Chapter 10

Swivelling my head quickly, I spun around to see a tall, muscular guy run into the kitchen before stopping in his tracks and looking at me dead in the eye. My eyes quickly glazed over his entire body, taking in his brown wavy, shoulder-length hair, his dark bushy eyebrows and his neatly trimmed beard and moustache. Even under his smart black suit, I could see bulging biceps and large toned powerful legs. His shirt was slightly unbuttoned, revealing a small smattering of dark curly hairs against bronzed skin. From somewhere inside of me, I could hear Mya howling with delight, fighting against me to burst out. My whole body tingled with anticipation like a wildfire spreading through the moors. Frozen to the spot in wonder and not taking my eyes off of this delectable man, I coughed nervously and addressed Alistair loudly.
“Umm, Alistair?” I asked nervously, unable to take my eyes off this man. “Who is this man and why is he looking at me like he wants to eat me?”
“That man, my darling,” Alistair said quietly before pausing, “Is Blake Carson. Our soon-to-be Alpha!”

I gulped nervously at the man standing in front of me, feeling slightly embarrassed at my lack of clothing in front of such a gorgeous, affluent man. Silently, I bowed my head in a mark of respect as I waited for him to speak. I don’t know how long I stood there in silence, but it felt like an eternity. Finally, the silence was broken as a gruff voice loudly spoke out, cutting through the air like a knife through butter.
“You, girl,” the voice questioned roughly. “Lift your head. You may look at me! Who may you be?”

Nervously, I looked up and looked across at Blake who was staring at me intently. He showed no kind or loving emotion on his face as he eyed me up and down carefully. I could see his body had become tense as if he were holding something deep inside him. A flicker of fear, or maybe even pain flickered over his face, causing him to clench his jaw tightly. feeling uneasy, I swivelled my head towards Alistair who was peeping over at us in silence. Smiling reassuringly, he nodded gently before bowing his head to the floor once more. Turning my head back towards Blake, I managed a half-nervous smile before answering his questions.
“Your sir,” I began quietly. “I’m Libby. Libby Westwood. It’s a pleasure to be able to finally meet you! I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Oh, have you now. All good things I hope! Mmm,” Blake mumbled quietly, still not moving an inch. “You smell funny."
"I do not smell!" I butted in, feeling indignant at his remarks. 'How dare he!?"
"Yes, you do. You didn’t originally come from this pack, did you? Hang on? Were you the girl my Beta and his team were hunting in the woods earlier this week?”
“Um, yes sir. Marii came and saved me. I mean, stopped them from attacking me. They, the beta and the others, wanted me dead,” I replied before looking back down at my feet. “I originally came from the Eclipse pack, until I was chased out by my stepmother and her boyfriend.”
“Yes, I did hear about what had happened to you actually, but more on that later,” Blake agreed loudly with a sudden sneer in his voice. “My mother only saved your life on my orders to do so. Lift your head. I want to take a good look at you! I will be the one who decides if you live or die!”

Doing as I was told and feeling nervous, I finally lifted my head and let my eyes gaze deeply into his once more. As I did so, I felt Mya trying to burst out but somehow, I managed to contain her. I watched as he let out a deep breath of air and as his body relaxed, I noticed that his body was slowly trembling as if he was fighting with his own wolf. Suddenly, I gasped in shock as my own body began gently trembling in response. Blake Carson stared at me in an eery silence from the other side of the kitchen, his gaze more focused than any human’s or werewolf’s gaze should ever be. Not once did he blink or make any sign or movement except bore his eyes deeper into my skin. His warm brown eyes, the colour of chocolate, were rapidly turning darker until they looked like two polished coals sitting eerily in his skull. I’d never seen someone’s eyes turn that dark before, I thought Alistair’s had turned dark, but this was an entirely new level. They sent shivers of terror spiralling through my spine, but strangely, I didn’t feel terrified. I felt safe, protected, and loved. Deep in my mind, Mya was howling ecstatically alongside another wolf who was howling inside my head. 'Where did he come from?'

My skin tingled where his eyes lay and deep inside of me, I could hear the sound of fireworks, a dozen more howling wolves and oddly, sweet melodic classical music. I could hear the blood rushing around in my ears and I felt my heart beating a different tune within my chest. My trembling body finally came to a stop, but a strange unknown heat rushed through me, enveloping my bones, my veins, and my muscles. This peculiar new sensation was stronger than any sensation I had ever felt before. It was a new kind of heat - not a burning painful heat but instead, it was a warm fuzzy glow that got stronger with every passing second that I laid my eyes on Blake. I looked down at my hands and my skin and gasped to myself. I didn’t know if it was just me who could see it, but I could see a silvery smoky glow radiating all around me. I’d never seen it before, but I knew it had to be some special kind of aura. I’d heard the girls from college talking about it. 'But it couldn’t be?' You were only supposed to get an aura of this type when you had laid eyes on your Mate? 'Could it really be that Blake was my intended Mate? Was that why he saved me from his Pack?'

In one slow movement, Blake walked towards me, his face filled with raw emotion. 'Was it love or was it pain?' I couldn’t tell but all I knew was that, like me, Blake was fighting his own battle within his mind. I felt his hands connect with either side of my face as he grasped onto me for dear life. His long thin fingers snaking through my hair and caressing at my face. I closed my eyes and stood still while I felt him stroke my lips with his thumbs and run his ringers delicately over my jawbone. Everywhere his fingers touched, it left white hot burning spots of pain on my skin that fizzled into nothingness. But they didn't hurt. I felt his face come close to mine, as his hot breath breathed down my neck, sending me into overdrive. My skin screamed for more of his touch and the wolf within me howled the sweet romantic song of courtship.
I don’t know what had happened, but it was as if I’d lost all control of my own body. My face pushed up towards him as I gazed deeply into his eyes once more. The black coals that were once there were now replaced with a pair of eyes that burned madly into mine. Strong hands gently guided me towards him easily and that’s when the sparks and fireworks erupted. His soft warm lips connected with mine, pushing themselves into me deeply, clearly in need and wanting. Even if I wanted to move away, I couldn’t. His hands held me tightly against him as if he never wanted to let me go. The longer our lips connected, the more my body relaxed as I fell into his hold as I gave myself up to him.

And in that moment, everything that made me who I was had now shifted. My focus, my hopes and dreams had all changed. My eternal love for my dead parents, my loyalty to my new pack, my hatred for my enemies, my home, my name, my self – all disconnected from me in that moment and disappeared into nothingness. It felt like a new me had been born, right there in the kitchen of the Midnight Sun’s packhouse. It felt like I was floating or hovering above the kitchen floor. My body felt weightless but as I looked down, I realised I was still standing on the floor. A new type of bond now held me to where I was. Not just one bond, but a million little bonds. They felt like they were made of metal, and it didn’t matter how hard I tried to pull away, I knew these bonds wouldn’t break. A million little metal bonds all tying me to the one thing that my new self belonged to. I didn’t belong to myself anymore or to this packhouse but rather, to the very centre of the universe. But that’s when I realised the truth. The gravity of the earth that once held me down no longer tied me to the place where I stood. It was the handsome man, standing in front of me, wearing a crisp black suit, and looking like he wanted to devour me right on the spot, right there and then.
Blake Carson. My Mate.