CHAPTER THREE.
NOLAN’s POV“Alpha Nolan, we have arrived” My driver announces as the car comes to a halt and the engine dies.I wait patiently for one of my guards to open the door for me and when he does, I graciously step out of it and stand straight with both hands shoved in my overall pockets.My outward demeanour is not a very friendly one and I know it. Everyone standing around bows down the moment they set their eyes on me, including the Alpha of the Pack, Alpha Chase Phoenix. I am in his pack today to do the usual annual inspection which involves me moving around the pack to look around and make sure that Alpha Chase is handling everything just well and of course not treating his subjects like slaves.I am the Paramount Alpha and none of the Alphas around here like me. Werewolves from other packs hate and fear me because of the rumours surfacing that I am a ruthless Alpha and that I kill my subjects or any other person without reason.Well… I’m not going to try to defend myself, I’m going to let you all decide what I am when you get to know me better.“Mate!” I hear my wolf, Ander whisper strongly in my mind and I crease my brows as I look around.“Mate? What do you mean by that?” I reply in my mind, a bit perplexed.“Our mate is in this pack. Right now she’s not in this castle, but she is in this pack! You have to find her!” He urges.“I will find her, Ander, I promise. For now, I need you to calm down and let me do my work as an Alpha. Please ” I beg him to calm down and he nods before shutting me out. I know my wolf, if I don’t beg him to calm down, he’s going to keep singing the mate issue until I give in.Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited that I’m one step away from finding my mate, but I don’t want to find her now because if I do, I will forget about my original mission to this pack, thereby failing my subjects. I cannot let that happen!I snap out of my thoughts and look up at Alpha Chase who still has his head bowed down, prolly waiting for me to instruct him to stand straight.“You May all lift your heads” I instruct and they all do as told. Alpha Chase inches close to me and extends his hand for a handshake which I gladly take without any hesitation.“You are welcome to the Crystal Moon Pack, Alpha Nolan. My subjects and I have been anticipating this day and we are honoured to finally have you here with us”Liar!I know he’s lying.The sly grin he has at the side of his lips sells him out. Neither him nor his subjects have been anticipating my arrival. On the contrary, they have been cursing the fact that I have to set foot in their pack because they all believe me to be the devil’s incarnate.I smile and nod my head, making up my mind to go with the flow. I don’t like Alpha Chase either, because he is a scheming bastard! I’m just here because this is my responsibility as a Paramount Alpha and I cannot run away from it.“ I would like to begin with the inspection immediately!” I say in a commanding tone and he nods his head.“Of course, this way please.”My Beta and I follow him out of his castle with a group of guards behind us.Today is going to be a long day of meeting, greeting, smiling with and talking to people I do not like. The only thing I'm excited about is finding my mate.“I believe this is a banquet for you all to eat, drink and have fun, please go ahead and do so” I speak out and immediately, the subjects start chattering, but I can still sense their fear.HOURS LATER.The moment I walked into this banquet hall, everyone went dead silent and stayed glued on their spots like statues. I know the rumours about me are horrible, but I don’t have time to go about explaining myself to anyone. If they think I’m an evil tyrant, let them go ahead and hate me. I am their Paramount Alpha and I can…My thoughts are interrupted by the faint sweet smell of caramel. My thoughts go in total disarray as I turn around to the direction where the smell is coming from and my heart skips a beat when my eyes fall on a tall slim girl, dressed in a red sleeveless dress, walking gracefully into the banquet room, smiling from molar to molar.“That’s the smell of our mate” Ander, my wolf, points out and immediately, I set my glass on the table and rise up from my seat. I stand glued to the spot as I watch the girl greet a few friends.That’s my mate and bless the Moon goddess because she is perfect!I have to talk to her. If I don’t, I’m going to lose my mind.I take slow calculated steps towards her and when she sees me approaching, she quickly bows down her head as a sign of respect. Without saying a word, I place my index finger on her chin and gently raise her head up.Her pheromone is not very strong, but it’s doing wonders to my mind. I have no idea why Ander is suddenly silent. This is the moment he jumps around, screaming the word “mate” repeatedly.“Alpha Nolan” My mate’s angelic voice calls and I break into a smile.“What is your name?” I ask as calmly as I can so as not to scare her.“Mia Lyn Collins” She replies confidently.“Mia, I bless the Moon goddess for choosing you to be my mate.” I announce and I can see her eyes widen in shock.Why is she shocked?She is supposed to know I’m her mate as well.“Why do you seem shocked? Hasn’t your wolf signalled you yet?” I ask concerned and she quickly shakes her head.“No… no… I mean yes! She has.” She stammers in confusion. “Just that I didn’t believe her, I thought she was playing games with me”She looks so cute when she’s confused and I honestly want to mark her right here and now, but that won’t be appropriate .“Your wolf didn’t lie, you are my mate and future Luna”“I… I… I don’t even know what to say '' The happiness I see in her eyes makes my heart swell up with emotions. I lean closer to her and plant a soft wet kiss on her forehead before looking at her again.“Tell your friends and family goodbye, because I will be taking you with me to my pack tomorrow, that’s where you belong.” I turn around and walk away, intending to find Alpha Chase.He said he had something very important to discuss with me and I think now is the right time to do so.“Alpha Nolan.” Chase’s Alpha voice sounds from behind and I turn to look at him.“Alpha Chase. I think now is the time for us to have that discussion you spoke about.”“Yes, Alpha. This way please.” He takes me to the high table where I was formerly seated. I’m really eager to hear what he wants to say.“So?” I ask once we are both seated.“Well…this might sound a bit crazy to you, but it’s true.”“I want to hear it already.”“Yesterday was the day of the ceremony where all the werewolves who turned eighteen years old had their wolves awakened. However, the wolf of one of my she-wolves was not activated, instead, her pheromone attracted the widowed and unmated werewolves to herself and you know what that means.”“It means she is a stealer.” I conclude, and he nods his head.“Yes Alpha, she is a stealer. However, I was thinking she would be of great asset to you.”“What do you mean by that?” I ask with creased brows.“We all know your brother, Alpha Kai lost his mate sometime last year and till now he has refused to stop mourning. I know how much you love your brother and how much you want him to get over that loss. You see, the stealer’s pheromone will make your brother attracted to her and once they mate, he will forget about his lost mate and love her instead, hence redeeming him from his state of mourning” he explains with so much confidence and I can feel anger burning in my heart.What he’s saying is the truth. The stealer will redeem my brother, but I hate that fact he just wants to send the poor girl away. I’m sure she’s against this idea.“Alpha Chase, has the girl agreed to this?”“You and I know no girl will agree to that, but this isn’t her choice to make. I am doing her a favour!”They say I'm the cruelest and most heartless man alive, but they haven’t met Alpha Chase.I might be the devil’s incarnate, but he is the devil himself!“Alpha Chase, I …” I stop on my words when my mate’s pheromone hits my nostrils. This time around it is not faint at all. The smell is so strong that I can’t stay still. I rise up from my seat and look into the crowd, hoping to see Mia around, but I don’t. Instead, I see a girl, held by two guards and they are walking towards us.As they approach, my wolf, Ander, sprints up in my mind and screams the word “mate” over and over again.I take a few steps towards the guards and the girl and they halt on their tracks.I look at the girl who looks so weak and vulnerable. My heart is throbbing in my chest and right now I feel like I’m floating. What I felt when I stood with Mia a few minutes ago is nothing compared to what I feel right now.I feel like a whole different part of me that I didn’t know about has been awakened.I stretch out my hands and gently touch the girl’s black curls.Perfect.She’s perfect.I thought Mia was the most gorgeous girl in the world, but this girl beats her. This girl standing before me is more than a goddess and the things she makes me feel are unexplainable.“Mate!” I whisper and immediately, she looks up at me.“Mate” I hear her whisper back to me.“No!” A voice interjects and I turn around, only to see Mia approaching with a sorrowful look on her face.“Mia”“Alpha Nolan, do not be deceived. This is my sister, Catania. She is a stealer and that’s why her pheromone is affecting you so much. Look around, you can see that the guards are trying to hold the men down. You are only attracted to her because she is a stealer, she is not your mate. I am!”“No!” The girl, whose name I’ve heard is Catania, cries weakly. “Please don’t listen to her. I am your mate.”I stand there, confused on what to do and who to accept.Catania’s pheromone is way stronger than Mia’s and Ander keeps insisting that Catania is our mate. But what Mia just explained makes a lot of sense. Catania is a stealer and her pheromone is capable of attracting unmated werewolves like me to her.That should be the reason why I’m feeling this way.“Mia is right” Alpha Chase announces as he joins us. “You are only attracted to this girl because she is a stealer. Mia is your real mate. Don’t be fooled by this stealer’s pheromone.”Catania bursts into tears and for some odd reason, my heart clenches in pain. I feel bad that she is crying, but I know I shouldn’t because she is not my mate.“Just look at the influence she has over you, Alpha Nolan. If you take her with you to your pack, you brother will be redeemed, don’t you want that?” Alpha Chase rants on and I close my eyes to think.This girl's stealer pheromone keeps raiding my mind.If she affects me so much, it means she will have the same effect on my brother, Kai. I have always prayed to the moon goddess to give me a solution to my brother’s problem, this is the solution looking right at me. I have to take it.I turn to Alpha Chase who is staring at me with so much hope in his eyes.“So, what do you want in return?”“The West line territory. It’s a small place.”“I will send you the land title documents when I get home. I will be leaving with both girls early tomorrow morning”“As you wish, Alpha.” He agrees with a slight bow as he turns to his guards. “Take her away”.I watch in pain as the guards pull the girl away.I hate the fact that she has so much influence over me. She is not even my mate, but I feel her pain.This is madness.“Mia” I call as I turn to look at my beautiful mate”“Alpha Nolan”“Come with me” I stretch out my hand to take it and when she does, I expect to feel sparks all over my body, but nothing happens.When I touched Catania’s hair a while ago, I felt like lightning had struck me. All the hair on my body had stood erect. I felt a connection! But right now, I feel nothing at all with Mia.Why is it so?CHAPTER FOURCATANIA’s POV “It’s time to go” A guard announces as he walks into the bedroom I was taken into last night.I barely got any sleep. I mostly cried and asked the moon goddess why all these things were happening to me. Begging her to tell me where I went wrong in life. Why would she pair me with an Alpha and still give me the identity of a Stealer?It’s unduly agonizing.It’s all too much for me to bear and I wish I could die so all this would end.Without letting out a word or resisting, I quietly walk out of the bedroom with the guards following me close behind.I had thought on my eighteenth birthday, I would find my mate who will take me away from my adoptive parents who never loved me, but I found my mate and he doesn’t want to believe that I’m his mate and right now I’m being taken to his pack to be a rebound for his widowed maniac brother.What a pity!Once we get out of the mansion to the compound where multiple cars are parked, the first thing I pick up is my mate’
CHAPTER FIVE.NOLAN’s POV“Are you okay baby?” I ask Mia whose eyes seem to be watery. I hate that she is always around to witness the drama between Catania and I. I can only imagine how bad she feels, because if I were in her shoes, I would feel the same. Having someone else try to claim your mate before your eyes is a very vexatious thing to witness."Uh…yeah…" She stammers and the pain in her voice is inevitable. "Yeah, I'm good. You know, I'm actually used to this by now""No baby, don't get used to this. I promise everything will be fine soon. I promise!""Ah… yeah. I know everything will be fine, Alpha. But what I actually meant was that I'm used to my sister always trying to steal what's mine. You see, while growing up, she never wanted me to have anything nice. If our parents bought something good for me, she would steal it and hide or destroy it so I won't have it anymore. That's why right now I'm not surprised that she wants to take you away from me" She elucidates sadly and
CHAPTER FIVE.CATANIA'S POVAll my life I have been unloved, but I have never felt so ridiculed. How can my mate deliberately refuse to accept me, but offer himself to Mia who isn't his mate. She is the imposter here!I have always known Mia to be a sly fox, but I didn't think she was up to this level. How did she even succeed to do this? How did she know I was his mate? How did she pick up my smell? How on earth did she manage to convince my mate?She must have said and done something!She must have said something to turn my mate against me and I have to find out. All my life, Mia has been stealing my spotlight. She always made me feel like a lesser bring every time she went out and I let her have her way with me all this time, but right now, I won't!This is my mate we are talking about, my happiness, my future, my life as a whole. I cannot let her steal it from me.I can't.I have to find Alpha Nolan so we can have a one on one talk.Maybe after I have explained things to him ,he w
CHAPTER SEVENNOLAN'S POV"How is she?" I ask Alex who's standing by Catania's room door.Trust me, even I myself do not know why I have come here. I tried to get her off my mind, to stop thinking about how unsafe she feels right now, but I couldn't, so I made a rash decision to come and check up on her. Absurd thing is, I'm not even thinking about it's mate who is in my bedroom right now, prolly waiting for me to come to her. I'm not thinking about her at all, but here I am, obsessing about Catania's safety and comfort.There's something fundamentally wrong with me."Well, she hasn't screamed or broken things or cried, she should be fine""Oh…" I gently open the door and peek in. Ander sprints up on my mind when I see her petite frame lying on the bed, probably asleep. The smell Caramel mixed with honey and chocolate fills my nostrils and I close my eyes and sniff in a long deep breath. All my nerves and senses go in total disarray and my entire body feels giddy.There's this weird
CHAPTER EIGHT.NOLAN'S POVThe events occuring today are overwhelming. Catania is unbelievably stubborn and her pheromone is making me think and say things I'm not supposed to say and Nigel is not making matters any better by slipping into his black list mood with me.This is the moment I need him the most, not as a beta, but as my best friend, but he has decided to shun me away.Stubborn as hell.The only person who can help me out of this stress is my mate, Mia, that is why I'm walking to my bedroom right now to see her. It's been a whole lot of hours and I miss her very much. I miss the smell of her sweet pheromone and also her very charming smile.I have to mark her tonight!I have to make her mine…"Mate!" Ander screams in my mind the moment I'm done ascending the staircase. I look over to the West Wing where Catania's bedroom is located and I can perceive her pheromone from here. Damn!It's sharp and hypnotizing. I close my eyes and huff heavily as I take the right wing where
CHAPTER NINE.CATANIA'S POVI can bet my life that Alpha Nolan was here a while ago. When I woke from my siesta, I could perceive his scent in the entire bedroom, but he was nowhere to be found.He must have definitely come to reprimand me after the news of me roaming around got to him. Poor me.I have been in this bedroom for hours now, waiting for that door to open up and for soldiers to drag me to Alpha Kai so he can devour me.I have never seen Alpha Kai before. According to the rumours, he used to be the good brother, but when his mate died, everything went down the drain for him. I have never really known whether he is way older than his little brother or not. Whatever be the case, I hope his face is at least lookable. I wouldn't want to spend the rest of my life sleeping with a man I can barely even look at.Sweet Moon goddess, please hear me out.The sound of my room door opening snaps me out of my thoughts and when I look up, I roll my eyes hard when I see my evil, treache
CHAPTER TEN."What's going on here?" The question flies out of my mouth the moment I walk in and see Mia holding both cheeks and she looks like she is about to burst into tears. I heard the sound of a smack as I opened the now and now that I'm in this room and looking at the two girls, I think I understand what happened.Catania just smacked Mia.The audacity of this girl!I feel a growl mold in my throat as I walk closer to both girls."What do you think you are doing?" I hear Ander ask from within and I halt on my tracks."Can't you see that the stealer girl just hurt our mate?" I reply in my mind and Ander lets out an angry growl. "Mia is not our mate. I'm warning you Nolan, do not hurt our mate, Catania! Don't you dare!" He warns and I immediately shut him out without a second thought.I understand why he is acting that way, it's all because of Catania's stealer pheromone. It's making him say things he is not supposed to say. I had a similar experience yesterday and even right now
CHAPTER ELEVEN.CATANIA'S POV.I don't know for how long I've been crying, but I know I have cried past my limit. My tear glands must be exhausted and my heart is pumping hard. I don't even want to talk about what's going on in my chest right now. My heart is definitely going to stop beating soon.Watching Alpha Nolan behave like a bewitched fool is heart wrenching!I die ten times every time he takes Mia's side in an argument. He has no idea the kind of person Mia is.She is manipulative and mean. She hates me to the core and she will do everything in her power to make my life miserable. Why can't he see her?I know Mia is a gorgeous girl, but then, that's not enough reason for him to choose her over me.I am his mate for goodness sake! Why can't he just accept it?Honestly, I don't think I can live like this. I thought I would be at peace when I finally mate with Alpha Kai, but I don't think I will.I die everytime I see Mia and Nolan together. I mean he is my mate and I long for hi