Chapter 24: A Strong Bond

-Rogan-

Usually, I would eat with the others. We had a big dining room, and the people that stayed here, and even some who didn’t, would all have their breakfast there or dinner there. It was a way to strengthen our bond, when we ate together, and a good way to keep track of everyone and how they were doing, which was very important to me as their alpha. This morning, though, we stayed in the kitchen. It was best to not just throw Serena to the wolves, but ease everyone into the idea of her and the other way around as well.

I sat with a cup of coffee in my hand, watching her eat. I didn’t have much appetite this morning because I was so worried about how today would go.

“So, what is your exact plan?” Serena asked and pushed her food away.

It was clear she didn’t want to eat more, even if I had the feeling that she was still hungry. I pushed her plate back to her and nodded towards it.

“Eat up.”

“I’m full.”

“You’re lying,” I said.

“How can you know?” she asked.

“Call it a feeling.”

“What?”

“As mates we are tuned into each other’s needs, and right now I know you are still hungry, but I can also hear your stomach still growling for more,” I explained.

Serena looked almost surprised, but for a moment she also seemed intrigued. I wasn’t sure if I read her wrong, but it looked like she wanted to know more about the bond. She didn’t say anything though, but did as she was told and pulled the plate back to her, as she began to eat again.

“Will I be killed today?” she asked.

I sighed.

“Why do you think that?”

“Because you’re “showing” me your world. It means I will be walking among you guys, and I can only imagine no one here is my fan,” she said.

“You’re right. No one is.”

“So will I die today?” she asked again.

“Hard to say.”

She just shrugged, as if the idea of dying didn’t mean much. It probably didn’t to her. Hunters were taught nothing was more important than the cause. Not even their own lives. She had probably made peace with herself long ago that she would die at a young age. It must have been strange growing up like that, and I found myself wanting to ask her about it. I didn’t though, because I knew she wouldn’t answer me.

“I will try to make sure you don’t die today though,” I said.

“Why?” she asked.

“I told you why.”

“I still don’t get it,” she said. “Why can’t you just stop?”

“Stop feeling attached to you?”

She nodded, and I couldn’t help but smile a little.

“It’s just not that simple.”

“Then make it so.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?!” she asked.

“You really love that question, don’t you?” I asked with a little amusement in my voice, yet the look on Serena’s faced confused me.

She looked almost a little guilty as I said this, and it took me a moment for me to realize why. A soldier did not ask questions. They followed orders, and that was it.

“We are just built differently,” I told her, not wanting her to feel like she couldn’t ask questions.

If she asked questions, it meant she was more than a brainwashed soldier. It meant she actually did question the things around her, and that she had a mind of her own. It gave me hope.

“But it would free you.”

“It would kill me. You just don’t reject your mate. Not unless you have a good reason to,” I said.

“Hello!” she said and gestured with a hand between us. “Hunter. Werewolf. Werewolf. Hunter.”

I nodded a little.

“I am aware,” I said.

“And it is still not good enough?”

I shook my head.

“The Goddess—”

“Sorry, I don’t believe in the divine powers and that there is a person in the sky,” she told me.

“That’s alright, but we believe,” I said.

She rolled her eyes, and usually I would have taken offence. You didn’t insult the Goddess, but since Serena wasn’t from my world, I couldn’t really blame her. She had been raised differently.

“You need a real reason,” I said.

“Give me an example,” she said.

I thought it over for a little while, leaning back in my seat.

“Violence.”

“Violence?” she asked.

“An abusive mate. That would be the reason for rejecting them and there is a good chance you would get a second chance mate afterwards.”

“What is a second chance mate?”

“It is often given to those who lose their mates. Like in the word, a second chance,” I told her. “Usually, we only get one mate. A few times, some people have been bestowed with two or three at a time, but that is very rare. It is more common that if you lose your mate, you will get another or if you escape from an abusive one.”

“Wait, so there are actually some of you that form polyamorous relationships and some who get more than one soulmate if the first one dies?!” she asked.

I nodded.

“But since we are enemies and have caused each other so much pain, then why is that not a good enough reason?” she asked.

That was a good question, but it wasn’t so simple.

“Have we ever hurt each other directly?” I asked.

“You shot me,” she said.

“You tried to kill me too. It was self-defense,” I said.

“Shouldn’t that be enough?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“How can you be sure?”

“I can’t, but I don’t feel our bond has weakened,” I told her.

“Has weakened?”

“A bond between two wolves that is not nurtured or is abused will weaken, which is why the other one can eventually break the bond without feeling pain.”

“But you don’t feel that?” she asked.

I shook my head.

“I actually only feel it is growing in strength.”

“Why?!” she shouted.

I chuckled a little. She sounded so desperate that it was a little amusing.

“I don’t know,” I told her honestly.

“We are a terrible match.”

“I agree.”

“Then let me go!”

I shook my head.

“Never,” I said. “Now are you done eating? We got some things to do today.”

She sighed, and I took her empty plate and my mug, putting it in the dishwasher, but when I turned back to Serena … She was gone.

“Great,” I sighed.

*This entire story have been altered not by the creator and the changes have not been accepted by her. This story should no longer be connected to her since she do not think some of the scenes are acceptable nor does she want any ties to that*