My Exotic Mate

Reality Check

Marise

         The next morning I soaked in the tub, letting the steam surround me to the point I couldn’t see anything. I dipped my head back into the water with my closed. I know I’ve been in here for hours but this was my norm. Usually, Mesai would scold me for using all of the hot water. Man what I would give to hear her say, Mari, get your a*s out of the water. It’s clean enough! I smiled to myself as I sat back up. I finally got out, towel dried my hair, and put on the clothes that Kai left for me. When did he come in here? Part of me was excited for even wondering. Alpha Kai is definitely something I can’t explain. He’s such a flirt, a jerk, but sweet all at the same time. As embarrassed as I was at our encounter in front of everyone, at the same time, I was loving it. Maybe because I haven’t allowed myself to participate in the s****l activities that most Nymphs do when men come and visit. Even my sisters participated and honestly it was brave of them. Then again, maybe it was the fact that he was so into my personal space that I lost control. I was literally thrown to the wolf and he was so close that I thought he was going to mark me.

No, even if that was the case, I couldn’t be the one he was waiting for. My sources would have shown me that. I think..But he said he would help find Mesai. I went to Miren because I needed to know exactly what happened. Every detail, even the ugly ones.

“Miren!” I called when I made it to her room. I felt a wince of pain shoot through my body. Oh my God, she was hurting. I was so mad because he promised. He promised that no one would hurt her.

She was curled up in bed with the blankets pulled over her. I went to the side of her bed. “Miren?”

When I moved the sheets off of her face, she was crying. I sat her up so she could look at me.

“What’s wrong?” I checked for any bruises and saw none. I breathed out a sigh of relief because right then, I knew that she was feeling Mesai’s pain again.

“They’re hurting her,” she cried. “Mari make it stop!”

I rocked her because there was nothing I could do to stop her pain. I sang a song that our mom used to sing to us.

My sweet girl….

You are much bigger than this world….

Your bright eyes…..

Lights up the darkest skies….

Sometimes I look at you and I look into your eyes,

I notice the way you think about life with a smile,

Curved lips you just can't disguise.

The way your hair blow in the wind,

Make life worthwhile…

I repeated the lyrics until she stopped crying. It’s crazy how we can’t die from pain or illness, but by the destruction of our natural element. Death would be less torturous. Even if we die on earth, we still live. We become Goddesses in the sky, like our mother. I can feel her presence hovering over us. Miren felt it as well.

She sat up and hugged me. “Thank you.”

“How are you feeling?” I asked her.

“I’m okay. I think that they stopped and she’s still alive. We need to talk to Alpha Kai. He said he would help us, right?”

“Yeah,” I answered. Honestly, I wasn’t ready to see him, but I can’t coward out like that. Not while Mesai is out there somewhere.

“Let’s go to him.” She said as she got up

“No need.” His voice said from the door. Our eyes connected, as I remembered that I cried into his arms. He’s a stranger for heaven's sake! How did I allow myself to be so vulnerable? Of course because sensitivity is a part of us.

I don’t know how long we were looking at each other, but I broke contact first. I cleared my throat and Miren looked at me weirdly.

“Good morning, ladies.”

“Good morning, Alpha.” We both said.

“How did you sleep?”

“Well, thank you for asking,” Miren said although her tone was still sad.

“And you, Marise.”

“I slept fine,” I answered. This was awkward. The room was quiet before Miren broke the silence.

“Well I’m going to freshen up.” She got out of bed and limped to the bathroom. Kai frowned before looking at me.

“Was she hurt?” He asked after she closed the door.

I grabbed his hand and led him into the hall. “Not physically. They have the ability to feel each other’s pain.”

“Wow, I’m so sorry about that. I can sense when something’s wrong with my brothers but to actually feel the pain, that has to be a different type of feeling.” There was sincereness in his voice. His tone was softer than it was when we first met. We were standing in the hall in silence. I was so in thought. I felt like I was drowning, like the water filled my lungs to the point that I choke when I breathe. Everything that I’ve done was only to protect them. One bad decision. That was all it took. Now we’re paying the consequence of it. I needed to get myself together. I can’t fall apart in front of him. I already exposed a vulnerable part of myself in front of him and I cursed myself for doing it. Although he didn’t say anything, I still needed to be guarded.

“For what it’s worth, we lost our parents at a young age and being the oldest out of our siblings meant that we became like our parents. We nurture them and protect them the same way our parents protected us. We’re not perfect, Marise. You really aren’t sure that the decisions you make are good or bad until you see the result of it. You can’t blame yourself for what happened to your sister.” Although his points were valid, I still couldn’t help but to think that it’s my fault. I know it was. I knew he was trying to be helpful, but it was so much easier being angry.

“You don’t know me, so don’t pretend that you can relate to what I’m feeling right now. You could be lying to me, telling me that you don’t have her, yet my sources led me straight to you.”

His eyes darkened as a frown appeared on his face. He walked closer but there was space still lingering between us. My eyes didn’t leave his and as he almost towered over me, I didn’t move.

“Marise?” Miren called. His expression softened a bit but he turned and walked away. I turned my attention to my sister who looked lost.

“What?” I shrugged.

“What was that?” She asked.

“Nothing,” I answered. “Are you okay?”

She nodded her head. “Yeah, but we need to find her. I don’t know what’s going on, but we lost our land and Mesai is missing. We should be focusing on that.” She reminded me.

“You’re right. Staying here is pointless. Okay let’s go back to where I found you.”

“Are you seriously going all the way back there?” She asked.

“No, but we need an area that’s closed off.” She shook her head, knowing that I was going to manipulate the area.

“I have no choice, we need to figure out what happened, because even after we find her, I still have to figure out where we’re going to live.”

“We can go back to the forest and build from there,” Miren suggested.

“Not an option. Someone destroyed our land. Mom and dad took care of that land for a long time. We grew up there. It was definitely intentional.” And who knows what’s waiting for us if we went back.

“Why not? Who said we had to listen to you!” She seethed, throwing me off guard.

“Miren!” I said in shock.

“No Marise! You always have to make the decisions and Mesai and I just go along with it. We are adults. We can make decisions for ourselves!”

“And how exactly did that turn out!” s**t… I didn’t mean to say out loud and the look that Miren is giving me right now, I knew I hit a nerve. She was really pushing me into a corner, knowing that I felt guilty. We both stood there in silence.

“Wow,” she shook her head in disbelief.

“Miren, I’m sorry…” f**k… me and my big mouth.

She huffed. “You want to know why we listened to you? It wasn’t because you’re the oldest, it was because we looked up to you. We trusted your decisions, your opinions despite if we had one thats different from yours. You are our sister, but you act like you’re our parents. You are not in charge. Mom and dad are gone, probably to another realm and who knows when or if we will see them again.”

I couldn’t say anything, but if I felt bad before, I feel even worse now. She’s right. I have been babying them and not seeing them as my equal. They are just as powerful, maybe more than I am. I just wanted to protect them.

She waited for me to respond, but no words would come out. She turned on her heels and closed the door.

Dammit!

***********

Kai

I poured myself a drink as I paced back and forth. Who the hell does she think she is? I tried to help her, to give her some comfort which is totally out of the norm for me. I don’t do this and the one time I tried to be nice, she snapped at me.

“Calm down Kai,” Lennix said.

“No, She can’t just walk around telling me off and think I’m supposed to help her.” I quickly downed my drink and sat the glass on the table.

“But she’s your mate.”

“So!” I snapped. “I don’t have to accept her. I can send her and her sister on their way.”

“Hey,” Malik said as he stood at my door.

“What’s up, man?” I looked at him.

“Just checking on you. I see your little redhead is giving you a hard time.”

I sat on my bed and huffed out a breath. “She’s my mate. Her! A nymph!”

Malik laughed. “Yeah, That’s kinda unheard of.”

“Why me man?” I groaned as I put my hands over my face. “Why couldn’t I be mated to another wolf, hell a vampire?”

“It’s not what’s aligned for you. But this could be a good thing.”

I looked at him sheepishly. “How so?”

“Did you not see how powerful she was? They’re no ordinary nymphs. Something is going on. I overheard her and her sister arguing after you left. They lost their land, their homes and families are gone and now, one of her sisters is missing. Imagine the position she’s in.”

I know I would lose it if someone came and destroyed our land. Everything that has been built for generations just gone in a blink of an eye.

“How do you know all of this?” I asked.

“Because I overheard them arguing about it not too long ago,” he answered. “So you need to help them.”

“Ahh, dammit. I hate it when you’re right.”

“I know,” Malik smirked.

“Send her to me,” I huffed out.

“Yes, Alpha.” He teased me. But That’s Malik for you. He was definitely the jokester of the pack. Always pranking someone or making a joke of everything, but he was also quick to think on his feet in a complicated situation, which is why he is my beta. Rafael, on the other hand, was the more mellow brother. He was calm during the storm. He’s more reserved and some people think that he’s the more mature one between the three of us. He’s my Gamma.

“Kai,” a soft voice called out. My back was turned but I could smell her scent and God did she smell good. I turned to face her and she looked mad.

“Marise, thank you for coming.”

“It’s not like I had a choice,” she snapped. “Your stupid minions told me you wanted to see me.” I clenched my jaw and narrowed my eyes. I was tired of her smart a*s mouth and right now, I was done with it.

I scoffed. “I felt bad for you when you said your sister is missing, but if you want my help, I suggest you start showing some respect.” My tone was a little harsher than I anticipated. “I am the alpha of this pack and this is my home. You and your sister are guests.” I walked towards her. She stood there looking me in the eyes with her lips tight. When I was close enough, I leaned into her ear. “Now I don’t want to be the big bad wolf, but if you keep pushing my buttons, I will not be in control of my actions. Do you understand?” I growled, or Lennix growled in her ear.

She stiffened but released a breath shortly after. I tipped her chin up, making her look at me. “I don’t like repeating myself, doll.”

Through clenched teeth she said, “Fine.”

“Good now, have a seat,” I gestured towards the chair.

She looked at me with a deadly glare as she moved towards the chair. I found myself smirking at how bad she wanted to be defiant. A part of me was actually hoping that she would. It was weird and so not like me. Maybe it's because she’s my mate. I sat on my bed and leaned forward with my elbows touching my knees. “Okay, so start from the beginning. Tell me what happened to your sister.” As she was getting ready to talk, Rafael barged through the door.

“Alpha! We’re being ambushed!” His eyes turned yellow as he began to transform.

I looked at Marise and instructed her to stay here.

“No, Miren is out there. I’m coming with you.”

“No you will NOT,” Lennix howled as he took control. I can feel my bones cracking . “You WILL stay here!” My body was shifting in ways that seemed impossible to do.

“We don’t have enough time, Lennix. Let’s go!” Kilo, Rafael’s wolf urged.

We ran to where we were being ambushed, thinking it was some rival pack or clan. Nooo, it's something totally different. Something that we have never seen before. It was a Hunter. I couldn’t tell how many of them there were but I knew I saw three of them.

“Where are they!” They yelled. A few arrows were flying in almost every direction.

“Watch out!” Seth, Malik’s wolf yelled before jumping in front of me and getting hit by an arrow.

“Noooo!” I felt the rage as I ran towards the hunter that just shot my brother with an arrow. I jumped onto him and used my teeth to rip him into shards. I didn’t care that his body went limp or that the rest of the hunters suddenly vanished. When Rafael was back in his human form, he was able to get me to snap out of it.

“Kai! That’s enough!” But I didn’t stop. I kept going.

“Kai, we need to get Malik some help or he’s not going to make it.”

“I can help him!” A voice yelled. I turned to find Miren standing there. I felt myself transforming back and got up off the lifeless hunter. I looked down at him and noticed he had something in his hand. I bent down to pick it up and although it was covered in blood, it was the picture of three girls, Marise, Miren, and Mesai. The hunters weren't after us, they were after them.