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H ead Sentinel Rodarh was left with his mouth gaping wide open.

"If you're done making bad decisions, you can sit down now, Rodarh, while the rest of us think rationally about how to retrieve the ring," Ratinus added, the rat alpha still shook his head in sheer disappointment.

The others nodded.

Head Sentinel Rodarh lowered himself back to his seat, managed to get himself together again, and glared at all of them. "Traitors, all of you."

"Now, don't let yourself get...too angry again, Rodarh." Alpha Morose drawled, his snake-like forked tongue sliding out in barely-disguised amusement, "We all know what happens when you get angry."

Head Sentinel Rodarh gave him a killing glare.

"Well, the good news is that his mate can always drag him out of his bad moods." Alpha Degar couldn't help himself.

"Keep my Aniliny out of this." The elephant Changeling grumbled angrily .

Alpha Alphose joined, "Poor Aniliny, always having to deal with his grumpy self. I wonder how she'll feel if she gets to know that you made the decision to kill a Mate." Tsk tsk tsk, "I bet she will pout at you the whole day."

Rodarh's cheeks turned dark shades of red because the cougar Alpha is right. "Y'all behave like you weren't thinking of making a meal outta her too. Traitors, all of you. Bet your mates will feel so proud."

The mated ones cleared their throat guiltily, while the unmated ones lifted their chins proudly, "We've got no mates yet."

"Ladies, ladies, let us all get back to business alright?" Alpha Zane finally added, his lips curved in amusement.

All of them turned and glared at him.

"You are the only lady here, Jaguar." Ratinus shot back.

Alpha Zane chuckled. It didn't take long before the rest chuckled too, diffusing the thick tension in the air from the Alpha King's reaction to their mistakes. All of them were smiling except for Adanel and Wolfariane who watched the rest quietly, observingly, without a word.

With the tension diffused, they turned toward their Alpha King.

"Congratulations on finding your mate, Alpha King." Alpha Asisy said joyously.

"Congratulations, your highness." Alpha Morose.

"Wow, I can't believe you've found her. Congratulations." Alpha Zane.

"I'm so happy for you, Alpha King. Finding your mate is a good thing." Head Sentinel Rodarh.

The rest of the congratulations followed until everybody have pitched a word or two about it.

They were all happy, and it was sincere .

For changelings finding a mate is a very joyous happening because you have just one woman out there that belongs to you. One woman out there that is compatible with you.

Some of them grow insane searching for their other halves, while some have grown old filled with sadness, unable to find that woman.

"Congratulations, Alpha King." Adanel added him too. "A mate is a good thing."

"What do you know about that, Adanel? You are clearly unmated." Alpha Morose snorted.

"Well, when do we get to meet your mate? I am in full anticipation already." Ratinus referred to the Alpha King, rubbing his hands eagerly.

"Calm down, Rat. If she's human I doubt she is ready to meet either of us. She needs to know and understand our ways first before she is introduced to the council." Alpha Zane replied.

"That is right, that is right." The Rat Alpha admitted, before facing Wolfariane, "But, a human mate? For you? What exactly is the Above thinking? Is this some kind of a joke to them?"

"That is exactly what I am thinking right here, Ratinus. A human mate for an Alpha King?" Alpha Asisy shook his head, "There are so many ways that can go wrong. Hell, she might die under you on a full moon night."

"Have you mated her yet? How did that one go, Alpha King?" Rodarh asked curiously, "I am mated to a strong female jaguar, but I can still remember how the mating ritual was for my Aniliny, twenty-five years ago. She barely got through it."

"My Zeally too." Alpha Zane added, "She could barely take it and she's a strong wolf. "

Alpha Alphose glanced at his friend and winced inwardly. Wolfariane already has some good reasons why he doesn't want to mate with her, and these people aren't helping matters at all.

"Well, I heard it differs for mates. For some it's intense. For some it's mild. For some, it's both." He said out loud.

"Well, that part is true too." Head Sentinel Rodarh admitted thoughtfully.

"So, have you mated her yet?" Alpha Morose asked curiously.

"No." Alpha King Wolfariane spoke crisply, for the first time since all their bickering.

"Oh..."

"How do you feel about it?" Head Sentinel Adanel finally asked, "About her being human...? How do you feel about it?"

"A part of me likes her." The wolf, "Another part of me despises her and everything she represents." The mountain lion.

"What about the male? How does the male feel?" Adanel questioned, watching the Alpha King carefully.

Silence descended in the Meeting Hall. As dead as night, as they waited for him to answer.

Wolfariane was sure of what he felt about that prospect as of yesterday evening, but after the night before, he found himself having a slight hesitation.

Till now, the taste of the woman haunted him, leaving him wanting more. He has been thinking about it all morning, even here in court, he admitted to himself .

So, he settled for telling them the only truth he is sure of. "I have no intentions of mating. Not a human. Or a changeling." He paused, "Especially a human."

Stunned silence followed.

Then, "That is... understandable." Alpha Zane said. "We do not have all the details of what happened to you and your sister years ago, but from what we were able to gather from the others that were captured in that lab, you went through unspeakable tortures in their hands."

As always, Wolfariane did not say a word.

Whenever The Lab comes up in the council meeting, he does not say a word about it even though he knows that it hurts them and they think he does not trust them enough to share his pains with them.

But he knows that they are better off not knowing. Sparing them that nightmare is the best he can do for them. He will go on living with it. He, and the other six males that survived that captivity.

Automatically, Alpha King Wolfariane's eyes found Adanel's across the table.

The Sentinel's face closed up like a book, his jaws locked tight.

The Alpha King looked back at Alpha Zane, and then at all of them. "On our next meeting, hopefully, we will have updates on the Wild Psychopath. Also, we hope for more progress on the search for the ring. Now, we will adjourn this meeting." With that, he got up from his throne chair.

Instantly, they all rose too and inclined their heads.

"We hope so too." Ratinus said, "Hopefully, Alpha Degar will have better news for us at the next meeting about the search for the ring. "

"I am also hoping on that too." Alpha Degar replied.

Eline looked her straight in the eyes, "You truly do not know that you are the Alpha King's mate?"

"His mate?" Ismena's eyes widened, "Is that supposed to be a joke?"

"I'd hope so, but you're scenting like our King, so I wouldn't understand what kind of joke that will be if it was one."

Ismena laughed, she couldn't help herself. The woman looked all too serious with this joke of hers.

She might not understand everything about this world yet, but at least Wolfariane has told her a thing or two about mates. "I'll have you know that your King does not like me at all. So, there's no way I'll be his mate."

"People are blind, but fate is not. The moon goddess has the future all planned out.

Sometimes, mates don't like each other at the beginning, but fate has something beautiful stored for them together.

" Eline thought about it worriedly, pain masked her features, "I don't understand this one at all. You? For the Alpha King?"

Ismena arched her brow upwards, "That sounds insulting. You say that like I'm not woman enough for him?" She snorted, "I'll have you know that men find me very attractive, and very womanly too."

"Please, don't take offense. That is not what I meant." Eline was quick to assure her, "I'm just worried about you, about him, and about the situation, that is all. Changelings are very different from humans you see, our ways are not the same."

The woman looks genuinely worried. Ismena placed a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry yourself to death, Eline. I have no intentions of marrying anybody and the only fate I know now is my death...which is coming in the near future."

"I can barely scent death on you. How are you feeling today after your obvious intimacy with the Alpha King?" Eline asked curiously. Her eyes went to that red spot on Ismena's neck.

"We didn't have sex." Her cheeks warmed. Quickly, she used her hair to cover her tingling neck. "We...uhm...we made out."

"Made out? What does that mean?" The other woman asked, her brows creased in confusion.

"You don't know what it means?" Ismena asked incredulously, then went ahead to explain in simple terms.

"Oh." It was Eline's turn to blush, "It is your wording that confused me. Okay, so the Alpha King touched you intimately? How do you feel now?

Ismena shifted uncomfortably on her feet, "You mean how I feel about the...uhm..."

"No, no," Eline let out quickly, "I mean how your heart feels after the.

..uhm... experience. Not how you feel emotionally, but you know, you have a bad heart so.

..uhm..." The young woman snapped her mouth shut, she is too distraught with the situation she was having problems making sense of her own wordings.

But Ismena came to her aid. "Oh, you mean how my chest feels now?"

"Yes! Exactly." Eline let out a huge breath.

Ismena's hand went to the chest in question and rubbed it absently, "I don't feel any pain since I woke up this morning. That's surprising because I was expecting a very mean pain. "

"It is not surprising." That confirmed Eline's suspicions. This woman here is the Alpha King's mate. "Woah."

Ismena shrugged and started back to the sitting room. "Well, I'm grateful it's cutting me some slack, I wouldn't be looking a gift horse in the mouth. The pain will come back later in the day, and worse...since I don't have my meds."

"If you keep having intimacies with the Alpha King, you wouldn't be needing those meds ever again."

"Yeah, right." Ismena snorted. The young woman is even more romantic in nature than her best friend, Sandra.

"I'm only thankful that he's trying to replace my meds for me. Wolfariane told me that he'll send the big Cougar guy back to New York City to buy them for me. I just hope my heart sustains me till he returns. I've not taken my meds in four days." She added worriedly.

"Alpha Alphose?"

"That's the one."

Eline nodded, sitting beside her. If the Alpha King said that, then that means he hasn't accepted her as his mate. Will he even be able to accept her in the future? Or will she die?

“What about Nalaila?”

"There goes that name again. Please tell me who this woman is?" Ismena asked her, softly.

Eline bit her lips hard. She didn't know she'd said that out loud. She snapped her mouth shut .

"Who is she? Is she his friend? Or his wife? Or his lover?" Suddenly, she wanted to know this. There is this urge in her chest driving her to know this.

"She is someone very dear to the Alpha King." Eline answered at last before she rose and walked towards her bedroom. "I haven't had the chance to take you around because of work, but it is my day off tomorrow. I want to go to the market, will you come with me?"

"Yes. Yes, I will." She managed a smile for the woman.

Eline smiled back before she turned and entered the bedroom.

Long after Eline left, Ismena still can't believe the jealousy she was feeling.

She is someone dear to him. Eline's voice rang in her head over and over and over again.

Wolfariane arrived in his bedroom after the meeting. The smell of her filled his bedroom.

The housekeepers must have cleaned out his bedroom and changed the sheets after she'd left but everywhere still smells like her. Even his bathroom carries her scent. His díck went hard in his pants.

"Your wounds have almost faded completely."

Alphose's voice made him turn towards his door. The Cougar Alpha bowed his head slightly in respect.

Wolfariane acknowledged it with an inclination of his own head. "What are you doing here, Alphose? You should be at the tower gate if I'm correct? "

"You are not. You forget that you asked me to clear out my schedule so I can journey to the non-changeling world to get your woman's meds?" A smile curved his lip.

"She is not my woman." He stated firmly, walking to his wardrobe to change his clothes.

"Of course. Well, I am here now to inform you that I'll be journeying immediately. Alpha Degar will take care of my duties while I'm gone. I wouldn't be long either."

"Alright." He nodded his head.

Alphose turned to leave and stopped. "I heard, you know. I was guarding the Tower's gate last night."

"Of course," Wolfariane grunted. "You have very wild ears, Alphose. I might consider cutting it off one of these days."

The cougar Alpha chuckled, "You know you can't. I tried hard not to hear, but damn... the girl is loud. You too weren't so quiet either."

The Alpha King turned and arched his brows at his friend. "I might just decide to behead you, Alphose."

"Whatever you did with her, you enjoyed it. You enjoyed her."

Wolfariane didn't bother lying about that. Instead, he wrapped a black towel around his waist, ready to take a shower.

"You know what I think?" Alphose asked, suddenly sounding so serious.

"I know you'll tell me anyway."

"I think that girl is stronger than we all think. I can feel it." He said quietly .

"Well, she did say she learned how to fight and defend herself."

Alphose shook his head, "It might not even be physical strength, but I feel she is stronger in some way. At first, I thought her being your mate is some kind of joke from the Above, but now I'm starting to rethink it."

He paused and looked at his Alpha King in the eyes, "That small woman might just be the strength you need to heal again after eighteen years. You and your cougar-half."

Long after Alphose left, his words remained.

His words, and the scent of Ismena in every single part of the tower that is his personal space.