Mine to Claim

Chapter 22

"Shameless wolf. I lost my mate years ago to a rogue vampire. Till this day I am hunting the murderer of my mate, searching for him in places where not even a cockroach would live and you call me Mateless?"

Dominic's words sound so beastly that for a moment, his voice itself dominates through my mind. Only when I recall what he spoke that I am rendered frozen in my position behind the trees.

He has a mate. No, he had a mate. She's dead. He's avenging her death.

That's why he said that I was a mistake.

So, it's true. You get to meet your mate only once.

And Dominic has already met his mate. It means that he is not mine.

So that doubt in my mind when I felt his lust for me, that he might be my mate; it's not true. He's not my mate.

But then why do I feel desire for him? I never felt it before and it's said that true desire is felt for a mate only.

Does this mean that there was a mistake in my mind? Or I do not really have a mate that's why my emotions are going haywire?

I do not know when Fenris and Dominic become aware of my presence but soon I find myself being steered away from Dominic by Fenris. I allow my brother to push me away from them and towards my guest cottage.

Realising that my emotions are being projected to both Fenris and Dominic, I try very hard to get a hold of my emotions and put a lock on those emotions, inside my mind. This way, Dominic will not know that his words hurt me more than they should.

Males might be able to feel lust for another female who's not their mate. It must be completely normal for Dominic to lose control like that but I should take care that I don't lose control like that.

I do not really know what's the reason behind my desire for Dominic.

It may as well be the dark side of my magic playing games with me. It's possible that during the powerful suction, where Kestrel sucked my magic, some of her dark magic seeped into me. It's this dark magic, maybe, that's causing me to feel such new and possibly misleading emotions for Dominic.

He is not my mate, that much is clear from his words about his dead mate. Maybe I do not have a mate and that's why I became vulnerable enough to feel desire for him.

I have become a cluster of messy emotions!

"It's okay. Dominic won't hurt you. He's your friend remember?" asks Fenris in his baby voice, the voice that he uses to coo at Selene and I feel like smacking my brother. I am still very much upset with him for his behaviour with Sierra.

And now he thinks that I am Selene's age, to be talking with me as if I am a kid. He seems to be patronising me.

Shrugging off his hold on me, I nod at him and then walk into the guest room. However, I am unable to sleep.

Never have I been able to sleep in the night. Always staying awake because of some or the other thought that is running through my mind.

Waiting for a few minutes, I am completely aware when Fenris and Dominic walk away, both going separate ways to spend the rest of their nights.

And that's when I walk out of the cottage with a thick coat around me, covering me from neck to ankles. For my head, I wrap a thick woollen scarf gifted to me by Sierra.

Then I take off into the night.

Spreading my mind into the forest, I close my eyes and wait for the call. Being aware to the nightly creatures that are roaming freely through the forest, I manage to stay away from their paths, not wanting to disturb their nightly routines.