His Valentine and Her Lycan Imprint (Book 2)

Chapter 6 20 Questions

POV: Caden

I saw Zayla very briefly during dinner. Her family had invited Ryan and me to dinner last night since we are guests here and probably to get a read on me. Elder Gamma Randy was at the meeting so he knows and has mostly likely told his chosen mate I'm her daughter's imprint. It is evident Rose and Randy are chosen mates. Fated mates have a certain body language and spoken language they speak with each other. Chosen mates are more laid back with each other than lovey-dovey. In other words, Chosen mates don't hang and cling to one another. You can always tell if a child is born from fated or chosen mates. It was clear Zayla's sister, Miranda was born of a chosen mate. Her scent said so because she carried Elder Gamma Randy's scent.

Zayla had come in late for dinner last night. Everyone was almost finished by the time she showed up. She sat at the table and ate. She barely said anything. When she finished eating she grabbed her son and turned to me and said, "Good night Caden. If you need anything just let me know. Your beta has my phone number." Then she left. I didn't even get a chance to say a word to her. I was thoroughly surprised and did not expect that from her. My telepathy ability was blocked out so I couldn't hear her thoughts. I wonder if she came around that quickly. What changed? What did she do?

This morning I have a meeting with my mate alone with just the two of us and no one else. I'm waiting for her outside of her office. She hasn't arrived yet and I will not enter her office without her permission. "Hello, sorry I'm late. I had an Issue this morning with some warriors but that doesn't concern you. I hope you don't mind if Zayn joins us today. He's been in a bit of a mood as of late." Zayla finally arrives sounding nervous and babbling about. "That's quite alright. I understand and know what it's like to run a pack. Zayn is your son, right?" I say noticing she's holding her son up on her hip. "Yes, This is Zayn. Damon wanted his name to be Zayn so that's what I named him." She says. She opens the door leading inside her office with her free hand.

"Sit please." She says motioning to a chair. I sit down and she sits in her office chair and places Zayn in a rocker. "So about the journal. I won't stop until I get it." She says with her tone turning serious. "I know but as I told you the journal can never leave my pack. Fredrick Lunaire's journal is one of the most protected items in my pack. I'm sorry but I can not allow the journal to fall into the wrong hands. With what happened yesterday it is clear it would not be safe here." I tell her in the same serious tone she has given me. The witch is getting into her pack way too easily for my liking. I don't know if it is her security or what it is but that is not ok. She's a rookie and was not raised to be an alpha so this is a new world for her. I can smell her true rank. She's an omega. I never cared about rank but I do believe in the ranks. Everyone has the rank they were meant to have. With that being said if they end up from a Luna then that is meant to be and they were whatever rank they were for a reason. Our ranks make us who we are. It is a wolf's very identity.

"Do you know what's in it? Can't you just tell me?" She asks. "I do and no I can't I am forbidden from telling anyone. I physically couldn't tell you even if I wanted to." I answer her. "This would be so much easier if I could just read his mind. I swear the one thing I've wished would come with an off switch suddenly is dead silent. Maybe he isn't thinking anything." I hear her thoughts. She is not liking not being able to hear my thoughts. I chuckle at her thoughts. She gives me a funny and confused look. "What's so funny?" She asks. I smirk. "Wouldn't you like to know?" I tease her. "Yes, I would. Ugh! Why can't I read your mind?" She says annoyed. "Why do you want to read my mind so badly?" I tease her some more. "So I can see into your mind and get the answers I seek." She says still annoyed. "I told you how to get those answers. You have to physically come to my pack. To answer your question about my mind where do you think a lavender wolf gets telepathy from?" I counter her question.

I hear the gears in her mind turning. "You can read minds. The first lavender wolf was born from a lycan." She says. "Ding, ding, ding," I confirm. I explain the difference between our powers. "Damn, so you can hear my mind now. Wow, this must be how everyone else feels. It's one thing for lavender wolves doing it to each other but when the other can't it's wow." She says. "I imagine so. About you coming to my pack? How desperate are you?" I change gears back on track. "About as desperate as you probably are to get me there and claim me to your pack." She says. She's not wrong. Technically she is my pack's Luna. "So you'll come?" I ask hopeful. "I will but only for the journal. This bond we have, I'm not fully ready. Can we take this thing slow?" She asks. I understand where she is coming from. She's still getting over her mate and is scared to jump back into another relationship.

"Zayla I will go at whatever pace you want, just don't fight this bond," I beg her. "That's all I ask." She says. "Ok, anything else?" I ask. "Yeah, maybe we can play a game I ask you ten questions and you ask me ten questions." She says. "I can do that. You go first." It's only natural she would want to know things about me. Playing 20 questions is the easiest way of doing that. I want to know things about her. "First no telepathy." She lays out a rule. "Deal." I block her mind out. "How old are you?" She asks. "25 and you?" I ask in return. I know she's a lot younger than me. I'm just not sure how much younger. "Wow, you're a lot older than I thought. Man, I feel like a child compared to you now. I'm 16 but will be 17 next month. My birthday is February 14th. One rule I do have is don't call me Val...valen...valentine. Damon called me that because of my birthday and we met on Valentine's Day." She says stuttering out Valentine. I can hear in her voice how much that hurt her to say and think about. "I promise to respect that. If I do or say anything that makes you uncomfortable just tell me and I will fix it." I tell her. I don't want to ever make her feel like she has to choose between me and her previous mate.

My mate should be in high school still, yet she's sitting here playing house. She had to grow up fast. "Did you already know Henry? Remember you have to answer honestly." She asks her second question. I press my lips together before I answer. "Yes, He is a part of both of our packs. Henry is secretly a Lycan. In a lycan pack, we have more ranks than a werewolf pack does. Henry is what we call a Kappa." I explain. "How is that possible?" She asks. "Is that your next question?" I ask. "No, I'm not wasting a question on that. It's your turn." She says stubbornly. "Alright then, is Blake alive or dead?" I ask. "My dad is alive but under the control of Tracy. He's in the cells in a bank vault due to one of the spells she has him under." Zayla explains. Interesting.

"How do you feel about me having a pup?" She asks. "I don't care nor mind. I don't mind helping you raise him. I will never try to replace Damon ever. Damon is his father and I will respect those boundaries." I answer her. It's nice to see where we stand on these subjects and with an efficient and calm way of doing it. "Good because even with Damon gone, Zayn will know Damon." She says. "What is your favorite animal?" I ask some basic get-to-know-you question for my third. She smiles. "Cats. I have a pet cat named Cloud. She's white and fluffy." She smiles as she answers happily thinking about her pet cat. "Do you like cats or are you like Damon, a dog person?" She asks. "Nope, I'm a dog person. Figures, my mate would be a cat person." I chuckle.

"How long did you know Damon?" I ask curiously. "I've known Damon my whole life. My best friend and sister-in-law is Damon's sister, Cassie. Funny this is we had to keep our relationship a secret because of her. She forbade us from being together." Zayla tells me the story of how she and Damon began and why Cassie did what she did. "I don't know if like knowing someone has a crush on you," I admit. "Oh relax, she has a mate. Jordan is her mate. Believe me, he hovers over her and drags any girl or guy off her that comes anywhere near her." Zayla waves it off like it's nothing.

"Are your parents still alive? Damon and Cassie's died." She asks as her fifth question. "My parents are alive. I have two younger siblings. After me is Samuel but he likes to be called Sam and my sister, Lindsey. My parents are Tess and Leland but never call him that. He goes by our last name, Jax." I answer her question. "Yeah, I get that. Sometimes people call me Zay a lot. Jordan rarely calls me Zayla. It's always Luna Zay." She comments. So Gage was right. "Are those your natural eyes?" I ask for question number five. "Yes, I was born with natural Lavender eyes. It is why my wolf is named Lavender. My full name is Zayla Lavender Rose Quin." She answers proudly. "What will happen to our packs?" She gets serious with her next question. "I'm not sure. We'll most likely end up merging them. I don't want to go back and forth. I would like to see you every day if possible." I answer her. "I don't have enough room for a third pack merge. I just merged two packs together." She says worried. "I know but it can be done. Have you ever heard of a sub-pack? What it is, is you have a head pack then there are packs under the rule of the head pack. Normally a beta or sub-alpha would be appointed to run the pack. A sub-alpha isn't always of alpha rank. the head alpha can appoint someone he or she deems worthy of being a sub-alpha. This would allow them to be reranked. It's not something you hear about too much anymore but it used to happen a lot but the rules still exist for it so it can still happen." I explain to her.

"I wonder if this is part of Zayn's destiny. He is the future werewolf king. I've been working with the werewolf council preparing the werewolf community for the new royal order." Zayla says in wonder. "Maybe but if this is something you are interested in and would like to do we can look into doing this. Your pack is bigger than mine so the Regal Moonstone pack would be the head pack." I say. My ego is just fine with that while most alpha's would be offended by this. But you know what they say some alpha's are just trying to compensate for something they don't have. "I will speak with the council to get their opinion. We can revisit this issue at a later date." She says. "That's fine. I completely understand. Now for my sixth question, do you have any siblings?" I ask. I know she has a half-sister named Miranda. She announced she was pregnant last night. Zayla had slammed a five-dollar bill on the table smiling when she found out last night. She had bet money on her sister being pregnant. "Yes. There's my half-sister, Miranda who you met last night. Then I have two step-siblings, Jordan and Courtney. You already know Jordan but Courtney is dead. She was killed by my uncle Simon for killing my mate. She was obsessed with being Damon's mate and fell for the witch's trick and killed him." Zayla says the last part filled with sadness and fury.

"Do you care that I've been with someone else? It was only my mate and I know this is a silly thought but I can't help it. All my life I had saved myself for my mate. I had never dated anyone before that. I saw no point in it if I was just going to end up with my mate." She asks her seventh question. I smile. "It is not silly. Your Lycan DNA is just showing. Lycan's rarely take a chosen mate so it is natural for you to have this belief. With that being said I don't care. I have no right to care about that. I've slept around a bit." I admit. "Oh no, where you a player like Damon was? Gosh, do you know how many girls I had to fight off because he couldn't keep it in his pants?" She says unbelievably. "I wouldn't say I was quite at player status but I've had my fair share of play things" I answer. I've always hated the exes-talk part of the relationship. It can get so awkward. "Your turn." She says signaling for me to ask my next question.

"Do you always lose control like you did yesterday?" I asked about how she ended up in the state she was in yesterday with the fire. "No, only when my emotions are too overwhelmed or I'm just that angry. Trust me that was nothing compared to what I have done in anger. Be glad I didn't shift because if Lavender took control it would have been worse. I'm sorry I reacted the way I did to you. I have hurt people before in that state." She apologizes. "There is no need to apologize. you were upset and worried about your son." I tell her understandably. "Why do you accept me? Is it just the bond or is there another reason?" She asks. "I believe in the bond, yes but it's not about the bond. Even with an imprint, there is free will. I accept you because I have never met someone as beautiful, brave, and strong as you. I knew the second I sniffed you you and laid my eyes on you you were the one for me." I say honestly. "What do you fear most about our bond?" I ask her.

"I fear I will never see you again. I fear I will lose you. When I lost Damon I lost my life. I was only fighting for Zayn but I was scared because I didn't know how much longer I would be able to fight. I was dead inside and you came along and relit that flame and I'm terrified of seeing that flame being extinguished again." She answers me. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise to always come back to you no matter what. I will do anything and I mean anything to come back to you. You are my mate and the only one I ever want to be with." I declare my feelings for her. "When are you leaving?" She asks me. "Whenever you like. I'd like to leave when you come to see the journal." I answer her. "Then we leave tomorrow morning. I'm not waiting any longer. If I had everything together now We'd leave today but I have things I need to get done today." She says. "Then tomorrow we will go," I say. "Great." She smiles happy to finally be getting what she wants. My mate is a very determined little Luna who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. She shows true strength and bravery. I couldn't have asked for a better Mate in my life.