Prisoner To My Mate

CHAPTER TWELVE

I arrive home after a long drive. I was able to hitch a ride with a few humans. I open the house door, expecting to smell Mom's scent, but I don't. She’s been gone for too long that her scent has faded away. The whole place is turned upside down. The living room looks like someone was trying to tear it down. There are pillows everywhere, and the TV is broken. Did they fight in here? The kitchen is like the living room, but my breath catches in my throat when I see blood on the kitchen counter.

There’s a weird smell in the kitchen, but I realize what it was, and I wish I didn't. Please, I hope it's not Mom's. I sniff the blood to find out if it has the scent of Mom, but I can't tell because it’s too decayed. I empty my stomach in the kitchen sink because the blood smelt so bad. I think it's been here for days. The amount is so tiny I can't tell who the blood belongs to. I feel little comfort knowing that if it belonged to Mom, she didn’t bleed a lot.

I walk upstairs to check the rooms. Unlike downstairs, which looks like it was used for a WWE match, the rooms are intact. I think about the horrors Mom might face wherever she as I get to her room and search. Her room still has her scent. I’m sure it’s because of her clothes. I try to push back the tears—I need to be strong right now. I can't be crying about every little thing. I need to shower and visit our Alpha and find out how the search is going.

***

After I finish showering and cleaning up the house, I walk outside to the packhouse. The second I step inside, all eyes turn to me. Why is everyone looking at me? It's not like I’m a stranger here. A girl around my age, who I hardly speak to and heartily dislike, walks toward me with the worst fake smile plastered on her face.

“Oh my God, Ana, I can't believe you’re back,” she says, pulling me into a hug, but I don't hug her back. I wonder why she’s talking to me like we’re friends.

“Kimberly, are you losing your memory? You’re talking to me and hugging me?” I ask, pulling myself from her arms.

“My memory is fine. I missed you. I can't believe you’re back,” she says in that annoying high pitch voice of hers.

I'm not fond of Kimberly for many reasons. She’s the pack slut, yet she always calls me the slut because I was dating a human. I regret dating Matt so much after what he did to me. I hope when I go into the city, I won't run into him. A lot of werewolves frown upon others dating humans. Kimberly is one of them and she expressed her dislike by calling me a slut.

The second reason I hate her is that she slept with Matt. She hates me for dating a human, and then she goes and sleeps with him. Imagine my shock the day Chloe told me they started dating as soon as I left. Apparently, Matt started cheating on me with her before the night I caught him. I may have found my mate and my feelings for Matt have almost disappeared but it doesn’t change the fact that I was betrayed by someone dear to me as well as another woman in my pack.

“Kimberly, I don't know why you’re acting like we’re friends, but we’re not,” I say and walk past her.

I walk to the Alpha's office and knock on his door. It’s noon, so he should be there. I turn the doorknob once he tells me to come in.

“Ana, sorry, Luna Queen; I can't believe you’re here. The Alpha King didn’t notify me you were coming,” my old Alpha Steven says before I even fully walk into the room. One of the downsides about being a werewolf is that everyone knows you’re coming before they see you because we can smell each other's scent.

It feels odd that the Alpha I grew up bowing my head to is now bowing his head to me. I realize that I’m truly the Alpha King's mate even though he doesn’t acknowledge me.

“You don't have to call me that Alpha Steven. The Alpha King must have forgotten I was coming,” I lie because the minute Steven knows I left without my mate's approval, he’ll tell Theo that I’m here, and I don't want that. I’m surprised Theo hasn’t asked Steven to check if I’m here already. He really doesn’t care about me just like he’s been telling me.

“I can't call you by your name, it wouldn’t be appropriate. But let's put that aside. I know why you’re back. Don't worry. We are doing everything we can to find her, and hopefully, we will soon.”

“I’m so grateful for all you can do, do you know why my Mom was kidnapped?”

“No. I have no idea.”

“Could she have had any enemies we don't know about?” I ask, curious to find any leads.

“Not that I know of, but she could have some that we don’t know about.”

“That’s possible,” I say, trying to think if Mom has ever mentioned someone she hates or who hates her, but I come up with nothing. Mom’s never been one to socialize a lot. She doesn’t have a lot of friends let alone enemies.

“We’re searching the whole state for her. Your mom is significant to this pack, so we won't hesitate to try our hardest to find her.”

“Thank you. How can I help with the search?”

“I don't think you need to. But if you insist, some of our best trackers are leaving tomorrow for the north side of the city. You can go with them and look for her around that area.”

“Thank you so much, Alpha Steven,” I say, smiling for the first time in a while. I was a little worried he won't allow me because he might not want to put my life at risk because I’m the king's mate.

“It's nothing, and I’ll see you tomorrow, Luna Queen,” he says, and I walk out of his office to get ready for my trip.

***

The following day, I wake up early to get ready for the trip to the city's north side. I already packed my bags last night. Alpha Steven said we would be staying for a week, so I packed enough clothes to last. We’ll be staying with another pack while we’re there. I just finished having breakfast, and I’m walking to the packhouse to join the other trackers coming along.

I walk over to the car, where I see Alpha Steven standing.

“Good morning, Luna Queen,” he says, bowing his head to greet me, and so does everyone around us. They are three male wolves and two females.

I feel shy with how everyone is bowing to me and giving me so much respect. This isn’t the first time I’ve been called Luna, but it's different. It’s people I know and grew up with who are calling me Luna. I wish they’d stop, but I know better than to tell them they shouldn't. It’ll only lead to people finding out the rocky relationship between the Alpha King and me, and I don't want that.

“Good morning, everyone,” I say, trying to hide the red stain on my cheeks.

“We’re ready to leave; we’re just waiting for the last female tracker,” a male says, and if I remember correctly, his name is Raymond.

“Alright, and who are we waiting for?”

Raymond is about to speak when I hear that familiar high-pitched voice I hate from behind me. You have got to be kidding me?

“Good morning, everyone,” she says, walking toward where we are. “I’m sorry, I’m late.”

“It's fine, Kimberly. I hope you have everything you need,” Steven says.

“Yes, I do, Alpha,” she says and grabs my hand. She pulls me closer to her like we’re best friends. “Don’t worry, Ana.”

“Don't call me Ana; it's Luna Queen to you,” I cut her off before she can finish talking. I don’t like been called Luna Queen because I’m not used to it, and my mate doesn’t act like I deserve the title. But if it gets Kimberly to leave me alone, I’ll gladly use it.

“I’m sorry, I forgot you have a mate, giving that you came back to our pack. I thought you were rejected,” Kimberly says with an evil smirk, intentionally trying to hurt me. She knows very well that I’m back because I want to find my Mom. She just wants to get on my nerves.

“My mate didn’t reject me. I’m back to find my Mom.”

“Oh, yeah, that's true. Your Mom is missing,” she says, acting like she forgot. She’s standing here, ready to go on a trip to find my Mom, and she’s acting like I just reminded her. How stupid does she think I am?

“Why is she coming?” I ask Alpha Steven. I don’t want to go on this trip with Kimberly. I’m a nice person, but she brings out the worst in me.

“I know you and Kimberly have your differences, but she understands we need to find your Mom and is one of our best trackers.”

“Don't we have anyone else?”

“We don't right now,” he says, and I release a sigh. The hatred between Kimberly and I isn’t a secret to the pack. So if Alpha Steven has asked her to come along, we must really need her.

“Don't worry, I’m going to do my best to find your Mom,” she says, smiling. I say nothing but shake my head. I don't know how I’m going to survive a trip with her.

And I don’t know if I believe her.

***

After driving for an hour, we arrive at the Crescent Blood Pack. They are the pack we will be staying with while we look for Mom. We step out of the minivan, and we’re greeted by their Alpha, a good friend of Alpha Steven.

“Welcome, Luna Queen; it's a pleasure to have you in our midst,” he says, bowing his head when he sees me. How did he know what I looked like? Did pictures of me spread with the news of the Alpha King finding his mate?

“Hello, Alpha Mark, the pleasure is all mine. But how did you know I’m the Luna Queen?”

“Alpha Steven told me you were blonde.”

I nod. It makes sense because I am the only blonde here.

Thank God it’s not because my picture spread with news of me being the Alpha King’s mate. That would be horrible. I know I’m not ugly, but I don't pride myself on being the prettiest girl out there. I’m no Scarlett. I can’t imagine the whole werewolf clan knowing how I look. I won’t be able to stop thinking about how people will judge me.

“Let me get everyone settled in so we can discuss how we will search the area. This way everyone,” Alpha Mark says, leading us to his mansion, the packhouse.

He shows us to our rooms for the week before taking us to his office to discuss how we’ll search the area. We left very early so there would be time to start looking for her once we arrived. He divides us into groups of two and gives us places in the city to search. Kimberly, not surprisingly, wants to be paired with me, but I ignore her. I pair with another girl from our pack who won't give me a headache every time she opens her mouth. Her name is Riley, and she seems nice.

***

Riley and I search the town together. We ask everyone we see if they’ve seen Mom using a picture of her I got from my laptop. It's been hours, and no one’s seen her. It's getting dark, and Riley is hungry, so I tell her to go back to the packhouse while I search the woods to see if I can pick up her scent. I brought some clothing of Mom's for them to sniff while searching for her.

By the time it's fully dark, I’m so disappointed. I couldn’t find her or find anyone who saw her. I walk back to the packhouse because I’m hungry and tired. I hear some movement while walking in the woods but I don't pick any human or wolf scent, so I ignore it. I smell something terrible but pay no mind and continue walking; as a wolf I’m used to coming across nasty scents.

When I get to the edge of the woods the horrible smell becomes stronger. I turn around to investigate and wish I’d just minded my business and hurried out of the woods. There, standing before me, is our greatest enemy.

“Hello princess, I hope you taste as sweet as she did,” he says, with a full grin, showing off giant fangs covered in fresh blood from sucking the life out of the poor girl he just tossed away like trash.

I freeze in my spot as I stare at the blood around his mouth. I’ve only heard tales of these creatures. I’m full of shock they truly exist.

In the blink of an eye he’s beside me, sniffing my neck.

“I hear werewolf blood is amazing. I can't wait to taste yours,” he says and deepens his fangs, sinking them into my neck.

A piercing scream erupts from me as he sucks away my life.

This is how I die?