Chapter 3.

Sofia's POV.

"Will you help us with this fighting prowess of yours? I'd wager all the men would be scared once they hear of your victories." Alex teased.

I smiled and focused on my meal, I'd love to continue bantering with him but I was still worried. I should have sensed mate by now but everything remained the same.

I began to suspect that I'd make a huge mistake of agreeing to whatever I was doing here.

"Our men are very brave, they wouldn't be scared of a mere woman." Luna bragged.

I found her words fascinating and insulting at the same time, a wicked smile graced the corner of my lips.

"They are brave but I dare say even the best of them won't last longer than ten moves against me in a friendly tussle," I said.

They were amazed by my confidence.

"Are you challenging the best of our warriors?"

"I wouldn't call that a challenge, it's a fact."

"You're good with the sword and rumor has it that no one has ever won against you in a sword fight so that is your main forte."

"Would you like to arm wrestle with me?"

"It would be considered unfair to arm wrestle with a woman, you were taught by training officials, I was self-taught."

"My father trained me himself, are you calling him weak?"

"I dare not, you win."

I burst into laughter and began to reach for the dessert, I was stress-eating, I needed to find my mate!

"So what do you think of our noble pack?" Luna asked.

"Elegant, just as you are, I haven't ventured into the pack proper but I definitely will!" I replied excitedly.

"Of course, you will, if you need any help you can come to me, I'll be glad to." She said with a wicked form plastered on her face.

I pretended not to notice the sarcasm in her tone.

"Thank you for the offer, Luna," I said, hiding the disgust in my tone.

"Oh please! Call me Elena." She said,

I nodded and said no more, she was trying to trap me but I resorted to dealing with her tactics later. My mother did well in teaching me against such shameless women.

I initially had nothing against her but I suspected that we wouldn't get along.

"Sofia, it's quite confusing seeing that you've been friendly with anyone and entertaining us with your kind presence all day but haven't acknowledged the presence of your mate, are you being shy right now?" Someone suddenly said teasingly.

My heart stopped momentarily and the fork in my hand dropped to the plate, luckily the sound was drowned by their laughter and I turned my head to the direction to which someone pointed, and just across the table sat my supposed mate.

Butterflies fluttered in my belly, not for the mate feeling or attraction but because of his godly and out-of-the-world look, across me sat the most handsome man I'd ever set my eyes on, his hair seemed to glow and I could have sworn I saw a twinkle in his eye.

His looks could be compared to that of a god, no! That of an Adonis, he surely was the God of handsomeness.

He sat there lazily in all his glory looking as arrogant as ever, he didn't even spare me a glance and I smirked.

It was expected of him to put on his air of pride and arrogance and I don't care. The proper thing was to acknowledge his presence and greet him.

I caught myself gaping at him and quickly recollected myself and regained my composure, something was amiss, my nostrils didn't glare up neither did I feel any force of attraction or response from my wolf.

The mate bond was there and neither was a link or anything, I cocked my head sideways, was I hallucinating?

I clearly remember sensing the mate when he came to pick up Mata as his substitute bride at my pack but I intentionally masked it and pretended I didn't know.

I knew from the onset he was my mate and expected the bond to be there but I can't sense it, this meant trouble! My mind flashed back to when my conscience had pricked me for keeping mute about being mute and I justified my actions with the excuse that he had my already chosen mate.

The turmoil inside of me was brewing a storm that I had to conceal with a smile. I decided against saying a word to him and averted my gaze back to my food, I pretended not to hear what was being said and I could almost hear him chuckle, I sighed and lifted my head, and looked at him.

Our eyes met and his gaze held mine.

I could feel a burning sensation inside of me that wasn't the mate bond, was I lusting after the arrogant bastard? I was about to look away when he smirked at me.

I was confused at first, why was he smirking? But then he cocked his eyebrow to depict his mockery and his arrogance was evident in his eyes. The message was loud and clear.

He had obviously realized what I was going through, his gaze held mockery and disdain, my temper flared up and I slightly banged my hand on the table as I looked away, it made a little sound and didn't attract much attention. I wiped my mouth with a napkin impatiently and stood up from the table.

I bowed slightly as a fake smile was plastered on my face.

"Thank you for the meal, I haven't tasted something this delicious in almost forever however I'd like to retreat to my room right now and would be glad if a maid will show me to my room, I am exhausted from the journey, and would hate to bother you with my troubles, thank you for the warm reception once more," I said politely.

They were shocked by my abrupt leave but I didn't wait for an answer before I turned to leave and Freya appeared almost immediately and led me to my room.