Mated To The Werewolf Huntress

Chapter Four

NIKOLAI

I couldn’t sleep that night.

Even if I was asked what had been discussed in the meeting with the sentinels earlier in the day, I would have been too absent-minded to reply.

I had a mate.

I had smelled her scent…very intoxicating and mind-blowing.

When I had turned eighteen, I, as the son of the Alpha, was supposed to have seen my mate that very night, if she was in that town.

It was stupid, but on the night of the eighteenth birthday of any member of the Alpha’s family, the whole pack had to gather to witness him shift. And then all the females and males without mates, were to gather around in a circle while that family member ran around in his wolf form, sniffing and howling as he looked for his mate.

It was a very embarrassing ritual, but it was mostly fun.

And it was a very big fail.

For both me and Justin.

Mine had been the very first time an offspring of an alpha hadn’t found his mate amongst his pack. It had been so humiliating for me, that even as I thought about it, I shivered.

Justin's had come next, and even if everyone had come to terms with it. We could still hear murmurs behind our backs as we were nicknamed 'The mateless duo'.

Now, about a decade later, I had found her. Well, her scent.

And it just happened to be in the most forbidden place to go to as a member of the Mystic Wood Pack.

The question was…what was my mate doing on the other side?

How?

Why?

Mate.

“Hush..” I said to my wolf, frustrated. And he wasn’t even making things easier for me.

Mate.

Mate.

Mate!

“f*****g hell, Drax! I also want to see her. But there is nothing we can do about it. She’s on the other side.” I whispered, earning a huff from him as he jumped restlessly inside me. From the moment I had shifted for the first time, I knew I had to name my wolf Drax. And he loved it.

Now he was being a pain in the ass.

I sighed, leaning back on the bed as I tried to sleep. But as soon as I closed my eyes, I felt a sharp pain in my head, making me jolt from the bed as swiftly as possible.

What was happening?

I looked down at my body as I began to sweat profusely, frowning as I watched my clothes start to drench from the liquid that seeped through them.

Mate.

Drax said again.

This time, he forced his way out, tearing at my clothes as he bolted through the open window of my bedroom. We landed on the ground with a heavy thud, rolling to a stop. But Drax only shook the sand off and bolted into the woods.

“Drax?” I called at him, trying to gain control of my wolf, but I kept on getting the painful throb in my head, making it impossible for me to focus.

The river bank sentinels only nodded as we passed, going back to their duties once they saw it was me.

“Drax, please stop!” I tried again. This time, he huffed and slowed down a little, but didn’t stop.

Mate.

There he went again with that! My head was pounding, and the last thing I wanted was to go searching in the woods where I wasn’t even supposed to be in the first place.

Suddenly, Drax came to a halt, and peaked his ears, sniffing.

There it was.

The scent.

But this time, it wasn’t as strong.

With his momentary distraction, I was able to regain control, and tried to take us back to the pack house. But curiosity got the better of me.

Mate.

“I know, Drax. I also want to see her too.” As we carefully threaded close to the boundary between us and the other side, my hoof landed on something. And I immediately felt my headache disappear.

I stopped, and sniffed, raising my leg from the coolness of whatever it was I had stepped on.

Mate.

It was a small necklace. I shifted on only one leg so I could lick it up, and felt something soothing rush down my spine as soon as the scent hit my nose.

The necklace. It was hers. It had her scent all over it…and something that smelled like a..squirrel.

I was still looking at the necklace when I heard something snap from a distance, as more of her scent wafted through the air.

SASHA

I twisted and turned in my bed as I tried to sleep. I had never slept without my necklace and almost sobbed each time I reached for it and found nothing.

My dad and uncle had come in earlier and had given me the news of me having my last test before I became a level 9 hunter.

It came as a shock to me, since it wasn’t even time for challenges or tests. Those were months ahead. And now I just had less than thirty hours to prepare for mine.

But I had taken the news without even making a single complaint or asking any questions. The weirdness in the ‘pack’ was enough for me to know that something was brewing.

Whatever it was, I was going to find out.

Which was why I needed that necklace. At times like these, I would usually play with it until all my worries subsided and I was able to fall asleep.

I sighed and got up from the bed, walking to the window to stare at the river. That stupid squirrel wouldn’t have taken it so far from where we were. It wasn’t edible, so it would have tossed it almost immediately after.

I bit my lips as my chest began to pound. I couldn’t see anyone patrolling close to that area. If only I could just..

“Sasha…” I tried to scold myself, but as the goosebumps grew on my skin, I knew there was no going back. I was going to get my necklace.

Besides, it would be a very good chance to swim and prepare myself for what was to come.

I walked back to the bed and quickly tossed off my nighties. “At least no one comes in here until morning. Should be back before then.” I whispered , staring at the bedside clock.

12:00am.

The flask that stood close to the clock stared at me.

Oh dear.

I hadn’t drunk my tea before I went to bed. I picked up the flask and poured the contents in my mouth as fast as I could, setting it back on the bed stand. If I was going to be a disobedient child, the least I could do was drink my tea.

As I moved to the window, I suddenly felt dizzy.

Something filtered into my head, and I heard someone groan, like he was in pain. Then, as quickly as it came, it was gone.

I frowned, looking around me.

That was weird.

I shook my head. I must have been hallucinating.

I smiled as I saw the patrol hunters gather at a small fireplace as they joked amongst themselves. Hah! My father would have had a swell time catching them away from their duty posts. I instead, just shook my head and slowly lowered myself into the river. Keith and Elena would be very proud of me right now. They would probably toss me in the air as they cheered at me for being rebellious for the first time in my life.

I slowly swam forward, trying not to make any noise. And the moment I could, I dipped my head under water and made my way to my destination.

It didn’t take me a lot of time to get to our spot, since I was a fast swimmer. It was one of the things that always baffled me. That, and the fact that I could see things in the night.

Not as clearly as a wolf would, but close enough.

That’s why it didn’t bother me at all that I was going into the woods at night.

I lifted myself out of the water, squeezing my hair to get most of the water out, before walking forward to where I had seen that squirrel. I wanted the search to be as quick as possible so I could go back.

Where was it?

I peeked as far as my vision could go, and didn’t see anything glitter or stand out among the leaves on the ground. It must have run a long way with it.

I was careful to make my steps light as I walked farther into the woods. It didn’t take long before I broke the very first rule of walking in the woods as a hunter.

Watching where I was going.

It sounded stupid, but it was the first rule and I had already broken it.

The sound of the branch snapping below my leg, brought me to a halt. Fear started to grip at me.

What had I been thinking, coming into the woods at such a time in the night? when I knew very well that all it would bring to me was trouble?

I was very sure that if a hunter was on patrol nearby, he would waste no time drawing his arrows to shoot at me.

What was I going to do now?

I dared not lift my legs up until I was sure no one was around. But how could I do that when I couldn’t even shake?

I heard it before it reached me.

The speed at which the arrow raced through the air was alarming.

I was going to die.

Just before it pierced through my skull, something very big grabbed me and pulled me away, in time to see the sharp head of the arrow pass a hair’s breath away from my face.

The shock of what had just happened was so much that I almost didn’t even register that I was being carried by something, or someone, onto the other side of the woods.

The other side.

Shit!