Free Book | The Lost Werewolf King's Mate

Chapter 22: Mathew's POV

The next morning we took 2 black SUVs to drive to the werewolf kingdom. When I arrived downstairs, I saw Jonathan, Audrey, former alpha Gideon, Sebastian, Susan and 7 warriors packing their things in the SUVs.

"Anyone seen Elizabeth?", I said to them when I got to the SUVs.

"Uhm, she said she won't be able to make it, Mathew." Audrey was avoiding looking at me while she handed her luggage to Jonathan.

"She told me last night, but I want to say goodbye seeing as I might not see her for a few days. She's probably still asleep. I'll just go up to her room real quick." I started heading back inside the pack house.

"Mathew!", I heard Jonathan yelling behind me. "Elizabeth, actually asked to be left alone for now. She asked us to tell you that." He was whispering to me so that the others wouldn't hear, but those with werewolf hearing definitely heard him.

"Is that why Mike is also not here?", I said with a low growl.

Jonathan kept quiet and looked at me awkwardly.

I took a deep breath and headed to the driver's seat of one of the SUVs. I was trying to hide my anger, but I could feel it rolling off of me in waves. I climbed inside the SUV and slammed the car door shut.

"Mathew", Jonathan cleared his throat. "We can all feel your anger. Please calm down or Audrey and I won't be able to ride in this car with you." He was struggling to stand up straight and resisting from bowing his head to me.

I was taking deep breaths and growling. I couldn't stop myself. I looked at him with Orion at the surface and he jumped back.

"Okay, uhm, Mathew is going to drive alone in this SUV. We'll just have to get another one for the rest of us."

I waited for the other two SUVs to pull out before me and then followed them.

Do not leave her behind! I heard Orion roaring in my head.

No! If she wants to be left alone then that's what I'll do! She won't even say goodbye to me? We had an amazing night and yet she won't even say goodbye to me? She's been pushing us away for the past two weeks, Orion! We need to take the hint. I'm not going back for her.

Go back to her right now!, Orion kept roaring. My anger was intensifying. Suddenly I heard my phone ringing. When I checked the caller ID, I saw that it was Jonathan.

"Mathew! You need to calm down. We can feel your anger in the cars. Audrey and the warriors are suffocating and I'm sure Sebastian and Susan are feeling the same."

I tried taking deep breaths to calm down, but Orion was roaring and demanding that I go back and get Elizabeth, but I was furious that she wouldn't even let me say goodbye to her even after the night we had. I just couldn't calm down.

"Jonathan, tell everyone to create more distance between me and them. Just send me your location and I'll follow you while driving."

I could hear Jonathan breathing heavily through the phone.

"Okay, I'll let them know. Try to calm down, Mathew. "

For the next two hours, I tried to calm down Orion. He was so angry that at times he took control of my body and we made the car swerve while driving. He was insisting that we go back to Elizabeth.

Orion! This is my body. I control what we do, not you. Now, calm down!

I used my most authoritative voice and it almost sounded like thunder in my head. Orion gave me a lowly growl, but he started receding to the back of my mind. I felt my own anger also receding so I started driving faster to catch up with the others.

Within hours, we entered a territory that was encircled by large mountains. One of the warriors got out of the car and opened two large gold dirty gates infront of us. There was a shift in my body and I could feel that we had entered territory belonging to royals. I could just feel it.

The place seemed to be the size of an entire state. It was full of overgrown grass, but there was hardly anything green in the territory.

Everything was brown, like there was no life here. The houses were in ruins. They were all run down and I could tell that some were burnt down a long time ago. I could also tell that all the houses were quite big in their hey day. Each house looked like it was at least a 5 bedroom house. That's how big they all looked.

There were groups of people lurking out of the bushes and some of the worn down buildings. I even saw some kids playing in structures that seem to previously have been ponds and parks. More people were coming out of hiding and following our cars. Some looked at us suspiciously, some looked scared and some looked angry. No one looked happy to see us.

The SUVs that were driving infront of me stopped infront of a large castle. It was huge and looked very traditional. Parts of the castle were burnt down and in rubbles. All the warriors stepped out of the other two SUVs. We only brought 7 warriors with us and a crowd of about 200 people had gathered around us. We were severely outnumbered.

I was the first one to step out of my SUV. The crowd collectively took a few steps back and then Jonathan, Gideon and Sebastian stepped out of their SUV. Audrey and Susan remained in the cars. I saw one of Jonathan's warriors go to grab a gun out of his holster.

"Stop", I yelled at him. "We are not here to hurt these people". He immediately stopped reaching for the gun, but remained alert.

"Everyone, we are not here to fight you or take you away from your home. We're just here to look at the previous werewolf kingdom. I assure you, no one here will hurt you", I said to the crowd. Orion was alert in my head and on the lookout for the slightest movement that might be an attack from these people.

Alpha Gideon cleared his throat after I spoke and then also addressed the people.

"This man here may be the lost heir to the werewolf kingdom. We are here because he has no memories of this place. Hopefully, seeing the place will jog his memories."

I narrowed my eyes at him as soon as he said this to these people. If they thought this was my kingdom, it might make them feel even more threatened by our presence. This was not something that Alpha Gideon should have disclosed. It was also too soon to say something like that to a crowd of 200 people.

"The heir to the werewolf kingdom died with his parents years ago." A man was standing by the entrance of the castle. He looked slightly shorter than me. He had dark brown hair and dark green almond eyes. I could tell from his physique that he had been trained as a warrior.

"Young man, that is what you may have read in our historical texts, but we think they may have been wrong." Former alpha Gideon walked towards the man.

I walked to Gideon and this strange man.

The man was probably only a few years younger than me and looked like he was the leader of this place. He had two other men standing right beside him who were eyeing us suspiciously. The rest of the people who had gathered around us also seemed relieved to see him when they noticed him standing behind the torn down castle doors.

I looked around the place, but I still had no memories of ever being here. Nothing here looked familiar. It just looked like a barren forgotten land.

I got to the castle's worn down door and stepped inside to hold back Alpha Gideon. The moment I walked through those doors, all my memories came rushing to me like a fast train.

I saw images of what this place used to look like.

It was a whole palace and the residents all lived in luxury. I saw my dad and uncle Luciene chasing me around at the parks. I remembered the school I went to with all the other werewolf pups and even some other magical creatures. I remembered the scents of all the magical creatures I met in my parents' kingdom. I remembered the scents of the inklings, seers, nymphs, trolls, witches and so many more magical creatures.

I also remembered my best friend, Kendrick. Kendrick was Luciene's son. He was only 3 years younger than me, but he was like a brother to me and I always made it my mission to protect him.

Then I remembered the attack and I could feel tears rolling down my face. For weeks, my parents were concerned that the witches were going to attack. They didn't tell me much, but I remember overhearing some conversations they had with Luciene, some seers and good witches.

They increased the border patrols and got the help of good witches to do something, I don't know what. When the blue eyed witches attacked, we may have all been stronger than them but none of us were immune to their magic. It was a m******e. The witches set the castle on fire to get everyone who was hiding in there to leave. I remember mom and I running out of the burning castle with everyone else after we felt dad die.

Mom could barely run after feeling their mate bond sever. She was running with a good witch. Mom asked the good witch to put me and Orion under a spell to protect us. The spell repressed my memories and my wolf. This was meant to protect me. For as long as I didn't know who I was and for as long as all the magic in my wolf was repressed, the blue eyed witches wouldn't be able to find me. The spell was supposed to break after I met my mate.

After the good witch cast her spell, two blue eyed witches killed her and mom right infront of me. They were about to kill me, but uncle Luciene snuck up from behind and hit their heads with large rocks. He and I travelled to a human city.

"Mathew! Mathew! Mathew, are you okay? Mathew, come on wake up!", I heard someone yelling at me.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself kneeling on the floor. Jonathan, Sebastian and the other warriors were trying to get me up. Audrey and Susan were even out of the cars now.

Jonathan helped me get up.

"Mathew, talk to me. What's going on?" Jonathan sounded really worried.

I laughed.

"I remember everything. This is my home. This is my kingdom."

The man who was standing behind the castle doors started growling at me. I narrowed my eyes at him and brought Orion to the forefront. I released my royal aura and a defeaning roar left my mouth. The trees were even shaking. Everyone was bowing and their necks were strecthed out to me.

"I am Nathaniel Mathew Alden, son of the late King Ezekiel and Queen Elaine Alden. I am the Werewolf king and I remember who I am."

I could feel the golden moons on my right arm appearing again. This time it felt like they were burning into my skin, but it wasn't painful. When I looked down at my arm, I could see imprints of the moons on me. They were shining gold.

I stopped emitting my royal aura and Jonathan immediately stood up and hugged me excitedly. "I can't believe it worked. You're really the Werewolf king?"

I chuckled. "Yea, I'm really the Werewolf king."

I started looking around at the old run down kingdom and noticed all the brown and dead grass was turning green. The dead trees were coming back to life and flowers and fruits were sprouting from the ground. Everyone was standing there in shock.

"Oh my gosh, Nathaniel it really is you". The man who was standing behind the castle doors now had glistening eyes. He was seeing all the life returning to the kingdom.

"Nathaniel it's me, Kendrick! I've been waiting for you for years! I knew you'd come back. I just knew it!" He was hugging me and I was hugging him back. This is my childhood best friend and I had forgotten him.

"I'm so sorry it took me this long to find you, Kendrick. I always told you I'd protect you but I failed. I failed you and I failed the magical world. I'm so sorry, brother." I said as I embraced him.

"That's okay, Nathaniel. All that matters is that you're back now." He chuckled. "You know, I was starting to believe all those rumours that you had died. I'm glad I didn't lose hope."

I gave him another tight squeeze and then turned to look at everyone while I had my hand on Kendrick's shoulder. I took a deep breath.

"Everyone, nothing I say can erase what you've all been through. You've lost your homes, your loved ones and maybe like me, you even lost yourselves. I am going to help you all. I am going to protect you, if you let me."

They were all quiet and staring at me with anticipation.

"I will not take this home away from you, but you are not safe here and you all deserve better than living in an old run down kingdom. Let me restore this place to its former glory. In the meantime, I can place you all in packs, clans or perhaps even in the kingdoms of other magical creatures."

There were murmurs amongst the people.Some of them looked happy, some looked scared and unsure. Jonathan and Audrey then stood next me.

"I am the luna of the Black Claw pack. Our pack is a few hours away from here. If any of you wish to seek refuge with us, you are more than welcome. We can accommodate 50 people and will help King Alden to place the rest of you in other packs."

Gideon gave Audrey a death stare after she said that.

Are you crazy? We don't know what these people are capable of! This place is filled with rogues and who knows what else. I couldn't believe it. I could hear Gideon talking through his pack's mind link. I heard Jonathan respond to him through the link.

Dad, the Moon Godess will show Audrey if anyone poses a danger. These people need our help. Our pack has turned a blind eye to those who need help for far too long. That stops now.

I chuckled to myself.

"Werewolf packs have shunned displaced wolves and other magical creatures for more than a decade.Why would you change your minds now?", a woman asked from the crowd. I could tell from her scent that she was a nymph. She was tiny and thin.

"Because I command the werewolves and will not tolerate any hostility against those who need help!" I was practically roaring and everyone bowed their heads to me again.

I took a deep breath and stopped the powerful aura that I was emitting.

Gideon looked at me, but then immediately avoided my gaze when I looked back.

There were more murmurs in the crowd and then someone raised their hand.

"Uhm, I come from the Blood Moon pack in Texas. My pack was destroyed by the witches a few months after the fall of the werewolf kingdom. No werewolf pack would take in a rogue so I've been living in human cities. I also lived in an inkling kingdom for some time but the witches attacked them too. I haven't had a home in years and I would like to take you up on your offer, luna of the Black Claw pack. I'd like to take refuge in your pack, please."

Audrey walked into the crowd and took the woman's hand.

"We'd love to have you in our pack", she said as she smiled.

Shortly after, everyone was telling us their story and asking to be placed in a magical community. The werewolves all preferred to go to werewolf packs, and the rest of them didn't mind where they got placed. Some of these people got displaced because of internal conflict in their packs, like their alphas getting challenged and ousted, some got displaced due to rogues but most of them were here because of the witches.

We could tell that we had a lot of work ahead if us.