Page 9 of Reclaiming His Lost Mate
“You dare not move an inch, or you’ll regret the day you decided to try me,” Marissa hissed, throwing one more rock as I watched, wide-eyed and stunned.
From the chaos, I could hear the lady’s heartbeat slowing down like she had been subjected to this torture for longer than one would think, and I snapped.
“Enough!”
Marissa whirled around like a feline caught stealing, and the remaining rocks in her hands toppled to the ground.
“Alexis.” Marissa’s tone was a mixture of shock, panic, and a bit of practiced lilt aimed at charming me. She had changed from sounding like a crazed animal to a sweetheart in a second, but even a child couldn’t be fooled.
“What are you thinking, Marissa? Did you really plan on stoning someone to death? I ask you, in the name of Igaluk, what could she have done to you?” I scolded angrily, and Marissa, bold enough, had the courage to look offended.
“Leave,” Marissa bit out without turning away from me, directing her order at the girl who hobbled away within seconds, looking relieved.
All the while, I kept asking myself what the hell I just witnessed. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen Marissa mistreating her subordinatesin one way or the other, all for some trivial reason. The people here feared Marissa. Not fearing her in a way that meant respect for her position, but the type of fear that sent them into chilling panic attacks whenever she was nearby.
“Alexis, that wasn’t what it looked like,” Marissa cut through my thoughts, closing the distance between us, and my eyebrow lifted in question.
“What exactly was it, if not what it looked like, Marissa?”
She stomped her foot, whining like a kid deprived. “That girl has been challenging me for a very long time. She is always in my face, going against my rules and not regarding me as her superior.” Marissa’s hands flailed, her face scrunching up in irritation at the topic. “You know what? Forget about that mongrel. I’ve been looking all over the place for you. We still have a lot to discuss. Have you sent word for my chambers to be ready with all the supplies I requested? When are you taking me to your castle?” She asked simultaneously, eyes twinkling and tone dripping with flirtation as her fingers came up to my chest.
I carefully avoided her touch, thinking about all the things I’ve come to learn about Marissa from the time I have spent with her.
The list wasn’t very impressive and was everything except what a Luna should possess.
A Luna ought to be kind, talented, and gracious. “Like Selina,” my wolf snickered in my head, and I didn’t argue with him because I knew this was true. I knew this because I’d been so drawn to Selina over the days that I had begun watching her every move secretly.
Unlike Selina, Marissa was obsessed with luxury, seeing as all she had spoken about since the ball had been how her chambers in Shadow Moon Pack should be filled with pieces of jewelry, makeup items, beauty herbs, and stones found only in places like the Silver Moon Pack. Marissa was wasteful of the little resources that the Nightwing Pack was known to have, and she did not care for her packmates or know about their welfare like a Luna should. Not in the slightest, so we could say she was a work in progress.
I shook my head, masking my many concerns about the woman I had chosen to be a mother figure to my people. “Do not seek that girl out again, Marissa,” I warned, voice clipped. “Even heretics do notdeserve to be tortured the way you did her, and if I find out you went after her again, we are going to have a problem. Do you understand?”
Marissa’s eyes flared in vexation, but she quickly schooled her features. “Fine! When are we leaving?”
“It’s late. Go inside,” I said, leaving no room for further discussion, and I disappeared into the darkness, ignoring her grumbles.
I resumed my trip, and my destination changed, as once again, I found myself unable to resist going after what I really wanted. As I walked, my mind flooded with different thoughts. Thoughts revolving around the only woman I’d ever craved to the point of madness. Selina.
She had felt perfect pressed beneath my weight when she had shown up at my door, looking heart-stopping with that inimitable natural charm that swirled around her, accentuated by the radiant flower tucked behind her ear. Selina was unlike any woman I’d come across in my twenty-five years of existence.
Her independent expertise was unmatched, as I hadn’t seen one person enter the Nightwing Pack’s treatment hut with a problem that she couldn’t fix. I’d also been content with watching her from the shadows…until now when the male who had initially trotted inside the hut started gimping once he saw Selina. I stood on edge, watching through the windows, and my wolf thrashed in panic as Selina’s silhouette retreated, only for the male to lash after her.
He was going to hurt her. No fucking way!
I abandoned my composure, and by Igaluk, I’d never moved faster in my life.
I was in the hut before I knew it and on the guy within seconds, hurling his body across the room, not caring where the bastard landed. He dared to touch what was mine, so I wasn’t stopping until I drew blood.
His head snapped up to take me in, a scowl marring his ugly face as he shuffled to his feet, regaining his balance. “Would you mind your own damn business, Alpha? Did you not wash your hands off her by publicly rejecting her?” He bellowed with a snarl, hands flexing up and knees bent in a fighting stance.
Good.
I didn’t bother to respond to his question as I caged him in,blinded with so much fury that my wolf lunged for the surface, battling for control over my physical form. He wanted nothing more than to gut this scumbag of the earth and feed his insides to the vultures, and I wasn’t so opposed to the idea. “How dare you touch her!” I growled, my insides boiling in rage.
A prickly feeling on my limbs caused my eyes to dart there, and I noticed sprouts of yellow patches of fur splayed across my arms. My fingernails were slowly being replaced with my wolf’s claws, letting me know that my wolf was forcing a shift.
I’d never been rattled enough for something like this to ever happen to me.
I growled, advancing to the prick, but just then, I heard Selina whimper behind us. My head whipped to where she was, and her eyes were open now, staring vacantly as her body violently convulsed in fright. My rage disappeared, and I was beside her in a second, my features restored and panic creeping into my bones.
