The Dark Alpha's Sweet Mate

8 Waking up in a strange place.

The darkness was thick all around him. Maverick felt like he was drowning. He pushed, fighting for air. He could see a tiny light in the distance. It called to him, calling him out of the darkness. He reached for that light, fighting with all of his might to touch it. He gasped as he finally breached the darkness and he could touch the light. He blinked his eyes open and stared at the window letting in the light that had dragged him out of the abyss. A breeze played with the curtains that blocked most of the light. Maverick blinked as he looked around him. He stared down at himself, and he could see that he was lying on a bed. There was a sheet covering him from his chest to his toes. He was in some room in someone else’s house. He frowned, because he didn’t know where he was or what he was doing there.

Shouldn’t he be at the labs? Or did someone rescue him? He looked to the side of the bed, as the thought of his mate came rushing into him like a tsunami. He sat up, immediately regretting it as his head pounded hard as pain slashed through him. He groaned, slumping back down on the bed. He raised his head and clutched his head.

Fuck… what happened to him? Did he get hit by a truck? He asked himself, feeling like he had been in a very bad accident.

A door to the room opened, and he turned to the sound. A male walked in, pushing a cart. He gave him one look, but said nothing. Maverick frowned at him. He didn’t look like any of Noble's men. He sniffed the around him, and he didn’t smell human either.

What was going on? Maverick asked himself as he looked toward the door. If he wasn’t in Noble’s lab, then someone rescued him.

But where was his mate? Maverick asked himself, feeling anxious that she wasn’t by his side. The last thing he remembered was having her in his arms after he claimed her. He must have fallen asleep. But how did he get here? Maverick asked himself as he stared at the man. He slowly approached the bed with his cart.

“I am going to check your wounds. You should be healed by now,” he said softly. But Maverick could pick up a hard edge to his voice. He sensed that he didn’t want him there. He ignored the vibe that he was picking up from him. He needed to know where his mate was. If she wasn’t there. He had to go back for her at Noble’s labs.

“Where am I?” he asked. He cleared his throat as it felt rough.

The male stopped and stared at him. He moved closer to the bed, and peeled off the sheet that covered him from his chest to his feet, revealing a band of bandages around his chest. He really was hurt, Maverick thought as he stared down at his chest. But how?

He really needed answers about what happened to him. If he was hurt, what happened to his mate?

His heart hammered in his chest as he thought of her hurt somewhere all alone.

“Answer me,” Maverick said with a growl.

“I don’t have to answer anything,” he said. His jaw worked, showing his anger.

What the hell was his problem? Maverick asked himself.

The male turned to the cart, and picked up a pair of scissors. He went to cut the bandages, but Maverick gripped his arm, stopping him. Maverick felt his wolf stare within him. His claws lengthen.

He didn’t want to let his wolf out, because he didn’t know what was inside him now after Noble’s experiments, but if he had to, he would. He would do anything to save his mate. Even allow the dark beast that lived inside him out.

He held tight to the male’s arms, as he felt his canines grow. The male snarled, staring down at him.

Maverick paused as he looked at the male's hand. His claws lengthened too. They looked the same as his. He looked up at his face, and he had the same canines as him.

They stared at each other.

He was the same as him, Maverick thought, shocked.

The male snatched his hand. And turned away from him. He took deep breaths as if he was calming himself down. After a few minutes, he turned around and looked at him.

“You need to leave. You shouldn’t be here. Your presence will bring nothing but trouble,” he said, walking to the cart. Maverick stared at him confused. He didn’t understand what he was talking about. But he sounded like he knew something he didn’t. “Like I said, your wounds are healed now. You should leave.”

He pushed the cart and walked to the door.

“Wait?” Maverick sat up slowly. “I don’t even know where I am. Did someone rescue me from the lab? I don’t know how I got here.”

The male shook his head and reached for the door handle.

“Please, I need to find my mate,” Maverick begged. The male paused. He slowly turned to face him.

“Your mate?” he asked, sounding surprised.

“Yes, do you know what happened to her?”

He shook his head.

“You don’t know?” he asked. He clenched his hands into fists. He looked around him, suddenly feeling desperate. He had to find her. He pulled the sheet completely off his body and stumbled out of bed. He winced as his head pounded harder. He ignored it and walked to the male. He came to a stop a few inches from him.

“If she’s not here, then she’s at the labs. How do I get there? You can at least tell me that.”

“The human labs were burned to the ground. There’s nothing left.”

Was she gone? Maverick stared at him shocked. Was his mate dead? He closed his eyes feeling like the world was crumbling all around him.

“But…”

“But what?” his eyes popped open and he stared at him.

“I don’t think whoever you’re looking for is your mate, since it’s not possible for us to have mates,” he said simply, with a shrug.

Us?

What did he mean? Maverick remembered the way his claws and canines had lengthened. They were one and the same.

What were they? Maverick asked himself. He opened his mouth to ask him, but there was a knock at the door. The male turned to the door. But he paused before he opened it.

“Make sure you leave as soon as you can. Or it won’t be safe for either one of us,” he opened the door, and walked out. He nodded to a white-haired man on his way out. From his ears, the man looked to be fae. He stepped into the doorway and stared at him.

“I see you’re fine now,” he said, looking him over. “I am sorry. I am the one who rammed you with my SUV. In my defense, I didn’t see you coming. You came out of nowhere.”

Maverick stared at him a little confused. Does this mean that he escaped on his own?

“Was I alone?” he asked. He didn’t think he would have left his mate alone.

“I think so. I didn’t see anyone with you,” the white-haired man walked fully into the room. “My name is Kalan by the way, I am the King of Fairies. Let me be the first to say that I am glad you managed to escape from wherever Dr Noble was keeping you. I guess it would be too much to hope that he’s lying somewhere dead, and he won’t be able to hurt anyone else any time soon.”

Maverick nodded. He didn’t remember much of what happened. All he remembered was lying with arms wrapped around his mate in that room. And then he woke up there. What happened in between, like how he escaped and found himself being hit by a car. He didn’t remember.

There was another knock at the door, and Maverick watched as the Alpha King walked in. Although he might have been a recluse when he used to be the alpha of the Blackash pack, he knew the Alpha King. Every alpha in the area knew about him. Though he never met him. Behind him, walked a male who looked just like him. Maverick stared at them a little surprised. He didn’t know that the Alpha King had a brother.

“I see you know who I am,” he said as he came to stand next to Kalan. He felt his wolf's power. But it wasn’t as overwhelming as he heard other werewolves who’ve been around him say it was.

Maverick nodded. “Every alpha in the area knows about the Alpha King.”

“Good,” Marcus said, offering him his hand. Maverick shook it. “This is my brother William. I was going to wait for you to get settled in and everything. But we need to know what happened to Noble. We’ve been looking for him for while now and there hasn’t been any information. And then you show up out of nowhere. How did you escape? Is he dead?”

Maverick stared at them. He raked his brain trying to remember. But he came up blank. All he could remember was being in that room with his mate. And it felt like it was only yesterday.

“I don’t think he remembers anything,” William said, staring at him.

“Yeah, I think so too,” Kalan said next to him with a sigh.

“f**k. I was hoping we could close the book on Noble. Every supernatural leader out there is searching for answers, and it feels like we’re searching in the dark,” Marcus said, looking frustrated.

“I’m guessing the meeting didn’t go so well,” Kalan said.

Marcus shook his head. “ Everyone is still wary because of what happened. It was hard to get everyone to listen to us.”

“Lets hope that Noble won’t hurt anyone again,” Kalan said, sounding more hopeful than Marcus. “I have my scouts still out there. They’ll find something eventually.”

“Lets hope so,” Marcus said. “

“If he doesn’t remember anything, what’s going to happen to him now? You all remember how he was when we brought him in,” William said, pointing his chin at him. William stared at him as if he was a freak of nature. Marcus’s eyes narrowed on him as if he was trying to figure him out. Kalan looked slightly uncomfortable.

“He’s the alpha of the Blackash pack. He should go home,” Marcus said.

“Do you think he’s in a space where he can lead a pack?” William asked.

Marcus stared at him for a long time, that he thought he wouldn’t answer his brother.

“What do you suggest we do?” Marcus asked.

“He can come with us until he’s got everything under control. I don’t feel comfortable letting him loose into the world,” William said, sounding like he wanted to put him back in a cage or something.

Maverick snarled, taking a step away from them.

“Hey, calm down,” William said, stepping close to him. He raised his arms in a non-threatening way. “I’ve been where you are. I know what it's like to be caged and kept in a dark room. I just want you to be in the right mind set before stepping back into the real world. I have a cabin that’s empty that you can use. You don’t have to deal with us if you don’t want to.”

Maverick stared at him. He could feel his wolf’s agitation subside a little. He looked from William to Marcus, they looked like they genuinely wanted to help him.

He nodded, and he could see the relief on their faces.

“Let’s go then,” William said, smiling for the first time since he walked into the room. Maverick nodded, and they filed out of the room.

They walked down a hallway to the front door. He looked around the house and he could see medical stuff similar to the ones Dr Noble used. The house looked like a makeshift hospital.

“We’ll take him off your hands now. Thank you, Madison,” Marcus said as he came to stop an office.

Maverick saw the male who came into the room as they walked past the office. He looked at him, and he could see relief on his face.

Maverick wondered why he didn’t want him there. He was adamant that he go as far away from here as possible. But he didn’t understand why, like the other thing that he said that sent chills down his spine. That was a strange thing to say. Maverick ran the words in his mind.

“I don’t think whoever you’re looking for is your mate, since it’s not possible for us to have mates.”

If that is true, then what happened between him and the female he claimed as his mate?