13- The Frenzy of Mating
POV Lunara Grimwald:
I huffed.
I took a deep breath and focused on the beats of my heart, trying to calm myself before I lunged at his neck and ended up killed in the process. Although… if I were killed, I’d end up killing us both, and at the moment, that didn’t seem like such a bad idea.
Three pairs of eyes were fixed on me. They said nothing, only stared at me with… curiosity.
Lyris, a tall, strong female with dark-brown skin, black hair tied in a braid thrown over her shoulder, watched me with a furrowed brow. She was striking. Full, well-shaped lips, a straight nose, and a lean jawline. I wasn’t sure yet if she was an omega or a beta, though I leaned toward the latter. No matter her rank, it was clear to me she was a brave female.
She wore a midi dress that framed the pronounced curves of her slim body.
"This is a problem," she commented, looking at me.
Beside her stood a male who looked a lot like her. His name was Andrei. Taller than Lyris, with dark skin, thinning hair, a lined face, and no beard. His arms were crossed, the movement emphasizing his muscles.
And next to him was another male, the one I’d heard them call Anton. He had short blond hair, green eyes, pale skin, and a delicate face. He was a few centimeters shorter than Andrei, about Lyris’s height. He hadn’t said a single word yet. Analytical, he kept watching me, trying to grasp the situation.
"Oh, you think so?" Andrei mocked, eyeing me from head to toe.
I ignored the shame burning inside me.
I was filthy with blood, dirt, and leaves. Not to mention Edric’s dried semen between my thighs and the mark of his teeth on my neck. Even if I wanted to hide what we had done, it would be impossible.
The bastard hadn’t let me go to the bathroom, hadn’t let me leave the spot since we arrived. Always keeping an eye on me, as if I could vanish into thin air with a snap of my fingers.
He leaned against the kitchen counter, a little apart from his friends, raising a bottle of whiskey to his lips and drinking straight from the neck. And I couldn’t tell which of us looked worse.
"How exactly did this happen again?" Anton asked, speaking for the first time.
Edric sighed and looked at me.
"I was sitting in the yard with the fire going when I felt a scent… a presence. I noticed it wasn’t someone from the village, but it was too close to the territory, so I went to check and…" He trailed off, looking embarrassed. "Everything happened."
That explained the lingering smoke rising from the fire when we arrived.
"Have you told the others yet?" Lyris asked. He shook his head, taking another swig of whiskey.
"I’ll wait for the meeting with the elders to share the… news."
Elders? Others? Who were they talking about?
"You mated with her," Anton stated. It wasn’t a question. "I can smell your scent on her, as I can smell hers on you."
"As I said, a huge problem," Lyris added.
"Which pack are you from? What were you doing in our territory?" Andrei demanded.
I kept my mouth shut, not uttering a sound. I wouldn’t give them any answers. If they found out about me, they’d reach Alessio. And I’d rather die than go back to him. Besides, if that happened, they’d also find Elowen. I would never let them lay hands on my sister.
"Does she speak?" Anton asked.
Edric let out a growl.
"Oh, she definitely speaks," he barked.
Lyris turned toward him, and something stirred inside me. Hot, throbbing, and intense. I followed her every movement with my eyes.
"You couldn’t identify which pack she belongs to by the taste of her blood?" She turned her head toward me and flared her nostrils.
"I can’t smell her because yours is all over her."
She moved closer to him. My muscles tensed as if I were preparing to strike.
"She doesn’t belong to any pack in the region," he replied.
Anton circled the table, striding toward me. I whipped my head, fixing on him, ready to attack if he touched me. But before he could do anything, Edric snarled loudly, making all three of them recoil.
Anton froze mid-step, eyes wide, slowly turning toward the alpha.
"But… what?" he croaked, confused.
The alpha glared at him, baring his teeth, unblinking. His movements were rigid, just like in the forest. And the golden in his eyes began to ignite.
"Step away from her, Anton," Lyris ordered, standing still.
He didn’t move, as if paralyzed by Edric’s attitude and frozen in fear of the alpha. Edric looked like an animal, ready to pounce.
"Now!" the wolfess insisted, rigid.
Anton blinked, breaking free of his stupor, and stepped aside, then another, and another, until he was back at the end of the table, eight chairs away from me. Edric followed his every move with narrowed eyes.
"What the hell is going on here?" Anton whispered.
"I have a hunch," Lyris said.
"And what is it?" Andrei objected.
Lyris looked at me, then back at Edric. She stretched out her arm and laid a hand on his shoulder.
I didn’t know when I had gotten so fast.
One moment I was sitting at the end of the table, ignoring them while they talked about me. The next, the chair clattered to the ground and I was in front of her, baring my teeth and growling like an animal.
She smiled and pulled her hand back, stepping away from Edric, who frowned at me, as did the others.
"They’re in the frenzy of mating," she said, as if it were obvious. "It’s normal in the first hours after a pair mates. It’s a sense of possession, since they’re marked and claimed."
"Thanks so much for remembering that only after Edric nearly ripped my head off."
"I didn’t even move," the alpha retorted.
"Dude…" Anton ran a hand through his blond hair. "You were exhaling pheromones. That was the first time you ever did that to me. I almost fainted from fear," he confessed.
"For everyone’s safety, I suggest you stay far away from these two, at least for now," Lyris replied, glancing at me with a sly smile. "And for your information, I have no interest whatsoever in Edric. He’s more likely to be jealous of me." She winked.
"And she has a girlfriend," Andrei added, pointing at his sister. "So nobody rips anyone’s head off."
I felt the heat of shame burn my face, worsening when I realized they were looking at my clothes, at my skin covered in blood and filth.
I returned to where I had been sitting, pulling the chair back to the table. More than an idiot, I felt humiliated, dirty, and out of place.
"All right, no touching anyone," Anton muttered, raising his hands and seeming to want even more distance from me. "We need to figure out how we’re going to handle this situation. You two are mated, which makes her your wife and… the queen of the pack."
God!