Bullied Mate of The Alpha Prince

Chapter 4

“It’s there, I can see it reflecting.” Kenzie said after a moment of looking at my eyes, flashing her light between the two.

“What does this mean?” I asked.

“You have a wolf, but something is wrong. Have you never shifted?” She asked, tucking her light back in her chest pocket of her white lab coat.

I shook my head no. “I - I, I’m dreaming right?” I asked, stumbling over my words trying to understand the context that she was implying. I could shift into a wolf? Like them? Does this make me a werewolf or some other creature?

“She doesn’t feel the pull of the mate bond, Max, you have to stop whinnying, so I can think.” Kenzie spat over her shoulder to the larger wolf behind her. He looked more like a sad puppy than the aggressive beast before. "

"Katz, you’ll have to change her schedule around and add a one on one with me, we'll have to work it out. That's the only thing I can think of. I haven’t run into a case like this in years." She finally stated.

“I’ll figure it out, we should get her into the dorm before it draws more attention.” He stated as he slipped back into his long jacket, and tousled his hair. “Emily, you’ll have to keep this a secret, the others can’t know you can’t pull your wolf out, and they can’t know about the mate bond yet.” He said rather sternly.

“Well, how do you do it? I’ve never tried.” I replied, as I looked down at my hands, wondering how I could go about shifting. Was it something that just happened or did I have to draw on some kind of magic?

“If you haven’t done it, it won't be safe now. We will have to figure something out.” He replied. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions, and we will get to them in time, but for now we need to get you settled in. The night class will be out here shortly.” He finished as he took hold of my arm and, before I knew it, the world was spinning again. The last thing I heard over the howling of the professor was Max growling and snapping as Levi blocked his advances.

I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the feeling of being spun, but to no avail. My head started to throb, and I was sure I was still under some effects of the medicine that Kenzie previously gave me, or my stomach just didn’t have anything left to toss up.

“Your bed is here, try sleeping it off.” Professor Katz said after placing me on a soft surface. “You’ll have an introduction day tomorrow to help settle you in, then classes start right after that. Someone will be here in the morning to help you figure it all out.” He added before vanishing in front of my eyes, only this time I didn’t hear the howl of his teleportation spell.

Sighing, I rolled over on the bed, holding my head as I tried to make the world stop spinning and adjust my eyes to the darkness of the room. I had always been able to see well in the dark and part of me wondered if this was why. Slowly sitting up, I looked around. The room was just as grand as the Clinic. A dark coloured wall was shaped by gold trim, the furniture all looked to have a dark stained coating on them, and the bedding seemed to match the walls. Looking closer, I could see it was a deep green. For furniture there was only a single desk, a bed, a long dresser with a mirror on top and two doors in the room and one set that was made out of glass. No doubt it was a balcony of sorts. It wasn’t big, but it was bigger than my room at home.

Walking over to the balcony, I slipped the doors open, letting the night air into the room. The scent of this castle was much different than home. I didn’t smell like cigarettes, alcohol, or exhaust from nearby cars. It was a pure smell, like waking up to morning dew or fresh baked bread. It was hard to put my finger on the exact smell, but either way, it was refreshing.

Once, I regained most of my senses as the world came to stand still. I turned back over to the dresser, with the light from the moon shinning into the room, I was able to see my duffle bag and sketchbook. Picking them up off the floor, I stood in front of the mirror and slowly started to unpack my things.

“I’ve waited too long for this.” A deep muffled male voice sounded from the balcony and I froze, staring shockingly towards a giant beast of a man. He only wore a set of sweatpants, but his chest was fully exposed. His eyes never left mine as his breathing came fast and hard, like he had just run a marathon. I didn’t know if I should scream or make a run for it, fear ran through me as I tried to decide.

“Shhh. It’s okay.” He whispered, taking a step into the room, then stopped, looking unsure of himself as he tried to catch his breath. He retracted his step, and ran his hand through his hair. “I’m not here to hurt you, I just… I just want to talk.” He pleaded with me.

“How did you get up here?” I asked, trying to recall how tall the balcony was.

“Uh, I climbed.” He smiled smugly. I couldn’t help but peak around him as I tried to make out how far down that would have been.

“I’m uh, I’m Maximus. But I go by Max for short.” He spoke slowly, as if trying not to scare me off.

I wasn’t sure how to respond, but I knew I had heard that name before.

“Th-the wolf?” I asked, stumbling over my words. This seemed to pick his head up a bit as he smiled.

“Yes, that was me, sorry.” He replied quickly. “I’m not used to being in this form. I mostly stay in wolf” He added gesturing down to himself. “I guess we are opposites.” He chuckled awkwardly.

“I guess so.” I replied softly, not sure what to do from there. The man didn’t seem like a threat, but I didn’t let my guard down as I stood awkwardly by the dresser, trying to keep some distance between us.

“Did Professor Katz explain the mate bond?” He asked quietly.

“No.” I almost whispered. It was like my words slapped him. He winced back but quickly recovered. The silence between us grew longer and longer. I could hear the sound of his breathing, see his chest rise and fall as he watched me from the balcony.

“Do you want to know?” He asked, almost in a whisper.

“Yes,” I replied after a few moments.

“Can I come in?” He asked quickly. I hesitated but nodded my approval. He at least asked, and so far he had been kind. Taking a few steps closer to me, he finally stopped on the other side of the dresser. Taking a big breath in before our eyes met at last. I wasn’t sure what was running through his mind, but I couldn’t look away. He was one of the most stunning humans I have ever seen. He had a full scruffy beard and long hair down to his shoulders that fell in small waves. His body was built like a bear, every bit of him screamed for me to run, but part of me couldn’t. I was drawn to him in some sense of the word.

“The mate bond is not something we can control, it's given to us at birth, but we don’t feel it till we receive our wolf, at 16 years of age.” He explained softly. “Are you 16?” He asked questioningly. I couldn’t help but feel a little offensive at that.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I stated flatly, “I’m almost 19.” He seemed to think about that answer, nodding his head as his eyes wandered off to my half-emptied duffle bag and sketchbook.

“And your wolf… never came?” He asked.

“I’ve never transformed.” I confirmed for him as his eyes returned to rest on me once more.

Sighing, he muttered under his breath, “This would be my luck.” before addressing me again. “So you don’t want to mate me?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. I felt my cheeks burn as I quickly looked at the floor away from him. How was I supposed to answer something like that?

“So you do? Maybe there is a slight pull after all.” He chuckled, clearing the space between us. “We’ll have to work on it.” Before I could respond, I felt his arms wrap around me, pulling me into a tight embrace. His bare skin felt like it was going to burn through my sweater and eat away at me. Rapidly, an explosive, mouth-watering, scent of fresh baked bread took over everything else around me. It wasn’t the school, it was him.

Maybe there was a mate bond after all? Or I was just about to fall head over heels with a stranger!