His Mate

Chapter twenty one

The blood moon day finally arrived. Every young wolf was happy and getting ready to meet their mates tonight. Aliyah watched from her balcony at the preparation going on. Each pack always threw a party on the blood moon night to make it more lively for their young cubs and the parents always lurk around, sipping a drink and watching them find their mates. Aliyah used to look forward to the parties even when she hasn’t found her wolf. She used to imagine how finding him would be like and when they would be running in the woods and howling to the moon before they mark themselves. It used to be a pretty sweet dream for a young wolf until her first mating ceremony came and passed.
She could remember her first mating ceremony, how she had gone shopping and bought the most expensive dress she saw in the boutique. She had wanted to look her best and had even met Amelia to do her makeup. She had been so happy and was looking so beautiful. She still had one of the pictures she took that day as she had angrily torn the others.
The pain and embarrassment she felt that day has never left her, it hurt even more than the second and third ones. She had sat where every other she-wolf sat and had watched as males walked up to them one after the other, saying the word mate. When she was the only one remaining, she had forced herself to look around, to move around. Maybe he was stuck somewhere, maybe something happened and he couldn’t meet up in time.
But when she was the only one in the arena and happy howling filled the night air all around her, she understood that she didn’t have a mate, she didn’t meet him that night. It had been so hard to move around the next day as all her friends and age mate were busy going around and showing off their mates and introducing themselves as if they don’t know each other already.
When she had lived through it, she gave herself hope with the next blood moon, ‘it’s only a year’ she told herself, ‘I can wait that long’. However, the year came and nothing and then another one and then this one. She sighed and closed her eyes, what a pain it had been, it had hurt more when Sean had mated with Monica. Monica is two years younger than them and last year was her first mating ceremony and she had stolen Sean from her right immediately the moon rose up in the night sky.
Sean was her only friend then and they constantly talked of what to do once after the party if they didn’t find their mates but last year, he had found his, leaving only her. Today, she would be the only nineteen year old wolf looking for her mate and she doesn’t think she can handle watching her young ones all find theirs and she still didn’t.
As she stared at the preparation being carried out and the happiness on everyone’s face, she doesn’t know what her own problem could be. She has been having the feeling that she would find her mate tonight, even her wolf had become restless for no reason but now, she doesn’t think she wants to find him.
Catherine’s words to her have never left her mind nor the nightwalker’s words. What if she finds him and then he killed him because he was protecting her? She had seen what he was capable of, everyone was afraid of him, including her father even though he was acting cool about it. So many times she had overheard him discussing with Beta Aton what they would do if he should attack again and she found herself worrying as well. What would she do if he showed up demanding to kill her like he had said he would?
She sighed and turned away from the window. Her eyes went to the black long gown she had chosen for the occasion. She exhaled deeply and went to crawl into her bed, her eyes closed as she fought to keep her mind blank. The mark on her neck stung her and she reached up and touched it, his face flashing in her mind immediately. What would happen tonight? Would he really find his mate and come to finish her off? How many people will he kill tonight to get to her? She already knows he was not someone she could win against, so, what is her fate with him tonight?
***
Edward stood in front of the looking glass or mirror as Rasmus often called it and watched as the young nightwalker dressed him in what he called costume. It didn’t feel like costume to him, he could still remember when he used to dress in something like that but then he had his loyal men with him. He often wondered why they chose to die but living long as they did, of course they should be tired. He was tired as well, in fourteen days he would be two thousand, one hundred and thirty eight years old. He has lived long enough as far as anyone could say. He should be considered as the oldest creature on earth as he had seen two millenniums but he still has to remember the demon king who was four thousand years old. They should have been good friends or they would have been good friends if he hadn’t killed his daughter which is why he is not at peace with the demons.
“What do you think my Prince,” Rasmus asked, bringing his attention to the looking glass —mirror— and he checked himself out. There was nothing different, he looked like he often does and he sighed and nodded. “I had that human tailor make this for you and I must say he is good at what he does. I’m impressed.”
Edward sighed and walked away from the mirror. He sat down on the bed with his eyes closed as he found himself thinking about a certain she-wolf. Would she be finding her mate tonight as she had said? That would be good, he would be killing two instead of one. However, for some reason, he hated the idea of her standing beside another man. He hated the idea of her offering her neck to someone else to be marked. He hated the idea of knowing that after tonight she would belong to someone else and not him.
But that is good, isn’t? That way the mark’s bond would be broken and he could finally kill her. He could finally let his hatred take over him and can finally do the things he had wanted to do to her. But why, why does that thought make him feel somehow? Why does it affect his mood?
“Everything is ready my Prince, shall we leave?” Rasmus called him out of his thoughts once more and he nodded and sighed before standing up. He would have preferred to run to the venue, that would give him an ample alone time to figure out his emotion with the breeze whooshing past him but he knew Rasmus won’t let him. The young nightwalker always treats him like a God, just like his great grandfather. Oh, how he misses Gustav.
He walked out of his bedroom and Rasmus followed him. He doesn’t know what to expect tonight but he was having the feeling he would find her, the one he has been waiting for, for two thousand years. The one that is the reason he was still here and didn’t go with his men. The one he believes would make him complete and whose mark would bring him home. However, even though he knows this, he could feel it in his bones that he wasn’t actually looking forward to meeting her, rather, he was more concerned about a certain wolf and what she could be doing at the moment.
So many times during the ride, he was tempted to tell Rasmus to go on ahead without him and that he would meet him there. But as the star of the show as Rasmus said, he knew he shouldn’t be late. He knows how important this kind of parties were from his human life even though he doesn’t remember much of it anymore.
When the car came to a stop, he looked out the window at the bustling arena filled with his children, all dressed like his time as a human. He needs to thank Genevieve, he didn’t think he had missed seeing people dressed like this until he was watching them now. A shadow loomed over his window and he didn’t mind when the door was opened and a very tall man bowed to him, “nice to finally meet you, my Prince.”
Edward stepped out of the car. Everyone was happy, chatting and drinking. For a brief moment, he wondered how many creatures lost their lives to provide their drinks for tonight and he shuddered at the thought. It definitely would be one hell of a number.