THE WAY KEEPER

CHAPTER VI

WILLOWS POV

I couldn't restrain Ember's fury and she forced me to the back of my mind taking control of my body. Her aura spread across the room causing the delta's and omega wolves in the room to fall in submission. 'Ember calm down, we won't know what happened if you don't calm down' I said within our mind, she replied in her high octave voice, 'SHE'S HURT. HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM DO

'Ember look at me' said Raymond, Ember turned to him, our levitated body standing above him. 'Please stop this', Ember stared at Raymond, unmoved by his plea, blinded by rage. Raymond spoke to my mind knowing I could still hear him.

'Willow you need to stop this. Lara is scared and its not good for her condition.'

I am trying my love but she wont give me back control.' I responded

'Stand down Ember' said Zeus who seemed to have taken over Robert trying to protect his pregnant Luna. Ember's eyes lit in crimson as her anger was further aggravated by the tone of command used by Zeus. She slowly turned to look at the brave Alpha whose eyes had turned black, growling as he held his wife behind him, on the verge of fully shifting, ready to strike if necessary.

'Mi Nai' (My love)

We all heard and turned to look at Raymond who looked back at ember like a lost child in pain.

'Mi Brue' (My life) he said again moving closer to us.

'Bune od ma paz mi kota? (Why do you deafen your ears to my plea?)

Od? (Why?)

Ember closed our eyes focusing only on the voice of our mate as he continued to woo us in the lost language of Tud , trying to tame the blaze within us.

'Ember' I said 'Raymond needs us, so does Desire.I need to take control.' She slowly opened our eyes to find Raymond standing before us smiling with his hands outstretched to receive us as we slowly descended; the fiery red glow around us turning blue. As Ember was about to embrace our mate a large black werewolf burst through the door tackling us to the ground.

Raymond's roar and Lara's screams were the last things I heard before Ember shut me out and took complete control, seeing only red.

Earlier

MARCUS' POV

fix Outlook and cookie and I 9 up by trees and bushes. I noticed movement on my side and realised we were been followed by wolves.

'We are been followed' I said to the driver.

'Alpha increased the patrol range in his absence to protect our Luna and future Alpha. If a pin moves, we'll know about it' he replied. He started mind-linking and smiled before changing course again through a routeI knew led through a vast plain I knew Roberts pack used for selecting new warriors..

'Why are we changing route?' I asked looking at the driver.

'Alpha's orders sir' he responded.

'Hey Guys' I mind-linked to Robert and my sister but didn't get a response.

'Robert' I mind-linked again after several minutes

'Yeah Dude' he finally responded sounding breathless.

'This had better be important' said Lara also sounding breathless leaving little imagination as to what they were up to.

'Ewww guys, get a room.' I said

'Says the guy father and the entire royal council caught having s*x on in the Kings private library with two girls' teased Lara.

'Lara my mate is here!' I growled

'Aww, my baby brother is whipped already'

'Will you stop?' I whined

Robert chuckled listening to our banter.

'What's up Marcus?' he said

'Why are we changing route?' I asked

'Its a surprise' replied Lara.

As we entered the plains our cars slowed down. I saw twelve wolves run out of the bushes, six at both sides of our convoy; their colours ranging from a reddish to golden brown. As they took positions around us. Robert opened the back door of his car and stood up looking back at me smiling, his eyes changing from their natural color to Zeus' black. One of the wolves howled in salutation of his Alpha and others followed as Robert jumped out of the car transforming into a black wolf the size of a bear with white underbelly mid-air and landed in the dirt, running at top speeds to reach the front. I looked back at my mate hoping the activities hadn't woken her but she kept sleeping, not stirring at all. 'Our mate could sleep through Ragnerok' said my wolf chuckling, I sighed smiling; content with just staring at her. 'Your highness, your attention is needed' said our driver. I turned to the road and saw that my car was now starting the convoy, running in front of us were wolves led by Robert an arrow formation.

Lara spoke to me through our private link, 'Our warriors want to be the first to welcome the new princess into our world.' She opened the general link before speaking with the authority of the royal she is. 'Today the the warriors of the Death Claw pack welcomes you the Marcus Friezer, son of King Luther and now crown prince of our world with your bride to our lands.' Zeus howled through the mind link and the warriors followed suit. My wolf howled with pride at the sight before us, my chest rumbling as he fought to take control and join the run. The driver looked at me and whispered 'Your majesty your mate is ...'

'MY MATE' both my wolf and I said to ourselves. I looked back at my sleeping mate who was still thankfully asleep. Even unconscious with a swollen face she still looked breathtaking. My wolf calmed down upon seeing her and purred in my head as I reached out to pull back strands of her that covered her face. My phone rang out in the tone I recognized to be the first and last person I wanted to talk to. I quickly pulled it out of my breast pocket and changed the phone setting to vibration before switching it off and placing it back, hoping my mate had not been disturbed. She stirred turning slightly as she smiled with eyes still closed. I couldn't help but smile back looking at her. I heard a chuckle from the driver, he was in his early forties and bore the tattoo of head warrior. I raised my brow looking at him in a quizzing manner as my wolf growled lowly at what he considered disrespect.

'Apologies your majesty' he whispered, 'you have the same look my Alpha did when he found his mate' he said still staring at the road. I chuckled upon hearing him say that and sat back ip looking at him. He looked like he was barely out if his twenties but with our slow ageing I knew he could be far older.

'Do I look that helpless?' I asked

'Quite the contrary your majesty, you look like you have found missing piece. I feel honoured to witness it with my own eyes. To know that our future king is not prejudiced against ranks and accepted his human mate without question. It gives me hope for the future of my daughter and her place in our world.'

'You have a child?'

He chuckled before responding 'I have have seven. Six boys and a girl'

'Wow'

'My wife wanted a girl and we were trying but kept having boys. Fate surprised us when we hung our gloves and blessed us three years ago with her.'

'Whats her name?'

'My wife wanted something unique and name her Atiya- it means the gift of time. She is an omega like my wife.'

'You married an omega?' I asked surprised. He flinched but smiled, 'you seem surprised prince Marcus' he replied looking at me

'Besides my sister I have never met anyone who mated a lesser rank. '

'There are a few of of us who accepted our fated mates regardless of rank. It was hard facing the stigmatization, especially for her. She would be taunted, insulted and threatened, even by her fellow omegas for daring to accept me a future head warrior and she took it all without telling me.When we found out we were expecting our first , the bullying became worse, and I was left with no choice but to leave my pack to protect my family. It was a hard decision and the pressure almost tore us apart but we chose to stay together no matter what. My Alpha at the time, Alpha Veran considered my decision as a betrayal to him and the pack declaring us rouges and issuing a kill on sight order to all surrounding packs.

'Alpha Veran of the Blood moon pack?' I asked

'The same' he replied.

'You are of royal descent?'

'I was, I gave up my title and status

'Then what happened?'

'We ran, and everyday became a struggle to survive. I constantly had to fight to protect my mate and my unborn babies and would have gone feral if it wasn't for the inner strength of my mate. One day my wife went into labour as we were running from rogues. I was forced to shift to protect her when out of no where came a black wolf with a white underbelly and stood between us growling at the rouges. At the very sight of him the rouges fled, even I was scared upon seeing him, the ruthless Alpha everyone called the shadow of death and I was certain that my entire family would die that day but Alpha Robert showed us mercy and helped me and my wife back to the pack hospital where she had our first twin boys. The rest is history ' he finished looking at me.

'I don't know what to say' I responded truly surprised.

'You need not say anything Prince Marcus, but I hope that you will take heed to my words. There are many that will oppose your union with a human, and some will go to any length to prevent you from claiming her but you must stay strong and protect each other. Only if you work together will you be able to surmount the odds together. There are many of us who have prayed for this day , a monarch who didn't care for rank and married his true mate not for power. I can tell you from experience that nothing makes you stronger than protecting those who are precious to you and nothing is more precious than the bond of true mates. Protect that bond your majesty, protect your mate.'

'I will. Thank you .'

'My pleasure your highness.'

We drove towards a black gate with ornate designs with the letters WL engraved in gold colours at the center. As the gates opened, I saw Robert dressed in shorts surrounded by guys just out of their teens talking and laughing with them. They turned to us as he walked over to my sister car and bowed as our convoy continued towards a mansion thats built in renaissance style. It had ornate designs with intricate patterns on all the pillars with marbles statues in various poses arranged along both sides of the driveway leading to the house. As the car parked, Lara mind linked me.

'Marcus, please stay in the car. Willow is quite old school and very protective of those she loves. I want to break the news to her slowly.'

'I am coming with you.' I replied not wanting to part with my mate.

'Trust us on this one Marcus, Willow can be unpredictable when angry. I agree with you sister on this, let's take Willow with us inside the house and once we break the news to her and Raymond, we'll let you in.'

'If I don't see you both in five minutes, I am coming in to get my mate, I don't care who she is.'

'YES SIR, MR FUTURE KING ALPHA SIR!' teased Lara before chuckling and closing the link.

Robert came down and helped Lara out of the car before walking towards me.

I stepped out of my vehicle and opened the back door to pick up my mate.

'Still asleep?' said Robert as he stretched his hands to receive her. My wolf growled at him not wanting to part with desire. 'It alright Marcus, I swear on my life I will keep her safe.' said Robert.

I sighed and I said 'she seems to be heavy sleeper', whispering as I reluctantly handed her to him. He looked at me puzzled.'That's strange' he responded before turning to meet up with Lara and the guards at the door of the house. I watched him walking away with her and my heart felt heavier with the distance. I took my phone out of my pocket trying to distract myself and my wolf from the ache in my heart.

'I want her with us Marcus, how do we protect her if we are far from her?' my wolf asked

'She is safe dude, don't worry we will be with her in no time' I responded as I switched on my phone. Dozens of messages, voice mails and missed call notifications came swarming at the same time, all from the same person, Natasha. As I proceeded to open one of the voice mails her call came in.

'Its time Marcus' my wolf said, 'I know' said I in response. I took a deep breath as I picked up the call.

'Hi baby' she said in her high pitched voice.

'Hey' I responded and was about to talk when she started with her endless talk. I felt frustration setting into me as she kept going without giving me a chance to respond.

'I was so worried when I heard you left the castle with that Alpha your sister married, why do you hang out with him anyway he isn't even royal like us? Then you didn't pick my call, my Goddess, I nearly freaked out but then I figured you were talking something really important: like our wedding, I mean what could be more important than our wedding, right honey?'

'Natasha, I need to tell you something.'

'You don't need to ask baby, yes I will marry you. Yessss I'm going to be queen!.'

'What! Wait Natasha!'

'Thats it pup, we are doing this my way!' My wolf said as he pulled me to the back of my mind , taking full control. I know he hates Natasha and this is about to turn ugly.

MARCUS' WOLF POV

I can't believe Marcus actually fell for this b***h. He may not see her for what she is but I do, all she and her demented wolf care about is power. From the moment she came into ur lives I knew she's would be trouble. Every time Marcus touched her, it always made me feel dirty but I understood as an Alpha without his mate, he had needs and she served that purpose for him, but we no longer need her, my beautiful Desire is here. My Desire, I can't wait to know her, to protect her, to build my world around her, but first unto the matter at hand. I buried Marcus really deep in our subconscious so he wouldn't hear our conversation. Everyone thinks I am the heartless one, but I know Marcus better to than anyone, if there is anything he hates it is betrayal, it brings out the worst in him and if he ever finds out Natasha betrayed him, he will kill her without caring about the consequences and as much as I would love to see that, mother made us both promise on her life never to make trouble for dad. However this trouble cannot be avoided.

'SILENCE' I ordered using my Alpha tone, she immediately kept quiet. 'Listen carefully pup and listen well, you and Marcus will never be, do you know why? Its because you are unfit to rule by his side, you are selfish, self centered and ugly inside and out but most importantly you are not my mate.'

'Marcus loves...'

'Have I given you the permission to talk? He may not know what you did and he may be naive to not know what you are, but I do.'

'I.. don't.. know.. what..'

'Did you think I didn't notice that I could not smell any other woman besides you Natasha? Nor could Marcus get close to any other female. It was a very clever move to make me believe we were mates by overwhelming me with your scent, except it worked too well; I couldn't smell my own mother, I couldn't sense her wolf, my sister's or that of any other female; Only yours.'

' ITS BECAUSE WE ARE MATES.' she screamed

'THATS NOT HOW THE MATE BOND WORKS YOU NINCOMPOOP'

'AND HOW WOULD YOU KNOW?'

'BECAUSE WE FOUND HER, WE FOUND OUR MATE.'

'SHE'S DEAD! I SWEAR ...'

I growled so loudly, the statue beside me fell, 'ONE MORE WORD AND I WILL HAVE YOU KILLED WERE YOU STAND.'

'All I have done is for you and Marcus.' she said sobbing.

'Us, or the throne?'

'Why do you hate me? Do you not see what I offer you? With me you can have the backing of the council, the witches and the other kingdoms. My father is second in command to the king himself, my mother is the ruler of the most powerful coven in the world. We will rule as the most powerful couple in all the realms.' she said

'Finally the cat shows her claws, therefore I will show mine.Marcus and I do not need you as queen to rule. You may be the daughter of a power couple but I am the son of a King. The fact that your little spell didn't work on me is proof enough that I am stronger than you, that you will always be beneath me. Out of respect for Marcus' feelings for you I will not banish you for threatening my mate. But if I ever find out that you ever try to hurt a strand of hair on my mates head, I will reveal everything I know about you to Marcus before I kill you. I don't care who's daughter you are. Am I clear Natasha?'

'Let me talk to Marcus'

'No'

'Let him decide...'

'ITS OVER NATASHA, GOODBYE.'

'YOU WILL REGRET TH..'

I hung up not letting her finish as anger coursed through my blood. I felt my hairs sprout from beneath my skin at the thought of harm coming to my mate. I growled as a magic aura with angry vibes filled the atmosphere.'

'Your majesty please wait' said my driver.

'No! the witches, they will harm Desire.' I roared as I shifted fully and ran to the door, busting through to see Zeus in partial shift protecting my sister and still sleeping mate from a levitating woman distracted by a man I recognised to be a former advisor to father. I couldn't lose the chance, I had to protect them; so I leapt on top of her, taking her down; ready to give the final blow.

.