CHAPTER 9

MARCUS POV.

“Marcus has found his mate and will be planning his own mating ceremony shortly.” My father said and my uncle’s eyes widened in shock as the buzzing of voices erupted around the table. Kate looked at me with wide eyes as though trying to find the lie. “THAT’S BULLSHIT!” She exclaimed. “No one has seen you with a woman by your side in a long time. Besides, you only just got back from training… where would you have had time to look for a mate?” She said and she looked from me to my father before she uttered a laugh. “You are bluffing!” Kate said before she turned to her father. “They are lying to keep me from what is rightfully mine, daddy! Tell them!” She said and I rolled my eyes at her tantrum but I had to admit that it felt good to make her feel out of place.

“My father is not lying, Kate. I have met my mate. Quite recently actually and I have you to thank for that.” I said smugly and she looked at me incredulously as though I had gone mad. “What the hell are you talking about?” She demanded and all eyes were on me in anticipation. “It was someone from your party last night and we hit it off spectacularly.” I said and I pinned a look on her human mate who was squirming in his seat. “That is not possible. My friends would have told me if one of them was your mate.” She countered. “So, you have to be lying.” She said and I shrugged. Believe whatever your little brain wants you to believe, Kate, but I have met my mate last night and I have mated and marked her.” I said proudly and my uncle slammed his fist on the table again, harder. “This is absurd! Have you stooped so low that you have coerced your son into picking some tramp to mark and mate just to take away what is rightfully my daughter’s?” He spat and I could see a vein pulsing on my father’s temple and I had, had enough.

“ENOUGH!” I said loudly and the wolves in the room that were not of alpha blood, flinched. Kate’s human mate made a squealing sound before sinking down in his chair and I saw Kate look at him in disgust. “Brother or not, you will not speak to your alpha that way! I don’t care what you believe, but I can promise you this…” I said and I pinned Kate with a challenging glare. “You will not have a mating ceremony because that right belongs to me. The alpha that is next in line. One that has already marked and mated their partner and is in the direct line to become alpha. Not some spoilt, pregnant, alpha’s daughter who cannot even mark their mate because she is disgusted with the choice that the Moon Goddess has chosen for her.” I said and there were a lot of shocked gasps filling the room.

Kate screamed furiously before she lounged at me. To my surprise, her father grabbed her and pulled her back and made her sit down and immediately she started to sob as her mother comforted her. “You have some nerve, boy!” My uncle spat at me and I raised an eyebrow at him in challenge. “You know the rules, uncle. If you don’t believe me then check his neck.” I said and indicated to Josh. He was watching everything with wide eyes and when my uncle turned his stare on him, he swallowed audibly. Quicker than how he could react; my uncle grabbed his shirt and tore it away from his neck to reveal… nothing.

My uncle stared at it for a moment before he looked towards his daughter and his stare was cold. “You said you marked him!” He said in a low voice and Kate trembled. “I- I was going to… I wanted to wait for the ceremony… I wanted to make it official then…” She stuttered but stopped when my uncle turned red in the face but said nothing further. He turned on his heel and marched out of the room. Leaving Kate and her mother to run off after him. Josh sat there in shock and looked around him and I raised an eyebrow at him before I flicked my hand towards the door. “Time for you to leave too.” I said and he didn’t waste time running off after his mate.

There was a lot of excitement chatter in the room, some gloated in the humiliation of Kate and others sulked. I didn’t care. The only thing I could think of right now was Abby. I wondered what she was doing right now. I grabbed a sausage and sat back in my chair and chewed lazily until my father sat down beside me. He immediately fell into conversation the moment that my uncle left the room. No doubt ordering his men to keep an eye on them. My father didn’t trust his brother too and with good reason. My father was two years older than his brother, but there was no law that the eldest son had to rule. They could be challenged for their rank but there was a catch. The fight had to be to the death. That was the only way one could ensure that the threat was dealt with completely, but my father had a soft heart. He was a fierce leader but his family meant everything to him so when he won the fight, he spared his brother. Maybe I was a bit cold-hearted, but I think this pack would have been better off if my father had killed him all those years ago.

“We better move quickly with this, Marcus.” My father lowly and said seriously while looking about. Everyone was still in excited chatter. “I would not put it past Peter to try something and I think we should have a guard shadowing Abby, just in case.” He said and my heart jumped. I knew what he was saying, but I didn’t want to believe that Abby could be put in possible danger. “I agree.” I said back lowly. “Kate is immature enough to scare Abby off, but it is my uncle that I am worried about. He would do worse to her.” I said and my father nodded. “I have already ordered my beta to have our wolves keep an eye on him. I trust you will arrange for your mate’s safety?” My father asked but it was more of a statement and I nodded before getting up from the table.

‘Time to go.’ I linked my own beta and a tall man with long wavy blond hair and brown eyes stepped through the crowd and he followed me out. “Where are we going, boss.” Mac says with a sly grin. And I grinned back. “To go see what your new luna is up to.”

Mac drove to the apartment building where I dropped Abby off earlier. It only occurred to me then that I didn’t know which apartment she lived in. I got out and leaned back against the car and stared up at the many windows that lined this side of the street. Mac came to stand next to me and looked at what I was looking at and uttered a laugh. “Let me guess, she didn’t give you her apartment number?” Mac said laughing. This caught a few girl's attention and some even tried to flash their eyelashes at him to get his attention, but he didn’t even notice. “No, she did not. I was sort of in a hurry.” I said back a little sour that I didn’t take an extra minute to ask for her apartment number. “But it doesn’t matter. I have been waiting to find her my whole life so waiting here for an entire day would be of no consequence.” I said and Mac nodded. He knew the feeling. He is the same age as me. we grew up together, went to school together and trained together. He was the closest thing to a brother I had.

And so, we waited. A few hours passed before I spotted her coming out of the building. “There she is!” I said and slapped Mac on the arm, making him bolt upright in his seat where he had been dozing off. “Wow!” Mac exclaimed as he leaned over to get a better look. “She is definitively a better look for a Luna than Kate.” He said and I nodded my agreement. We watched her walk towards a car that was parked a few spaces down from the entrance and get in. She pulled out of the driveway and we did the same, following her at a distance.

“So, now we are stalking her?” Mac asked and I rolled my eyes at him but I had to agree that it somewhat was. “We are not stalking her. We are just seeing that she gets to her destination safely… wherever that may be.” I said and Mac snorted. We followed her to a suburb where she turned and parked in a driveway and a woman greeted her there. It wasn’t long when a male joined them. I growled slightly when he came too close to my mate and I gripped the steering wheel tightly as I watched them interact but relief swept over me when he kissed the other woman. The interaction between my mate and this male was almost sibling-like and thought it was perhaps a brother. I will have to do my homework on her to get to know her better. I thought as the three of them disappeared into the house and then we waited again.

“You know we look suspicious right?” Mac asked and I sighed. “What if someone decides to call the human law enforcement?” Mac asks and I have to agree. “You are right, we are sitting ducks out here and if she happens to come out and finds me here… I don’t want her to think I am a creep.” I said and Mac snorted. “Right, because stalking her for this entire day was just a normal day in Marcus Moonlock’s diary.” He mocked and I rolled my eyes at him.

“Mac?” I said and he looked at me knowingly. “Let me guess, you are going to ask me to keep an eye on her, right.” He said and I nodded. “It is just until this whole thing blows over.” I said and he nodded.

“I would like to feel honored that you are trusting me with this because I am your best friend, but it isn’t, is it?” He asked and I tried to look innocent but failed hard at it. “You are my best friend, Mac. It is just that you are more trusting than any other wolf that I know.” I said and Mac rolled his eyes at me. “Yeah, yeah. It’s because I won’t try to steal your Luna from you. After all, I’m gay and you know it, but the trusting part was sweet too.” He said in good humor before he got out of the car and stretched. “I guess I’ll keep in touch.” He said before sprinting off between the houses, no doubt to find a place to hide and still keep an eye on the house.