Heiress or Mate?

Chapter 2 - Mate

...........

Linton

...........

............................

The night before

...........................

“Thank you, Eureka. You shouldn’t have waited up. We will sort ourselves out from here,” Cas says to the maid, and she nods before walking out, but my eyes remain fixed on the door even after she’s gone, as Calyx refuses to take his gaze away.

“What?” Cas asks, finally making him stop staring at the door, and I tell him it’s nothing. He smirks, shrugging his shoulders before saying he can get her number for me, causing Calyx to growl louder. I wasn’t looking at her because I liked her. It wasn’t even me looking at her. My wolf was. He was having a stare-down with her wolf, and he doesn’t like her.

He says there’s something off about her, but I can’t tell Cas that. If I do, I would have to first tell him werewolves exist and that I’m one, and I’d rather leave that to my sister since it's not only my secret to divulge. Sadness washes over me at that thought; she’s scared he’ll freak out and reject her.

Castiel and I have been friends since we were boys, and so are our families, but his family doesn’t know my family’s secret. After my sister turned eighteen, she discovered they were mates, and they have been dating for almost two years now. But she hasn’t found the courage to tell him what she is yet. He was scared when they hooked up; he thought I might disapprove, and maybe under different circumstances, I wouldn’t have been okay with my best friend dating my little sister, but I’m not human, and different rules apply to us wolves when it comes to dating. Our partners are chosen for us, and no one can stand in the way of the mate bond.

Some wolves date humans while waiting for their mates, but it has never felt right to me, so I chose to wait for her regardless of whether she’s also waiting for me. It will be a relief to both of us when Cas finally learns the truth because I can start having honest conversations with him. He trusts me completely and tells me everything, and I sometimes feel very guilty, knowing I’m keeping who I am a secret from him, and I hate lying to him. It worries him that I'm not interested in women, and whenever we have the talk, or he tries to set me up with some chick, I wish I could tell him what I'm waiting for and spare him the trouble.

“Okay, I’m beat. So, I’m going to leave you to it,” he says, causing a confused frown on my face. Aren’t we sharing the room? I ask, and he says no, he’s got his own room.

“Oh,” I nod, surprised. His family is very kind. When I get jobs out of town, especially from wealthy families, I usually camp out or sleep in the garage. I’ve never been given a fancy room like this, so I assumed we would share.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” he adds, walking up to me, and we share a side hug. He leaves after I bid him good night. I head to the bathroom, deciding to shower before getting some sleep, or I won’t be able to wake up in the morning. Cas and I spent two days on the road driving here, and we are tired. After showering, I adjust the air con in the room and lie on the bed. I turn off the lights, and it doesn’t take long to fall asleep.

.

.

.

.

“What?" I murmur, awakened by the sweetest scent, and I raise my head, trying to open my eyes, wondering where it's coming from, but my eyelids are heavy, causing me to lay my head back on the pillow, giving in to sleep again. I can feel Calyx is awake, but I ignore him and start drifting off to sleep, but just then, I feel movement in the bed before feeling a hand on my bare back, and it jolts me out of sleep.

I gasp as an electric current covers my whole body in goosebumps, and my eyes snap open as I turn over to my back before abruptly sitting up, but a hand on my chest sends me crashing back on the mattress, my heart rate shooting up as I do.

“Who-who-“ I murmur in a voice that doesn’t sound like mine, but the words die in my throat, only a grunt followed by a growl escaping as her hand slowly trails down my chest, igniting a fire in its trail.

Calyx, I call my wolf, trying to figure out what’s happening. I should be freaking out, waking up to some girl straddling me like this and touching me, but I’m not. My heartbeat is drumming in my ears, and my breathing is erratic, but I'm not stopping her.

Calyx, I call him again, desperate as her hand slowly slides inside my pajama bottoms, but instead of replying, he purrs. What the hell? My breath hitches as she starts stroking my d**k while slowly leaning her face toward mine, and I shudder when she crashes her lips against mine.

My fingers take on a life of their own and weave into her hair as I deepen the kiss, but she breaks it and kisses me down the neck. I grip the sheets, at her mercy, as her soft, warm lips travel down my chest while she slowly pulls down my pajama bottoms with her hands. I lift my hips so she can take them off, but she doesn’t. Instead, she leaves them halfway and straddles me again before lifting up her sleep shirt and adjusting herself on my length. My claws surface and poke holes in the mattress while a growl vibrates across my chest as she slides me inside her.

My hands fly to her waist when she starts to move, curling my toes while my head sinks into the pillow. I sit upright and take off her sleep shirt before latching onto her neck, making her moan. She tilts her head to the side, granting me more access, and her claws dig into my back, and she shudders when my canines graze her marking spot. But just then, a stench of blood hits my nose before feeling something wet running down her neck. I pull back to look, and my heart stops seeing blood coming out of her eyes, ears, and mouth. She starts choking, and before I can do anything, red fur springs out of her face and chest, and I realize she’s shifting. I cup her face, unsure what to do as she starts shaking, and before I can do anything, she falls limp in my arms.

“Help me!” she whispers with an inhumane voice, and Calyx lets out a painful howl. But just then, I hear a faint voice calling me.

“Linton?!” my eyes snap open to find Cas shaking me, and I abruptly sit up on the bed, panting, realizing I was dreaming.

“Are you alright?” he asks with a concerned frown, and I glance in the mirror across the room to see myself drenched in sweat.

“I’m—I’m fine,” I stutter, getting off the bed and heading to the bathroom, still traumatized by the dream. It felt so real. I wash my face in the sink, my skin burning hot as I try to calm my racing heart. I don't know how long I take in the bathroom, trying to calm myself, but when I get out, I find Cas still in the room, sitting on the bed. He gets up and asks if I want to talk about the dream, but I tell him I'm okay. He says breakfast is ready, but I ask him to go ahead, adding I will eat while working like I always do, but he says that’s not how it works here.

“You are my best friend. My family is your family, so you are going to join us for breakfast,” he adds, stepping up to me, and I nod, still haunted by the dream. I can still feel her hands on me, and Carlyx is just as messed up as I am. I try to calm him down, reminding him it was just a dreame, as I throw on my clothes before following Cas out of the room.

It’s 6:20 a.m., and I overslept. I’m usually already working by this time. A girl gets up, screaming Cas's name, and throws herself into his arms when we enter the dining room. The woman, who I assume is his aunt, stands up too, and they hug.

There’s also a guy who looks around our age, and he gets up, too, and they hug. Cas introduces me to everyone, and his aunt says it’s nice to meet me before inviting me to sit down. I do, and just then, the maid enters with breakfast, causing Carlyx to snarl in my head, and I look at her. Calyx is an excellent judge of character. He can sense bad energy instantly, and I have learned to trust him. If he doesn’t like this maid, that means there’s something about her, but what?

She exits, and we start digging into our breakfast, but just then, the scent from the dream hits me. My eyes snap in the direction of it, my heartbeat accelerating, and I freeze when the girl from my dream enters the room. Cas gets to his feet, saying something to her, and she smiles at him, but my heart ceases when she looks at me, and Carlyx utters the last word I expected to hear, “mate.”

.

.

.

.......

Veil

.......

“He-mate,” I stutter breathlessly, looking at my mother’s horrified expression while Castiel looks at me, puzzled. I look at the cause of my misery again to find him still frozen in his spot, and I run out of the room, feeling like my knees are about to give in. I hear my mother call after me, but I don’t wait or reply.

This can’t be happening. I get to my room and run straight to the bathroom to get the serum. Mother bursts inside the door, and I hear her turning Castiel away, saying I’m going to be okay before saying the same to my siblings. The door closes, and I hear her footsteps making their way toward the bathroom, and I quickly fill up the syringe and stab my vein, no longer able to hold back my tears. Mom walks inside with a sad look on her face, and I break down and cry.

“I don’t understand what’s going on! Why is this happening? You said this serum would control it. You said the beast wouldn’t wake up as long as I took it.” I cry out, filling the syringe again, but she grabs my hand and takes it before setting it aside and pulling me into a hug.

“He’s your soulmate,” she says, tightening her arms around me, but I rip them off of me, stepping away from her.

“I don’t care. I don’t want him!”

My mother told me about mates, but I’m not going to let some stupid bond dictate how to live my life. I’m not going to let it tell me who to love. She tries to tell me mates are sacred and chosen by the gods, but I scream at her to stop. I don’t care, and she knows that. I made it clear to her when she told me. I know only one God, and I don’t believe in all the other stupid s**t. If this stupid mate bond was so sacred, how the hell did the monster that got her pregnant leave her? Where was that stupid mate bond when he did that? When he abandoned her and never looked back. Why didn’t the stupid gods intervene, then?

She opens her mouth to say something, but I rush past her and head to the cabinet still standing open and grab the serum again. I take the syringe, but just as I'm about to inject myself, she walks up to me and takes it away again. I know overdosing is dangerous, but I don’t care. I’d rather die than let this beast ruin my life. I’d rather die than be with that loser.

“I’d rather die than be forced to be with someone I don’t want! Don’t you understand?”

“You’re not going to be with anyone you don’t want to be with,” she says, letting go and ripping off her necklace, earning a confused look from me. But before I can say anything, she opens the pendant and takes out a black diamond. “That’s why I had this made. Because I understand,” she adds, stepping up to me and taking my hand while I’m still looking at her, confused. She opens it and places the diamond in the palm of my hand.

“What is this?”

“It’s midnight pearl,” she says, and I immediately feel something rising as more tears spill from my eyes in frustration.

“What difference is this going to make? This is the same s**t in the serum!” Is she out of her mind? This s**t is why we are here in the first place because it failed.

“This is stronger than what’s in the serum. This is its rawest form!” she says, and I look at the stone in my hand again before looking at her. “This, if placed next to your heart, will keep the beast dormant forever. Even the mate bond won’t break through it. But it’s a dangerous Veil. It’s the reason I opted for the serum,” she explains, but I don’t let her finish and grab her arms. I don’t care how dangerous it is. I don’t care if I die. If this beast takes over, I’m good as dead anyway.

“Make the necklace; I will wear it; I don’t care.”

“That’s the thing. You are not going to wear it as a necklace; it has to be embedded into your skin, above your heart. That’s what makes it dangerous."

“What?” My eyes widen, and I step away from her, shocked, and she opens her mouth to respond, but just then, I feel it. I feel the beast inside me, and I fall to my knees, clutching my head as my heartbeat goes wild.

“Do it,” I whisper, clutching her leg with shaky hands, scared out of my mind, and she says okay, kneeling to my level before assuring me it’s going to be okay. She helps me up and takes me to the bed before telling me she’ll be back, but I catch hold of her hand and beg her not to leave me alone. I’m sweating and terrified the beast is going to come out, and I won’t be able to stop it. She cups my face and says she won't leave before wiping the sweat dripping down my face.

“I’m scared, mom, I’m so scared,” I confess, trembling in her arms, and she holds me tighter.

“I know, my love. But I promise it’s going to be okay,” she reassures me, removing the hair sticking to my face before taking out her phone and calling my cousin, Castiel. He picks up, and I can hear him clearly on the other side, making me realize my hearing is heightened. The beast is starting to take over. She tells him to come to the room, and I look at her, confused. Why would she want him to see me like this? How is she going to explain what’s happening? I ask, and she says to trust her, hugging me. A moment later, the door opens, and he enters, the concerned frown on his face deepening the moment his eyes land on me.

“What’s happening? Is she okay?” He asks, walking up to us, and mom gets up and tells him, I’m fine. I'm having an allergic reaction.

“Your friend. What’s his name again?”

“Linton.”

“Will you please inform him he will no longer be required to do the job?” she asks, and Castiel looks at her confused, but mom speaks again before he can. “I will pay him the job’s wage since he came all the way," she adds, but the worried look doesn't leave Castiel's face.

“Okay, but Aunt Liora, I’m confused. Is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine, but we won’t be needing him anymore. I’m sorry I wasted your time, but he needs to leave. Now," she says, and Castiel opens his mouth to speak, but a knock on the door cuts him off, and I freeze.

“It's him.”