The Mate's Prophecy

Chapter 2

(Cassie’s POV)

The howling had haunted my dreams every night for the last month. No matter what image played in my head, I heard the soulful mourning of my fated mate. Even though I had rejected him, ripping my own heart out in the process, I still felt everything. 

He was close by at first. Parker told me that he had been sighted along the borders, and he had been responsible for several injuries of the warriors on guard duty. I heard Jackson telling his Beta Brady that if something wasn’t done soon, they would need to take drastic action. Thankfully the attacks seemed to stop about a week in and Jackson promised he would leave things alone as long as he didn’t come back. 

But even though the howling had stopped outside, it had continued in my dreams. And not a night had gone by that I had woken up screaming for Hunter covered in sweat. The worst night was around two weeks ago on the night of the full moon. I knew the first one would be rough and had hoped that Hunter would have accepted the rejection before then. As it was I had found myself screaming in pain, the phantom howling was joined with Dia’s own howls. That was also the night that Dia had disappeared back into the cage again. I had felt her fear as the binding magic dragged her fully back in. 

Jackson had been amazing though. It was around 2am that he had come running into my room and climbed into my bed. He untangled me from my covers and pulled me into his arms. I had been resistant at first but he assured me that he was trying to help and I had finally relaxed into his arms and I had fallen asleep with him rubbing large circles on my back. It couldn’t have been easy for him, to have his future Luna crying for another man, but he was supportive all the same.

He had really surprised me over the last month actually. That first night I had been an emotional mess and by the time we had reached the Blood Stone territory I had fallen asleep from exhaustion both emotional and physical. I woke up to find myself in Jacksons arms. He held me tightly as he carried me to bed. I was struggling to keep awake but remember him calling me his queen and kissing my forehead before I was swallowed into the dark again. 

The next morning I had woken up in bed alone. I recognised the room as the one I had been in when I was here before. Everything was the same, including the clothes in the closet, although Jackson had informed me later that it had been swept for any more weapons. I didn’t want to leave my bed though, and had hid under the covers crying. Jackson was the only person I saw that day but I blamed him for my pain and screamed at him to leave me alone. Those first couple of weeks were much the same, although I cried a little less each day and spent more time in Jacksons company and even sometimes Brady’s. Parker had mostly kept his distance at first but after a week he told me that Jackson was planning on making him the Gamma so he would be my official protector. 

Jackson had remembered what Wren had said about me liking movie nights and had brought in various streaming services to go with the TV, so I had thousands of movies and TV shows at my fingertips. 

The morning after the full moon I had woken up still in Jackson’s arms. He was still asleep beside me so I was able to watch him for a while. He looked peaceful in his sleep, younger. I hesitated before I reached up and touched his face ever so gentilly and traced the outline of his nose down to his lips. I was reminded of the last time, before he had let me leave. He had said that he could give me the world, how I could realise my destiny with him by my side. And the kiss, the way he held me and kissed me, and let me go. 

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad being tied to Jackson as his queen and Luna. I leaned over on a whim and kissed him lightly, a barely there graze of the lips. He had asked once if I could love him. I wasn’t sure of the answer, but I was willing to do what I had to do to protect the ones I did love. 

I went to pull back from the kiss but Jackson's hand had moved to my back and he pulled me back down into a firmer, more deeper kiss. He moved his lips against mine and I found myself responding. Soon the kiss was deep and Jackson had moved so that his body was fully pressed against mine and he had shifted us so he was leaning over me. He broke the kiss and started trailing kisses along my jaw and onto my neck. 

“Mmmmm, a man could get used to being woken up like this” he whispered in my ear as his free hand roamed down to my hip and gently played along my panties. I ran my own hand down his hard abs and against the bulge in his boxers. He groaned against my neck and grabbed my hand and lifted it back up above my head and held it there. 

He croaked “I’m not going to mark you now” his voice full of lust “not yet” and then continued to kiss along my neck

“What?” I asked in shock, this is what he wanted and I was giving it to him.

“Right now sweetheart, you are doing this because of him, you are thinking about him” he lifted his head so I could see his face 

“When we form the mate bond, when we mate and I mark you claiming you as mine, you’ll be thinking of me” he trailed a finger down my side causing me to shiver and then he leaned in to my ear and whispered “I will have you screaming my name in ecstasy before I sink my teeth into you” 

I pushed him off me and glared at him while he chuckled and rolled out of the bed. 

“Don’t worry sweetheart, it’ll happen” and with that he had walked off into my bathroom. I was so annoyed at him that I didn’t speak to him for the rest of the day. 

But later on that night as the pain started he was back in my bed, muttering something I couldn’t quite understand and rubbing circles along my back. It became standard, since then. Every night he would do some work or spend time with his friends, but at 11pm on the dot he would appear in my room and climb into my bed. It had gotten to the point that I couldn’t fall asleep without him there. 

In the mornings we would have breakfast in the dining room on the Alpha floor with his father and sometimes Brady, before he would go off to work on his Alpha duties and I would go back to my gilded cage. 

And that was what it was, despite the door no longer being locked and having access to the full top floor, Jackson had made it clear when showing me around that I wasn’t permitted to leave the floor without an official escort. And when I did go outside, the atmosphere felt off. There were people around and plenty of smiles and hellos but there wasn’t really the joy that people had at Black Stone there. Everyone had a role within the pack, and most wore the warrior uniform. I didn’t quite know how many people were in Blood Stone and when I had asked, Jackson had just smiled and changed the subject.

But the sixth floor of the pack house had everything I needed anyway. Jackson had shown me where his room was, almost directly opposite mine, and then gestured that his fathers room was down the hall. There was a full living quarters with living room, dining room and a well stocked kitchen. There was also an entertainment room with a larger than average screen, pool table and bar, and a small but well stocked gym. The floor also had a further six bedrooms, which were currently empty. These were used for visiting Alpha’s or other high level guests and maybe soon plenty of pups. Jackson winked when he suggested that to which I just rolled my eyes.

The topic of offspring turned up quite often at the breakfast table. Jackson's father, Julian, would leer at me from the other end of the table and then start asking questions about the official Luna ceremony, and not so subtly hinting at Jackson about his heir. The conversations would often get tense and would always switch to mind link as I saw their eyes glazed over for several minutes before they cleared up and Jackson was almost always p*ssed off at the end of it.

We had yet to reach the conversation this morning as I sat at the table, staring at my unfinished toast. I didn’t feel like eating since this morning we had the displeasure of Eden being sat at the other end of the table. The b*tch spent most of the time pawing over Julian in an overly s*xual nature while sneering at me. Brady had told me a few weeks ago that she had latched onto Julian after Jackson had found me, and he had set her in her place. 

“All I am saying, Jackson, is maybe the girl gets lonely” he had suggested assigning an Omega to me and Jackson didn’t seem too pleased about it for some reason.

“Do you remember the last time Cassie had a personal assistant” Oh that was the reason. When I was here last Jackson had assigned Wren to look after me, unknowing that she was actually a scout for Black Stone. She was the inside man on my escape.

“Which is why I am suggesting Julia” his father said and then turned to me “Julia is a lovely Omega girl, about your age too” he smiled although it didn’t reach his eyes “and she is very dedicated to Jackson” I looked to Jackson and he was glaring at his father, and once again his eyes glazed over and their silent conversation began.

I looked at Brady and he shrugged although looked uncomfortable, and sighed. I didn’t need to be here and if Eden sniffed at me one more time I was going to end up smacking her in the face.

I stood up and excused myself to Brady before leaving the room. I was half way down the hall when Jackson called after me, running to catch up 

“Hey, sweetheart,” he said, curling his arm around my waist and pulling me into him “what’s wrong?” 

“Nothing” I responded and tried to pull away from him but he growled and backed me against the wall.

“Don’t tell me nothing Cassie” he buried his nose into my neck and I felt shivers down my spine as his lips grazed over my marking spot “I know you better than you think” I didn’t say anything so he lifted his head looking at me and then sighed. He smiled at me and pushed my hair behind my ear.

“Ok then” he said “I’ll send Julia over later today, if it will make you happy” It didn’t, I didn’t care less about having my own Omega, but I was curious as to why his father had suggested this one. And why Jackson was so against it.

I smiled at him and reached up to kiss him lightly on the cheek, when he turned his head and met my lips with his and pulled me into a deep kiss before letting me go with a grin and leaving me breathless.  I found myself melting into his touches more and more each time, and I wasn’t sure if I should be worried or happy.