Chapter 3 Mate

A quiet gasp emerged from my wide lips as I felt powerful arms around my waist pull me, sending me crashing into the solid chest of the man in front of me. His eyes, which had been fixed on mine so intensely, now let go of me and dropped to my open lips. He grasped me more tightly, drawing me inescapably closer.

"Meum miraculum." The man spoke quietly, pressing his lips against my neck and smelling me. His silky hair caressed my skin, but I was too numb to care about it. I was trembling with fear. Even though he talked gently, there was a harsh, almost primitive edge to his voice that made me want to run away.

He growled low and menacingly, making me even more afraid and making it harder for me to escape his clutches as I strained to do so. But my efforts were in vain since the man was so strong that it didn't appear like my movements had any effect at all.

"Calm down, love; I won't hurt you." The man spoke clearly while attempting to minimize the harshness of his loud voice. I gave up trying in the hopes that he would simply let me go. His big, soft arms continued to hug my waist tightly before shifting to my lower back. letting me stoop low enough to see his face.

"What's your name?" The man questioned me, his golden eyes so focused that it took me longer than it should have to comprehend what he was saying.

Finally, I stammered out, "A-Amara.".

"Amara," he said, teasingly feeling my name with his tongue.

"Excellent," he growled in agreement, and I felt myself blush a little.

"My parents are downstairs." I succeeded in stammering out.

"Lead the way, love." The man spoke softly while softly putting his big palm over my face and looking at me.

I almost hurried out the door, pulling away from him, but he kept up with me without any trouble, and he gently took my hand in his.

We are down the staircase. He kept his soft grasp on my hand while his intense gaze continued to pierce the side of my face. The immediate alarm subsided and was replaced by a sense of dread. Everything that I had ever dreamed to achieve and aspired to be was lost. This was an all-too-frequent story: humans always had to let go of their dreams and leave everything behind because they were now the property of their lover. The mates were too possessive to ever let the human do as they wanted, so they would always have what their mate chose for them. The human could not reach it if it entailed being apart from them or in another person's presence. Since wolves were stronger than humans and we were weaker than them, the wolves' innate protective tendencies were enhanced, leading to an obsession. It has never been documented that a wolf will permit a human to work, receive an education, or even see their family without the wolf's presence.

His embraces would keep me permanently apart from everything I'd sought up until this point. All because of this one man who believed that, simply by virtue of our relationship, he was entitled to claim and own me. Alaricus Night had concluded that this mate link was sufficient for this man to maintain me as a prized possession for the remainder of my life. When I understood that's what I was now, I felt my eyes start to water. I was a prisoner of the deep-rooted infatuation of this man.

I turned to look at him, returning his admiration with a look filled with my own contempt. His head cocked to one side, his brows furrowing in perplexity. Before he realized that I was crying, he was staring at me and trying to figure out why I was glaring at him. He appeared to be instantly terrified and attempted to grasp me, but fortunately we had already arrived at the feast, so I was able to quickly avoid his arms. As I stammered into the hallway, everyone turned to stare at me inquiringly. And in spite of everything, I could feel the shame flushing down my cheeks. I saw my parents reaching out to touch them, wanting to feel the comfort of their close proximity.

As I prepared to sprint towards them, I pulled my dress up a little. I guess the man sensed what I was going to do because he swiftly put an arm around my waist and pulled me back into his muscular chest.

"Where do you think you're going, love?" My breath caught at the obvious power in the man's voice as he asked in a deep, silky voice. The man was definitely attractive, and his voice reflected it. It was genuinely captivating. Something so smooth and sinister that it seduces the listener to follow this man's instructions. For a brief while, my head raced, but I shook it in an attempt to calm myself down.

I tried to fight my way out of his arms once more, but he held me tightly in place with his arm around my waist. I wondered why everyone was still staring at us. It was not unusual for wolves to be carrying their mate, and we frequently had to ignore human suffering while the wolves foolishly showered them with love. It appeared as though the wolves were blind to the situation involving their partner, or they may have believed that providing for them would improve things, or they may not have known what was causing the problems.

After a while, a standing alpha approached and asked what must have been on everyone's mind. However, his words cause my breath to catch in my throat and my limbs to become numb.

"Sire Knight, is this young lady your mate?"