Chapter 33 Transparent Walls

~Anna~

We left the building in a hurry. She led me back to the castle before going to her shift.

With a shaky hand, I opened the door. The room had a coldness to it, different from the hot outside. Liam stood near his desk, with an older man in front of him, seated beside Salina.

This must be her father.

While Salina was uninterested, looking out the window with a bored expression on her face, Alpha Myron scowled when he saw me. His cold gray eyes judged me, disapproved immediately, and triggered my self-awareness.

“She’s human,” he said, peeling his eyes away from me.

Thank Goddess…

“She’s a werewolf,” Liam replied, beckoning for me to go to him. I went to his side and he snaked an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. Salina scoffed and rolled her eyes.

For a second, I thought I misjudged her, or maybe it was because I was taking Liam from her. If the person I love was snatched away from me, regardless of the reason, I’d be bitter too. So, I understand where she was coming from.

Liam’s hold tightened around me as if assuring me that everything was alright. I hoped it was or at least would. At this moment, I trusted him with everything - mine, and ours. He had the power to take what he wanted in any manner he wished, and I trusted that we were in the same boat.

“She doesn’t smell like a werewolf,” said Salina, her tone dry. “She’s human.”

“I- “

“She’s a werewolf and she’s my mate. I found her on the day of the mating ceremony which means the terms of the agreement must be complied with,” Liam said, cutting me off.

I managed a small smile on my face. He just called me his mate. He called me his mate! And he saw me as a werewolf? Me, the wolf-less one, the oddity, the one in a billion rarity of the bad kind.

Pride swelled in my chest and my insecurities didn’t matter anymore. Liam saw me as one of our kind and had fully accepted me as his mate. I didn’t care that I wasn’t as beautiful as Salina. I didn’t care that Aunty J thought I was a replacement. I didn’t care that Alpha Myron disapproved of me. I didn’t care that Salina judged me.

I had once hoped for my mate to come to find me and take me away from my old pack. I had once dreamed that my mate would look at me and find me suitable for him – that he would accept me for who I am and not reject me. I once prayed to the Goddess for a mate who’d treat me kindly. All these… because a small part of me wanted to use my mate if I ever had one. Use him to get out. It was a horrible motive, but I was imprisoned. Bound to a promise, held down by guilt.

Liam did all of it. He took me away from there, he accepted me, and he treated me like I was worth it when I couldn’t even find it in myself. I was using him. When I started to feel this way towards him, I couldn’t pinpoint the exact point in time. But I wanted this, now more than ever.

They were discussing, more like debating about the agreement. I couldn’t hear them. My thoughts were on him, all I could see was him – his face placid, his hold on me tight…

The world faded around me and he was the only clear picture. My mate, my Alpha. The one person in the world who could gather my broken pieces and put them back together. The man who brought out the best in me, the real me. It took me some time to realize that he meant what he said then.

You are my Luna…

It was so simple to him. I was his mate and so I was his Luna. My position, my condition, never mattered to him. The logic was simple. Did I overcomplicate things that didn’t need much thinking?

He knew what he wanted and how he wanted it and he had the power to take it. I now know what I wanted, and I’d gamble my heart again to get it.

I couldn’t hear him now. All I saw was my mate… and his soft, beautiful lips.

My hand reached out on its own and touched the side of his face. He stopped talking, startled, and looked down at me. I pulled his face towards mine as I stood on my toes to kiss him. It felt right. This was right.

His soft lips and the sparks that lit up within me were proof enough. The arm around me that pulled me closer to him was proof. He was mine, and I was his.

Alpha Myron and Salina and the rest of the world seemed so far away. It was now just Liam and me. My other hand went to the back of his head to deepen the kiss. He dominated my mouth, using his tongue to explore every deep crevice, seductively sliding with mine. I moaned into the kiss, letting go of the butterflies that were trapped in my stomach. They fluttered all over the confined space inside of me, their wings pleasantly tickling me all over.

Liam pulled away and I gasped for air. His eyes were soft. They looked at me with a newfound twinkle and they darkened with desire. He desired me… the girl who got rejected, the girl who was disgraced. Heat crept up my cheeks. I didn’t care.

Someone cleared his throat in the background.

Oh right, Alpha Myron is here.

“I can see you two have gotten… well-acquainted,” he said.

Salina was gone. The door was left open. I didn’t notice when she had left.

“The condition has been fulfilled,” said Liam. “I found my mate within the given time.”

Alpha Myron smiled a calculated smile. “Unfortunately, we have no way of proving that she really is your mate.”

“I am his mate!” I exclaimed, a little louder than I intended.

“Can you prove it?” he asked. “We know little to nothing about… wolf-less werewolves. For all we know, this is a show, and Liam’s using you to break off his engagement with my daughter.”

Unbelievable. He just wanted a share of Liam’s power! The union of the Red Claw Pack and the Blue Moon Pack would make him almost invincible. I might not know much about the politics among packs and their Alphas, but anyone who heard him would conclude the same thing.

Arrogant, how his confidence was over the top that he could get his way.

I intertwined my fingers with Liam’s, the tingles sending waves of goosebumps on the surface of my skin. “Liam honored his word. I am his mate, and he is mine. I have no wolf to confirm it, but I know what I feel when I’m around him,” I said firmly.

“Why should I believe you?” he scoffed.

“I-“

“I claim Anna Bella Fiora as my mate. If you don’t honor your word, I hope you understand the circumstances,” Liam said slowly.

“Do not claim to honor your word without proof, Liam,” Alpha Myron replied. “You’d orchestrate this fake show just to push my daughter to the side? After taking her from me, you would dare go this far to reject Salina?”

His fists were balled, and he was shaking in anger.

“Yes, I would,” Liam said calmly. “I would go as far as to search for my mate.” He looked down at me and tipped my chin. “The Goddess gave her to me. The term of the agreement has been fulfilled. Leave, now.”

“Not without a fight,” Alpha Myron said. “There’s only one way we can settle this.”

Liam still had his eyes on me. “I won’t go there I was you, Alpha. I won’t hesitate. You may be her father, but I am still the Alpha of this pack.”

He let go of my chin and turned to face Alpha Myron.

“You leave me no choice, boy. This is for my daughters. I will not allow them to be disgraced.”

Leaving my side, Liam walked up to him. “Then say it,” he challenged.

“I, Alpha Myron Knox of the Blue Moon Pack, challenge Alpha Liam Rose to an Alpha Duel, for the honor of my daughters.”

My eyes widened.

An Alpha Duel…

“I, Alpha Liam Rose –“

“Don’t!” I shouted. “Don’t do this…”

He ignored me. “I, Alpha Liam Rose of the Red Claw Pack, accept Alpha Myron Knox of the Blue Moon pack’s challenge.”

Alpha Myron raised his arm and Liam clasped his hand. Together, they said the words that would seal the challenge.

“Liam…” I whispered but he was pretended not to hear.

“Under the Goddess’s light,” they said together.

There was no going back now. He had wagered his wolf, his life, his pack… and me.

Alpha Myron lowered his arm. “I’ll see you tonight, Alpha.” He went straight out the door with a smirk on his face. Either he was overconfident, or he could really take down Liam. Can he?

“I’m sorry,” Liam said with his back to me.

“Why…” I whispered.

There could have been another way to make Alpha Myron understand that I was his mate. He didn’t have to take it this far – he had me now. We could’ve at least talked about this.

A lovely, intricate pattern crawled up his arm. It looked like a tattoo in black ink, long lines intertwining and circling each other like tendrils. I would’ve admired it if it wasn’t a timer, of the time he had left to honor their duel if it wasn’t proof of his bet if it wasn’t death’s mark on him.