Chapter 4 She Who Should Not Be Mine

Kael's POV

There was laughter all around me, the fake smiles of alphas and their mates grinding my teeth down to nothing. Their traditions were a farce I could scarcely tolerate.

My grandfather, Alexander, was standing by me.

"Get out and mingle, Kael," he advised.

He rested one hand on the cane which supported his declining frame. His grey eyes turned to the pack at which time they zeroed in swiftly on likely recruits...or potential mates.

"You're Alpha of the Lycan Pack. With the position comes responsibility...whether you like it or not."

"Responsibility," I said, putting superfluous pressure on this word with my arms folded, "This is just what I call a show. I'm here to lead, to fight. I don't strut around like some prancing horse for these fawning idiots."

"This is not going for a stroll on a sunny Sunday," Alexander told me very directly as he turned to face me. His cane beat out a steady rhythm on the floor. "It's a necessity. The packs need to be solid, Kael. And you need a mate to ensure that. You can't be Alpha forever all by yourself."

"I've been able to steer the Lycans for years on my own," I breathed out from my nose. "Why do I need a mate? It's ridiculous--rk

"You're wrong," Alexander growled for his part as he walked even closer. "A mate is someone who can stick with you, Kael. Your father thought he could be Alpha alone, and what was the result? ...Dead, with enemies at our gates. Don't make the same mistake."

"Father died not because he did n't have a mate," I said through my teeth, "but because he trusted the wrong people. I won't make that mistake... not for the sake of tradition," I leaned forward and smiled, "and not for you either."

He let out a frustrated breath. His hand was clenched around his cane as he turned to the crowd to which he gestured. "Go and take a look at them, Kael. You might just find something there for you."

"There's nothing here for me," I muttered as I watched an alpha laugh too loudly, "Just masks and lies. I'd rather face a rogue pack than endure this."

Alexander's hand reached out to grip my arm, "One night, Kael...that's all I ask."

I exhaled sharply as I pulled my arm free, "One night," I hushly snarled, "But don't expect me to play their games, Grandfather. I'm not here for their amusement."

Fenris and Delia looked deep into each other's eyes, and then, slowly, he took her by the hand. Together they walked into the crowd.

"Kael, isn't it?" a middle-aged voice called. His hand extended in a gesture I ignored. "Lord Fenris of the Dusk Pack...honored to meet the Lycan leader."

"Save your respects," I jeered, dismissing him as I brushed past, "I'm not here for formalities."

"Sweet as ever," another voice said, a woman this time, as she raised a goblet, "Would you care to dance with the Lycan? I hear you are looking for a female mate."

"I'm not!" I softly growled as I turned to her, "And I don't dance. Look for someone else to flirt with, bitch."

"You say," she sighed, turning away.

I went to the edge of the room. "Wasting my time," I muttered to myself as I leaned against a nearby column, "Has any of this meaning at all?"

My wolf growled.

"Agreed," I muttered and looked around the room.

But then, just then, there came a strange, intoxicating scent on the air, cutting through the smell of perfume and wine. It was a scent that made my heart stop. My wolf was brought suddenly to life.

"What-what is that?"

My body became taut in every muscle as I moved toward it step by step. My wolf growled.

'Mate.'

The word reverberated in my brain.

"Mate?" I repeated to myself, following the scent. "Impossible....Impossible." I traced that sweet smell.

And then my feet screeched to a standstill.

She stood alone, awkwardly. Only a girl with disheveled copper hair.

"Wolfless filth," one muttered.

"It doesn't belong here" added another.

My mate?' I growled under my breath as I stared at her.

My wolf howled in response as my fists clenched with the need. The thought of being shackled to her, a weakened outcast without a wolf, filled me with an incandescent rage that I couldn't control. 'She's nothing," she declared "Every thing I' ve worked so hard to build will be degraded by her!"

As I took a step closer, my eyes locked on her.

I get close because I have to Then, turning away from her, I snarled: "I won't take her. She's a liability...nothing but trouble."

My wolf rumbled in fury I tried hard to keep my eyes off her, but an involuntary glance There was a knocking in my throat as my heart Somewhere inside me

I couldn't look at it I couldn't watch a person of such abject incompetence. inducing humiliation She could not be my fated mate. If our lives are linked, then this has to be stopped before it goes any further. I started to leave.

There was a sudden silence that broke over the laughter as the voice went on: You shameless bitch! See how you' re embarrassing your father."

Her screams rang in my ears and could not be ignored.

Fury boiled up inside me as I turned back.

She struck my chest so hard that she stumbled before falling in a heap and lying motionless for some time. Silence fell over the crowd as soon as it was realized me.

I didn't think she couldn't I knelt next to her, reaching out my hands to take her armss "Get up," I pleaded gently.

She hesitated. Her hands shook as she pushed herself up from the floor. My hands steadied her arms as she staggered, and I helped her to her feet. Her scent filled my senses and my wolf growled at me, telling me she was mine. "I...I didn't mean to... Sorry," she began weakly, hands clutching my arm.

I reached out and gently touched her cheek, drawing my thumb lightly over her lips. "Don't apologize," my voice came out thick.

In a heartbeat, our eyes locked. Her breath caught. I was filled with the pride of my wolf, though madness had begun to seep into my mind.

Holding her in my arms, I felt an emotional storm. Medusa My heart was gripped with a storm of feelings anger and something I didn't know what to call, that stirred up in me more than any battle I could ever be in.

She was so small, so delicate. My wolf howled within me, urging me to take her, protect her, not let her go.

But I couldn't let it... wouldn't let it happen.

She had no wolf, she was weak, a social pariah... a nightmare that could ruin all that I had worked for, everything that I was striving to keep together as Lycan leader. My reputation, my power, the hopes ofword I had established... But she was a thorn in the flesh, an urgent threat to them all.

Yet as I held her, I felt something I could not deny, a kind of bonding beyond sense and reason, reaching into the heart of me. It caused a dry pain in my chest that I was unable to bear.