CHAPTER 2: MATE

**Evelyn**

I stood there watching the warrior carrying the woman, my heart thundering inside my chest. I couldn’t help but run my gaze over the woman. With each step she got closer to me, a strange fear gripped my heart. With hair as black as night and pale unblemished skin to go with it, I would have recognised her if I had seen her even once before in my life. And I most certainly haven’t. So who was this stranger, and why was Ryan bringing her here?

I tried to reason to myself that I was just shaken by seeing the deaths and injuries from the war. Not to mention the hostility the pack members had shown me a while ago. But still, those thoughts didn’t help me get over the uneasy feeling I had after seeing the girl. Taking in a shaky breath, I fisted my hands to hide the slight tremble in my fingers as I kept watching the woman, unable to peel my eyes away from her. Curly black lashes fanned her cheeks while her thin pink lips were turning down into a frown. With her small button nose wrinkled up, she looked… cute. I was startled at the thought and blinked as if coming out of a daze. Since when have I ever cared about someone’s appearance? That too of a stranger whom I had no business with? The thought was enough to make me finally look away from the girl and turn my gaze back to my mate like I should have been doing all this while instead of ogling some strange woman. What had gotten over me? How weird!

As I watched Ryan walking towards me, I couldn’t help but check him over again. Even though I was assured by his easy gait and his molten honey eyes, which were shining as usual when he spotted me, I bit my lips nervously as my gaze slid over his frame. With a sigh, I took in the various splotches of blood that stained his once pristine T-shirt. There were no gashes or fresh blood, though, and I assumed it belonged to the enemies. Sadly, I had gotten used to seeing him come back all bloodied, and I didn’t panic anymore as long as his injuries were minimal.

About to relax, I took a deep breath and, for the first time, got a whiff of his scent since his arrival. Mixed in with his addictive pinewood scent, there was the metallic scent of blood, but it wasn’t what caused me to stiffen. Because this time, unlike what I was used to, the smell of blood wasn’t all from his enemies. The scent of his blood overpowered that of the others and my heart skipped a few beats as I remembered how I was informed he was injured. With wide eyes, I rushed towards him, and once I made sure that there were indeed no injuries on his front side, I rushed behind him to check his back. As I spotted the huge gash on his back, my eyes widened and I let out a gasp. The shirt was all but hanging on a thread on his backside, dried blood crusted everywhere, making it impossible to recognise where the wound began or ended.

“Oh, Goddess!” I cried out, tears pooling in my eyes as I took in the painful-looking gash. How was he walking as if everything was alright when the wound looked this terrible?!

With shivering hands, I tried to peel the clothes which were sticking to his back because of the blood and Ryan abruptly turned around, catching my hands within his.

“Evie… it’s alright. I am fine…” he said gently, making me gape at him.

“You are fine?” I croaked out in disbelief. This was what he called fine?

As I looked at Ryan, taking in the tiredness etched on his face, which usually brimmed with power and confidence before this damn war started, a wave of guilt assaulted me. I couldn’t help but remember the woman’s words when she had accused me as the reason for everyone’s suffering. Part of her words could be written off as the senseless mumblings of a grieving mom, but wasn’t there some truth to it? If he had been with his fated mate, he would have been stronger. He wouldn’t have gotten injured like now and even if he was, he would have healed way faster. As it was, his injuries healed at a pace slower than that of even our warriors, and I couldn’t help but feel guilty.

“Hey, hey. I am not liking the look in those eyes. What are you thinking now, Evie?”

Hearing his question, I looked up at Ryan, who was looking at me with a frown.

As I just stared at him silently, he shook his head.

“I told you not to worry. I really am alright,” he said before reaching out to his mauled back and touching it casually. I winced on his behalf at the thought of the pain he would inflict on himself by recklessly touching his wound. But to my surprise, he just stood there calmly, his eyes twinkling with amusement as he raised his brows at me.

“See. I told you,” he said knowingly, and I looked at him with wide eyes.

“How? It looks so bad! And the blood…”

‘It was indeed a big injury, but it doesn’t hurt anymore. And the blood is all dried, not fresh.”

Slowly, I pulled him inside and made him sit before inspecting the wounded area again. I peeled off his shirt away from the wound gently, flinching at the sight of the blood soaking it. Then slowly, I wiped the blood off with a wet cloth a maid had brought. Once the sight of the gash became visible, I paused in wonder. The injury underneath the caked up blood was indeed almost healed. As if it was days old instead of just a few hours at the most. Usually, it was nothing surprising for an Alpha like him to heal this fast, but with him choosing me as his mate, he healed way slower than the other mated Alphas. He usually healed a lot slower and seeing him healing fast, I was surprised. How strange… But I shook off the thought. As long as it meant Ryan was fine and he wasn’t suffering, it didn’t matter how it happened.

“I missed you,” I breathed out as I hugged him, my vision blinded by tears. I bit my lips to stop myself from becoming a blubbering mess by blurting out all the blame I received for him losing in the battles. He was already having a hard time as it was. I wouldn’t make it harder for him. I could handle my mess like the big girl I was.

“And I missed you, my Evie,” he said, holding me tightly and I could feel him breathing in my scent. I could feel the tension ease off his body in response and just stood there soaking in his warmth. I had missed him so much.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I pulled away from the hug and stepped back. Even though I would have loved to stand there like that holding him the entire day, I had to let him have a bath the first thing. He must want to get rid of all the blood and grime on his body and God knew the last time he had a proper meal.

Once I stepped back from Ryan, my gaze fell on the warrior standing there awkwardly, still holding the woman in his arms.

“Um, Alpha? Where shall I place her?” the warrior, Markus, asked awkwardly.

“Oh? You are still standing with her? Just place her down, Markus,” Ryan said after glancing at him. Slowly, Markus looked at the floor as if in question. Then, as if deciding that it was good enough, he placed the woman down before stepping back.

“Who is she?” I asked curiously, and Ryan turned to me.

“Just someone I found on the battleground. She was unconscious and leaving her there to die didn’t seem right,” he said and I smiled. Always the righteous one…

I looked back at the woman and frowned. Was she from the Moonstone pack? How did she reach the battleground? Was it okay to have her here?

“Relax Evie. We will question her once she wakes up.” Ryan said, as if reading my mind, and I nodded in response. He was right. There was no need to freak out.

“You wouldn’t have to come back here injured like a weak omega every time if you had waited and found your mate instead of just marrying whoever you liked, Alpha Ryan!” A pompous voice boomed and we turned to see a group of elders standing there staring at us with hostile expressions.

The leader of the group, Elder Anthony, was the one who parted us with his divine knowledge. I sighed as I knew what was coming. Yet another lecture about how Ryan would have been stronger with his fated mate with him was about to begin. It was a usual thing in the past before our marriage and even after it for a while. But once I had garnered the favor of the pack members with my hard work in helping Ryan run the pack smoothly, they had gotten off our backs. Even if they had never really accepted me as their rightful Luna, they were less vocal about it in the past years. But once the war started and Ryan began losing the battles, the murmurs began once more before turning into full-blown lectures. And now they started yet again…

“This again?” Ryan asked disdainfully, rolling his eyes. I stared between him and the elders, bristling with fury, their hair practically standing on end as they glared at Ryan.

“What do you mean, Alpha Ryan?! Just because you are the Alpha, you can’t disrespect your elders!” Elder Timothy growled while the rest nodded in agreement.

“Oh. You know I am the Alpha, then.” Ryan narrowed his eyes at them while the elders looked at each other before staring back at Ryan indignantly.

“We aren’t just spouting any nonsense, are we? We are telling the truth! Can you tell otherwise? Isn’t it right that you would have been stronger with your fated mate beside you?!” Elder Anthony questioned Ryan, who just stared at him with a bored look.

“And it wouldn’t have been even this bad if you had picked a strong she-wolf to be your Luna. But no, you just had to pick a weak omega to be your Luna! And because of this weak woman who isn’t even fit to be a gamma let alone a Luna, you are also weaker!” Elder Zachary spoke for the first time, pointing his finger at me and I stiffened, feeling Ryan grow still beside me. I wasn’t hurt by what the elders were saying because it was neither the first time nor the worst. But I was scared for them. Ryan was royally pissed off, and I knew his silence was the calm before the storm. But the elders were too caught up in their righteous indignation to notice it and I gulped, wondering how this was going to. Not realizing the turmoil his words had caused, elder Zachary continued speaking.

“Had you waited for your mate, you would have been far stronger and you could have protected the pack better! But with this woman-”

“Enough!” Ryan snarled, his voice echoing around, causing everyone to turn eerily silent. He had finally reached his breaking point.

Ryan stalked forward, causing the elders to take a step back unconsciously. Ryan pulled me towards him and held my hand as he stared down at the elders menacingly.

“Not another word against her!” He growled out, his golden eyes glowing for a moment.

“But-” Elder Anthony began, and Ryan let out a growl that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and it wasn’t even directed at me.

“Evelyn has been nothing but kind to everyone in this pack from the moment she became my Luna. She has done everything to help me run this pack and third is how you show your gratitude? By belittling her every chance you get?” Ryan snarled.

Ryan took a deep breath before speaking again, his tone calmer.

“I am the Alpha of this pack and protecting it is my duty. Me losing in battles is not Evelyn’s fault and I won’t tolerate you people badmouthing her again for something she has nothing to do with. Just let me fight my battles in peace, and I won’t disappoint you. Understood?”

Even though they looked reluctant, the elders finally nodded in response to appease Ryan, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I guess they would stay silent for some time before starting again.

Right that moment, a low groan sounded in the now silent place and everyone turned as one to the woman who was still lying on the floor. During the hassle with the elders, I had all but forgotten about her.

Slowly she opened her eyes, and I noticed that those were a pretty shade of gray. But then she looked around, her gaze stopping right on Ryan. And with a breathy whisper, she uttered a single word that shattered my world.

“Mate!”