The Mate Inside Me

What if a girl had a male wolf trapped inside of her? What if that wolf was her mate?

* * *

"I live inside you, Thea. My soul has resided inside you for years."

"I-I don't get what you're saying."

I was stumbling to find the right words.

"You weren't breathing at the time of your birth. At the same moment, I was losing consciousness, going into what you can refer as hibernation to recuperate from the toll the war had taken on my body. Leaving this kingdom without a functioning king right after the battle was not safe, so I decided on transferring the king's crest to you. I guess something wrong happened considering how instead of the crest, part of my soul got shifted to you."

"Come out."

The burning pain in my chest I had come to hate returned the moment I said those words. It was followed by painful heaving for a minute or two before my back arched and I felt something clawing its way out of my chest.

If I had blinked for even one second, I'd have missed the moment when a burst of light came out of my chest taking all my pain away with it. Next thing I know, a humongous black wolf was towering over me proudly.

"Don't make a habit of it. I'm not strong enough to gain a perceptible form at will. For now, I can only materialize before you on full moons."

He was saying this in my head as well yet somehow he felt closer to me than before. Swallowing nervously, I reached out to touch the side of his wolf's head. The second my skin made contact with his fur, tingles started erupting on my palm reaching all the way up to my neck,

"Why do I feel this pull towards you?"

"It's because we share souls, just as mates do."

"Are you my mate then?"

What I heard next made my blood run cold,

"A king can never have a mate, Thea."

~I don't own the picture used in the cover.~