THE SIGMA'S MATE

CHAPTER 10 - CONFRONTATION

The night crawled in, shadowing the city under its starry skies. The unanswered screams of a forsaken girl filters through the narrow alleyways of downtown Halmara. Now forgotten by the ton and scorned by her family, Natalie Pearl makes her second mistake of the night. Deciding that the summer nights air and nippy breeze will bring some relief to her troubled mind and shattered nerves. Instead she finds herself bound by ropes that burn like fire in a dark concert tunnel with only a small opening guarded by the iron bars of a rainwater drain, preventing her escape. She can see the filth infested alley and night sky past the damp walls of the townhouses practically stacked on top of each other. A small stream of water and waste trickles through the underground sewer past her feet. She screams for help again, hoping, praying that someone will answer her. But nobody does and her time has run out. The man that emerges from the shadowy depths of the sewer looks strikingly familiar, but she cannot say who he is. It worries her greatly that he doesn't seem to mind that she's seen his face. He crosses his arms over his chest and contemplates her eagerly. He seems to enjoy seeing her in distress.

He tilts his head to the side, smirking, "Let's make a deal, since you must already be accustomed to it. What's one more?" The familiar man says, drawing a dagger from his jacket. "You tell me everything you know about the Sigma and his involvement with the princess, and in exchange you get to die quickly, painlessly." He emphasizes the last word, smiling sinisterly.

His words send Natalie into a panic, "Please! Please, don't kill me! I don't know much and the very little that I do, I cannot tell you." Natalie pleads, begging with her eyes.

She struggles to see him clearly through teary eyes but she is now more confident than ever that she's seen this man at the palace. He brings the dagger down, piercing through her upper thigh. Natalie screams as it slices through muscle and nerves. Tears running freely down her face. The weapon is laced with Wolfsbane too, burning painfully, adding to her misery.

"Stop! Stop!" She cries as he draws another dagger, leaving the last one in its place. "I've sworn a magical oath." Natalie strains against her restraints, "Please, I can't help you." She cries hopelessly.

Even the palace man knows what a magical oath is. There is no getting around it. The closer you get to spilling anything that you aren't supposed to, the closer you get to death. The oath will kill you first.

Natalie hurries to add, "But the princess, she knows much more than I and she isn't sworn. She would be able to answer your questions. She could tell you anything you want to know." Natalie promises.

"Don't worry Lady Pearl, you can still be of some use." The Werewolf man says just as he plunges the dagger into her chest, "You'll send a message." He says as he watches the light fade from her eyes.

***

Alaric sent word to Laura that she should meet him at the Old Dogs Pub in downtown Halmara. The quiet pub and grill is situated on a corner property, visible to the streets of the poverty stricken. The dirty, unmaintained paveways are crowded late morning with humans going about their business and daily chores. A few drunks and people down on their luck are present inside the pub at this time in the morning. Alaric knew this is not a place she would want to come alone and by she, he meant his mate Lyra. Laura has never, not once in her entire life, called on Alaric for even the smallest of favors. He knows exactly who is behind this little rendezvous. Just how stupid do the two of them think he is? His fingers tighten on the glass of terribly cheap beer as he considers his sister's betrayal. He won't lie and say that Laura's attempt to trick him doesn't hurt horribly, because the honest truth is that it does. He knows that their relationship hasn't been perfect since… Well, she is still his little sister and there is always the chance that he could have been wrong. But that was before his witches spotted the princess struggling through the crowd. Alone. Now Alaric wonders just how stupid she is. The waitress checks up on him after twenty minutes, offering to fetch another glass of beer which he quickly declines.

"I'm meeting someone here. A girl." Alaric says as the waitress looks warily into his masked face. "Send her this way when she arrives."

The waitress gives him a curious look before nodding her head with a fleeting smile and carries on to the next customer, removing dirty glasses and wiping down tables as she goes. Sometime during his exchange with the waitress, Lyra has found her way through the flapping wooden farm doors. The waitress sees her standing, as if lost, at the entrance of the pub and upon a short discussion, points over to the last table, right at the back of the grill. Her intensely bright eyes find him immediately and she hurries over.

"What kind of dump is this?" She hisses through her teeth, making sure her hood is in place.

Seeing her flustered and clearly upset pulls at Alaric's heart. He has this undeniable want to wrap her up in his arms and take her far away from this dirty unseemly pub. He suddenly regrets arranging the rendezvous here. Although he had hoped that she would come to her senses and not show.

"How could you ask your sister to meet you here?" She demands angrily.

"I didn't. I knew it was you." Alaric says, watching her features in the shadow of the hood.

His answer seems to affect her badly. Her nose is crunched up and her lips are pouted, a natural response for her whenever she's unhappy. Alaric's body flares with heat at the thought of that lip between his teeth. He shuns that part of himself - the part that wants to see what it would be like to have her withering beneath him in pleasure. He has always wondered what the difference would be between his mate and any one of his mistresses. Now he doesn't have to wonder, he can guess just from the stolen touches how she would rule him, body and mind, if he let things get out of hand. It's become a fight just to be in the same room with her and control the animal inside.

Gritting his teeth, he removes his mask, confident in the location enough to bare his face. He blushes, a rare response for the collector of souls. It's an automatic response to the way her large emerald eyes seem to fixate on every little inch of his features. He sees the reddening of her own cheeks and he silently thanks whichever god created him that his skin is dark enough to hide the embarrassing blush. She isn't as lucky.

He asks, "Why have you come, princess?"

Her long lashes flutter at Alaric's hostile tone but he cannot help it. The more she hates him the better. But she seems to brush away his attitude as if it means nothing at all. It frustrates him to no end.

"For what everyone comes to you for, Sigma. I want to make a deal."

*

I had struggled through crowds of unkempt, unclean people all shoving past me and brushing up against me to find the rendezvous. I almost turned back when I caught sight of the shabby bar that could only be described as spit and sawdust. I wanted to cry when I finally made it off the streets to find the bar nearly empty. A small relief. Then my eyes found him lounging in the shadows, like the king of thieves, at the far end of the rat infected hole of a pub and grill. Everything suddenly seemed worth it - all the troubles of slipping my guards and rushing through the unkind sidewalks. Everything faded to that single moment when the whole ordeal is alright and already becoming an unpleasant memory. He has that much power over my emotions. So when he says his next words, I want to scream.

"No." He says simple, without an emotion even crossing his handsome bare face.

My chest rises and falls with my growing anger, "I am not leaving until I get what I came here for!" I say with a determination born out of stubbornness.

I want to go with him, wherever he disappears to when he is not at the palace. But more than that, I want to learn how to fight. It's not solely about him. Although he is a large part of it. It's about me and my desire to be better. To be queen. If I am more powerful, more impressive, maybe Alaric would finally see worth in us being together. He needs to see that I am worth risking everything he has become for a chance at being together.

"You cannot come with me, Lyra. I don't care what your reasoning is. It would be too tempting and I've already told you... we can never be together."

Too tempting! So I am not as irrelevant as he likes to pretend.

"This isn't about you!" I insist.

"Isn't it?" He growls out, "Intrigue me then, what is this about?" He questions with irritation lacing his words.

"You help people escape their lives don't you?" He narrows his eyes in answer, "Well I'm willing to give you anything that you want. Money, jewelry, even my soul if you are willing to help me achieve what I am wanting."

He slams his fit into the table in front of me, scaring the wits right out of me as I curl back into my chair, a natural response to protect myself.

"Why would you say that?" He yells, "Do you have no sense?" He questions, but I don't understand his rage. I haven't done anything that anyone else hasn't done. Besides, my soul belongs to him, one way or another, it's all his.

"Help me Alaric." I plead.

"With what?" His voice strains, "What could you possibly be trying to escape? Your perfect little life at home?"

"Are you going to help me or not?" I ask, growing angry at his mocking.

He sneers, "I don't know why I should!"

I press my hand over my face in frustration, "Because if you don't, I'll find somebody who will." I threaten.

"You go do that princess." He says smirking and standing in one swift motion, ready to leave.

I stare up at him with a million thoughts running through my mind. A million different ways I could attempt to make him stay and hear me out. But I don't get to even open my mouth. I don't have to.

Alaric leans forward, tension suddenly in his features, "Stand up slowly and do exactly what I tell you." He commands before slipping his mask back into place. "We have company."

*FROM AUTHOR:

I'm sure some of you have noticed that I changed the third book, The Wrong Mate, to a new one called The Feud. It's a book I wrote a while back and I've been hesitant to share it, but after some consideration, I thought why not. Hehe. It's a favorite of mine and I hope to one day publish it, so give it a try and let me know what you think so far! I will still be writing book three, however I'm having some trouble with the Starry app.