Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I briefly scanned his eyes before catching sight of the small smile that curled over his lips. He had finally found his soul match, and he was ecstatic, but my anxiety had not subsided.

With everything I had, I couldn't have a partner. However, my alpha mate was unaware of the agitation I was experiencing. As I frantically turned my head away from him, I noticed the golden symbol sewn on the breast of his dark velvet waistcoat.

I forced myself away from the tree and from him as my heart fell. This had to be some sort of twisted prank since it couldn't be happening. But the royal sigil was plainly seen. He scowled as I stepped away from him, but he didn't say anything; he just mimicked my actions as the rush of everything that had transpired since this morning hit me.

The demon that had bound my talents all those years ago had said that my magic would start to manifest itself when I found my mate, so everything at once made sense. The events of this morning weren't a coincidence; rather, they were a warning that I failed to heed. I made a mistake, and as a result, I am now in this situation.

"You're a royal wolf." He stopped moving as I made a minor stumble with my words. He gave me a long look before his expression appeared to change. He kneeled down in front of me, and if I weren't already terrified, I'm sure my heart would have stopped.

"I am the Alpha King, Derrick Anderson; you do not need to worry about your rogue status; I've been waiting a long time for you, mate." His words made me feel like mush, and I knew my wolf would have charged at the sight of our mate on his knees in front of us if it weren't for the silver in my blood. He was all a dominant guy should be, but this had to be a prank.

When he learned that I had witch blood, the very man who was meant to protect me had every chance to destroy me. My race had been targeted for extinction by the royal wolves, who had also exterminated the witch-blood wolves. I had read every book I could get my hands on and listened to every tale there was.

Would my partner treat me the same way? I mumbled something about "you threw me into a cell," trying to get my words together. He would have already killed me if he had wanted to. He believed that I was a rogue, and in wolf-blood, magic and rogues were equally despised. He didn't appear to be planning to kill me; instead, he opted to fall to his knees. If people had known about my roots, it would have been shocking to see a royal wolf on his knees for a witch-blood wolf.

His eyes lost their appreciation and replaced it with guilt. "You wouldn't have suffered that destiny if I had known you were my partner. In any way you see fit, my beta will be made to pay for how he treated you. It wasn't my aim to hurt you; therefore, I sincerely hope you will pardon me for the suffering I caused you.

I could feel myself crumbling around his gentle and beautiful remarks. That wasn't just I sensed a tug toward him as he continued to kneel in front of me. On each side of me, the forest's borders could be seen. I still had a chance to escape; I could have taken off. However, based on what had transpired in my bed this morning, the spell had already been broken; it was only a matter of time before my mother discovered me, so I needed to at the very least make an effort to win my partner over to my cause. He turned to face me as I slid my hand to his shoulder. I eventually responded, "I'm not a rogue," and he lifted my hand off his shoulder and put it in his mouth. I wanted to tumble into him as my heart performed a flip. He gave it a kiss on the back, and I resisted since I wanted to think clearly right now, and he was confusing my thoughts. "It doesn't matter; it's an easy problem to solve."

As I attempted to yank my hand away from him once more, he moaned. He had softened me with his kind words, and now he was labeling me a problem. I felt the wrath flush against my bones. "I am sincere; your warrior made a mistake; I am not a rogue. I am from the Knightfall pack, along with my companion. I'm sure if you called my Alpha — His ominous growl choked the rest of my sentence. My skin was starting to itch from my discomfort. I had no idea how I would locate my soul mate; in fact, I had made up my mind to never find him. I had hoped that my mate would be an omega, a wolf that wouldn't grow to despise me due to my position of authority and tyrannical leadership.

I had only gotten the reverse when I was now looking at my mate. "To me, you smell sweet and light, like daisies on the cusp of springtime, but your rogue scent is unmistakable." As I regarded him from a distance, my heart was stuttering. I was beginning to feel anxious. Had Alpha Knight severed my ties to the pack secretly? "I'm not lying; your wolf took my bag—I just need you to speak to my Alpha."

He tightened his hold on my hand, and I wrenched it away, stretching the muscles. "Call him your Alpha one more time, angel, and my wolf will not be able to hold himself back." His possessiveness could be seen in his growl. I gasped as I saw him stand up from the ground, and his shadow covered me. Alphas were always larger than the other members of the pack, but whatever steroids my partner was taking were crazy. I took a step away from him, gulping as I did so because of how intimidating he was. I was drawn to him by his aura and wanted to submit to him. The way his eyes changed colors and the way his fangs protruded from his lips gave away the struggle he was having with his wolf. That mouth, those lips—those fangs would puncture my skin and give me my mate mark. "Those are some dangerous thoughts you are having, mate." I stared back at him after being startled out of my daze.

He approached me and again placed his fingertips across the blush on my cheeks. "Is there something you would like to share with me?" I was flustered and shook my head a lot, as I could sense the erotic undertone in his comments. "Very well, but know this."

I was again having trouble breathing as he gently held my chin. "Whatever you'd like, all you have to do is ask." Fuck, I underestimated how difficult it would be to resist his mate's pull. "Take my hand." He made a quiet demand, and I was too stunned to object. He squeezed my hand and turned his back to me while we enjoyed the sensation of our hands together. I let out a high-pitched cry. As I saw all the people who had been watching our conversation, I suppressed the embarrassment as he started heading resolutely back towards his pack house.