King Alpha Gone Rogue

CHAPTER THREE: MATE ALERT

Seeing him after so long was not supposed to cause any colossal damage to her system, that was what Arella had thought. She couldn’t have been more wrong. The first outburst of musk mingled with lemon caught her nose the moment she entered the party.

The hackles on her nape were raised like spikes, a clear indication that he was here. Samael Darhk – her Alpha King. Her rogue Alpha King, she reminded herself dutifully, pouring herself a great amount of whisky to settle her nerves. Arella wasn’t reacting to his presence yet.

Taking her own sweet time, she perused her surroundings with feigned leisurely calmness that she was far from feeling. All she wanted to do was hunt that rogue werewolf down and stab a knife deep inside his heart.

Not now Selene, she calmed her wolf down. Arella loved the way she was so attuned to her every sentiment, whenever she felt anger, her wolf responded with the same emotion. At first she’d believed that they would be in conflict with each other, but Arella was pleasantly surprised to see that Selene was a very tame and docile she-wolf, in complete contrast to her rebellious nature.

Her eyes landed on a pair of rounded asses, snugly fit against a pair of tuxedo pants – she would recognize those anywhere. His scent drifted towards her, stronger and more intense which made her eyes bulge in alarm.

Mate???? Selene asked, and Arella didn’t even give her a chance to poke her head around as she stifled her wolf. No way. No bloody way. She hadn’t come this far only to have her wolf swooning over a werewolf among humans. The most coward of them all could not be her mate.

Then, the action happened very fast. The man sitting beside Sam jumped like he’d just been burnt, hissing in fury while Sam looked completely taken aback at his outburst. With bated breath, Arella recognized the man Sam had been socializing with. It was the great Emir Royal – the vampire!!!

Angry and feeling betrayed, Arella turned to hide her face from the two men. She’d seen everything she needed – that weasel Samael was allying with the enemy. He was not worthy of being worshipped like he still was. Determined to show his true face to the pack, she removed her phone from her breast and positioned the phone to get a good snap.

“Not so fast,” a growl sounded behind her, as a pair of male hands grabbed her phone and snapped it in two in a fist, and Ella closed her eyes in dismay. Busted! Even if she doubted who had seized her, the overwhelming scent which clouded her judgement was unmistakable.

“Who are you and what the hell are you doing here?” the sexy gruff voice growled behind her, pinning her front to the metal bar while his body stuck to her back. Arella found herself trapped and unable to move, fear kicking in at the dangerous position she found herself into.  

Up that close, his potent musky scent overwhelmed her from everywhere, and something visceral unfolded inside her.  

Mate! Mate! Mate! Selene was chanting inside her head, taking over her coherent thoughts as Arella struggled to find a semblance of normality in that explosive moment.

Selene, stop! Not now! Arella scolded instantaneously, the way she always smothered that other side of her, but today Selene had other plans.  We are not here to look out for our mate. We are here on mission, remember?  she desperately tried to rationalize.

Noooooooo!!!! The wolf roared in utter outrage. I will not be silenced and smothered today, Arella. I’ve done whatever you’ve asked me like a good wolf so far, but this is my mate!!!! 

Beads of sweat aligned on her forehead as Arella literally felt her wolf slipping from her grasp. No, no, no. This wasn’t happening to her. Not in front of thousands of humans.  Desperate, she turned towards the man who had dismantled her, knowing that her bleak eyes would be indication enough of her lack of control.  

“Help me,” she croaked in a feeble voice as nausea gripped her and the vision opposite her blurred as her eyes skimmed over.

There was a conspicuous hiss of fury followed by a lengthy exclamation of shock before she practically felt herself being forcefully dragged towards the exit. 

Arella could feel her mind taking a setback as Selene took over completely barring her human persona. Tia had warned her that suppressing the creature would only lead to total chaos. Now, she wished she had listened to the warnings of her best friend instead of being her obdurate self.  

Their getaway was quick – she was thrust into a black Mercedes as soon as they managed their way through the crowd. Within no time, she found herself in a confined space with the stranger, goosebumps puckering on her skin as the last thread of control snapped. 

“Hold on, Arella,” the voice warned in a soothing and commanding voice, which mesmerized her enough to hold back her transformation. It took time to register that he already knew her name. “What’s your wolf called?” 

“S…Selene,” she managed to whisper, ashamed of the way perspiration was now trickling down her forehead with the effort of reigning in Selene. A roar exploded inside her blinding her to everything, and her senses faded into nothingness.   

“Alright, Selene,” he addressed her wolf like he had every right to. “I need you to hold on one more minute,” he cajoled, and the car screeched to a halt within the space of seconds, and Arella alighted the car without waiting for him. 

The breath of fresh air which surrounded her brought no solace as she gave in control to her wolf. It was the first time she was shifting, so far she had managed to tame her wolf, or so she’d believed. Now, everything was coming to bite her in the arse as she felt her identity slipping away. 

With a shriek that pierced the night, Selene howled her fury into the darkness as she felt herself taking shape in all splendor. She was livid with rage for having been oppressed for such a long time. Six months living with Ella and not able to speak or act accordingly.

It was unfair to keep her bottled up like that, she was a being in her own right as well. Her ferocious growl sounded repeatedly, and she found herself breathing hard in an attempt to catch her breath.

“Hey beautiful,” a handsome man called out to her, and her heartbeats stabilized as she stared into the most gorgeous pair of eyes she’d ever seen. It was a mixture of grey and olive, the translucent color taking on a tint of green which was barely imperceptible in the night.

Some of her anger dissipated as the man stared back at her with a mesmerizing stare which seemed to calm her. Whether it was the way he looked at her or the indisputable conviction that he was her mate, Selene never knew what caused the burning anger to subside.

There was her Alpha King, but why wasn’t he greeting her in his werewolf form? Why wasn’t he reacting to the smell of mates? That was the usual courtesy required between wolf mates, once they identified themselves. However, he stood staring at her with a significant amount of compassion and pity in his beautiful grey eyes.

Did that mean that his wolf was not happy upon discovering her as a mate? She’d heard that rejections were becoming trendy in the werewolf world, but for her it would be like death. She had never envisaged that her mate wouldn’t be happy to greet her, was that because of something Arella had done?

A whimper of pain escaped her as she continued to stare at her mate, the inability to bond with him was tearing her apart. Maybe, Arella was right when she said she was only protecting her, that much pain was only make her wish she was dead.

“Come here,” he commanded bending on his knees to greet her. Like a besotted puppy, she wagged her tail and went to him with her tongue hanging out in anticipation. Would he transform into his wolf?

But he merely caressed her grey fur causing her to tremble under the action, but he was only giving her a friendly reassuring pat.

“You look in pain, sweetie. What’s going on, Selene?”

Selene wanted to howl at the agony which gripped her. Was that possible? She’d always thought that the bond between mates was unbreakable and irreversible, but how was that possible that the one she would call her one true love couldn’t even recognize her?

Pain slashed from everywhere, and he held her tenderly the whole time, caressing her fur so lovingly until her shaking abated. He was so loving, so tender – she wanted to know his wolf, but she would not be able to bear the fact that the latter had no affinity to her.

A muffled groan escaped her as she allowed herself to fall back, her alter ego taking precedence immediately as weakness took over her. She felt her transformation when cool air brushed against the naked skin of the body she was in.

“Will you look away?” Arella shrieked when she realized that she was stark naked in front of that man who had his hands running over her. Out of sheer panic, she rushed towards the Mercedes, and grabbed for his black leather jacket carelessly thrown on the back seat of the car.

When she was fairly modest with all the buttons of the jacket done up to her neck, she fumbled through her small purse which she’d clung to before Samael had dragged her and sprayed herself with a good dose of her pungent perfume. There was no way she was letting him find out about the mate thing.

Samael Darhk was someone she hated with all her might, and she refused to allow herself to be led by animalistic instincts.

When the car door flung open in a violent jerk, she jerked out of her skin, glad when the smell drifted into the open air.

“What the hell are you doing?” Sam exploded into one of his decadent rages. He was well-known to fly into a vicious temper whenever it suited him, courtesy of being the Alpha King.

“Samael,” she drawled neutrally, keeping her tone in complete contrast to his passionate one. “Fancy seeing you here.”

There was a sharp intake of breath as she continued to sit inside the car looking out of the window opposite him with her bare legs exposed to his sight, while he hovered at the open door waiting for a reaction from her. It took her a Herculean effort to pretend that the fact that she was semi-naked didn’t affect her - she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction, not on her life.

Selene had thankfully been taken completely under control, and she would not have to care about her alter ego for the night. She wasn’t even around to mind link with her, which was a liberating feeling to be honest.

“Arella Chesterfield, what the hell are you doing here?” Sam reframed his question, sounding pretty pissed at her instead of being mortified at having his hypocrisy unmasked. She wondered about the reason. For someone who’d just been caught red-handed coalescing with the enemy, he was definitely not on the defensive.

“Scared that I would tell on you?” she taunted while remaining in her crouched position, clutching the front of his jacket together like it was a lifeline. His smell invaded her senses, and her elbow touched the button to open the window. There was no way she was letting Selene get another miff of that bastard for the night.

As it was, it was horrible to find out that he was her mate. After six months of being ‘undercover’ with her famous perfume, Arella felt sure that the chance of meeting her mate was wearing thin and would soon be a myth. It was hard to discover that she’d been wrong.

From the looks of it though, her subterfuge was working for Sam had no idea that she was his mate. And she intended to keep things that way.