Chapter Six: Mates

Mallory’s POV 

“Hey, wake up.” 

A warm hand pats on my cheek, stirring me from my sleep. 

“What?” I groan as I swat that hand aside. 

I hear a child-like chuckle, oddly soothing to my ears. “You’ve fainted long enough, Mallory.”

When my vision becomes less blurry, I’m greeted with the face of  Russell DeLucci, invading my personal space.

My eyes shoot open, the adrenaline rushes through my brain when I’m awakened and I haven’t fully grasped what’s going on.

“AAH!”

Giving out a loud, squeamish scream, my fist clenches and smacks right through his face, directly impacting on his nose. 

When I finally come to, I gasp as a realization dawns on me that this isn’t a dream and I literally suckerpunched the shit out of this violent alpha. 

Perhaps my sudden punch catches him off-guard as he turns to me and gives me an odd stare without a word.

Not long after, blood drips from his nose and at that moment, his intense stare gives out an intimidating aura.

Now is the right time to apologize, idiot! I thought to myself. 

His hand clenches and unclenches as his hand raises to reach out to me.

My eyes shut tight, bracing for his returning punch. But instead, his hand collides on my head, seizing me in a split-second panic before his hand playfully ruffles my unkempt hair.

At that moment, I thought he would have hit me but after hearing his light chuckles, I have a shroud of doubt.

My left eye opened after feeling the strand of my hair fall across my face and instead, the craze wolf gives me a toothy grin. 

“It’s not even a day and you’ve already thrown two punches on my handsome face.” He wipes the trail of blood near his nostrils. “Makes me wonder if you have the inner strength within your inferior body.” 

I push his hand aside as I glare at him. “You scared me, t-that’s all!”

“Shall we test out your strength then? I’ll be happy to help.” Seeing how serious he is despite the flicker of mischief in his eyes, I flinch. 

“No, thank you,” I immediately retort as I stand up, realizing that I was laid on the red sofa in a bright-lit foyer. There is a fireplace in front of me and I’ve never felt this warm during a cold late evening.

No wonder I was in a deep sleep yet I hate myself for letting my guard down just because…I fainted during the run. 

“Unfortunately, the old man has left to fix my shit before we can meet him here,” he explains. “So, the meet and greet has to be postponed for now. We’ll wait for your daughter to return.”

“She’s not my daughter.” It is just a spur of the moment. Originally I had no intention of bringing it up. “She’s my half-sister.” 

“Ah, that’s why you two aren’t alike.” Once he leans in to have a closer inspection on me and I try to back away. 

Has this man—err, wolf, have no sense of boundary?!

Seeing that he continues staring at me without a word, I glare at him.

“What?”

“You are way too pale for a human. Don’t you sleep?”

I frown as I glance away from his stare. 

“Aren’t you going to fix yourself? After all, I hit you hard twice,” I say, changing the topic. 

He laughs as he smacks my back. “You’re a funny girl! We, the bloodlines of the Great Alphas, have a faster healing factor than any other wolf. You haven’t heard of the Great Alpha?”

I shrug.

His smile slightly falters. “Then, the decade war between humans and the wolves?”

“I only know that we lost and we were punished by putting us in the lowest part of the district for decades.”

“Why then?”

“Why?” It feels like the wolf is challenging me. “For putting up a fight against wolves.”

“You’re fucking kidding me, right?” He scoffs as he sits next to me. “You weren’t punished for “putting up” a fight. You, humans, used to be on the top chain of the animal kingdom until the wolves decided to step up. You were the descendants of the brave heroes who fought against us.”

He frowns after seeing my imperturbable look. “What? It doesn’t piss you off at all?”

I lower my head, my legs raise, drawing them closer into a fetal position. “I don’t really care.” 

Having been born in the era where humans only cared on their own, we always have this one mantra in our heads—survival of the fittest and the weak are nothing but a nuisance in facing the adversities of life.

Meanwhile, the wolf looks flabbergasted at my nonchalance and I can’t blame him. Wolves are now on the top of the hierarchy, they couldn’t sympathize with the humans living across the border.

“What?” Yet, my curiosity takes over me. 

“Just a bit envious of the old times. If that war lasted ten years, that would mean there were stronger humans at that time.” He shakes his head in disappointment. “If there was a coup within your shitty place, I would have been overjoyed.”

“Why?” In fact, why do I bother to ask?

A smirk plants on his lips. “Because it will be fun.”

It’s strange, really. Why am I talking casually to a wolf who can potentially devour me anytime he wants?

“We’re going off-topic. Tell me when am I going to see my sister?”

“When Saul calls. He’s a diligent Beta so you don’t have to worry a thing.” Yet, he continues staring at me with a sly grin.

It’s creeping me out, honestly. And the silence between us is nauseating and I couldn’t help but to be curious of what’s in his mind.

So many questions in my mind and the first thing that comes just slips through my mouth.

“What did you mean by fated mate? Earlier you called me this after you’ve saved me.”

My question seems to please him as his grin widens. Despite the warm temperature of the foyer, I feel the cold chill passing through my arms.

“Glad you’ve asked, Mallory. Even if I question myself why those words came out so easily after saving you.” 

“Then what is it?”

“Seeing that you and the rest of your kind are clueless and void of knowledge, I’ll tell you. Each wolf has a mate, you can call that your partner, your love of your life or whatever mushy crap you could think of mates. So, basically, a mate is a bond that strengthens between wolves.”

I don’t like where this is going. “So, why did you choose me as your m-mate?”

“I didn’t choose you. If I had that option, I wouldn’t be this mateless for years. Fated mates are different. I was assigned to find a fated mate if I want to get my full potential as an Alpha.”

“But I am human,” I mumble.

“Exactly. Not once in recorded history has a human been chosen as the mate of a wolf which is why it piqued my interest. Oh, we can't be considered mates unless I've mark your nape with my fangs like this." He shows off his canine teeth.

"I don't b-believe it," I say, shaking my head in denial. How could I be this wolf's partner. "Does that mean we'll get married?"

At the mention of that word, he thrusts his back, placing his hand on his head as he lets out a loud, maniacal cackle. “Marriage! Of course but a human as my mate not to mention my wife?! I can’t wait to see the look of my old man’s face! He might have died from a heart attack!”

I’ve heard he’s insane and now, I’ve witnessed it with my two eyes of who he is. “If I become your mate, what will happen to me if you mark me?"

“Easy, you'll turn into a wolf,” he says.

I abruptly stand up. “NO! I won't be the likes of you!” Glaring at him is just a way to hide my fear. 

He gives me a quizzical look before he takes the folder from the side and throws it on the coffee table. Papers scatter on the glassed table and I look carefully till I see my name and face there.

“W-What’s this?”

“Info about you, Mallory Bishop. While you were unconscious, I dug some intel on you to see if you didn’t pull off a fake name.”

He grins. “How kind of you to tell me your real name. I don’t like liars, you see.”

My hands tremble as I read each of them—my name, family record, bank, my debts my mother loaned which are now placed under my name, my employment history and…and…

A criminal record of a “Second Degree Murder” listed in bold red.

Oh, God. How could I’ve forgotten about this?!

“Seems to me that you don’t have a choice on this one, Mallory.” 

He grabs my chin, forcing me to turn on him—and while I am still dazed at my own thoughts—distracts me as I feel soft warm lips, claiming mine with a deep, searing kiss.

My eyes grow wide as I try to push him, yet the hand on my back secures me from getting away.

Our bodies topple back on the couch after my struggle and as we both lie on its soft cushion. Then, he leans closer to my mouth, deepening the kiss as his tongue intertwines mine in a frenzy.

Anger and humiliation seethe through every fiber of my being and I suppress the moans escaping through my lips.

So, I bit him. HARD.

He finally breaks off, wiping off the trail of blood at the corner of his mouth. Despite my actions, he is still grinning from ear to ear.

“What the hell, wolf?!” I bellow, glaring at him with animosity. 

“You are indeed my fated mate,” he whispers. “I enjoy being with a woman who has some backbone.”

“But seeing your record, are you sure you have a say on this? If I let you go, you’ll be arrested by your district or worse…” He pauses for a moment, giving a dramatic effect.

“...you will turn into a personal sex toy of the wolves around here. This district is filled with underground shenanigans, after all."