Page 4 of Into the Grasslands

“No. No. I’m merely putting it on hold for now. You know, so we can get to know one another better, and then…”

“Get to know one another better than what? I’ve known you my whole life, Aiden. My father was your father’s Beta. We were brought up practically side-by-side in this place. What more is there to learn, exactly?”

“Well, listen, there’s a place…” He started to speak again and then paused, almost as if he wasn’t sure if what he was about to suggest was the right thing. My heart shriveled on the spot and fell straight down into a pit somewhere inside my stomach as he continued anyway. “Mirage Island,” Aiden muttered to a myriad of shocked gasps around the room. Even the women of his harem paled significantly at the mention of the accursed place where rejected females were dumped to wait for the mate who rejected them to change their mind. Few knew it was also a place where second-chance mates could be found. My father made certain to tell me about it only because it was where his own father found his mate when it became clear that his original fated mate died prior to their bonding.

“You want to send me to the island of rejected mates while trying to tell me that you’re not rejecting me?” I asked, my voice going a little shrill as I did so.

“Look, Nicky,” he tried to offer half-hearted platitudes with arms out as if he were defenseless and blameless in the matter.

“It’s Nika, and you damn well know you haven’t forgotten my name, since you greeted me with it only moments ago. Don’t try to distance yourself through falsehoods. Your lies stink up the room around you with their foul scent. Be the Alpha you claim to be and just get on with it.” My words were scathing and cold in their delivery because I knew my fate would be sealed with the next thing he said.

Aiden couldn’t hide the anger that my challenge caused. “Okay then. You’re right. It is not our time to be paired yet. It will come, I’m sure. But you were supposed to be in university for four years. It takes four years to obtain a degree.” He turned his greedy eyes back toward the harem of female shifters that were waiting for him.

“How about I have a harem of my own, and we both sow our wild oats? Considering some of those women are destined to be mated, or are already mated to other males in our pack, it’s only fair that those males get to sample what’s yours. Why should you be able to sample what belongs to them when they can’t enjoy the same spoils?” I suggested, knowing full well that he was about to stew in his own hypocrisy.

Aiden laughed so hard he might have pissed himself. “Do you really think anyone in this pack would be stupid enough to touch what’s mine?”

“See, that’s the fun part. I’m not yours. You would have to touch me to pull the bond into place, and then have a true, mutual claiming for me to truly be yours. You just rejected that. You did it for them.” I said as I pointed toward the women still seated behind him. “I hope they are worth it when your pack falls apart, and you lose everything as a result.”

“You are mine because the moon has already blessed our union! There’s no going back from that, Nika!”

It was my turn to laugh. “I will leave it to you to explain to Selene, our beloved Sky Goddess, why you rejected the mate she chose for you, so that you could play with your whores.” I pointed at the women. “They are all beneath me in pack status and abilities. I can feel it and I know you can too. Everyone here can. All of them put together do not hold enough power to help you keep this pack together. Yet, you reject me, so that you can lie with them. What kind of Alpha would debase himself with weaker wolves, and put his pack’s health in jeopardy, when his moon-blessed mate is standing in front of him?”

Aiden sighed and looked down on me as if I were a child. “I don’t expect you to understand the old ways. You will go to Mirage Island and wait there until I am ready to come collect you. No other man will dare touch you because you belong to me. You will still be mine, but only when I’m ready for you.”

“So, I’m to be imprisoned while you fuck around with multiple females, one of whom belongs to another wolf in our pack already from the scent of her? You expect me to respect you enough to agree to be your mate whenever you finally decide to come collect me?”

“Yes.” His immediate answer made me dizzy with sickness, especially since he threw the weight of his Alpha power behind it. How could the man, who was supposed to be my moon-blessed mate, be so adamant about coveting other females in our pack above me? The respect and hope I had for Aiden and our union only moments ago died a horrible death at my intended mate’s feet.

“What if I die on the island while waiting for you to show up and finally claim me?”

“That won’t happen.”

“How do you know? Have you ever been there? Do you know what dangers might be lurking?”

“I will make sure regular supplies are dropped in while you are there, so that you will always have enough to care for yourself.”

“What if I drown in the waters and you no longer have a mate? What if one of the rogues comes and steals me away?” I laughed then because even if that happened, he could still track me down unless I died. “Didn’t Alpha Trevor ever warn you about Alphas who don’t take a mate? That’s one of the reasons he outlawed the practice of harems in our pack because it discouraged Alphas from finding, or claiming, their mates. You already have yours standing before you, and yet you would toss me aside, and rub in my face that you have them and want to enjoy being with them first?”

He growled out an angry response then, but I wasn’t done.

“What happens when you put me on that island, andIrejectyoubecause you are now filthy and untouchable in my eyes? You can’t have a true mating with me unless I’m willing.”

Avery, Aiden’s second and his younger brother, stepped in then. “That is your Alpha you’re speaking to!”

“And I am supposed to behisLuna, the next highest rank in this pack, and yet you allowthatdisrespect to go on while I am discarded like the bones from last week’s kill.” I pointed, once again, to the women who looked more and more uncomfortable with their positions as I spoke about what would happen.

Every pack member understood what happened to Alphas who refused to take a mate. Eventually, they went mad, and the pack’s power base lessened, making them weak in every way. No one, no matter their desperation to climb beyond their station in life, wanted to be a part of a weak, ill-fated pack. Certainly, only the truly stupid and self-centered wanted to be the cause of the downfall of a pack.

Avery’s wince told me that he understood even though there was nothing he was willing to do to overthrow his brother’s rule.Apparently, his future Luna wasn’t important enough to speak up for. He stood loyal to his brother, his Alpha, even as Aiden threatened to destroy the strength of their pack for the greedy delights of the flesh.

“Come on, let’s go,” Avery ordered as he took hold of my upper arm.

“Know this, Aiden Thornwin, I will never be a willing Luna to you if this is the choice you make now. If you do this, I will reject the bond – even if I must die to do it.”

“No, you won’t because this is the pack of your family, too. You would never forsake them.”

“Did you forget so quickly? I did my duty and came to you when the moon herself guided me here. I don’t have to forsake anything, that weight lies only on your shoulders now, with your choice.” I glanced at the women then, most of whom finally, wisely appeared more worried than smug.

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