Alpha Island: The Lycan's Mate

             Dylan Chains stared at the dark metal gates in front of him. He watched as buses dropped off students and they walked in happily through hell's gates. In just a few more steps he would also be walking through that gate and into the magical barrier around Alpha Island University. AIU was a school for shifters and magical creatures. He raised his hand up to shield his eyes from the sun.               He couldn’t believe he had to attend the university here with everyone else. He wasn’t like everyone else. He was part of one of the four great clans and the lycan prince. He would be the future leader of all the werewolves. He wasn’t supposed to attend a school like this where everyone else attended.               Yet here he was. About to enter into a barrier where he had to act like a normal student. One nice thing about being a future leader was that the barrier didn’t affect him. Everyone else who walked through the barrier would be stripped of their mate senses. They claim this was better so students focused on their studies and not their mate. Whatever, it didn’t affect him, not that his mate would be in a place like this anyways.               He lowered his hand back down and squeezed it together tightly. He didn’t have a choice but to pretend to be attending school here. There have been disappearances happening at the school and the four clans each sent one of their heirs undercover to investigate. They sent him, the fairy princess, the warlock prince and the dragon prince. He rolled his eyes thinking about the lord of the dragons. He hated his smug attitude. The small brained reptile was nothing but a troublesome hot head and he had orders to get along and cooperate with him.             The four of them would be entering this school as commoners. All members from the royal family used an illusion spell until their crowning. It was a level of protection so that they weren’t targeted and could walk around freely without worry. Because of this no one at the school would know who they were. Which was good. Whoever was behind the disappearances would be alerted if they knew the royals were there.               “Ready for school? Thirsting for knowledge?” Kadae joked as he bumped into Dylan’s side.               Kadae Silver was Dylan’s beta and best friend. He would be attending school with him. The two had been privately tutored back at the castle together. They actually had already finished their studies, so he felt insulted that he had to start the school here as a junior. They said because he was twenty that it wouldn’t make sense for him to be a senior.               He turned and looked at his beta. He was grinning happily, his blue eyes gleaming as the wind tossed his blonde hair around lightly. He was actually excited about going to school here. He wanted to check out the fresh ‘legs’ as he put it.               “It is ridiculous I have to be here. Really, me? Couldn’t they have sent just you?” Dylan shook his head in agitation. He felt insulted. This job felt below him.               “Oh, don’t be like that. Just think we get to go prowling. The girls who are unmated won’t have their mate sense. This means they are all up for grabs.” Kadae grinned as he rubbed his hands together. He gave Dylan a lopsided goofy smile and raised his eyebrows up and down.               “You are such a dork.” Dylan laughed, shaking his head. Kadae was a bit of a jokester. But when it came to being a beta there was no one else he would want for the job. Not only was he fiercely loyal to him but he was also one of the strongest fighters in their pack of lycan’s.               The lycan’s did not traditionally attend these universities. Since the lycan’s were the ones who ruled over the werewolves they trained differently. Even their education was separate. Both him and Kadae would need to skip their battle classes. If they shifted it would be obvious they were lycan’s and not werewolves. Which could tip whoever is causing trouble off.               At least shifting outside of the battle class was not permitted. Since the use of shifting and magic could be threatening it is forbidden to be used unless it is part of class. The only other time you were allowed to shift was outside of the barrier. The barrier didn’t only act as a means to remove the mate sense. It was also protective to keep the students safe. Because of that few students left the barriers unless it was to leave school or for class.               Dylan held up a leather bracelet with a little charm on it. The charm had the logo of the university on it. It was so students could pass in and out of the barrier. He didn’t need it. The barrier couldn’t keep him out but he didn’t want to set off the alarm so he would wear the stupid thing. He watched as Kadae strapped his on enthusiastically.             Dylan sighed as he stared in front of him. Oh well, time to embrace the inevitable. He only took a couple steps in through the barrier when he halted. Walking in from the other entrance was the one person he did not want to see already. It was that damn dragon prince Darren. Their eyes met and they both stared at the other coldly. It appeared he was just as happy to see him there too. This was good. They seemed to both agree that they didn’t want or need the others' help. While they were here, they were undercover so there was no need to greet him any differently. He was just another person going to school here.               The sound of Darren’s mental link pushed into his head. “Divide and Conquer?” Which sounded a whole lot like leave me the hell alone. Dylan gritted his teeth. Like he wanted to play nice with the salamander.             “Sounds good.”  Dylan replied mentally, he turned and rolled his eyes. He would love to punch the arrogant off of his face. But no, they had to keep the peace. The four clans needed to remain friends in the future. The fairy princess didn’t care about anything other than her flowers and appearance. The warlock prince was a practicing comedian or so he thought. All he wanted to do was play pranks. And then the dragon prince… he was probably shocked to see other species exist besides dragons.               Freaking asshole. Dylan set his jaw as he walked away. The less he saw this guy the better.               Kadae laughed as he walked next to Dylan. “Looks like he isn’t a fan of yours either.”               “He is only a fan of the mirror and looking at his reflection.” Dylan spat as he continued to take large strides away from the oversized iguana.               As he was walking closer towards the school building it happened. He smelled one of the sweetest scents he had ever smelled. He felt his heart racing as his eyes scanned in search of the scent. Oh no… Dylan thought. He knew what this scent was. The heavenly scent that was beckoning him to find it. He didn’t even realize he was walking again. Subconsciously his feet were carrying him in the direction of heaven. He walked around the bend and saw her.               A girl with brown hair and an amazing smile sat on a bench talking with a couple people. She looked up and he looked into her deep blue eyes.             Mate.               Damnit. Things just got a lot more complicated. He watched as a guy beside her put his arm around her shoulder. It was all he could do to not run up to the guy and relieve his neck of his head.               Kadae looked at Dylan’s tense posture and could see his eyes darkening. He wasn’t sure what was going on but pretty soon someone was going to die. He has seen that look before. He slapped his arm around Dylan’s shoulders and tugged him along.               “Come on, our room is this way.” Kadae brought his strength forward and was able to lead Dylan away. What the hell man? He asked through their mind link.             The girl with the brown hair… she’s my mate.               Oh, s**t. What are you going to do?               Dylan stopped walking and turned around to look at the girl sitting there. She was oblivious that he was her mate. She didn’t have her senses. Looks like I’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way.               Oh? So now the girls here are good enough? Kadae chuckled.               No, only that girl. She is mine and I will have what is mine. He snarled as he glanced at the guy sitting next to her. Even if I have to kill for her.               Yeah, our job is to protect the students here. But if you need a wing man I know a thing or two about the ladies.               Dylan quirked his brow at Kadae. Maybe I should just drag her out of the barrier.               Probably your best bet. You are no casanova.               A dark low chuckle escaped from Dylan’s throat. It isn’t that I don’t have confidence in myself. I don’t have confidence that I can’t fight the mate pull…               So, what do you want to do?               Dylan sighed and turned his head away from his mate. “Let’s find our room for now.”               __               She pushed her long strand of golden-brown hair behind her ear as she glanced in the direction of the two strangers.  The one man’s blue eyes were fixated on her in almost a possessive manner. The way he was looking at her made her feel butterflies in her chest. She took in his tall muscular physique. He had silky looking brown locks of hair, but it was his eyes that continued to captivate her. They felt like they were pulling her in and for some reason she didn’t want to look away from them.             “Ava, what is it?”               Ava looked back at her friend Mia. She shrugged and shook her head. “I don’t recognize them. They must be new on campus.”               “I don’t why you are looking at other guys when I am sitting right beside you.” Todd said with a minor pout.               Ava turned to look at the guy beside her. “Todd, I told you I’m not doing this anymore.”               “Come on Ava. We had the whole summer off from one another. It is time for us to be on again.” Todd flashed her a white smile and tilted his head to her.               “We can be friends. But there is no on thing. Not after what happened last year with Brittany of all people.” Ava said with disgust. Brittany Anderson and her twin sister Blaire Anderson (not identical) were the biggest bitches on campus. They both had brown hair, green eyes, fully chested and were short and tiny. They were also the captain (Blaire) and co-captain (Brittany) on the school’s cheer squad. They were fairies and acted like they were better than everyone else on campus.               Brittany especially always was finding a new way to try to torture Ava. And last year she did it by making out with her boyfriend Todd. There is no redemption from that. Especially because he knew how much she disliked Brittany. Then afterwards Brittany dropped him, she carried a smug smile on her face every time she met with Ava. If it wasn’t for getting kicked out of school Ava would have ripped her apart. Then Todd apologized wanting to get back together but that wasn’t happening. Instead, she told him they could be friends… though now she wasn’t sure why she even said that. It was clear he didn’t want to just be friends and was trying to weasel his way back into her life. Wasn’t going to happen.             “Come on Mia, let's go and make sure everything got to our room okay.” Ava stood up to join her friend. Mia had been her assigned roommate their freshman year and they hit it off ever since. Mia was a werewolf which is why they were initially paired together. Ava was also enrolled as a werewolf… but there was more to her than that.               “See you later.” Ava said to Todd while Mia gave him the squinty eyed look. She hated Todd after what he did.               “Why do you even still talk to him.” Mia growled as they stormed to the girls' dorms.               “Ugh, I don’t know. At the time I valued his friendship… but now that the initial shock is over…” Ava groaned and gave her friend a pouty face.               “You are too nice. Tell him to go to hell or better yet send him there yourself. Disgusting bastard doesn’t deserve your kindness.” Mia growled as she opened the door to the ladies’ dorms.               The sound of their footsteps echoed off of the stone floor and walls. The main part of the build was fairly old fashioned. At least their dorms were decorated how they wanted them. But the rest of the school… it reminded you of something you would see in a horror film. Which was seeming more and more true with the student disappearances.               The two girls climbed the stairs while Mia chatted endlessly about the new school year. There were four levels total with Ava and Mia being on the second floor, so they didn’t have too many steps to climb.  Ava’s thoughts were drifting back to the stranger she saw earlier. Not only did she find him attractive, but she felt captivated by him. As if he was someone she should know. His beautiful gaze felt like it was meant for her. Though she reasoned he didn’t even notice her. Why would he have? Don’t get her wrong. She wasn’t exactly ugly. She supposed she was attractive, but she wasn’t exactly the popular girl at school.               Everyone else had prominent families and social standings. But because of who she was she couldn’t disclose hers. She had to register as a nobody which immediately was leaked out by none other than Bitchney… Brittany. What did she do to make Brittany immediately hate her? Absolutely nothing. A guy Brittany liked asked Ava to the dance. Because of this Brittany has made it her mission to paint Ava in a bad light. Including broadcasting her poor heritage and spreading rumors about her being weak.             In the magic world having a weak magic would mean you were not very pure. A weak werewolf or an omega shouldn’t be in school. Instead, they are destined to a life of servitude. Who among a prominent family would date a servant? Brittany’s vicious rumors soon spread, and her date cancelled on her. And before she knew it, she found herself an outcast.               She was told to prove her strength in shifting class, but because of who she was she always skipped that class. She couldn’t let her identity be truly known. This only solidified Brittany’s rumor about her being a weak omega. How she wished she could get into a one-on-one fight with Brittany. She would show her the true pecking order.               Brittany wasn’t even a combat type fairy. Her skills were more misdirection and fancy parlor tricks. Someone like her would be powerless against Ava. If only she didn’t have to worry about disclosing herself. She had to keep herself secret. If the lycan’s found out about who she was… she shuddered thinking about what they would do to her.               “Hey, it’s those two from earlier… what are they doing in the girls' dorms?” Mia asked.               Ava snapped back from her thoughts and looked ahead at the two men facing the other direction.               “Are you a moron?” The gorgeous blue-eyed man said. She watched as he seemed to be sniffing the air.               “You followed me so if I am a moron what does that make you?” The man with blonde hair and blue eyes said flashing a large smile.               “Ummm… what are you guys doing in the girls’ dorms?” Ava asked quietly as they stopped right behind them. The brown-haired blue-eyed man turned and captured her with his gaze. What was this feeling? She felt like she was being pulled into his presence as if it was capturing her own.               “Oh… well we obviously came here to see if any of you ladies needed assistance with their luggage.” Kadae said grinning at the two girls. He was quite proud of himself for coming up with that excuse.               Ava and Mia giggled. Ava looked between the two guys and smiled. “Our luggage is magically brought to our rooms.”               Dylan shot Kadae an annoyed look. Now his mate was going to think they were creeps trying to catch a cheap thrill.               “I’m Dylan and this i***t here is Kadae. Sorry, this is our first year here and we didn’t know where to go. I was simply following my friend here and he led us to the wrong dorms.” An idea quickly hit him and he smiled at his mate. “What’s your name?”               “I’m Ava and this is my friend Mia.”               “Ava… would you mind showing us around the campus? If I keep following Kadae I fear for my life.” Dylan offered her a wide bright smile as his eyes met with hers.               Ava giggled. “I’ll be fair to you and warn you. You don’t want to be seen with me. I’ll ruin your reputation.” She watched as his eyes softened as he looked at her. His serene blue eyes were fixated on her. It made her heart race and she felt excited.               Dylan reached his hand out to Ava. He smiled and raised his eyebrows as he waited for her to shake his hand. The moment her soft fingers touched his hand light sparks shot through his body. He had an indescribable urge to sink his teeth into her neck and mark her as his own. He enveloped her tiny hand with his own holding his gaze upon hers.               “I don’t have a reputation here. Not that I am someone who worries about that anyways. Unless this is just your excuse not to show me around.” Dylan gave her a wry grin.               Ava quirked her eyebrow up at him. The way he looked at her was very possessive. It was exciting but was also a bit much. What was his angle?               “If you are thinking I will be some easy s****l conquest you have another thing coming?” Ava’s face turned serious as she locked onto the blue pools in front of her.               Kadae’s loud laugh echoed off the walls as Dylan’s eyes slightly darkened. He slowly loosened his grip on Ava and allowed her to pull her hand back. He immediately missed her touch.               “Has someone tried that on you before?” Dylan’s beast was raging inside of him. The idea that someone tried to take advantage of his mate had him struggling to reign his wolf inside. If someone tried anything he was going to kill them. And not just figuratively speaking either.               “No. I told you I am bit of an outcast here.”               “What about that guy you were sitting with earlier?” Kadae asked innocently.               Moron. Dylan growled to Kadae. If he wasn’t on her radar before as a creeper he was now.               “You noticed us earlier?” Mia asked looking between the two men oddly.               “Some faces you don’t forget easily.” Dylan said meeting with Ava’s blue crystal eyes.               “Oh. Well, that guy earlier is Ava’s ex-boyfriend. A real loser. He cheated on Ava last year with the girl she hates the most.” Mia accepted their answer easily enough.               “Mia.” Ava scolded quietly. Just air her pathetic dirty laundry out for everyone to see.             “Ava is too nice and is still friends with him. Though I think he should be gutted and have liquid silver poured on his insides.” Mia shrugged her shoulder.               “Mia.” Ava breathed out sharply she couldn’t believe her friend’s leaky mouth.               Dylan’s eyes stayed fixated on Ava. “I have to agree with your friend.”               Ava didn’t know why but the low tones from his voice made a shiver go down her spine. Her body felt excited, and her heart was trying to leap towards him. Who was this guy?  - -