My Mate Is An Omega
My Mate Is A Virgin Chapter 24

Andromeda POV

To say I was surprised by my mate's request was an understatement.

From what I heard about Jasper's past, he used to be very confident, or at least he pretended to be. I, however, had only seen two sides of him - the paranoid boy who was constantly running from his problems, and the shy man who was learning to come to terms with his identity. It was my first time meeting the brave prince who took initiative, and honestly...I think I liked it.

I just couldn't understand why he was acting that way. Whether something had happened in my short absence or he simply wanted to prove something to himself, I realized it didn't matter. I had a much more pressing issue in my hands.

There were a thousand reasons why I shouldn't let Jasper join us on the Hunt. First, obviously, he was a wolf. He wasn't familiar with how us lynxes worked together to catch our prey, which would later serve to fill our members' bellies. Second, I had a feeling the huntresses might not be thrilled about the idea. On the other hand, wolves were born team players, and sooner rather than later, my mate would have to gain their trust. In the end, my curiosity to replace out how this would play out got the best of me, and I agreed to let him tag along.

The rest of our Sunday was spent in the luxurious Princess' Chambers. I would usually replace it boring to stay inside for so many hours simply talking and watching movies, but after our dramatic morning, we were both willing to just rest for a while. We also had all our means in the room, since the dining hall was designated for common members of the clan, and the royal dining room was only used on special occasions.

The next morning, we were both well-rested to wake up at 4 in the morning. As we were getting ready to meet the team at the borders, my mate seemed significantly more hesitant than he did the day before. I told him it was okay if he had changed his mind, but he pushed through his insecurities and insisted it's what he wanted to do. I gave him one last kiss to boost his confidence, and we headed to where the huntresses were waiting for us.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Kindra grunted in annoyance as soon as her eyes landed on the man accompanying me. "What is he doing here?"

The moment I decided to concede to my prince's request, I knew there was a huge chance the huntresses would be reactive about it. Some of them more than others. It went against werecat tradition to have males participate in the hunt, for many reasons. Due to females being lighter, we were more agile than most males, thus making us more suited for chasing after prey. It was also our job to provide food for the clan, while males should stay and protect the territory, since their muscles and strength were more adequate for fighting off enemies.

"Well, good morning to you too, Kindra." A smirk played on my mate's lips. Irony was the only way he knew how to deal with his problems. The oldest huntress rolled her eyes at him, but he didn't seem to mind it.

"Prince Jasper has requested to join us on today's hunt," I answered her question.

"And you let him?" Laina arched an eyebrow at me, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"I believe having him come with us just this once will help strengthen the bond between him and you," I clarified as calmly as I could, keeping my cool.

"We can drink tea together later. The success of this hunt will define how much food the clan will have for the week!" Kindra countered.

"Alright. Since you are clearly displeased by the idea, how about we decide this with a vote, like we usually do?" I suggested. She clenched her fists, but didn't argue anymore. With a serene smile, I turned to the rest of the women. "Those of you who don't have a problem with hunting with the Prince today, please raise your hands."

Alula was the first one to agree, waving excitedly at my mate as she bounced. From the corner of my eyes, I watched Jasper mouth a 'thank you' to her. Next, my right hand and best friend raised her hand. My annoying half-sister was soon to follow; though I was wary of the true intentions behind her vote, it was actually beneficial for me, so I just brushed it off. Calynn and Marina exchanged glances, hesitating a bit before mimicking the other women's gesture. Lastly, Tessa shyly lifted her hand as she flashed an apologetic smile to her mate, who continued to exhibit her usual frown. In the end, only Laina and Kindra kept their arms down.

"It's settled then. Prince Jasper will be coming with us," I announced with a victorious smile on my face.

"Whatever." The short-haired woman turned her back to her future king. Though she was still displeased, there was nothing else she could do. Soon after, Laina walked past him, squinting her eyes ferociously. "Be aware that we won't wait for you. If you slow us down, we'll leave you behind." "Noted." I had to fight the urge to laugh at how my mate smirked at her.

"Shall we start, ladies?" Each of the women nodded at me as I let my dress slide to the floor. I turned around to replace my sexy wolf looking at me as if he wanted to eat me. Staring deeply into his eyes, I chanted, "Let the Hunt begin."

Genevra didn't waste a second to come forward as soon as I gave her control; she missed joining our team on these adrenaline-packed mornings as much as I did, and we were ready to make up for the time lost. When my lynx glanced over the shoulder, I realized all the other females had already shifted, as well as out mate. They got into formation while my mate stayed by our side. Together, we bolted through the gates of our territory.

The further we got from our home, the more careful we became. As the leader of our group, I knew the lands we were crossing didn't belong to anyone, but we should still keep our eyes peeled for enemies. Rogues, either lynxes or wolves, could be hiding behind bushes and rocks. It also wasn't uncommon for bears to roam the area in search of food. Even an encounter with a non-shifter bear could be dangerous if we were caught by surprise.

Therefore, Laina's job was very important. With her admirable stealth, she went ahead of us, eliminating possible threats before they noticed her and clearing the path for us. Thankfully, it seemed to be a calm morning. One hour into our hunt, we hadn't encountered any enemies on our way. We also couldn't replace any large prey though.

"We can always go fishing," Marina's voice echoed inside my head as her cool-gray-coated lynx stared at me. "The big lake near Snow Pelt hasn't frozen over yet."

"I promised we would bring enough food for the members to have a banquet." I sighed.

"Don't lose hope just yet..." Alula's entirely white counterpart showed me an animalistic smile. With her head, she pointed at a creature standing roughly sixty feet ahead of us in a clearing. More precisely, a moose.

Genevra's eyes widened as she rested her stomach against the cold snow to blend in with our surroundings. The rest of the huntresses did the same. I was ready to call the shots when I was suddenly reminded of a very important detail. Phoenix was a bright orangy- black wolf; he had no sort of camouflage. As I turned around to search for him, I almost burst out laughing when I found him tucked under a pile of snow with only his muzzle sticking out. Well, that was one way to do it. "What strategy are we using, Princess Andromeda?" Adriana's dark-furred lynx, Rajani, had her eyes focused on me.

"I think it'll be best if we corner him, then send Alula in. She can probably take him down immediately, but in case she misses, we can send him Tessa's way," I explained, reaching into all of their minds simultaneously. "Wait. I don't think we should attack just yet." I was surprised to hear Jasper's voice inside my head. Phoenix shook his head, getting rid of the snow covering his eyes to look at me.

"Why not?"

"It's the peak of moose rutting season," he continued. "There are likely more of them around, but if we go for that lone one now, we will scare the others away."

"What should we do, Dree?" Calynn insisted, unaware of my conversation with my mate.

"Prince Jasper thinks we should wait," I projected my thoughts to them.

"Really? I thought he was coming as a spectator. Is he the one calling the shots now?" Kindra huffed.

"What does a wolf know about hunting anyway?" Laina argued. "The longer we wait, the higher the risk of our prey sensing our presence and running away becomes."

"I think it's worth it. Let's just lay low a while longer," I insisted. They didn't seem the least pleased, but they finally shut up.

My eyes were locked on the creature as I architected a plan B in case Jasper's plan didn't work. Alula's lynx was one step ahead of us, ready to strike if our prey decided to run away. The seconds seemed like hours as we waited in silence. If my mate was wrong, not only would he completely lose the huntresses' trust before he even earned it, but I would also risk not replaceing any high-quality prey to feed the clan. The stakes were high, but there was still a voice inside my head saying I should trust his instincts. Then, the moose reared to his full height and moaned loudly. It was the sound of a warning.

"s**t! He saw us!" Kindra growled. At that moment, my heart fell. I noticed Alula's lynx ready herself to bolt towards our prey, but before she could, Adriana's voice echoed in our heads.

"I don't think that's it."

I turned to Rajani, who was smiling, for a brief moment. When I turned back to the spot where the moose was standing, I realized there were two of them now, and they were fighting. Not too long after, a third one showed up. Then a fourth. A smile spread over Genevra's lips.

"Jasper! You were-" I stopped mid-sentence when I couldn't replace him anywhere around us. Not even a second later, a loud, powerful howl cut through the morning.

My jaw dropped as I watched the black and auburn wolf show up behind the moose in the forest. How did he get there without any of us noticing? We were probably so focused on watching our prey that we forgot about the world around us. As soon as the animals saw - or better yet, heard - my mate, they stopped fighting each other to run straight in our direction. The closer they got to us, the more of them appeared from behind the thick tree trunks.

It was then that I realized - Phoenix was leading them to us.

Did wolves hunt like this too? No, that was not it. He must have studied our strategies back when we were at Diamond Tempest. Genevra grinned proudly, but she soon shook her head. The hardest part had been taken care of, but we still had quite a few targets to take down. The success of our hunt would depend on whether we would be up for the task.

"Huntresses! Now!" My counterpart growled, and her team was soon to follow.

In synchrony, all of the lynxes jumped from the ground, revealing themselves to the running creatures. The moose moaned in horror as they spotted us, but it was too late. Some of them fell down as they slid over the snow in an attempt to turn around, while others assumed an attacking stance, ready to put up a fight. Their antlers could be quite troublesome even for us, but my huntresses were fierce. They didn't mind collecting a few new battle scars for the sake of our clan.

Since there were exactly eight of them, each of us had to take care of one of them completely on our own. It was definitely not usual, since we had unique skills that were more valuable for team work, but we were more than capable of striking alone as well. Tessa and Calynn, who were great slayers, downed their prey quicker than the rest and set off to help those who were having more difficulty.

I latched onto one of the moose by digging my claws into its hide, using my own weight to easily bring it down. Before I could finish the poor creature though, I watched Phoenix jump straight onto his neck, slashing its throat with an accuracy I didn't expect of him. Genevra kept both of her large paws over the moose's ribcage as she turned to our mate, who was now licking his bloody lips. I swear I saw this sassy wolf wink at us a moment later.

Focused on my kill, I couldn't really assess the struggles of the other huntresses until now. Scouring through the snowy fields, which had recently been bathed in red, I was glad to see no one seemed to have grave injuries. The albino lynx had a few scratches on her side, and Marina was limping a little. They would surely heal in no time. The most important was that we had successfully taken down every single one of the eight moose. "Good job, Huntresses," I said proudly.

"Goddess, I had no idea it was rutting season already!" Alula chanted excitedly, frolicking around her slaughtered prey. "It was so smart of the Prince to realize that!"

"It was a good call indeed," Calynn agreed as her counterpart licked her bloodied front paw.

"I'm impressed!" My right hand smiled.

It was a shame my mate couldn't communicate with the others through mind link yet. I wished he could hear the many compliments he was receiving. Although when my gaze fell on the proud fiery-like wolf, I realized he didn't need words to understand how dazzled my team was. Even Kindra, who hadn't even bothered to mask the fact that she didn't like him, was now staring at Phoenix in disbelief.

"I now see I was right to follow my instincts and let you come," I linked Jasper as Genevra approached his counterpart.

"Were you doubting me, My Princess?" He joked, and I soon found myself laughing at his goofiness.

"Not for a second, My Prince." My lynx nudged the wolf with her muzzle before we glanced at our team once again. "Huntresses, I think we're ready to call it a day." They all cheered at my announcement.

Each of the felines grabbed their prey by the scalp as we prepared to drag them all the way back to our territory. Not only did we have a long way ahead of us, but the journey back was also slightly more dangerous. The smell of the dead creatures could attract other predators, and it was impossible for us to stay camouflaged for as long as we were carrying them. Since Phoenix wasn't capable of moving a moose on his own, he led the way, looking out for enemies the same way Laina usually did.

We were almost at our lands when I noticed Calynn's lynx stiffen. Her ears moved from side to side like radars. Before I could realize what was wrong, she dropped her prey and instinctively jumped in front of me. Since she was one of our best warriors, her job was to protect me when we were under attack. My heart started beating faster, but I couldn't seem to replace anyone around us. Phoenix turned around to check why we had stopped, and that's when I saw it.

A large rogue lynx lunging at him.

I didn't think twice. Genevra's paws thundered over the snow as she used her speed to get to our mate before the enemy did. The next second, I felt claws tearing her chest open as an intense pain consumed me.