Huntress and The Alpha

4. To Mate, Or not to Mate - a Hypothetical Question.

Irina

Waking up was painful. Slowly, my mind pieced itself back together. Where was I? Spain? No, Russia. Yes, the rigid mattress I felt beneath me indicated a cot at the facility.

Wait, why am I in bed?

Demetri’s livid face, inches from mine, swam into my mind. Our talk flashed before me, along with the memories of that vile purple burning liquid; I could still taste it in my mouth. He f*****g drugged me!

The room settled into focus as I sat up, the lights bright against my eyes. What time was it?

A figure on the chair next to my bed came into view.

“Hey there, Mejai,” said Alec.

He looked rumpled and nothing like his usual perfect appearance. His hair stood on end as if he’d been running his fingers through it. Had he slept there?

“Why do you insist on calling me that infernal name?”

Alec blinked at me and grinned. “She's swinging straight out the gate. You’ve been out cold for eighteen hours, and the first thing you do is insult my favorite comic character; my term of endearment for you?” He clutched his chest. “I’ll have you know ‘The Scorpion’ is a classic comic, and you look just like Mejai.”

“Geek.” I rolled my eyes. Eighteen hours, wow. “What happened?”

He furrowed his brows. “Well, I should ask you the same thing. I didn’t see you after you spoke to Demetri. He said you had gone to bed. I figured you’d be back sweating in the gym after a few hours. Instead, you’ve been asleep, like the dead, so I waited. The only time I’ve ever seen you sleep that long was when your dragon had to heal you from that burn.” He pointed to my stomach, which I reflexively rubbed.

We both know it never fully healed.

I sat up in bed and leaned across to retrieve a bottle of water from the nightstand. My throat was parched.

“So, what happened with Demetri?” he asked.

I filled Alec in on what Demetri said, leaving out the degree of uncharacteristic possessiveness he displayed. I decided it was just to do with Demetri’s desire to control all his hunters fully. Not to mention being hacked off that someone had cloaked me.

“Let me get this straight; the elders were suspicious you hadn’t found your mate, so they had Demetri try to enhance your pull, but in doing so, he found out a dragon had cloaked you to hide you from your mate? He then had you drink a potion that presumably reversed its effects?”

He was good at summing up events. His siren made him shrewd and clever, cutting through the crap to get to the important points. His IQ was off the charts; in our team, he was the brains, and I was the brawn, then Erik was a bit of both.

“Yes, that’s about right.”

“Why on earth did you drink that potion, Rina? It could have been anything.” His voice rose.

“Hey. You know as well as I do that we are blood bound to him as our leader. He used his command on me.”

Did he think I swigged it down without thinking?

“Really?” Alec’s face contorted in concern. “That’s pretty unusual.”

“Yeah, well, so is Demetri, the cold one, showing any form of emotion, but I guess it’s an unusual day.”

“I need to consult some sources about dragon concealment, see under what circumstances it’s applied. See how long it lasts.” Alec moved into planning mode.

“We could just ask Erik?”

We had a live dragon at our disposal.

“What if it was Erik?” His tone sounded measured as he studied my reaction.

Erik? Conceal me?

“Why the hell would he do that?”

“He must be on the list. We don’t know many dragons, do we? I mean, hell, there aren’t even many left.”

I was not fond of Alec accusing Erik of things when he wasn’t there to defend himself.

“I refuse to believe Erik would conceal me from my potential mate!”

Erik was like my brother, just like Alec was. We were family. Where on earth was he, though? What was taking him so long on his mission?

“Do you think it could have happened when I escaped the dragon king?” I asked him.

“I don’t know. I need to understand more about how it’s done. It seems a stretch to imagine he could have concealed you during a fight a long time ago.” Alec tapped his chin, deep in thought.

“He had me longer than just the fight.” I shivered and went to stand up. “How did I end up naked?”

He held his hands up. “No idea. You were asleep when I arrived.”

Who undressed me? Surely not Demetri. Another shiver shot through me.

“I’ve seen you naked, Rina; If you want to get up, go ahead,” Alec smirked.

Idiot.

“You’ve only seen my siren form naked.”

I had no issues parading my siren form around naked. Unlike my other beasts, the shift to my siren form wasn’t partial. It allowed me to change my appearance. She was a beautiful blond with blue eyes, a curvy figure, and unblemished skin. A vision of perfection. I used her as a lure to seduce, hence one of my infamous names, Pulchra Morte - beautiful death.

My true body I kept hidden. So far from unblemished, it was laughable. When I was younger, I hated the scars that crisscrossed my body from training and missions. Erik helped to see my scars as trophies, proof that I had survived.

“Dragon warriors celebrate their scars, forming pictures of victory on their skin,” he told me.

Now I celebrated them with tattoos. But I decided long ago that my true form, damaged, inked, and scarred as it was, was the only thing I could offer my mate. Chastity wasn’t exactly possible in my line of work.

“Does it matter which form you are in?” he asked, unconcerned.

“It matters to me. I’ve saved that for my mate.”

“You saved something for your mate? I thought you didn’t want one. Or did you just decide that since Demetri gave you some potion?” Alec snorted.

Still a d**k.

He had a point, though. I had always been indifferent about mates, pointing out the reasons why it would be a bad idea, including my background, losing my team, and my employment at the council.

My mate could end up being evil, and I might have to kill him. I’d seen that before. Even if he wasn’t evil, I still couldn’t imagine fitting in with his world. Most people had families. I mean, what stories would I bring around the meal table? Torture 101? How to sever the carotid artery correctly? Which rib to slip a stake under to hit a vampire’s heart?

I cringed at the thought. I wouldn’t say I liked small talk, flirtatious, seductive talk, sure. I let my siren take the lead on that. Sarcastic smack talk during a fight if needed. Yep, I got that down. Polite social interaction? Not so much.

I could see why hunters rejected their mates - so many potential issues. Many hunters opted to become freelance assassins for the Hunter Council. Simply unable to give up the only life they knew.

Could I reject my mate? Every time I questioned this in my mind, my beasts were restless. They didn’t like the idea of me rejecting our mate. Previously, I’d have shut this pointless conjecture down, deciding it was a hypothetical argument. Perhaps it no longer was?

“I don't know what I want. I know that whenever I think about it, I end up with a headache.”

“Well, that means I might get that extended vacation I’ve been planning for years.”

A pang rang through me as I tried to push away the ever-present selfish fear of losing Alec. He planned to travel the world when we retired. I knew that he’d like to find his mate or mates. I shuddered internally. Two mates. Here’s me wondering if I even want one! What would Erik say?

“Did Erik conceal us?” Asked my siren.

She didn’t answer me. No, I don’t think so. What would he stand to gain?

“I’ll let you get dressed. I need to check this out. Plus, we need the files from Demetri on those vamps you mentioned. I don’t know if he plans to brief us or not.” Alec’s voice cleared my mental chatter as he stood and moved to the door. “Get some food and hit the gym. Get your head back in the game. I doubt you even know what time it is.”

True, the clock on the dress told me it was morning, but jet lag and grim purple potions had taken it out of me despite my long sleep.

I jumped in the shower. The hot water sluiced over me as I decided on my next move. Food first, then find someone to beat to a pulp in the gym. I hoped the triplets were back from their latest mission. Fighting them would be the perfect antidote to this crazy s**t show—the perfect distraction from my thoughts.

To mate, or not to mate? That was the question…