Sab tightened her hold on him as she started feeling more and more. The mate bond is a curious existence. Still, she didn’t think she would actually be able to somewhat keep it under control. However, as they continued to walk, she started feeling it more intensely. Ice didn’t comment on it. Her tight grip barely hurt him. They soon heard a small group of people talking in the distance. Sab frowned but there was nothing. No urge to run in that direction. Ice brought her to his family’s house. She’s a frequent visitor there, given their close friendship. His parents have known her since they were children and they find her honest character likeable. His parents knew it’s Sab’s birthday. His mother prepared a gift for her. Going inside the house, Sab almost forgot how to breathe. It was only for a moment and her eyes constricted. Her inner wolf was going wild with glee. Her mate is close. But who could it be? She tried to remain calm and collected. “Sab, you’re here. Happy birthday!”
The dress was beautiful. It made her look feminine. Still, Sab isn’t used to wearing such and quickly took it off. She might wear it during formal celebrations.In her room, she sat on her bed and closed her eyes. What just happened today?She put one hand on her chest, just above her heart. The presence of the bond is there, she can’t have imagined it. This feeling is completely different and cannot be easily ignored. She had a hard time controlling her emotions early.But why did he not react? He has turned eighteen months ago. He should have known then that she is his mate. He hasn’t said anything. He hasn’t acted differently around her. Even tonight, when she’s certain he’s her mate and it was his scent, he acted as if he feels nothing. When he touched her skin, he remained unbothered and simply concerned.Why is everything different? He acted as if the bond doesn’t exist. As if he doesn’t feel it and he doesn’t know she is his mate.Her inner wolf made her presence known. She ass
Well, shit. No one ever said anything, Sab repeated that in her head. Yes, of course. She really wouldn’t say anything. How could she? She thought of doing so, but she knew it would be difficult to believe. She was already bullied before for being weak, she can’t give them a reason to persecute her more. She would be called a liar if she says anything she can’t prove was real. Her head began to ache, along with her heart. “You don’t look well. You’ve just finished training, you should rest.” “Hmm, thank you for your time. I’m sorry for bothering you.” Sab stood and bowed her head at the man. He smiled at her and nodded, dismissing her. The following weeks, she did this a few more times with the other elders. They all responded similarly. She hoped at least one of them would have something to say, but nope. They all haven’t witnessed or heard of such a thing before. A month later, she braced herself. She can only ask the Alpha and the Luna. They’re younger than the elders, but they
“Well, something like that. From whom did you hear it from?” She frowned, sure Ice wouldn’t have told anyone. Clyde shrugged, “Just the general conclusion, since you’re not with anyone after your birthday. It has been… what? A month?” “Yeah…” She replied weakly. But she did find him, only he seemed unable to “find” her. “Don’t be discouraged. We’ll eventually find our mates. You’re also joining the pack visits, right?” “Hmm…” Her mind is a mess already. She wanted to tell him, but she can’t. This conversation seemed wrong. She felt as if she was lying to him and that’s not good. “You’re here.” Ice arrived and greeted her. “Hello.” Just like Clyde, he chuckled upon noticing her outfit. “Damn, you a girl now? The dress suits you. You did something to your hair?” “I just tied it up as usual.” “You put something on your cheeks?” Sab couldn’t take it anymore. She puffed her cheeks as she squinted at him. “Oh, are you blushing?” He carried a box into a corner and went to poke her
Ice has the most excellent hearing among them, as a vampire. He actually heard how her heartbeat changed. Poor girl. She’s still affected by Clyde. He assumed she still likes him.“The other person may or may not believe him. So, how to do it?” Alice added.“Since it hasn’t happened before, it’s more likely that he won’t believe it.” Sab voiced out her fear.“Well, you’ve hit the nail on the head. That’s true.” Conrad didn’t mince his words. She’s right about it.There was silence in the room. Sab courageously peeked at Clyde to see his expression. He was looking down as he thought about it.“How to convince the other party when it hasn’t happened before?” Alice repeated the question for everyone.Ice was a simple guy. He just repeated his earlier statement. Then, added, “Even if he likes the other person, if he insists, it would only be seen with suspicion. Why are you adamant about it? Can’t you just let go? Why do you insist to be with that person? Even if you say it’s just because
“I doubt it. If she does feel a bond, won’t she have acted differently? Very few wolves can control themselves around their mate.”“There you go. Very few can control themselves. She may be part of that very few you just mentioned.” Ice was quick to shoot him down.Clyde frowned at him. He understands Ice is quite protective of Sab.“Hmm, it’s an intriguing situation but we still don’t know much. Your father and I will see if other packs have any information.” Alice decided to intervene before these two young men get into a fight.“I’ll be leaving first.” Ice got up and nodded at his parents.Clyde’s lip twitched as they watched him go. When he turned to look at his father, he saw his serious expression.“You’re quick to dismiss it as a hypothetical scenario. When you become an Alpha, you should keep an open mind. Just because it hasn’t happened before, that doesn’t rule out the possibility that it may actually happen. Anomalies happen from time to time. You can’t deal with it the way
Sab returned to her daily activities like nothing abnormal is going on. She studied. She trained. Ice continued to accompany her most of the time and she’s glad that he’s helping her take her mind off things. He used to tease her a lot about Clyde, but now… he rarely mentions his twin’s name. Whenever she sees her mate, her heart couldn’t help skipping a beat, but that was it. She would look elsewhere and try to ignore him and this bond only she feels. Others would come to speak with her from time to time, but those are short encounters. A short chat between acquaintances. She couldn’t exactly say that they are her friends. She’s on good terms with most pack members, but there are instances they would tease her. They would poke fun at her performance during trainings. She’s a little clumsy when she’s feeling conscious of other people’s stares. When she feels that they’re watching her, she tends to slip and stumble. She gets embarrassed but there’s nothing she can do about it. In a w
Back to the present day…Ice returned after sending Sab home. His family seemed to have started the discussion without him. Their father is doing his usual approach of laying out the facts, everything they know about the situation. Their mother is more inclined to believe Sab. Whereas Clyde is the opposite.“I believe her.” Ice added his two cents.Clyde rolled his eyes at him, “Of course, you do.”Ice glared, “I know Sab. She wouldn’t lie about something like this. Do you not remember her concerns back then? When she asked how is one supposed to convince the other when only one of them is feeling the bond? You believed she only provided a hypothetical scenario.”“Then, why didn’t she say it then? Why must she pretend it wasn’t her situation?”“Didn’t you listen to her explanation earlier? Even if she admitted it back then, you would still think she’s lying. What difference does it make? She only said it now because you were planning to mate with someone else. You’re the bastard here.
Once they confirmed the date, the preparations for the ceremony began. It’s not much, given how it would coincide with the year-end celebration. Sab tried to familiarize herself with most of the people in the pack. It wasn’t very difficult. She’s familiar with everyone who uses the training grounds, not to mention the elders, women and children she interacts with as her main responsibility. She’s bad at remembering names, though. She hoped they won’t hold it against her. She would still try, of course. More people have graduated from their training programs. This translates to a higher fighting power and better security. Hopefully, that is. Clyde remained attentive to trainings and classes, analyzing the needs and potential of new batches of trainees. All seemed to be going well and the activities have been normalized again. A couple of weeks before the ceremony, Clyde remembered something which worried him before. He deliberated before bringing it up in a conversation and asking h
The next day, they were visited by Alpha Xavier and his men. There was a bit of a commotion when they realized Isabel has been injured. It’s a good thing Lucas has been by her side since the incident and has given her the best treatment for her wounds and injuries. Isabel helplessly tried to calm her father. “It was my fault. I wasn’t supposed to fight but I still went. I didn’t know about all their rules yet.” She tried to explain. “You’ve been here for months and you don’t know all the rules yet? There can’t be too many!” “I’ve been with Lucas most of the time. I was supposed to assist him but I was itching to fight.” She dared not say that Lucas didn’t bother telling her because he really thought she won’t be battling anyone during an attack. His role is to tend to the injured and he expected her to assist him, given how he somehow educated her about his job since she began staying with him. It was really her fault for joining the fray. Her father would probably be livid if he l
It was almost dawn when Sab sat with the others for a pack meeting, attended by the alpha’s family, the ranked members and the elders. “What was their intention?” An elder asked and everyone turned to look at the alpha. His expression isn’t good. It seemed like a serious matter. Sab noticed how his gaze was fixed at a certain point on the table and she turned to look at their Luna. She assumed they’re communicating at the moment. “Have you been informed already?” She used her link with Clyde and she saw him minutely shaking his head. “Not yet. This will be the first time I’ll hear of it. I wasn’t there when they interrogate those people. The Beta led that mission.” “I see.” Sab waited with the others. The silence was welcomed by everyone. After about ten minutes, Conrad finally spoke. “They spoke of vampires. They heard Snow Mountain is home to several. Obviously, their information is inaccurate. They believe we’re a threat.” “Do I count as a vampire?” Alice asked out of pure c
Clyde tried to be rational about it. It’s true that she has trained for years for this particular purpose. He just didn’t realize until that moment how worried he would be of the possibilities. He’s simply afraid that she would get hurt. Looking back, he did think his mate would be someone who can fight alongside him. And Sab can, but he’s still not assured that she would be relatively safe. At the end of it, he realized it all stems from the fact that he wouldn’t be able to accept it if he loses her.When his father saw him, he was immediately reminded to focus and to worry less.“Have you ever felt afraid of losing mom?” He can’t help but ask through the link and he was floored by the response.“Every day, but you live with it as normally as you can. Don’t let it distract you. You have to trust your mate. She’s not ordinary. She’s your equal. Trust that she can protect herself as well as others.”Clyde grunted and talked aloud this time, “So, what’s going on?”“Rogues, apparently. B
Sab was surprised one time when she saw Isabel on the training grounds.“What is she doing here?” She asked Hana before they started their training.“Do you know her? She introduced herself as Lucas’ mate. She’d been here since the alphas’ conference. Apparently, she stayed at his place and remained at his side every day. Lucas went out to visit the city so she came out.”She was understandably surprised to know about it. “Really? She’d been here all along?”“Yeah. She seems like a chatty one. Look at your mate’s face.” Hana chuckled and Sab quickly found Clyde. He seemed to have just arrived in the grounds and he’s already frowning at Isabel’s direction. He felt his mate’s eyes on him and turned to look at her.“Did you know she’d been here for months?” She asked through the link.“Dad might have mentioned it. I’ve forgotten about it.”“What are you going to do?”Clyde grunted. “Would you mind taking her in? Let her join your team.”“No. My team would feel intimidated. She’s an alpha
They haven’t really made an announcement. News of their mating slowly spread by word of mouth. Clyde and Sab would randomly be congratulated by others in the span of almost two months. One time, as they’re having dinner with the pack’s Alpha and Luna, his father asked him if he’s ready to take over. He has now fulfilled all the requirements. Sab quietly glanced at him and he carefully contemplated. These last few months with Sab, he hasn’t really given that matter much thought. Alice spoke up before the conversation turns serious. “Sab would need some time to prepare, too. You can let her join the meetings from now on, so she’s aware of what’s going on within the pack and other important matters outside our territory. How about we give you six months? Afterwards, we will hold the ceremony of conferring the titles to the two of you, as the new Alpha and Luna of Snow Mountain. I think it would be a lovely celebration.” The elder couple gave them time to think about it. “What do you t
“So… you know now that I was telling the truth? You… you’re feeling the bond now?” Sab would be surprised if that’s what he’s saying. He nodded, “Yes.” There was a moment of silence as her eyes widened and she thought of the situation. “Then… why are you… why do you keep your distance from me?” That is what’s puzzling her. Clyde sighed and held her hand. “I’m just feeling guilty. This seems different than before because I knew with absolute certainty that I truly wronged you. I know you’ve forgiven me and you’ve given me a chance… What I’m struggling with is forgiving myself and overcoming that feeling of guilt. I know what I should do, but I still feel bothered.” It was then that Sab realized what was different. The banter. He doesn’t tease her to annoy her, which he did before. As she looked at him, she knew she would be unable to understand what he’s going through. “But… you still want me, right?” That’s all she wanted to confirm. “Yes, of course I do. Always, Sab.” He cuppe
Although Clyde kept her company, she could feel a certain distance from him. He didn’t leave her to attend the conference. Too bad they didn’t witness the other amusing event which happened on the third day.During the morning break, Lucas showed up and Isabel gasped when he turned to look at her. This the girl Clyde previously considered to be his mate.“Mate! Mate, mate, mate!” With wide eyes, she leaped over and quickly pounced on him. She was excited, especially upon seeing how attractive he is. He looked very mature and dependable.Those around them were surprised, especially her father. Xavier squinted at the man. Who is he? How come he showed up only today? Why wasn’t her daughter alerted of his presence sooner? He heard someone sigh near him and looked over.“Do you know him?” He asked Conrad who wore a somewhat worried expression.“Lucas. He’s our pack doctor, the only one in Snow Mountain. Although he has a few apprentices and he teaches classes on first aid and medication.”
Sab braced herself but what she expected to happen didn’t come. After recovering from the intense pleasure, she felt dejected. Clyde immediately noticed the way she turned her head away, the absence of her smile, and the sadness in her eyes.It was a reaction he least expected after their mating. He became worried.“What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Was I too rough? Was it bad?” He couldn’t be sure which one it was.Sab shook her head and glanced at him. She tried to smile, “It was nothing.”She wanted to curse herself. Just as she replied, tears came to her eyes for whatever reason. Even she doesn’t know why. Why is she freaking crying?“This isn’t nothing. Sab, tell me.” He carefully wiped her tears away and she forced herself to admit her fear.“You… you didn’t mark me.” Her voice was so low and she couldn’t look at him straight.Clyde audibly exhaled. Oh. So, it’s just this. For a second there, he really thought he did badly. When his brain processed her words, he felt elated and chuckl