with the Rogue.
His presence was too strong behind me; it was like he was taunting me.
“You know you reek of fear.” He hummed, inhaling my scent louder; he had clearly moved closer to me. “You’d make it too easy for enemies to feed off that fear.”
I shuddered at the feeling of his breath on my neck. “What, like people like you?”
Brendan chuckled, “You don’t know me.”
“And you don’t know me, but you’re obviously judging me.”
“Mm, you’re fun to taunt, what’s your name?” When I didn’t respond, he huffed, “Fine, let me retrace my thoughts. Hmm, what did Zale call you… Darcy? No. Sarah? No… Ah, Suki. What a name. It means ‘love’, doesn’t it, love?”
My breathing felt weighted, hearing my name on his tongue. Yet, it also felt enticing. “Don’t call me that. You should go; my father would be furious to see you near me.”
He stepped to my side, but I turned away, part of me still afraid to look at him, like it was dangerous to do so. “Do you always follow the rules so strictly?”
“I don’t have a choice.”
“Oh, please,” he scoffed. “You have plenty of choices, you just let others choose for you. You need to be more wild, more free.”
I half-laughed, “That’s rich coming from a Rogue.”
“Ha! The little Beta wolf does bite back,” he grabbed my arm, and instinctively, my head turned his way.
My heart fluttered at the sight of his beauty. I had seen him around before, but never really looked at him properly. What followed almost had my knees buckling. The same sensations I had with Rey. The world stilled, and silence echoed in my ears. Darkness surrounded us and only lit a light on…him.
Brendan towered over me, and a raw hunger lingered in his widening eyes as the realisation hit him too. “Mate.”
“No…” I cooed, “That’s not possible.” I stepped back, but he kept coming toward me. Losing my balance, I tumbled to the ground, prompting myself up with my elbows behind my back, but Brendan was on the ground, holding himself over me, preventing me from moving. “Please... W-Wait.”
His face softened, but his annoyed tone still lingered. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just…” He scanned my face. “Just let me look at you.”
Silent, I let him, and I watched him watching me – taking in every detail of me. Those few seconds of silence, staring at each other, felt like a lifetime, and it only drew me in more. The way my father and everyone in the pack spoke about him, I pictured him as a monster, someone who would rip my throat out or hurt others for his own pleasure, but that wasn’t what I saw.
Brendan said nothing when he got back up to his feet, holding out a hand to help me stand. He looked deep into my eyes and spoke calmly, “You look like you have a lot on your mind, but I suppose I’ll be seeing you around… love.”
I watched him leave, at first walking slowly, then he sped away into the depths of the forest.
What the hell just happened?
Panic had surged through my body. Had Reynard rejected me? No, I would’ve known, I would’ve felt it. A rejection from your mate is meant to be one of the most painful things you would ever experience. It’s like losing half of your heart, even when you don’t care for your mate. It’s meant to physically and mentally hurt.
Later that night, when Rey and I finally met for our plans, I could feel it – our bond – it was still there, just as strong as it had always been (even without having sealed it yet). Yet that only left me more confused than ever. It was impossible to have two mates, yet somehow, I did.
I realised I was experiencing some kind of mad anomaly, but who could I tell? Either people wouldn’t believe me, or they would think I’ve gone mad, or worse! My father wouldn’t accept it, and his reactions were so unpredictable that I had no idea what he’d do if he found out. Suddenly, the pack felt so minuscule that I felt like I couldn’t tell anyone, because what if I did, and word got out, and things would spiral into something out of my control.
So I chose to stay silent and try to find out how to resolve this myself. That was until my father tried to set me up to marry and bond with the Alpha-son of the Silver Moon pack, and, well, that didn’t play out any better.
The thing was, with all of this drama, I knew what I had to do to fix it. I had to complete the bond. I had to pick one of them, sealing the bond with one and breaking the bond with the other.
But, as time went on, the bond overwhelmed me with feelings, and…
I no longer know who to pick.
~ End of Suki POV ~