Alpha Luke and His Unwilling Mate
Chapter 27

PRESENT DAY

~Nyla~

The moon hung low in the sky as I wiped my last drops of tears and breathed in the moist, salty air. The night went by too fast. It was an hour before dawn, with no breeze and not a sound except the crashing waves and serene brutality of the ocean.

I should feel accomplished after leading Ryder and almost the entire Night Walker Pack to their ruin. All I felt was sadness and guilt. I missed Wyatt much the same and didn’t feel any less pain. He wouldn’t appreciate the monster I have become, neither would he want me to spill so many tears dwelling in the past.

He would expect to see Ari safe and happy, and I failed him already. I prioritized killing the enemies over escaping from this place for good and checking if I can take my baby home with me.

I was actually too scared of replaceing out she was just a werewolf who could not survive the ocean. What would I do then? With the pendant gone, I cannot return to the land after this one last time. Only a handful of my ancestors were mated with the wolves, and they never returned home. I have no way of knowing if a werewolf-siren hybrid existed in this world.

The last rays of the moonlight disappeared while I was lost in my fears. Jumping off the cliff, I swam to the shore, changing into my human form.

Eric was the only one left by the door, guarding Ari, while I walked confidently into my room. Ren and Eric would never question anything I do. I wish I could manipulate my mate this way. He was immune to all my magic.

Feeling exhausted by the time my baby was fed and happy, I changed into nightclothes after showering and plopped over the mattress. I had used up my last bits of energy for muddling the pack warriors’ memories to make sure no one remembered me walking on the estate grounds at night.

I reached for my pendant out of habit, but of course, I lost it. The glow went off within seconds after it was detached from my body, and the strong water currents took it somewhere far. I scanned many miles of the ocean bed with no success.

What if it floats to the shore and someone brings it to Luke? What if he…

I drifted off to a deep, deep slumber until I heard his worried voice, my mate’s voice, and his warm, soothing touch caressing my face.

“Gosh, Nyla!” I barely opened my eyes. He crushed me in a hug with his heart strongly thudding against my ear, calming me and lifting my grogginess instantly.

I blinked up at him and then saw an old woman walk up and stand by his side. I think she was the mage who put some protection spell on his Alpha position during the ceremony.

What was she doing here? My heart pumped wildly in my chest.

“Wh-where is Ari?” I pulled the sheets away and looked at Luke in panic. Did he replace out?

“Relax! She’s with the wet nurse. Ren knocked on your door many times, but you didn’t wake up for breakfast. You slept through Ari’s wails and screams, almost like you were in a coma.”

I looked at the door. I remember securing the deadbolt from the inside, but it was wide open now.

“How did you get in?”

He raised his brows and glanced at the broken window. Did I really sleep like a dead person? Guess I was super exhausted. Surviving without the pendant is going to be a challenge. I blinked twice when I saw what time it was. 3 PM!

“When was Ari fed in the morning?” I felt like a terrible mother who slept through her cries.

“9 AM. Did I do this to you?”

His thumb lightly skimmed over the bruise on my cheek. He bit me last night, but that was not what gave me the bruise. It was Alpha Garrett and his Beta who were a pain to get rid of.

With fumbling fingers, I nervously touched my cheek to see if it was tender.

“Stop chewing your lips so much.” He released my bottom l*p from between my teeth and took my hand in his, gazing into my eyes for what felt like a long time.

What was he thinking? I couldn’t read his thoughts anymore, even when he was holding my hand. What did the mage do? What was she even doing in this room? I wondered if she could smell something fishy about me. She had left the room already while I was lost in my mate’s eyes.

“Why is your heart beating so fast? Ari is fine. You are fine too. The mage said you were completely all right except that you were having some bad dreams.”

“I don’t remember having any dreams at all.”

“Well, I’ll have to call her back if your heart won’t stop working out so much.” He stroked my bruised cheek and creased forehead. “What are you worried about?”

“Nothing. What are you so worried about?”

I couldn’t tell what he was going through. His Beta was gone, and I’m sure he must have received news about the strange happenings up north, but he brought nothing up until now.

“Something weird is going on Nyla. The mage put a protection spell near our western borders today because Ryder disappeared, just like Adalyn. His phone was on the beach three miles from here. And more than half of Night Walker Pack vanished just like that… almost everyone except for a few women and omegas.”

“Disappeared?” I was a terrible actor of course. No clue what to say or what kind of expressions to feign.

“Well, I don’t know if they are dead for sure. Adalyn came back, so I’m hoping Ryder comes back too.”

“Did anything else wash off to the shore? Like the cell phone?” Not my pendant!

“Nothing. I sent my men to look in the waters but no luck so far.”

Oh, they won’t. I took them all far, far in and quite deep to make sure they didn’t pull stunts on me like Ryder and Adalyn did. The sharks must be very happy right now.

Luke pulled me into his arms and kissed my forehead. I probably looked scared. If only he knew what my fears were about. He wouldn’t be holding me so gently then.

Resting his chin on my head, he said in a reassuring voice. “There’s nothing for you to worry about, but I want you to listen to me for once. Rachel told me Madison is not nice to you. I hired a trainer who will work just with you. I want you to spend a lot more time with her than with Rachel or the other girls. Whenever you aren’t resting or with your baby, go to her. Her name’s Zoey.”

“Oh, I’d love that. I like training.” It reminded me of my time with Wyatt when he first showed me how to use weapons.

Luke gave me a sweet smile and let me go. “I’ll be busy the next few days. Let Ren know if you need me.”

I was surprised at how disappointed I was when he walked out of my room. Busy was an understatement. He almost went invisible over the next fifteen days. I used to get a few updates about him from Ren and Rachel, but even they didn’t hear much from him, except that he got a new Beta now.

I kept myself occupied with the new trainer. While Madison was mean and relentless, Zoey was friendly but far more brutal. With platinum blonde hair and ocean blue eyes, she belonged to the White Warrior clan, a clan that doesn’t have the mate concept. Their bloodline was notorious for the ruthless killers they were, not belonging to a pack or territory. Their wolves were as big as any Alpha’s wolf.

Wyatt was trained by one of these folks. They purposely subject themselves to extreme conditions in the forest and cold, and only the best make it beyond the age of sixteen. The Moon Goddess spared them the complications that come with the mate bond, allowing them to fully focus on their goal of being the mean killing machines they were made to be.

Zoey believed in tough love, which wasn’t a surprise at all. She left me sore and exhausted, but I perfected a lot of skills in no time. Shooting guns and crossbows, throwing knives and spears, handling clubs with ease, wrestling and tracking, and the most important, how to mask my scent.

I wasn’t sure how they were going to help me in the future, but I definitely felt less anxious after a hard day’s work out. It also helped me with sleep and with drawing more energy from myself, which I very much appreciated, now that I was without my pendant.

After fifteen long and hard days without Luke in sight, I finally got a break from training when it was time for a ceremony: Rachel’s First Kill Ceremony.

Rachel couldn’t shift until last year. Per their custom, she was supposed to make her first kill in her wolf form before the twelfth full moon from the date of shifting. She dreaded it and put it off until now, but she only had another fifteen days before her wolf would abandon her for not allowing it to run wild.

“We will party hard after this. My brother will take us all to a club.” She told me while I was enjoying my sumptuous brunch. ‘Us’ included Tiana and Adalyn, which I wasn’t very thrilled about. I wanted my mate all to myself.

The First Kill Ceremony was going to be in the forest, and all the girls were planning to wear green and white. I made a fuss about putting together my best green dress, shoes, and accessories. I even went out with Rachel and her friends to get my hair and nails done.

“You aren’t seeing the Alpha for the first time you know.” Ren teased me when my hands were shaking as I put on my stone tassel earrings.

“It’s been so long I forgot how he looks.”

“Well, it’s not easy to lose your trusted beta. Beta Ryder was very efficient and handled a lot of things which our new beta would need some time to master. Gamma Travis is also new, so you can imagine how much work the Alpha is doing without his favorite cousins.”

Was I supposed to feel guilty about Ryder? I didn’t regret what I did. My only regret was that I couldn’t revive him a few times only to kill him again. But I definitely wasn’t prepared to not see Luke for so long. I refused to acknowledge feeling a tad bit guilty for screwing him over.

What would happen to me when I have to leave in fifteen days? I can’t live here forever without my stone.

“Shit!” I looked into the mirror and freaked out.

“What’s the matter?” Ren stepped closer as I covered the exposed shoulder with my hair.

“Nothing, I need to change. I don’t think this dress is flattering enough.”

“It looks fantastic, but as you wish. Let me replace a few more dresses for you.” She disappeared into the closet while I checked the skin on my shoulder.

Withdrawal symptoms were kicking in already!

I initially chose to wear a chic emerald one-shoulder dress but not anymore. Taking the concealer with me, I locked the bathroom door.

The skin was extremely dry in a large patch and was red and tender. I needed to go back to the ocean, but I wasn’t done here yet.

“Is everything okay?” Ren was getting on my nerves.

All of my skin will soon change if I don’t do something about it… by tomorrow.