Mated to the Enemy (#4 of the Hyle pack)

showtime

I sighed, staring at my own reflection in the mirror. I rubbed through my short black hair, as dark brown eyes were staring back at me, eyes filled with hate.

Yes,

I hated myself.

I hated my life,

or at least, living here.

For as long as I can remember, I had been a part of the Spike Pack. A pack run by my own father, meaning that I was the son of the Alpha, and pretty soon, I would become Alpha myself.

Ashford Spike

Alpha Ashford Spike

Alpha of the Spike Pack.

I would be leading a pack that I hated with every fiber in my body.

The Spike pack, a pack that would lead with violence and anger. Where pups needed to start training for battle at a very young age, too young for my own liking. Where she-wolves were treated as lower ranked than the men, claiming that they could trick a man into doing what they wanted, they would cloud your mind and so they were only needed for two things: run your house and bare your pups. Even though I hated every single aspect about living in this pack, we all knew to never doubt the Alpha, my father, Michael Spike. Or all hell would break loose.

I sniffed, as I closed the last button of my shirt. Black, as always. Another stupid rule within this pack, when going outside, or meeting up with other packs, the Spike Pack members always had to wear black. A color associated with death, fear and sadness. But to be honest, today did feel as if I was walking into my own funeral. Because my father had made a business deal with another evil man, a man with high power though, and a man that would make my father’s dream come true.

Stan Black, the man who my father had teamed up with, was the brother in law of the new King, Mario. Giving him the power to give my father whatever he wanted, which was to make the Spike Pack an official pack. Because we all knew deep down, that we were still just a group of rogues, if you would look at it from another point of view. In exchange for getting our pack official, we needed to help this 'Stan Black' in his search for a wolf that he had been tracking down for a long time. It almost seemed silly, and so easy, so my father had agreed to the terms of the deal. Stan Black had been so pleased with this, that he had even thrown his own daughter into the deal. That was the shitty part where I had stepped in.

Because his daughter was to marry me.

Just my f*****g luck!

Yes, I was marrying a f*****g princess. My father was walking on clouds ever since, telling everyone how his son, the future Alpha, would mate with a princess, making it so that their pups would be strong and very highly ranked. I had just tried to fight rolling my eyes at the man, every time he had started telling the same story again and again. Now, some wolves would be happy with this deal. I however, hated it. Yes, this princess could be highly ranked, and yes, she might be beautiful even, but that still didn’t make her my mate. And call me old fashioned in a way, but I had used my twenty-five years in this life, looking forward to finding my true mate, meeting her and, eventually, mate and claim her as mine. I had heard stories, I had even seen it with my own eyes, the way true mates would look at each other, how they would live for each other. It was something deep down I had always dreamed about and longed for. Unconditional love… But I wasn’t a dreamer, and I knew bloody well, that the chances of the princess being my mate would be close to zero. Making me forced to marry a woman I didn’t even want, to begin with.

But still, business is business. I knew never to question my father. So, even though hating it myself, I had accepted my father’s request. And for once, the man had actually smiled and was happy with me. Most of my life, my father almost made me feel as if he hated me to the core. I just never understood why? All my life, I had tried to live up to his standards, I was one of the strongest warriors, I was smart, I had all the she-wolves drooling over me and the male wolves fearing me. And still, it didn’t seem to be enough for good old ‘dad’. Even though I had to admit, seeing him smile at me and be happy with me for once, it had warmed my heart and I wanted more, I wanted this man’s approval, I wanted this man to be proud of me. Of the son that he had raised.

I gave myself one final nod in the mirror, before I left my room and went downstairs. We were now living in a big house, a mansion as some people might call it. We had found this place and, for some odd reason, this land had never been claimed for. Knowing my father and his Spike Pack ways, that didn’t last for two minutes, before he had claimed the land as Spike Pack grounds. And so, here we are. My father, his Beta and Gamma, as well as me and my future Beta and Gamma were all living inside the mansion. The other wolves were outside, they could live in tents or build themselves a home if they were handy. It was every wolf for himself out there. They were protected by my father, but that was as far as he went. Something I did hope I would be able to change in the future, when I would be able to take over from him.

I walked downstairs, seeing that my father was already waiting for me, with his Beta and Gamma standing next to him. I just nodded at the three men, who nodded back at me with a grim look on their faces, before we made our way to one of our vehicles, and we started our drive towards the royal palace.

The drive in itself was about an hour long. We weren’t situated that far from the palace, since we did do business with Stan Black and, as of yet, other packs feared us, and didn’t want to be anywhere near us for that matter. So our income came solely from our deals with the palace, or the things that we just ‘took’. Another rule of my father's: if you can take it, you do it. And that meant taking almost anything. When this would come to struggles within the pack, it was pretty simple, you took the two parties and you let them fight it out. Whoever wins, takes what they want. It was simple, sometimes brutal, but effective. And after a while, our pack members had all become very submissive. Making ruling over the Spike Pack, a very easy thing to do.

I was caught out of my daydream, as the Royal palace came into view. A small voice inside of me was still whispering at me, telling me that maybe, just maybe, our mate would be the princess. But I swallowed, as I fisted my hands. Knowing that if I would be as lucky today as I had been most of my life, there was no chance in hell that that would be the case.

My father’s Gamma drove us up towards the palace entrance, where we all got out and entered inside. Once we had given our invitation to one of the guards. He had nodded and welcomed us, before he guided us inside, where he brought us towards a big room, where we were greeted by the devil himself. Stan Black. He walked over to us, opening his arms as if he owned the damn place, while he was still just a servant to the King like all of us.

Stupid motherfucker.

My eyes were pulled towards a movement, coming from behind Stan Black, where a girl came walking in the room behind him. She was beautiful, she had light blonde hair, almost white. And eyes blue as ice. Even though she was perfect looking, my heart sank, because I already knew I didn’t feel any mate pull towards her. So, I took a deep breath, accepting my fate. A fate where I would not be able to be together with my true mate. Even though my own wolf Roan started to whimper inside of me, I pushed him back as far as I could, right now, I had a role to play.

Stan Black laughed, as he pulled his daughter into the group.

“Ivy, daughter of mine, meet Ashford. The next Alpha of the Spike pack.”

She looked in shock at the sight of me, and I knew that meeting me for the first time, I could come of as intimidating. I mean, my father raised me that way. But I was surprised, as I saw her cheeks color into a pinkish glow, as I kept looking at her. So, I took her hand, and she had no other choice than to look back at me.

It’s showtime, I guess?

“It’s a pleasure finally meeting you and seeing you with my own eyes, princess.” I hummed, as I nodded at her.

"Your father already told me about your beauty. I must say that his words didn't come close to what my eyes are taking in right now."

“Pleasure.” She just nodded back, slowly pulling her hand away. As she stepped towards her father and held his arm. The poor girl was afraid of me. Which meant that I was playing my part just right. Maybe I would even make my father a happy man today?

“Don’t be shy Ivy,” Stan Black laughed, as he pulled her hand away from his arm,

"We will give you both some privacy, so you can get to know each other a bit better. Meanwhile, the grownups will talk business.” The girl, Ivy, swallowed as she looked at her father.

Is she really that afraid of me?

Good.

As the other men stepped away from us, I cleared my voice, forcing Ivy to look back at me.

“So, what was the deal?” She asked me after a few seconds, which made me smile.

Thank God she at least isn’t stupid. But if she was coming to live inside the Spike pack, she should learn never to mingle with male affairs.

“the deal?” I asked her in return.

“Yes, the deal. What was the deal that made you agree to this marriage? I know my father, he would never just marry me off to someone, without some business deal lurking around the corner.” I looked at this Ivy girl, not really sure how much she knew about our arrangements, or how much my father wanted her to know about it either. The last thing I wanted, was to say too much and get my own ass kicked later tonight for telling her something she shouldn’t have known. So, I quickly came up with an answer. I knew would have other she-wolves drooling all over me.

“I just wanted to talk to you. If you call that a business deal, then yes, I am guilty. And looking at your beauty right now and knowing that your father didn’t lie when he told us this, makes me want to do many more business deals with him in the future.”

She studied me while I was speaking, and by the looks of it, she even seemed to accept my answer, for now. So I knew I was on the right track here.

“By the way, please call me Ash, Ashford is such a nerdy name.” I grinned at her, as I gave her my arm, waiting for her to hold onto it, so we could go on a walk. After a sigh, she accepted it and took ahold of me, as we started to walk away from my father and the other men.

Still no mate pull.

Fuck me…

“It is quite a unique name, Ashford, does it have a meaning?” She asked me, kind of taking me by surprise at her sudden interest in me.

“Yes actually, it means ‘the edge of a sword’.” I nodded at her, which made her look at me with big eyes.

Yeah, stupid name huh

Didn’t pick it for myself either…

We walked further into a hallway. And while I felt out of place here, I could tell that Ivy was distracted, she seemed to be in deep thoughts. Making me wonder if she even wanted to be here, same as me. What if she ran away from this deal? My father would have my head, without a doubt. I needed to make sure that this girl would stay, I needed to make sure that this agreement would stand. And the only way I knew how to persuade someone, was by making them fear me.

I walked over towards a big mirror, pulling out a necklace from my pocket. It was something that my father had given me to present to the princess today. Stupid really, but in his words, ‘buy the girl something shiny and she’ll open her legs for you.’ So I sighed deeply, making up my mind that I would pull through right now. I stepped up behind the princess, putting the necklace on her, and as soon as my skin touched hers, she froze. She was scared or feeling uncomfortable. I just needed to make sure that it was fear for sure.

“What is this?” She asked me in a hoarse voice, making me ready to play my part once again.

“This will be the first of many gifts I will give to you, once we are fully mated.” I spoke, as I placed my hands on her waist, she swallowed hard, and I felt uncomfortable myself. I just needed to pull through. Get this over with so I could be back on my way.

“I will give you the world Ivy, or I will die in battle while I am taking it for you.” I spoke as I leaned in, placing a kiss on the bare skin of her shoulder, making her body getting covered in goosebumps at the touch of my lips on her body.

I looked up to stare her straight in the eye in her reflection.

“Be a good mate to me, and I will give you heaven. Be a whiney b***h, and I will give you hell. That’s the business deal I am making with you right now. When you are my mate, you will do what I want, when I want it, and if you don’t…” I spoke as I gave her an evil grin.

“I will make sure that you will do it the next time around. Don’t you worry, my love.” I ended my sentence as I leaned down, pressing my nose in the crook of her neck, getting familiar with her scent, a scent that I would grow to know throughout the rest of my life.

As if I even have a choice?

“Such a perfect little mate you are.” I hummed, as I started to lick and suck on her neck, only stopping when a giant hickey was left on her skin.

“There,” I spoke, as I looked at it, already knowing that my father would be pleased with me, once he would see it with his own eyes.

“Now, everyone will already know to keep their damned hands off of you.” And then, I turned around and walked back out of the hallway, as I left the girl behind. I had had enough of the charade and I just wanted to go back home and take a long shower, to get rid of this girl’s scent on my body that I didn’t want there in the first place.

Why couldn’t she have been my mate?

It would have made things so simple for the both of us…