Chapter Three

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Oliver's POV

I began to look more and more panicked as the guards continued to warn me that the Alpha was moving extremely fast to our destination. My mind was racing with so many unanswered questions.

How did he not know Charlie was right beside his pack the whole time? Or did he, but never acted on it?

What will happen if he sees her out in the open like this?

Could the Alpha Kings mate really be a wolf less woman?

She remained in the same position as when we got here, maybe out of morbid curiosity for her impending doom.

Charlie's POV

I remained still, drowning in both my confusion and my fear. I mean, I met Oliver this morning, and now I am standing in the forest alone with him. He started to pace back and forth and look as if he were about to have a panic attack rubbing the back of his neck aggressively.

I moved slightly, and Oliver stopped pacing. He turned his attention to my injured wrist.

"What is that?" He asked, a panicked tone evident in his voice as he spoke.

I remained silent as I tried to move away from the tree that I was against. I did not want to be alone with someone so erratic.

He grabbed my wrist once more around the already formed bruises, and I winced at his touch.

"Ow, Oliver! That hurts!" I yell, trying to pull my sore wrist away from him, even though it was no use. His strong grip held me tightly, trying to inspect the bruises.

I could sense the shift in the air, and I think Oliver could too. He instantly froze as the sound of rustling nearby echoed through the trees. Oliver released my wrist, and began to back away from me, panic on his face becoming more and more evident. I began to back away slowly, even with this new presence looming over me. The forest had seemed to get darker, but I thought that was just my imagination playing tricks on me.

"NO! Do NOT move!" Oliver shouted at me.

I whimpered a little, moving further backwards.

"No! Look, the Alpha is coming and if he sees your scared, he will get extremely angry and cause a scene, and it won't be good so please just don't move," He said, begging me with his eyes.

"Please?" he continued.

"The... Alpha?" I stuttered, trying to make sense of the situation that I had gotten myself into. Suddenly a loud rustling caught my attention instead.

A gigantic black wolf appeared out of the forest. The eyes looked almost familiar to me, so I decided to take a step towards this huge beast. He began to circle me, as if eyeing his prey, and I felt almost shy underneath his gaze. I have seen these eyes before, but I could not remember where.

His heavy footsteps sounded behind me as he circled me, and I immediately froze, my focus now on Oliver, who was now barring his neck to the gigantic wolf. I heard heavy breathing behind me, and I slowly turned around making sure not to move too much. I let out a small gasp at the sight before me, my words lost in the cold breeze that surrounded this huge wolf.

He was huge. He was taller than me, even on all four of his paws. He was the darkest color of black I had ever seen, but his eyes. Gold eyes. Molten Honey. Power radiated off him, and I could not help but feel drawn to him. I brought my hand up to touch his jet-black fur, but I could tell that his gaze was not on me anymore, as his eyes narrowed on the gold bracelet that adorned my wrist.

"Charlie?" I heard Oliver say beside me.

"Y....Ye.Yes?" I stuttered, trying to say confidently.

"Meet the Alpha King, Leo," Oliver answered.

The large wolf moved closer, connecting my hand to his soft fur. I let out a small gasp as I spread my fingers through the tuft of hair between his ears. It was the softest thing I had ever touched, and I swear I could hear the gigantic wolf purring. He sat down in front of me, as if he wanted me to touch him more so I started roaming my hands all over his soft chest and neck.

Suddenly, the wolf jumped up causing me to stumble backwards on my feet. He moved towards the tree that I was once leaning on and I could hear him shifting. The sound of snapping bones was never pleasant, but you get used to it when you live with wolves who can shift. Once his shift was complete, a familiar figure appeared from the other side of the tree.

The familiar man, perfectly shaped tousled hair with the gold eyes with his tattooed muscular body. What set me off was how familiar his husky voice was even though I had not heard it in years.

"Hello, little dancer," He spoke softly.

Leo.

Brown eyes.

Brown with gold flecks.

I am face to face with brown eyes with gold flecks.

Brown eyes with gold flecks looking down at me.

It is the man that has flashed through my mind a thousand times.

Except, he is better.

Black hair, and brown eyes. Muscular, tattooed and stubble. Everything I saw in my mind playing over and over again.

Except, he’s flawless.

We stood in silence for a moment, staring at each other. It has been years since I had seen her beautiful face. She had grown so much in the years that we were separated. Although I had kept tabs on her safety, I did not ask to know her whereabouts. If I had known how close she was earlier, I wouldn’t have given her up a second time. With my coronation coming up, and Oliver running into her, I knew it was time for her to finally come home.

"Y... you!" she stuttered at me, moving backwards towards Oliver.

"I told you that we would meet again, my little dancer," I said, smiling at how perfect she had become. Her tight toned body looked delectable in her uniform, but what drew me to her was her beautiful brown eyes and long raven hair.

"I... I" she stuttered again, frozen.

"What's wrong, my little princess?" I questioned, moving closer and grabbing her gently. She let out a little whimper, and I immediately looked for the source of her pain.

My eyes focused on the bruises around her wrist and a low growl rumbled in my chest.

"You injured her! You hurt my mate!" I shouted, as I grabbed and pinned Oliver to the nearest tree.

"I didn't... I didn't mean to," He stuttered, trying to fight me off. “I was just trying to bring her to you!”

"I... it was an accident!" Charlie yelled, "I'll heal in an hour anyways!"

I froze and focused my eyes on Charlie. My grip around Oliver’s neck loosened as I saw her face. Tears were falling from her eyes, and I could smell the fear in her scent, which broke my heart. I didn’t want to have a mate that feared me.

"Charlie," I said, letting Oliver drop to the ground as I turned to make my way towards her. She instantly froze as I walked towards her tiny frame. I could hear her heartbeat pounding in her chest and this stirred my wolf. I could not help but nuzzle her neck, breathing in the scent of her hair. Peonies and vanilla, just like I had remembered. Her scent had been seared in my mind since our first meeting, but it was euphoric smelling it again in person.

"You smell so good," I mumbled to myself, holding her closer. I met her dark chocolate eyes, and I could see the fear in them slowly disappear as her gaze softened. She was so beautiful.

"Let's go home, sweetheart."

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