Queen of the Shifters

Chapter 2: The Seer

BRYANT

"Are we done here?" I asked, my gravely voice carrying across the room. I gave the piece of hard candy in my mouth a firm suck and rolled it around to soothe my agitation.

As the other members of the Supernatural Council droned on about who knows what, I couldn't help but think about the scent my pack had found around our land this morning. A wolf shifter was sniffing around our area, and I didn't like it one bit. My pack was small, just big enough to run the country's packs and nothing else. There wasn't much to sniff at. I knew some of my alphas had things like this happen when they were in territory disputes with each other, but as the king, it had never happened to me before. Everyone knew where I lived and who I was.

I blew out a harsh breath and glared around at the bickering council members. The goblin queen was arguing with the human president again, both women glaring at each other, though the goblin had a distinct smirk on her green lips.

Ever so slowly, they all realized I'd interrupted their stupidity and stopped talking.

The room was one large circle. Tables and chairs were arranged in the center so that all of us faced one another. My table only had one chair as I had no mate, but the goblin queen's had three as she had two. Most of us were unmated and sat alone. Our betas and second in commands stood around the edges of the room, not taking part, but watching our backs.

“Almost," Anthea said, and I bit back a groan.

The seer cast the room a small smile. It was warm but knowing, almost like the rest of us were just entertainment for her and whatever world she lived in. I hated it. Which pretty much summed up my whole relationship with the old woman.

The seer cleared her throat to gain everyone's attention. “It's time for you all to find mates," she said, the slight warble in her voice more pronounced as she spoke louder so we could all hear.

“Who?" The vampire king narrowed his eyes at her.

“The five of you that don't have your mates yet. Shifter, vampire, mage, fae, and gargoyle."

My heart stuttered in my chest. A mate? I was desperate for mine. I was in my fifties already and had yet to catch even a whiff of them.

Mates were sacred to shifters, no matter the species. Hell, they were sacred to most of the supernatural population, but especially us shifters.

Anthea's intelligent brown eyes landed on me, and I gave her a hard stare. I wouldn't beg for the information I needed, but if she didn't tell me I just might do something stupid.

“You're first," she said. “I'll give you a map. Meet me in my office after this."

I gave her a curt nod before addressing the group. “I think that's all for the day."

I wasn't in charge of the council, no one was, but I had a mate to find, and nothing was going to slow me down.

We all stood and started shuffling out. Zarron, my Beta, joined my side and together we exited the room.

“About damn time," he said under his breath.

I nodded.

“You ready for this?" He asked, his rich honey eyes scanning me from head to toe.

I nodded again. “I've been ready."

Zarron ran a medium brown hand over his bald head before scratching at his close-cropped beard. “A luna queen." He shook his head. “We've been waiting a long time. The females will weep."

I glared at him, but he just smirked.

We reached the seer's office, and I rolled back my shoulders. This was it. This was the beginning of my future. My wolf, grumpy thing that he was, perked up and I could feel his excitement buzzing through me.

***

The female, small and fragile, slammed into me and I reached out to brace her shoulders before she fell. The scent of melon and sugar slammed into me like a brick to the face and I sucked in several deep breaths. It was like heaven.

The woman let out a little squeak and stepped back. Before I knew what was happening, my hands tightened on her shoulders and my wolf growled. Her bright blue eyes widened at me, and I took her all in.

She was almost a full foot shorter than me, with a runner's build. Her wavy, honey blonde hair was long and up in a high, messy bun. Her skin was pale but covered in dark freckles. Her features were dainty, and her lips were plump and utterly suckable.

My wolf c****d his head to the side as he took in the woman.

A human.

I released her quickly as the shock rattled me to the core. I was severely attracted to her, and her smell was heavenly, but my wolf wasn't screaming that she was our mate. He was interested, and so was I, but I had no idea what that meant.

The girl stumbled back another step before shooting me a big smile that did funny things to my chest.

“Hi," she said. “Sorry about that. I wasn't looking where I was going." Her voice was light and airy, and my wolf hummed his appreciation

I'd seen her coming from a mile away. I could have stepped out of the way, but I'd been distracted by her at the same time.

“It's fine. Accidents happen." Her pupils dilated at the sound of my voice, and she inhaled sharply.

She was feeling this attraction then, too. Good.

But what the hell did it mean?

Some of the mate signals were there, but not the important ones. Was that because she was human? Did that even make a difference?

I bit back a scoff. Of course it did. The alpha king couldn't mate a human. It was completely ridiculous. In the entire history of alpha kings, none had ever—

I could always turn her…

I gave my head a sharp shake. F*ck no. I couldn't be mated to a turned shifter, either. The others wouldn't mind so much, but I sure as hell would. Turned shifters weren't like us true born ones. They were weak and less stable. They were still very in tune with their human side and struggled to adjust to their new animalistic nature. A human would be better than that.

No. I'd never turn someone.

But what if she was my mate? Would I only know it if I turned her? But what if I she was turned and she wasn't my mate?

Sh*t.

There were too many questions.

I scrubbed my hands over my face and sighed.

“What's your name?" I asked.

“Tallia."

“I'm Bryant."

She gave me a big smile that lit up her whole face and made it seem like I meant the world to her. I liked that. I liked it a lot.