TWICE MATED

Suspicions

MAX’S POV

I was very happy with the way things were going between me and Anaiah. Things may have been going slowly between us but I knew she still needed time. I knew that she was going to open up to me in time and that soon we would be the couple that we were always meant to be. However, I had to admit that there had been some improvement in the way she behaved when she was with me. She no longer recoiled as if she was scared whenever I touched her. As a matter of fact, I could feel that she wanted more each time I touched her but I also knew that she wasn’t ready for us to take things to the next level. I had to be patient with her and I had to give her more time, I wasn’t known to be a very patient man but I was going to be very patient with her this time.

She was opening up to the idea of me and her being mates, in which case I never understood why she seemed to hate the idea in the first place. I worried that she would reject me but I guess she realized that my intentions for her were pure. I didn’t want her to ever feel like she wasn’t wanted because of the way that she had been treated by Michael. She didn’t seem like she was keen to entertain the idea of being my mate, but I guess she realized that there would be no escaping me because she was now a rogue and I was her king whether she liked it or not. She was stuck with me whether she liked it or not.

After helping my mate settle into her new life I was confident that she was now happy in the position that she was meant to take in this kingdom. Although I considered us a pack I was aware that we were much bigger than all the packs that were around the wolf lands. That was the reason why I considered this my kingdom and that was another reason why no pack would ever come against me and my followers. I had followers in every part of the world. She had settled into the pack and I had to get back to work. I had left a lot of work unattended because I had put all my attention on her but now that she had settled it was time for me to get back to my normal routine.

“You seem to be in a very good mood lately,” Marcello said as he walked into my office.

“You are going to have to learn to knock on my door before you enter. Things are different now, my mate is here and you could walk in here and find us doing what mates do”, I said with a wink, and he flashed me a brief smile as he sat down. I knew Marcellowell enough to know that he had a lot to say about me and my newfound mate, but I was going to wait for him to tell me what it was that was weighing so heavily in his mind.

“Listen… please don’t take this the wrong way, but I really feel like something is off with her,” he said, and I frowned. Of course, it was Marcello being negative in a positive situation. Marcello was still struggling with whatever his past traumas were and that was the reason why he was always negative and suspicious of every wolf that was new in our pack.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked him.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed that she doesn’t seem to share the same excitement that you have about this relationship,” he said.

”You are the only one in this union that seems excited about this but she seems to be hesitant, but then again I might be reading too much into things.” she said.

“ I expect you to understand better than anyone that she may still be traumatized

You saw her when she was at her worst, so I didn't understand where all this was coming from” I said with irritation.

”You are the one who saw her when they first brought her from the forest so you should understand why she would be traumatized and acting the way she is” I added.

“I am just telling you what I noticed about her, so kill me for caring about you,” he said.

“All I am saying is that if she isn’t interested in this as you are you might be in trouble. This is supposed to go both ways.”

“I appreciate your concern but she is my mate, and it would serve you best to know your place.” I cautioned.

“But does she know hers?” he asked me.

“That is none of your concern. You should know your place. She knows her place. She may not have come to terms with it yet, but she certainly knows it” I said.

“Telling her and reminding her what her place is is my job not yours, so if she doesn’t know her place it will be my responsibility to put her in that place just as it is my responsibility to put you in yours”, I added

“I hear you. All I am saying is that you need to be cautious. This might just be a trap by Michael to…”

“Didn’t I tell you to know your place? From now on, you are forbidden. To talk about her, you are not even allowed to be in the same room with her. Until you show her and give her the respect she deserves as the Queen of this pack, you are to stay far away from her", I snapped at him and he raised his hands as a sign of surrender.

“And you need to stop being paranoid, since when does Michael have the ability to give wolves mates? I hate him as much as I did before, but I have to be realistic” I said

“I understand what you are saying but we both know that you can't put anything past Michael, if he wanted to make you believe you were mated to someone from his pack, don’t you think he would be able to do that,” he said, and I had to admit that there was some truth to what he was saying. I couldn’t put anything past Michael but I knew that Anaiah was my mate and there was nothing that Marcelo could say that could convince me otherwise.

“I know what Michael is capable of you don’t need to remind me,” I snapped, “but I know that Anaiah is my mate and I have no doubt about that,” I said firmly.

“Okay, I will not try to convince you otherwise. I trust you and I know that you will not only do something that is good for you but for all of us” He said and I nodded. Marcelo knew when to shut up and that was the reason why me and him got along so well.

I wasn’t sure why I was upset by this conversation. I wasn’t sure if the most upsetting part of it was the fact that Marcello was suggesting that my mate was a spy or that a part of me considered that he was right in his theory. What if I had been bewitched by Anaiah? What if it was all a part of Michael's grand plan? I know that he wanted to destroy my life and reduce me to nothing.

There was just no way that the feelings that I felt for her were not real. There was no way that all that I was feeling was because of some spell that had been put on me. Marcello may have had a point, but I knew deep in my heart that it just couldn’t be true. Anaiah was my mate, and that was a truth that I intended to live by.

However, I knew that being cautious wouldn’t hurt anyone. I was probably going to prove that Anaiah was my mate by the time this was all over. It was even crazier that I had to prove that she was my mate because I was certain that she was. But I was going to watch out for all the things that Marcello claimed to have noticed about her. If she was the witch that she was accused of being, I would know. I just had to watch her closely and make sure I paid attention to all that she did.

At the end of the day, she did have to win my trust because she was from an enemy pack. She may have been my mate, but the truth remained that she was from Michaels's pack, and he was not to be trusted. Her intentions may not have been crooked, but she knew he was.

So, I decided I would watch her closely and in the few days to come, I watched her like a hawk. I was already head over heels in love with her, so thinking objectively was an almost impossible task. It was almost impossible to see any flaw in anything she did. Instead of proving to me that she was sent here by my enemy, I found myself more inclined to believe that it was indeed the moon goddess who had sent her to me. She was perfect at everything she did, and I was satisfied and content with having her as my mate.

I quickly abandoned the mission of investigating my own mate and decided that it was better to just live in the moment. I had been waiting for my mate ever since I was banished from my homeland because of the loneliness that came with that and now that Anaiah was here, I wasn't about to ruin my union with her all because of the suspicions that Marcello had. I was also certain that she wouldn't like it if she found out that I had been suspicious of her instead of trusting her as my mate. I promised her that she would be safe with me, and I wanted to keep my word and keep her safe. When Anaiah came here she had been close to death and that was another reason why doubting her sister made sense to me. Michael almost killed her and he was the one that I should have been paying attention to.