Kael’s POV

I drew out my sword, ready for a challenge. If she knew who I was, she wouldn’t have dared me for a swords duel.

But she held the base of her sword, finalizing her intention.

“Right, lady,” I said with a playful grin. “I’ll go easy on you-”

She lunged first, throwing my sword off my hold. I somersaulted, dodging the sweeping action of the edge of her sword towards my neck.

I reached for my sword and flipped it. “Don’t you play fair?”

“Who’s playing?”

She charged towards me and I got to my feet in time to block another hit. Our swords clashed against each other with a screech. She pushed hard, her brows lowering, and her eyes darkening with mad intention to kill me.

I backed away and threw my sword. “You’re crazy,” I said. “Do you want your head gone? You dare look at an Alpha with the intent to kill.”

“You’re no Alpha!” she barked.

She was beautiful, alright. Blonde haired and blue eyed but her mouth was poison.

“I’m giving you a chance to take that back and apologize,” I said.

She didn’t let go of the sword nor stop glaring at me. My wolf roared within me, wanting to tear out.Teku didn’t have the same patience I had. Good thing the moon wasn’t up.

“I would rather die than let out an apology,” she spat venomously. Then she dropped her sword. “I can see already that you’re just a big mouth who cannot even duel a lady.”

She scoffed and glanced at the arrow that I had shot. “You can’t even hit a target.”

“I would have got you if I wanted,” I declared.

Her audacity amused me. This was Western pack, a region ruled tightly by my cousin. From the way she was dressed, I knew she wasn’t of the royal house. Heck, I knew all my cousins.

She was, at best, a dairy maid, and she spoke with so much bitterness.

“You’d learn to keep your thoughts to yourself soon,” I said. “I can tell that you’re new here. A rogue, maybe. But this is the West.”

She didn’t reply but walked into the stables. I watched from outside as she stroked and kissed a horse.

Fine.

She was a horse maid who had more love and respect for horses. And she was a good fighter. I walked away, unbothered. It was the night of the festival of the mating ceremony, my fourth without finding my mate, and my cousin had thought it would be best if I attended the ceremony in his pack, seeing my mate wasn’t in mine.

And with each day I was without a mate, my people died. The curse spread without fear or favour and started with a feeling of head ache until the victim turned to stone.

The Anon’s curse, they called it, raised upon my pack because we looked back from the war. My father had promised to help the witches escape. But he changed his mind overnight. And now, I bore the consequences of his action, too concerned about his reputation to tell my people the true origin of the curse.

A true mate’s bond will take it away, they say. But I’ve been mateless since my coming of age.

I kicked the pebbles along the path, wishing now that I had gone to hunt with Thakros. Wasn’t it boredom that made me duel a rude maid with a death wish?

Alpha Thakros was back from his hunt by evening. His entourage sang his praises as they danced around with the wild games he had caught. I walked out to meet him.

“Cousin.”

He threw his arms around my back. “It’s good to see that you've heeded my advice.”

“Now, heed to mine,” I said, pulling away. “You need a bath.”

Alpha Thakros laughed. “Not when there’s a lot happening tonight.”

“You owe the girls some good bath then, cousin.”

“How about they lick off the sweat out of my body?”

I forced a grin. I wasn’t really a fan of Thakros’ sexual taste. But I knew when to withhold an advice.

“But tonight’s special,” he added with a grin. “I get a mate…all the way from Western pack.”

Even the beastly Thakros had found a mate and I still searched for mine.

“You should meet her.”

I nodded. “Of course.” I joined the crowd into the Thakros’ living quarters, as he called it. Maybe it was because it was always lined up with completely naked girls at his beck and call. I settled down beside him while he instructed that everyone in the royal family join him to meet his mate.

“We’ll have the ceremony right here,” he said.

He said it like it was mundane. I had always dreamt of what my mating ceremony would look like. I had imagined my bride, my mate, dressed so beautifully in an overflowing white dress and a smile that told me she’d be mine forever. I had imagined how precious the moment would be when I sank my tooth into her neck, drawing blood, claiming her completely.

The rest of the royal family appeared and sat beside us. Lupa, my sister, who had run away from the pack after her mate had been killed by the curse, didn’t acknowledge my presence. She sat afar and set her gaze on the entrance.

We all waited to see the new Luna, the one who would become mate of Thakros ‘The Beast’. And for her sake, I hoped she was hard hearted.

Then we heard a rattling sound, rhythmical enough for us to realize that Thakros had chained his mate.

I bit my lips, stopping whatever I wanted to spew. I was just going to be here for a few days, find my mate, if she was truly here, and hoped to never return to the Wild East.

Then she made her appearance.

At first, I didn’t recognize her and I thought I was mistaken. But when she smiled, I knew it was her.

I stood up, feeling stupid, and pointed accusingly at her. “You. It’s you.”