Talons

Chapter 148: The Respected

Colton's POV

My mate's eyes locked onto mine and I can see that her cheeks have turned red. When she realizes that I'm studying her face, she looks away, making me chuckle.

"So? What does it mean?" I repeat, genuinely wanting to know. All aspects of my mate are fascinating to me, especially because I'm only just finding out that everything I knew about her is a lie. 

"It just means I have nothing else to say. Sometimes, there aren’t words that can properly fit a situation.”

“And sometimes you just want the person to shut up…” A tiny smirk plays across my mate's face for a second before it falls, and feeling as though now is as good a time as any, I ask her a heavy question. "Rhea, can you please tell me everything that happened between you and General? I don't want to mess things up between us anymore than I already have by assuming." 

My mate takes a deep breath and tells me everything from the way they met, to what he said and did to her. I start to get extremely angry when she tells me that he would come into her room and watch her sleep, but she reminds me that he could have done worse, which works to calm me down.

“I was never afraid of him, but I did fear that he would actually do some of the things he said he would.”

“Which is why you stayed?”

“No. I stayed because I didn’t want him or his father to go after my family.”

“She’s suffering from the Luna’s Curse.” Orlin adds. 

Lunas, especially strong ones, are often so attached to their pack and family that they would rather trade their own life than to see anything bad happen to any of them. 

It's considered a curse because it can be used as a weapon, but lunas who are that dedicated to their packs are usually well protected and well loved. Already, most of the omegas within our pack love Rhea, and only ranked wolves seem to dislike her.

I'm sure it's because they don't want my mate shaking things up within the pack, changing the hierarchy and what not, but I have a feeling that would happen at any pack she visits. 

Janet is only one of four omega children who are on the verge of an emergence. All four claim that my mate told them exactly what they needed to do in order to strengthen the connection they had to their wolves.

Inter-wolf communication can only be done between pack members, so I doubt Rhea was mind-linking them. She had to be doing something else, and I don’t want anyone becoming curious about it. 

There was once a whole colony of rogues who worshipped my mate like a deity, and since my brother’s cryptic link about keeping her qualities a secret, I have been paying much more attention to her. 

What I thought was the bond making me feel better may be something else. If indeed my mate is goddess blessed, I’ll have to keep her close because envy would just be the tip of the problem. She isn’t a guide or an oracle, which means she will be accused of witchcraft. 

It’s not possible for a werewolf to practice magic without sacrificing the life of their wolf, so she would be put through rigorous testing, likely painful, trying to figure out what she is or what kind of dark magic she’s using.

I can only smell her as a strawberry field on a spring day, but two unfated men have said that my mate smells ‘exotic.’ I don’t know what it means, but Rhea told me, without knowing, that her scent was one of the things that drew General to her.

“Rhea, I’m so sorry all of that happened to you. Especially because I played a role in it, but please know that I’ve wanted you for years now.”

“Wanted me or my body?” I swallow hard because I don’t have an answer for that. 

I used to think I just needed to have s*x with her once to get her out of my system, but eventually, I wanted to possess her entirely. 

I can admit that I didn't want to mark her, but I wanted to do things to her that I've never done with any other woman I've ever met.

At the time, I was willing to do whatever she wanted and now that I know she’s mine, I want to do even more.

"When I saw you at Mandy and Carter's reception, I couldn't pull my eyes away. I wanted you to acknowledge me, but you didn't even notice."

"And after that you flung mud into my face."

"Because I was angry with you." Rhea looks up as if she’s actually seeing me and I move closer to her. "I was jealous because I thought that you had chosen Jack over me. I just wanted to stroke your hair and you acted as if I was going to slice your cheek open."

"Should I have stood there to figure it out?"

"No, and that made me even more upset. I couldn't blame you for being scared, and I didn't know how else to react."

"And what happens now? What if I do something you don't like again and you react violently; what do I do then?" I reach out and cup my mate's hand in mine, hoping that she can sense my truth.

"I'm not perfect and I won't pretend to be, but you can teach me how to treat you. I already know that you like having time to yourself, so I don't try to help you with your garden project, but if there's anything else I can do…" I drop my sentence and my mate takes a deep breath before responding.

"You can start by keeping your exes away from me. I can't promise that I'll always take the non-violent approach." I don't know why my mate's words make me feel so giddy, and I respond by pulling her to her feet.

"You look thin, let's go get something to eat."

Rhea’s POV

Dolton’s words confused me and my wolf to the point where we couldn't concentrate. She and I never wanted a mate, or did we?

The thought of having one only bothered us because we couldn’t see the good that could come out of it, but in hindsight, something was always wrong with our beliefs. 

Neither of us know why we rejected the bond, and although Miracle backed up her mate by telling me how often Colton would come looking for me, I’m still conflicted.

Being fated to someone isn’t the problem, but being fated to someone who treated me like trash is. 

“But why did he start hating us, and why don’t we remember?”

“Maybe we blocked it out?”

“and chose to remember all the terrible things he did to us instead?

My wolf is right, but asking Colton is just as useless as trying to figure it out myself. 

Like me, he gets headaches, and now that I'm feeling the bond, I don't like to see him in pain.

"Stop lying to yourself, you never liked to see him in pain."

"Do you want to get blocked?" I question, and my wolf just giggles at me. 

She’s happy about the conversation we just had with Colton. To her it represents safety; for as long as we can maintain a mutually respectful relationship, he won’t try to hurt us.

Instead of having me cook, Colton takes me to the pack's cafeteria. The area has been rearranged with the pack members who work the area in mind; not the patrons.

Sebastian immediately greets us; he must have been warned by mind-link because he assures me that his wife is personally seeing to my meal.

I agree, not wanting to put him on the spot by reminding him that Claw pack members didn't treat me well either. However, I don't know who his mate is, and since he’s probably closer to Lark's age, it makes sense that she was not amongst those who disliked me without cause.

“Do you like the new layout?” Colton asks as he takes a seat across from me. I nod while still taking in how much more space was made with just a few simple adjustments. "Tell me something about you," he says to draw my attention back to him, but I struggle to produce a response.

"Can you be more specific?"

"Okay, when did you start learning to fight?" I flinch, and Colton can tell the answer involves him, so he quickly tells me to forget it, but I feel bad for him.

"Don't feel too guilty. There were a lot of good things that came out of my lost sense of smell."

“Like what?” Colton asks clearly not believing me, I giggle at his slumped shoulders, and he sinks a little further into his chair in shame. “It’s saved my life before.” He scoffs in disbelief, so I tell him about nearly being marked by a rogue.

“What?!” he shouts, and I look around in embarrassment before he realizes he was too loud. “And what did Lark do?” He finally whispers.

“I’m not sure, I'm not a Claw pack member, and because I was badly injured, I was taken to a hospital.”

“Was anything ever easy for you?” he questions, staring at me with eyes that I swear are beginning to water.

“Making enemies,” I reply self-mockingly, but Colton doesn’t see that as a joke.

“Rhea…” Colton is interrupted by our meal, and when I see the she-wolf, I shoot to my feet.

“It’s you!”

“Hello Baby B, sorry I didn't come see you sooner.”

“Do you know each other?” Colton asks, and I nod vigorously. 

“She was one of the few people my mother allowed to cook for me.” I look at the plate the woman is holding and notice that it's something my mother would have made.

“It looks like you just got a promotion,” Colton says, and I turn to face him in confusion.

“Babe, you’ve lost weight since being here. I want you to be healthy so please accept me appointing her as your meal planner.” 

“How do we respond to this?” My wolf has some nerve asking me for an answer when she knows I don’t have one.

“Okay,” I reply, and Colton chuckles before relieving the woman of duty.

“Lydia has pups to get back to. We’ll make the arrangements later.” 

“Who is he?” Sylvia questions, making me chuckle audibly.

“Your wolf makes you laugh a lot,” Colton says.

“She’s always been there for me.”

“What’s her name?” Colton asks, but I won’t tell him.

“She isn’t ready,” I reply.