Chapter 4

Kyle’s POV…

“Mate!”

I hadn’t realized what it was that had pulled me out of the pack house before I felt the pull. Now it all explains everything that took place. I was mad at the intruder for attacking me despite the level of trust I’d given her. After she ran away, I instructed my guards to bring her here so everyone could witness the punishment I had in mind for her, but I forgot all about that upon realizing she was my mate. I thought of something else then, something I’d wanted for a long time. 

She was beautiful. 

She was perfect.

She would be just right for the job.

“Release her!” I instructed my guards immediately. 

Everyone gathered in court stared at the both of us in surprise. Only mature minds knew what was going on, but I didn’t care about any of that. They were here to witness the punishment of the intruder, but none of that would be happening today. My mate is here, and the mate bond that brought her here explains why she trespassed in the first place. 

“This meeting is over. Everyone leave now!” 

Although shocked, no one dared to question the alpha’s command. I watched all my followers file out of the court, including the elders, until only me, my mate and a few guards remained. 

“You, too, leave!” I said to the guards. 

“Should we take the intruder, sir?” 

“No. Leave us. I want to be alone with her.” 

After we were left alone, I came closer to her and noticed something strange other than the mate bond. Is it just me? Or am I smelling something different? Why does she have two scents on her? 

“Who are you?” She asked me.

“I should be the one to be asking questions here. This is my territory.”

She bent her head. I could tell she felt remorse for her earlier actions. She’s fortunate; the only thing that could have gotten her out of punishment was the mate bond. 

“You stand on moonstone territory. I expected you to leave once you ran away, but you ran even deeper to these lands like someone without a sense of direction.”

“I’m sorry,” she muttered. 

“It’s not your fault,” I told her right away. “It’s the mate bond’s doing. Once you pull away from your mate, it finds a way to bring you back, and now here we are.” 

She understood my words, but then I saw a bit of hesitation on her face, almost like she didn’t agree with what I said. 

“Might I know what you came here for?” I asked. 

“I was… I didn’t know I would come here.”

“Of course, you didn’t know you would come here, but you must have travelled this far for a reason.”

She looked at me for a moment as if searching for something, then bent her head. “I was running away.”

“From what?”

“From my abusive family.”

“I pointed at the scar on her face. Were they the ones that did that to you?”

“Yes,” she sniffed.

I wanted to feel some pity for her, but then I reasoned something; I deduced she might be lying.

“Why would your family abuse you in such a manner? It makes no sense.”

“They are my adopted family. According to them, they picked me from the garbage where my real family abandoned me.”

I felt real pity for her then, “oh, I’m so sorry.”

She shook her head, “it’s no problem. I should be the one apologizing for trespassing on your territory. Thank you for sparing my life.”

“You are lucky you bumped into me first. You would have been killed instantly if it had been one of my men.”

“It’s good I bumped into you then. Thank you for sparing me, sire.”

Her soft words made me smile. It reminded me of the main topic we really ought to be discussing.

“You are my mate. Your pheromone attracted me, and mine did the same to you. But still, there’s something strange about you.” 

She raised her brow, “strange about me? As how?” 

“You have two scents—one I’m attracted to, and the other just there. I’ve never experienced such a thing before. How can my mate have two scents?” 

She then shook her head. “I’m sorry, but there must have been a mistake somewhere. I cannot be your mate.” 

“Mistake? There is no mistake. You are my mate. You felt the pull the same way as I did. It was what brought you into the forest in the first place. It was what brought us closer to each other. We are mates.” 

“I am sorry. I did not feel any pull, and we cannot be mates because I already have a mate.”

Her words were hard to understand at first, but then I made some sense of them. “Oh, so I’m your second mate. You must have rejected your first, then.”

“No. I have not rejected my first mate. I still have a first mate, and we are very much in love. He is the heir to my pack, the night walkers.”

“So that’s where you’re from.” I sighed. I didn’t know if she would reject me, but it seemed so. She didn’t want this union, and neither did I. Still, that didn’t take away the fact that I needed a favour from her. 

I had intended to ask my first mate for this favour; strangely, she just happened to be the one. I don’t know who owns the other scent she carries with her, and I don’t understand why she didn’t feel the pull even though she called me mate, but I still needed this favour despite all the confusion. 

She interrupted my thoughts, “thank you for sparing me, but I have to return to my mate now. It’s already late, and my pack wolves would be worried if I’m gone for long.” 

Did she want to leave? Just now? No, I couldn’t let her go just now without at least letting her know what I wanted. 

“Wait for a few moments, please. What is your name?” I asked her.

“I am Arianna. Aria for short.”

“Such a beautiful name. Well, Aria, I am alpha Kyle.”

“Okay, nice to meet you.”

“Same as you.” 

“I noticed you’ve got two scents on you. Strangely, I’ve never seen a wolf with two scents before. Have you noticed two presences in you before? Perhaps what’s going on now might have been caused by that.” 

My words made her eyes shine for a moment as if a revelation had just come to her.

“What is it?” I asked her. “Did you finally figure out the problem?”

She changed her expression as soon as she saw how I was watching her.

“Nothing,” she told me, thinking she’d ended it there, but I knew she was lying. There was definitely something she didn’t want to say to me. She was about to turn to leave before I stopped her, taking her hand. 

“What?” She seemed impatient. 

“I only want us to clarify this misunderstanding between us. Aria, if there is anything you know, please tell me, so I’ll know what to do regarding confirming my mate.”

“There is nothing, and I am not your mate because I am already mated. There must be a mistake somewhere. I didn’t feel anything.”

Well, confusion or not, I never wanted her to be my Luna in the first place. This mate of hers might have just saved me a great deal of stress by avoiding the heartbreak I would have given her. I cared more about the favour I wanted to ask her, so I decided to go right into it instead of continuing the argument. 

“Okay, I know you’re in a hurry to return but wait, I think it’s best if we both settle it like this. You didn’t feel any pull towards me, even though I did, and since you already have a mate, it makes no sense for you even to want this union at all.” 

She nodded her head, agreeing with what I said. 

I continued, “well, to tell you the truth, I am also not interested in this union because I, too, have a lover.” I never thought it would be so easy to let her know this right away, but it didn’t matter since none of us needed the bond. 

She replied, “that’s great, but what do I have to do with it? And if you had a lover already, why didn’t you just ignore the pull?” 

“I didn’t ignore it because I needed my mate to do something for me, even though I wouldn’t be accepting her. I thought she would agree if I could compensate her somehow.” 

Aria knew I was referring to her, even though we were still confused about the whole mates’ scent. 

“What thing did you want your mate for?” 

“I wanted her to give me a child.”