Lycan Prince's Blessed Mate

Anxiety and Secrets

The drive back home was completely blank. I don’t even remember getting into the car, let alone driving all the way home. When I finally came out of autopilot, I realized that Rylee was talking and I never actually heard a word she said. “Huh?” Damn, I am a terrible friend sometimes.

“Girl? For real?” She got out of my car and tilted her head as she watched me walk around to her. “Here I am trying to be all supportive and shit.. and you aren’t even listening. I swear, your ditzy ass could really bruise a girl’s ego at times. You’re lucky I love you.”

I gave her my best apologetic smile as she shook her head dismissively. “At least you got us back in one piece. Beggars can’t be choosers.”

“As if a brat like you would know anything about begging.” Colin arrived at the foot of the staircase just as we had entered the foyer, tossing a wink and a smirk at me while he teased his sister. I looked away slightly as my face blushed and tried to play it off cool. He was shirtless in blue athletic shorts with Alpha Miles and Beta Elie wearing similar fashions and standing next to him by the stairs.

I leaned my head back to look at the ceiling as my shoulders slouched. UH! Could this day just end already…I swear the Goddess actually hates me. I had forgotten all about the evening training session I had to run. If these three were already changed and heading that way, it meant I was behind schedule…. again. I really need to work on my punctuality.

You are loved by the Goddess, child. But you are not wrong about working on time management…

A slight growl escaped at my annoyance at Emi’s comment and drew all of their attention to me. I brought my hand to my mouth and tried to fake a cough the best I could to cover it up. Rylee did not buy it one bit, but she wasn’t going to draw any more attention to it in front of these guys. She looked back to her brother just as I gave her a shy smile in thanks.

“Who are you calling a brat? You wanna go? I will take you on right now.” She straightened up her posture and tossed her bag on the floor as she playfully challenged her older brother. “In fact!” She quickly kicked him in the shin with the bottom of her boot. “You messed with my morning boba, Jerk!”

I could tell she actually kicked him pretty hard as he grabbed it and fell back a little bit. Elie helped steady him as he rubbed his shin and growled at her. “Seriously? Rylee, you are a nutjob! Stop kicking me.”

Miles and Elie began laughing at the siblings' behavior. It became infectious, and I joined in with a small chuckle. Slapping a large hand onto Colin’s shoulder, Miles sighed contently as he brushed his other hand through his shaggy black hair. “Relax, Old Man. She wouldn’t be our Lead Elite Warrior if she wasn’t a bit of a firecracker.” He gave a charming smile to Colin, who clearly did not like the ‘Old Man’ comment. They were only a couple months apart in age but being unmated still, Miles loved giving Colin a hard time about his age. He was the closest thing to a brother Colin had besides Elie.

Miles looked like a textbook Alpha; I mean, you look up Alpha in the dictionary… there was a picture of Miles standing there at six foot three and built like a brick wall. His black hair made his blue eyes stand out, and the shagginess seemed to add to the ruggedness of his stubble-covered chiseled jaw. Abu always says he looks like a young Hernán Drago and fans herself, but I don’t know who that is. The day Jean turned 18 and walked out her door, I swear it sounded like a stampede was happening on the top floor. All I can say for that first week is…. Thank the Goddess to the person who invented soundproofing. They do complement each other, though, and I can’t help but envy it sometimes as with each passing year, I begin to wonder if I was just meant to be alone.

“Au contraire, Miles. Rylee may be a strong fighter, but she would not be that way without strong training.” Elie finally spoke up. He was the quieter and leaner of the three amigos, but that was because the man was built for speed; even Miles as an Alpha could barely outrun him. Since he grew up in France and did not move here until after he mated with Ambre, Elie wasn’t as snooty to me as the twins. I have been working with him more as my ascension gets closer to updating our security to the modern age. Abu stilled like doing things the ‘Old School’ way, but with Elie being a savant at computers and IT, I wasn’t about to pass up a chance to make part of my job easier.

“I would be nicer to ma petite Kie if you expect an easy session.” Elie smacked Miles on the back as he gave me a dimpled smile that made me chuckle.

Miles lowered his head as he shook it from side to side accepting his Beta’s advice reluctantly. Miles may not be my biggest fan, but he still respected my fighting skills and my grandmother, which by default meant respecting me to an extent.

“Fair point.” He straightened up his posture, and a more professional vibe came off him as he addressed me. “We will get out of your way so as not to delay you from your duties further.”

I shivered from his rather icy tone and nodded. “Yes, Alpha.” That was all I mumbled as I moved to squeeze past them to go up and change. Rylee, however, just placed her hands on her hips while tapping her foot, giving the men a pointed stare under a single raised brow. It took less than a second for them to get the gesture and move out of her away. I looked back just in time to see her smug smile as she picked up her bag and followed me upstairs. “You can be brutal in training but can’t manage a backbone otherwise. Really need to work on that, slim.”

She had always been confident, and at times arrogant, and never understood my insecurities. It wasn't like she wasn’t aware of the crap people say about me. It was more that she didn’t understand that as a wolf, I didn’t feel like I belonged here. Your pack is your family in a way, and your pack is… well.. yours. So logically, you should always feel you belong. However, I always thought it was more of an obligation. She tried to understand, but I didn’t understand it either and couldn’t explain it. I loved that she at least tried, though.

A quick change, then some aggressive sparring ended with us all sore, covered in dirt, and exhausted. I was the smallest wolf in the pack, but I could hold my own and was known to put even the Gammas and Betas on the ground on occasion. Miles was a different story; our matches usually ended up with him beating my ass. I could manage to get in a few good hits with him, and seeing as he is Alpha, all I really needed was to make sure he had enough of a challenge to keep from getting rusty. From the beatdowns I take, I would say I was doing an excellent job at that.

**Rylee POV**

“Ok, That’s it for the day. See you all in the morning.” Kie called out, causing some to give out howls of excitement while others clapped at an excellent training session.

Kie may be shy, but when it came to training and her duties, the girl was assertive as could be. She kicked both mine and my brother’s asses, and not that Kie or Miles would ever admit it, she almost had him a few times. As everyone started heading to the Packhouse for dinner, I walked over to Colin. He was standing next to Elie, Ambre, and Miles. Jean, of course, was nowhere to be found; she stopped coming to training after she became Luna. A part of me thinks it's because everyone knows Kie is harder on the ranked members, and Jean would be no exception. Kie is the best fighter, and she should be; Delta Eva made sure of that. Most of the ranked and us warriors, even the Elite, don’t start training until sixteen; it was Pack Rule. However, Delta Eva started her granddaughter earlier, much earlier. Kie had started being groomed for her role as future Delta before we were even out of Primary school. By the time she was twelve, she was already a force to be reckoned with on the training yard.

I smiled fondly at the memory of watching from the sidelines as Kie, who wasn’t even five feet tall at the time, pinning my then sixteen years old and six-foot-tall big bro on his back. When she realized that she was on top of him, I swear she turned fifty different shades of red but all he did was go from shock to admiration. She never seems to notice how many people actually admire her. Still, I guess that’s one of the things I love about my bestie, even though that obliviousness pisses me off on the regular too. As I drew nearer to Colin, my thoughts were pulled back to reality as I caught some of Ambre’s conversation as she stood next to him with Elie’s arm draped over her shoulder.

“…could you imagine! UH! I am so excited for this weekend… I mean, I will totally miss Ryes, but to have our Pack connect to Lycan’s would be AMAZING!”

Oh, for f**k’s sake… she was on that again. I rolled my eyes as I nodded to Miles and Elie before elbowing my brother in his ribs. “Seriously…Ambre, you on that again? Chill it. This weekend is supposed to be about Kie and the Delta. Isn’t that why they are coming anyways. Least you could do it try and show support to her.”

Miles didn’t say anything but simply nodded in agreement while Elie chuckled and shook his head. Colin, however, was staring off over Ambre’s head. I followed my brother’s line of sight to Kie, who was wiping off her sweaty neck with her gym towel before plopping down on the ground. As she laid down and looked up at the sky, I looked back at my brother with a single raised brow. I wasn’t the only one to notice either as Miles’ eyes started darting between Kie and Colin.

“Mon trésor, you really should listen to Rylee. I am sure Kie will need the support.” Ambre scoffed as she crossed her arms and pouted at Elie speaking up. “Let us go eat. I can smell dinner from here.”

That was all it took to put a smile back on Ambre’s face. I gave a sharp laugh as she began pulling Elie away towards the Packhouse. As they grew further away, I smirked. “Leave it to Elie. I swear he is the only man in the world that can flip Ambre like a switch.”

Hearing no response, I looked to the two men left by me. Colin was still staring at Kie, who was watching the sky with a look of concentration, and Miles was watching Colin. I watched the two men closely as we stood in silence for a minute, feeling as though I was missing something. They weren’t mind-linking, that was clear, but I could see the gears going in both their heads. I would catch Colin staring at Kie from time to time but never knew why. Miles seemed to know, which makes sense as he is my brother’s best friend.

Not liking being ignored, I gritted my teeth before punching Colin in the abdomen as hard as possible. I smiled in satisfaction when I knocked some wind out of him.

“What the f**k, Rylee!?” He gasped, still holding his stomach. Aw yeah, baby sister one, big bro zilch.

“You knew the truth on her eighteenth birthday. You really should get over it.” I furrowed my brow as I looked to Miles, who finally said something. He ran his hand through his dark hair as he stretched out his neck. “The Goddess had spoken.”

My eyes grew in realization as Miles left us walking back to the Packhouse. Oh…Goddess….Was he saying what I think he was saying! I immediately looked back to Kie; if she had heard what I did, I think she would have passed out in shock. “Colin?” My tone left no room for doubt about what I was questioning. When I heard the signature clearing of his throat, I knew I drew the correct conclusion from Miles’ comment. Colin always cleared his throat when he was uncomfortable or about to lie.

“Seriously? Are you kidding me right now? Colin?!” Keeping my voice hushed as not to draw Kie’s attention, I pinched Colin’s forearm. “You have a crush on Kie?! Since when!?”

Why did I not know this? I knew Kie’s had a thing from my brother since we were fifteen, but how could I not notice my brother developed feelings for her. Man, I suck!

“Ow! Knock that s**t off, Rylee.” He rubbed his forearm where I had pinched it but didn’t answer my questions. My left eye began to twitch as a growl slipped out. Is this guy for real? “Colin Liam Nolan. You answer me right now.” I wasn’t sure if I was annoyed at him ignoring me or angry because he wasn’t answering. Either way, my wolf Alanna was ready to come out and scrap, so I needed to take a deep breath and calm down.

Sensing my anger, Colin finally spoke up. “No, it's not a crush. But as Miles said….it was made clear we aren’t mates.” I could feel the sorrow in his voice and pouted as I looked at my friend; honestly…. As much as my brother annoyed me, I would have been thrilled if they were mates. I could hear the heartbreak from Colin as he continued. “I had hoped…she is so beautiful and sweet, and innocent….”

His words began to trail off and drew my attention back to him. He knew Kie would never accept him unless they were fated, and clearly, they weren’t. My newfound respect grew for my brother. He knows she has liked him for a while, but he never acted on his own feelings out of respect for her views.

“You make it really hard on me… you know that? Now, I have this information, and I can’t say s**t to her about it.” I crossed my arms in a fake pout as I bumped him with my hip. “You suck.”

I smiled up to him just as he gave a halfhearted smile back before turning and heading back to the Packhouse himself. I sent out a silent prayer that the Goddess would bless my brother with the best mate in the world. Personally, I never thought about mates, not like other she-wolves seemed to. I always figured all things come in due time, and I got my kicks when needed. Wolves are highly s****l beings, and how some, like Kie, manage without getting any because they are waiting for their mates is way beyond me. I give her props, though; her willpower is that of legend. Though, I wonder how long it would hold up if I told her the truth about my brother? A devilish smirk crossed my lips as I walked up to my lounging bestie. “Girl… let's get some eats.”

Giving her my hand, I helped pull her off the ground as she laughed. “Sorry, I got lost again….”

I always knew that meant she was daydreaming. She does it quite often, but I never understood the fascination with the sky. It was one of her quirks, and I accepted it about her. The kickass confident Kie was now back to her reserved self, my brother would have been good for her, in my opinion, but I guess the Moon Goddess has other plans for her.

“Rylee?” Her soft voice barely reached my ears as we walked back to the house. I looked at her curiously as she was studying her steps. Usually, this tone meant she had been thinking long and hard about something but was scared to say anything.

“What’s up, buttercup?” Canting my head slightly, I waited for her answer and wondered what it was that she was afraid to trust me with. “You ok?”

“Yeah….just nervous… I guess. What if I make a fool of myself and the Pack?”

And there it was, finally. I gave her my best reassuring smile as I wrapped my arm over her shoulder. “Girl, you are far more capable than you give yourself credit for. Forget about everyone else. This weekend is about you and Delta Eva. The pack and I are there to show you our support. Even Colin will be there rooting you on.”

Her face turned a bright red, and I couldn’t help but laugh and smile knowingly. “Shut up…” She giggled and pushed my arm off her as we entered the house. “You’re all sweaty and smelly.”

“Oh, like you can talk? You were laying in the f*****g dirt.” I quipped right back at her as she stuck her tongue out at me playfully. I lifted my arm, took a whiff, and scrunched my nose before shaking my head. “You’re not wrong though… damn… I need a shower first.”

Colin was walking our way just as we made it to the entrance of the dining hall. I gave Kie a quick shove towards him, causing her to lose her balance. “Go eat; I’ll catch ya later!” And before either she or Colin could yell at me, I took off up the stairs two at a time, trying my best to hold in my laughter. Damn, I am a brat.

**Kie’s POV**

Shit, s**t, s**t! Rylee had pushed me a lot harder than I expected, and I tripped over my own feet. I wobbled and closed my eyes, getting ready to either hit the floor or, by some matter of grace, manage to steady myself when I fell against someone and their arms wrapped around me. Looking up to see who’s embrace I found myself and felt my stomach drop. Colin? For the love of…. Just shoot me with a silver bullet. This is now twice in one FREAKING day that I had crashed into this….wow… he smells nice…like fresh rain on dirt. My mind grew blank as I inhaled deeply and relaxed for a moment.

“Are you ok?” A lilting voice pushed through the fog as I felt a large hand lightly caress my head, causing me to look up again.

A panic came over me as my whole body suddenly felt like it was splashed with ice water. Oh, Goddess…. I scrambled to push myself away and put distance between Colin and me as dread began to weigh on me. I can barely keep from embarrassing myself in front of Colin on a daily basis. How was I going to make it through the Ceremony weekend?

“Um… Yeah…. Sorry about that….” I could feel the redness growing all the way to my ears as I turned tail and ran up the stairs. I’m not that hungry…. I can eat later.

Please… please, Goddess, let me make it through these next few days in stride.