My Mate

Chapter 5: My Mate

The girl shot up from the ground like she’d been lit on fire. Her eyes blazed, darting around the crowd before landing on me with pure fury.

“Excuse me?” Her voice was sharp enough to cut through steel. “Your *what*?”

I took a step back, hands up in surrender. “Okay, I know this is a lot to take in, but—”

“A lot to take in?” She was on her feet now, brushing dirt off her clothes like it was my fault she had passed out in the first place. “You drag me here, tell me I’m your mate in front of half a village, and you think that’s ‘a lot to take in’? You’re insane!”

Kai stirred in my mind, his voice cut through my thoughts. ‘She’s feisty. I like her.’

I ignored him, focusing on the ticking lava in front of me. Eris was seething, her fists clenched at her sides as she glared up at me like she wanted to rip my throat out.

“Look,” I said, keeping my voice calm. “I know it seems crazy, but we’re mates. I felt the bond the second I saw you.”

“Bond? I don’t care about any bond!” she snapped, taking a step closer. “I’m not anyone’s mate, least of all yours! I’m not some… some prize you can just claim!”

Kai growled low in my mind. ‘She’s wrong. She *is* ours. She just doesn’t understand yet.’

I clenched my jaw. This wasn’t going the way I thought it would. “I’m not trying to claim you like some object,” I said, trying to reason with her. “But the bond is real, Eris. You must’ve felt it too.”

She flinched, her eyes were saying something—fear, maybe—but she quickly masked it with more anger. “I don’t care what I felt,” she hissed. “I want to go back.”

I stiffened at that. “Back to where? To whoever you were running from?”

Her body went rigid, and for a moment, I thought I saw something snow in her eyes. Pain, maybe. Fear, definitely. But just as quickly, she shut it down, her jaw tightened.

“That’s none of your business,” she said coldly, crossing her arms over her chest.

I took a step closer, lowering my voice. “It *is* my business. You crossed into my territory. You’re in *my* protection now.”

“I don’t need your protection!” she snapped, backing away from me with wild eyes. “I don’t need anyone!”

Kai growled again, but this time I agreed with him.

She was being reckless. Stubborn. I clenched my fists, trying to hold back the urge to shake some sense into her. “You don’t get it, do you? You’re not just anyone now. You’re my mate. And that makes you the Luna of this pack. Whether you like it or not.”

“I don’t want it!” she shouted and her voice cracked. “I don’t want any of this!”

There was a tense silence after that, the only sound was these murmurs of the crowd still watching us.

Eris looked like she was on the verge of tears, but she held them back, her body trembled with barely-contained rage.

I pulled Eris close by her waist and sprinted toward the castle, seeking a place where we wouldn’t be seen. She was hitting me, and for a moment, I thought I could even hear her wolf’s voice. My back was scratched, but we made it to the castle.

“Let me go! This is kidnapping!”

I placed her on the ground, and before I could say anything else, one of the maids stepped forward, bowing her head to me before turning to Eris. “My lady,” she said softly, “come with me. I’ll help you get cleaned up. And the doctor is waiting to check on you as well.”

They must’ve heard already about her being my mate, “good.”

Eris glanced at her, then back at me, she was suspicious. But she must’ve decided she didn’t have any other options, because she nodded and followed the maid without another word.

I watched her go, frustration tightened my chest.and… something else. Something I couldn’t quite place. I wanted to follow her, to make sure she was okay, but I knew better than to push her any further right now.

Still, I couldn’t just leave. So, I stood there in the hallway, arms crossed, as the maid led Eris into one of the guest rooms. A few moments later, the doctor arrived, giving me a pointed look as if to say *you shouldn’t be here.* I didn’t budge.

“Alpha,” the doctor said with a polite but firm voice. “I need some privacy to examine her.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I’m not going anywhere.”

The doctor sighed but didn’t argue. She slipped into the room, closing the door behind her.

‘You’re hovering,’ Kai said amused.

‘She’s our mate,’ I replied back. ‘I’m not leaving her alone with a bunch of strangers.’

‘She’s not alone,’ Kai pointed out. ‘The maid and the doctor are there. Plus, she’s a tough one. She’s not going to break because you’re not in the room.’

I knew he was right, but I couldn’t leave the feeling in my gut.

Something about this girl—about Eris—was different. I had never felt this way before.

Hell, I never even thought I’d find my mate. At 24, I was already the strongest alpha in Pretta’s history, leading a pack that was feared and respected across the lands.

But I’d been mate-less for years, and I had started to believe that maybe I was one of those alphas who wouldn’t get a mate.

Until something had forced me out into the woods today. It wasn’t a conscious decision—I hadn’t planned to go hunting, hadn’t even wanted to. But Kai had been relentless, pushing me to go, insisting that there was something—someone—waiting for us.

And then I found her…Running through my territory, looking like she was being chased by ghosts. I hadn’t been able to just let her go. Not after I felt that pull.

That bond.

Kai was right. She was ours. And I wasn’t going to let her slip away.