5. Leo

A few hours before the mating ceremony...

The Nightshade Pack

It was here. It was finally here. The day that I would get to have my mate was finally here...And I, was a complete mess. A hot, fucking mess.

I was simmering with pent-up frustration and thrumming with need, anger, and anxiety. I wanted to tear this room apart with my bare hands. Smash something. Anything.

Five years...

I've been waiting for this day for five whole years. Even longer than that but who the hell was even counting anymore... After the first few decades, it was safe to say that I had lost my hope...

But then she appeared. My beautiful mate. My sexy, sweet-smelling, and mouth-watering mate. And so very fucking underage.

Five fucking years. For five whole years, I had to wait, for the moment when I could finally have her here, with me. For the moment when I could get to touch her without being labelled as a total creep.

My beast was itching to get out. I could feel him vibrate beneath my skin. We yearned to hunt her. Chase her. And it was making me feel so restless. I couldn't wait to see her again. See those beautiful eyes of hers, and smell her addictive scent.

I walked towards the wide-open balcony, welcoming the relatively soothing sensation of fresh air licking at my damp skin. I've already taken four cold showers today. And I've jerked off exactly as much. It didn't help. My cock was still so painfully swollen. We were lusting for our female; my beast and I. For five years he'd been waiting so patiently, for her to mature and prepare for us. And now, she was on her way here. To my territory. Her future home. I couldn't wait to make her my queen. Share my life with her.

I didn't give a shit about my pack's disapproval of her. That she was human. It did surprise me at first, that day when I had found her in the forest, in the Everglade Pack's territory. Running around naked as if she had just shifted back. I thought that she was a wolf, and that that spying asshole had picked up on her scent. I thought that he was hunting her, so that he could mate with her. It drove my beast crazy with rage and jealousy. So I hunted him instead and killed him on the spot. He deserved it anyway, for stealing precious intel from my pack for months on end, but after realizing what he was trying to do to my mate, I lost my mind and tore him apart. I still get angry whenever I remember those moments. I should've made him suffer more before sending him to the afterlife. I should've dismembered him first, limb by limb. Have him feel my wrath.

But then I remember the look on her face. The smell of her fear. It drove me wild. I wanted to steal her away and hide her somewhere in a darkened cave. I wanted to lick her tears and soothe her. I wanted to hold her in my arms and warm her trembling body.

My mate. My human little mate. I could only try and imagine what she looked like now, in that white gown that I myself had picked for her. I bet she looked gorgeous. And I couldn't wait to peel it off of her, tonight, during the ceremony.

I let out a pained groan, feeling my beast's relentless push against my humane body. He was desperate. And I wasn't going to see the end of it until she had been marked and mated.

"Fuck," I felt my cock twitch once again, stirred by the thoughts swimming in my head and my bastard of a beast's incessant drive.

I whirled around, walking back into the room when the door slowly pushed open, revealing one of my most trusted warriors. Alisha stepped inside, carefully closing the door behind her.

"Alpha," she performed the sign of sworn fealty, pressing her fist against her beating heart.

I did not respond, pacing around instead like a caged animal as my beast kept clawing at my insides, demanding a shift.

"May I service you, Alpha?" she courteously asked. I turned to throw her a look, noticing that she was already staring at my boner.

"I'm fine, Alisha," I quickly dismissed her. I really wasn't in the mood for that. Not now, when I was so close to finally seeing my mate again. I did not desire for any other female. I wanted her. Her and only her. My soulmate. Callanthea. The Goddess had whispered to me her full name. That was how I knew that it was not a mistake, despite her alien nature. The Goddess did not make mistakes, and if she had decided that I was to be blessed with a human mate, then so be it. I was going to respect her will.

"With all due respect, Alpha, you're too riled up. It's making my beast feel restless. She's worried that you will tear into our Luna, and kill her,"

In less than a second, I already had my hand wrapped around her neck, roughly slamming her against that door. I snarled in her face, baring my fangs to her. How could she say such a thing? That I would hurt my own mate!

She only tilted her head to the side, baring her neck to me. A clear sign of submission. But I was too agitated now, so I didn't let go of her immediately.

"She's human, Alpha," she quietly reminded me, standing still as I fought to regain control. She was one of the few beasts in my pack who actually approved of my union with the human female.

"She's...fragile," she added, meeting my gaze. I abruptly let go of her, and she fell on her hands and knees. She did not utter a single sound.

I could not deny that she did have a point though. I was way too tense, and I could risk hurting her. I did not want to fuck this up. Not when I was so close to finally having her.

"Very well," I conceded.

She did not waste any time and crawled on her hands and knees closer to me, manoeuvring us around so that I was standing with my back against the door before she wrapped her hand around my cock, and started to suck it.

"Just...close your eyes and imagine that it's her, Alpha. It will soothe your beast, if only for a little," she gently suggested, so I listened to her, for once, and started to picture my mate's beautiful features in my head.

"Yes..." I groaned, burying my hand in her hair as she continued to suck me, fucking her mouth with no abandon. She pushed me into her throat, quietly receiving all that I had to give as I started to violently jerk my hips and soon, I was shooting loads of my seed down her throat as my lips parted to utter a single name.

"Calla..."