Samuel had a single thought in his mind. His wolf roared inside him as he continued to gaze at his mate. Yes, his mate. His one true mate, the one given to him by the moon goddess was standing right before him. Not some chosen mate that his kind took to solidify their pack's political matters or to have heirs from them. No.....here was his real mate, the Queen that would rule his heart and soul. She stood in front of him with her adorable fear-filled face.
Fear? What did his mate fear? Samuel roamed his madness-filled eyes around her until they fell on men who dared to stay in 'His' mate's presence.
"Move...." He warned, his voice grim, scratchy, and deadly. Samuel slowly creeped towards his mate making sure that she was not startled by his presence. He wanted to soothe her fears, lick away her tears, and in the end, placate her enough to sink his fangs in the crook of her soft neck. That way, she will become his forever.
"Stand away from my mate!" Samuel's orders sent confusion amongst the group. They were surprised by his complete shift in demeanor. He was not the Alpha Samuel, they knew. And worse.....the reason for his change seemed to be a woman. A human woman at that.
Their mind and thoughts were frozen, and they refused to comprehend everything that was happening. Was there Alpha calling a human girl as his mate?
"This is impossible," One of them said, "His behavior is the one I have heard in legend and myths"
Andrew's eyes were stuck on Elia while he muttered, "He has found his mate"
"That can't be" agrued another, "There has not been any sighting of soulmates.....it has been close to a millennium since the mate bond disappeared"
"It seemed to have appeared again." This time, it was Liam who spoke. His words seemed to bring everyone out of their reverie. As soon as they came to their senses, they panicked. They didn't know what to do from now on. It was Alpha Samuel that had ordered them to abduct the human. They didn't know the purpose behind it. Would he really order them to kidnap his mate just so he could kill her? They doubted it. Male wolves didn't take along nicely with other males around their females. Much less their mate.
The only explanation for the current situation was that Alpha Samuel had other plans for this human woman but happened to recognize her as his mate, which surprised him instead. This was a sticky situation to be in.
"Why is she acting like that?" Andrew suddenly asked no one in particular. While everyone else was discussing the matter regarding the Elia and mate bond, Andrew never participated for he was too busy observing the woman. He analyzed all of her reactions and expressions before concluding, "She doesn't seem to recognize the mate bond." A creeping smile spread across his face as the others looked horrified by the information.
"Right," One of them said, "She doesn't seem affected in the least. Why isn't she feeling the mating pull? Isn't she supposed to, according to the scrolls of Sacred Bond? Or was it only just a myth?" The things they knew about mate bonds were limited to them because many years ago, the wolves stopped recognizing their fate mate. It was as though the moon goddess had cursed them with lifelong loneliness. Yes, the wolves mated and had pups even after this, but all of it was either done as a political play or to continue their lineage. They were no better than human beings. Their sacred mate bond was severed leaving only chosen partners in their places.
Now, including them, the wolves had given up on the idea of having a Fate mate in their life. It was a bizarre concept that was nonexistent to them...until now.
"Does this mean we have our mates out there?" That statement shook everyone to their core, "What if.....What if our mates are humans too?" That made them think. To them, human beings were beneath their kind; they were weak and greedy. So, associating something as sacred as a mate bond with humans felt wrong, "What if they don't feel the pull towards her just like this one?" It hurt even to think about such a predicament. Their instincts were all over the place. Something that had been dormant inside them was waking up with the new possibility of having a mate.
Andrew laughed at their reaction, "I don't know about you guys but I'm finding my mate. I don't care what she is, as long as she is under me in my bed, that's enough for me"
Liam frowned at the former's choice of words. Even during something serious, Andrew only thought about his dick, he felt bad for that jerk's supposed mate.
While the men were discussing their own things, Elia was one step away from jumping off the cliff. Although there was no cliff and she was in a dark dungeon, Elia wished she had someplace to escape. Any place would be better than here. She desperately tried to untangle the ropes tying her wrists as she kept on backing away from the approaching man.
This was no man at all. He was some kind of monster that was about to kill her, she was sure of it. Elia felt like crying out loud but held back to not alert her other kidnappers from noticing her. The men that had brought her here seemed to be in their own little world. They were too deep into conversation that they completely ignored her presence. Even that creep, Andrew turned away after a long time.
"Please, god help me...." Elia whispered under her breath and looked around trying to find something that would probably help her escape. A light bulb went out in her head when she saw the van that she was kidnapped in standing just a little distance from her. She had one chance to get the hell away from this place. Standing here doing nothing will get her face to face with the Feral man who looked at her like she was a piece of meat. Maybe that was what she was to a monster like him. Even if the car didn't have keys inside it, it was a good hiding place until, hopefully, she was out of danger.
She had to do something instead of thinking to herself and Elia did just that and sprinted towards the van without looking back. She was sure her heart would jump out of her chest if she even saw that monster running behind her. She pushed her adrenaline to the fullest and ignored the rope, cutting her wrist, and ran and ran until finally settling inside the vehicle.
Her chest rose and fell with the rapid breath she took in. She whimpered in despair as she quickly locked the van from inside.
'BANG!' Her breath hitched in her throat when the window she was leaning against shook due to the impact of something hitting it from the outside. Elia sobbed in utter terror when she saw the Feral man trying to punch the van window.
"Please, stop" She begged as her entire body shook in dread, "Please....leave me. Someone, please help!"
Samuel, on the other hand, was panicking. His wolf was turning madder the more time he was separated from his mate. This block of metal was purposely keeping his mate away from him. He was sure it was hurting her. He had to get to her soon! "Mate!" He growled in anger as he kept on hitting the van; he threw himself against it, causing it to dent. His erratic actions turned to worse when he saw Elia crying in despair.
Elia felt faint. Her tears had died down, her throat burned in pain and every inch of her body was stressed. Her head lulled to her side and she felt like throwing up. The last thing she heard was some kind of an animal' loud snarl before her vision went dark as she plopped down the seat.
*****
"Alpha, are you sure? This might hurt him" asked the pack's healer as he took in the sight of Alpha Samuel thrashing around with chains bounding his movements. The latter's wolf had gone Feral, there was nothing that could contain it. The sheer power of the Alpha, even in his restraints, sent the other wolves indisposed.
The healer was barely standing on his feet as he once again asked Alpha Asheron, "The Wolf's bane is damaging, Alpha"
Asheron never took his eyes off his brother as he parted his lips, "Do it. Don't make me say it again"
"Yes, Alpha," the healer stepped forward with a filled syringe in his hands. He signaled the guards to hold Samuel before he administered wolf's bane into the former's veins.
Asheron didn't know what to think. He had gone to another pack to attend some business and when he returned, everything in his tribe was a mess. He was informed that Eros lost his wolf's control and exposed his identity in front of a human. That was something easily solvable, the faster the human who knew about them died, the faster the problem gets solved. He was certain that Samuel would take care of it.
However, here he stood before his brother while the latter had lost his control and left his wolf in charge just like Eros. Samuel never lost control of his wolf, not even when he had just turned when he came of age.
"How did this happen?" He asked. Asheron wanted to find answers before anger found him. And everyone knew what his anger was capable of, "What happend to my brothers?"
Liam glanced at his men before stepping forward, "We....No, I believe that the Alphas found their mate"
"Mate?" Asheron furrowed his brows, "You better not be jesting, Liam. It's unbecoming of you"
Liam breathed in before straightening up, "I swear on Moon goddess, Alpha. Both of them showed behavior that is only ever written in old scripts. The Alphas acted like wolves that had found their Fated mate"