Warring Mates

In the distance, the mountains came closer and closer as each step brought me farther away from my home. We were almost there. Rivers and streams replaced the trees. Small, untamed, deep. I’d seen so many, I lost count.

In my kingdom, we had three of them. The river of lost memories, which killed many people as it is one of the most brutal rivers in these five kingdoms, the river we would often swim in, and the river of the youth. People would often go there to relax.

As for the plants and flowers. They were otherworldly and yet plain at the same time. They didn’t glow like the ones we had in my kingdom, and neither were they as big. They were... Simple.

A bush with many small sky-blue flowers caught my attention. Long and thick thorns poked through the heart-shaped leaves, a pink substance seeping from them. It smelled sweet, almost like strawberries.

“If I were you, I would stay away from those plants,” Collin said in my ear. “Even a drop of that substance can cause immediate paralysis that will lead to death in the next few hours.”

I looked back to the bushes. This time with apprehension. They covered the entire left side of the small path we were riding on, strangling the other plants. It didn’t look so appealing anymore to be so close to them. “Why not remove them?”

“Because this is the territory of a creature that lives off these plants,” he answered, his lips grazing the shell of my ear as I stiffened. “Don’t worry. I’m told they are actually very sweet and loyal when you bond with one.”

“What kind of creature would eat these plants?” The image of a fluffy like creature eating those poisonous flowers... It didn’t fit.

He shrugged. “Not sure. I haven’t seen one yet.”

“Then how the heck do you know they eat those plants?” He had to be kidding me.

He chuckled behind me. “Faith,” he whispered in my ear.

I snorted. “Faith sucks.”

His lips trailed over my shoulder to the sensitive spot beneath my ear. “I’m sorry for what you had to endure.”

I leaned back into his chest. “I’ll be fine...” Eventually. I had already come a long way in these few days. It still hurt every time I thought about him, but not as much as the days after his death. Almost as if I made peace with it.

I stared at my hands. Peace... Was that even possible? He was a huge part of my life. I saw him every day as we trained, ate, and caused mischief together. Well, I did. He was reprimanding me for breaking the rules. My heart clenched in anguish. It felt wrong to be here with Collin and to feel even the slightest of happiness.

“Lexi...” Collin touched my arm, a frown settling on his face. There were no sparks. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes. No.” I sighed, fighting back the tears. “I can’t do this.” Our bond was extremely fragile. A lie, a negative feeling. It could bring us right back to the start.

“Breathe in.” He placed a hand on my stomach. “Deeper... And slowly out.”

I did as he said, closing my eyes as my body relaxed in his hold.

“Again.” His hand on my stomach glided to my hip. “Focus on the now. On the sounds around you. The smells.”

“Where are we?” I heard water, and this place was significantly warmer than where we were before.

“A hot spring.” He dismounted our horse after making sure I had calmed down. “It’s located not even an hour from my territory.”

With a slung off my leg, I jumped off the horse. My eyes widened as I took in the sight. “It’s breathtaking.” There were multiple hot springs, ranging from small to big, and they were all connected with tiny waterfalls. Steam rose from the water, creating a fog-like scenery. But what amazed me the most were the plants. They were a deep purple and grew through the cracks of the stone ground.

“Do you want to join?” He held out his hand, his back to the hot springs.

Evie jumped into the water, pulling a fully dressed Rokan with her. He cursed loudly, glaring daggers at Santos who held his stomach as he laughed. Even Ace couldn’t help but smile a little.

“They look so close,” I mumbled.

Collin turned to look at them. “They have a centuries-old friendship. It would be weird if they didn’t.” This brought me back to Lachlan. Would we be like that if he was still alive? Would Collin and I ever be remotely that happy?

I shook the thoughts away and sat down by a tree. “How long will we stay here?”

“An hour or so. We need to walk from here on.” He dropped next to me. “My people are often in their wolf forms. Hunting, or training. It would scare the horses.”

I hummed, enjoying the soft cool breeze on my skin. The heat dampened my clothes, drops of sweat forming on my brows. “So, where do you live?” I knew the werewolf kingdom functioned differently than ours, but there should be similarities with the architecture.

“A cave.”

I choked on my spit. “A what now?” He didn’t just say cave. People did not live in caves. Well… unless you lived in the demon kingdom.

“You’re going to catch flies,” he said, stretching himself before laying on his back with his eyes closed.

I closed my mouth, narrowing my eyes at him. “You can’t live in a cave.”

“It’s tradition.”

I poked his leg with my foot. “A very weird tradition. I’ve never heard of it.”

“There’s a lot the other kingdoms don’t know.” He turned his head to me. “But I can explain it to you—the tradition.”

I shifted from my spot and laid on my side beside him, using my arm as a pillow. We didn’t touch, but our faces were close to each other. Even so close I could see strands of gold through his dirty blonde hair. “It sounds interesting.”

“It is.” He grinned at me as if he knew something I didn’t. “When the males reach adulthood, they search for their own place. This is often a cave.”

“Why not a house?” They lived in a city. No need to go through the trouble of making a cave livable.

“Because we don’t live in a city like yours.” He turned to lie on his side too. “The males build their own house on a place that means a lot to them, but only after they’ve found their mate.”

“Wait. If you don’t live in a city, then how do you rule a pack as big as yours?” This was mind-blowing. I couldn’t imagine running such an enormous pack without being able to keep a close eye on them. He must have a lot of faith in his people.

“My kingdom is divided into smaller packs. Each has their own alpha who reports back to me.” He brushed a strand of hair off my cheek. My breath hitched and I could have sworn I felt a soft spark. “Between these packs there is a treaty. I don’t tolerate violence between my people and if a pack wars with another one without a good reason, I strip the current alpha of their title.”

“What if people want to start a new pack?”

“They would need permission first.”

I thought about his words. His kingdom worked so differently than mine. It was dizzying. “I guess I have a lot to learn.”

“Collin,” Ace called. I leant from the ground to see him hasting to us. The others were close by. All on high-alert.

“Damn it.” Collin pulled me from the ground and placed a hand on my lower back as he ushered me forward. “I’ve let my pack know they need to keep an eye out.”

My heart hammered in my chest, my hands turning clammy. Our last encounter with them was still fresh on my mind. I gripped Collin’s hand, clutching it tight. I couldn’t lose him too.

“Evie, Rokan, I want you to keep an eye on the backside,” Ace ordered as he walked to my right side. I was flanked between him and Collin. “Santos, you are on our front.”

I tried to keep my breathing under control, but had little success. His death played on repeat in front of my eyes. We were just kidding ourselves. There was no way we would win against those creatures. They had no weaknesses.

“Calm down,” Collin whispered in my ear. “They are nowhere near close. My pack members don’t see them anywhere.”

“He is right,” Ace said. “I can feel them, but something is keeping them from coming closer.”

I nodded and intertwined my fingers with Collin’s, holding his hand with both of mine. We were close to his pack. There was nothing to be scared about.

As we strode deeper into his territory, I noticed there was no longer a clear path. Around me, I could hear the rivers, and I glanced around me to see werewolves stalking through the massive trees. I caught three of them. They were magnificent to see, but still nowhere near as big as Collin’s wolf, who stood almost a head taller than me.

Soon, we came across the first house. It had two-stories and a porch with a swing. The colours fitted perfectly with the nature. Brown and green. “Are all the houses here like that?” I asked Collin as we walked further.

“No.” He pulled his hand out of mine and placed it on my hip, tugging me closer to him. “Some are bigger, others smaller. It depends. Though the ones of a higher rank do have a bigger house.”

“Are we close,” Ace asked, interrupting our moment. His muscles were tense, a dagger in his hand.

“Just behind the river,” Collin said with a smirk. “It’s the only way into my kingdom.”

We walked up to two cliffs with a raging river beneath, and my breath hitched when I saw the bridge. It wasn’t the traditional bridge made of wood. Instead, roots were weaved together to create a path over the river.

“Then we will leave your sides.” Ace disappeared back into the woods with the other’s not far behind him.

“Is it safe here?” More important, is this bridge safe? It looked ancient.

Collin hummed. “It is. This cliff stretches out for miles, and for the rest we have a mountain that can’t be crossed and two rivers that are deadly.”

“An impregnable defense, huh,” I said, taking the first step onto the bridge. The river below sloshed against the cliff. The drops of water reached all the way up here.

“You could say that.”

We crossed the bridge and came across more houses. “You said this is your kingdom. Then what about the houses that stood just outside?” If this was the only way in, then why would people live on the outside. “Are they rogues?”

“No.” He intertwined our fingers. “Some people prefer to live at the edge as there is more space there.”

After a walk that felt like hours, we arrived at his home. The entrance of the cave looked nothing spectacular, but when we walked inside, my mouth widened in amazement. It was huge. The floor existed of dirt, but a carpet with hues of blue that ranged from dark to light, covered most of it and a twin bed stood at the back, just big enough for two people, with a dresser on the right.

“No kitchen?” Neither was there a dining table.

He scratched the back of his head. “It’s a bit hard to have a kitchen in a cave.”

I swatted his chest. “You know what I mean.”

His chest rumbled with laughter, and he kissed my head, his hands on my hips as he stood behind me. “We have a community house where the pack comes together. The males eat there and so do the other families. Though some prefer to use their own kitchen instead.”

It hadn’t dawned upon me until now. I glanced at Collin. He had brought me to the cave. Not a house. Meaning he hadn’t built me one. I shook my head. What did I expect? He rejected me at first. Of course he hadn’t built me a house. Yet I couldn’t shake this feeling off me. This sadness.

“How about we take a walk?” He guided me out of the cave as I struggled against him.

“I honestly just want to sleep.” The stress of another possible attack drained me. Not to mention the lump in my throat as I thought back to the house he hadn’t built me.

“It will be a short one,” he assured me, kissing my temple. A poor attempt to get on my good side.

I caved in with the intention that it would be a short one. He lied. We were walking for ten minutes now. “I thought you said a short one.”

“It’s just up ahead. Have a little patience.”

I groaned and spun on my heels, walking backwards. “Can’t we go back. I’m exhausted.”

“You’re going to trip.”

“I’m not going to—” A squeak left my mouth as I fell on my ass.

“Told you.” He passed me by, stopping when he arrived at an open spot.

With a grumble, I jumped off the ground. “Oh no, don’t help me. I am perfectly fine.” I stopped talking when I followed his gaze.

A house stood in front of a lake, the porch build in a way that you could dive straight into the water. Magnificent didn’t even come close to it. It had three-stories, and on the third one was a balcony that had a view over the water. The windows were big enough to let lots of sunlight in, and I could only imagine what it would be like to have them all open. To have the curtains flail around as a warm summer breeze drifted through the house.

“Whose house is it?” I asked, taking a step closer. The front door was a beautiful oak white. It matched the rustic look of the house to perfection.

He held out a key, his eyes holding an emotion I could not describe. They stared into my own, and I could not look away as they held me captive. “It’s ours.”

“W-what?” He built a house... “When?”

He caught a stray tear on my cheek with his thumb. “A couple months after finding out you were my mate. My wolf had calmed down and even grew affection for you—”

I didn’t let him finish as I crashed into his chest. I wrapped my arms around him, squeezing the life out of him. “You are one of the biggest assholes on this planet, you know that?”

He laughed, nuzzling my neck. “I know.”

“You’re too stubborn for your own good,” I went on, and I let go of him, pecking his cheek. “Can we see the inside?” I wanted to see if the inside was as beautiful as the outside.

“It’s your house.” He cupped my cheek. “For my part, you can already live in it.”

I grabbed his hand, giggling as I dragged him with me. The inside was even more spectacular than the outside. The wall on our left was one big bookcase filled with various kinds of books in case you wanted to read one while enjoying the hearth in the cosy sitting area. A big loveseat and a comfy-looking couch stood in the middle of it and on our right was the open kitchen that was just begging to be used.

I looked away from the living room and walked back to the hallway we came from. There were two doors. One was the bathroom and the other one could be a bedroom weren’t it for the open cabinets that were filled with paint and brushes.

“How did you know I liked to paint?” I never told him about it.

“Sometimes you would have paint on your hands.” He kissed my shoulder. “Do you love it?”

“I... I don’t know what to say.”

“You haven’t even seen the rest.” He guided me out of the room, and as we walked back to the living room, the bookcase caught my attention again.

“You like to read?” I loved to read a good book here and there, but I wouldn’t have an entire wall made of bookcases.

“More than I want to admit.”

I chuckled and followed him up the stairs. The first floor consisted of two bedrooms and a bathroom. They were plain at the moment, so we could easily change them.

“Our bedroom is upstairs.”

A warm feeling settled in my chest upon the word our. “We have the balcony?”

He hummed. “I thought you would love it as you can paint there.”

We walked up the stairs and came straight into our bedroom. It was almost as big as the living room, with a walk-in closet and two more rooms. One was the bathroom and the other one was locked. “Why is the door locked?”

“It’s a secret for another time.”

I furrowed my brows. We had the wardrobe and bathroom. There was no need for another room. “I don’t get it.”

“You’re too innocent,” he murmured in my hair as he hugged me sideways.