4: Welcome to Blackfang

LEVI HAWTHORNE

Seven years later.

I've always known Brooks Beauregard was my mate.

I knew it from the first day she resumed at **** when her scent hit my nostrils and my whole body became enveloped with a want so visceral that I had to excuse myself from the classroom to take a cold shower.

I wasn't even 18 yet, and I shouldn't have recognized my mate, but Brooks Beauregard discarded all logic, reasoning, and gravity. I recognized her, wanted her, and craved her from that very first day that I could taste my starvation for her on my tongue.

But I couldn't tell her. I couldn't approach her. My father had always made it clear that I'd reject my fated mate if I ever found one and that Seraphine Drahzar would be my Luna. I knew he'd make me reject her if he knew I was mated to her.

I also knew my father enough to know that he wouldn't hesitate to kill her just to ensure that I don't break the alliance he made with Lord Drahzar, even before I was born.

That was why I kept my distance from Brooks, even though I suffered every day for it. I sat through classes with boners. I jerked off to her thoughts late at night after her scent followed me home and clung to me.

I was biding my time, looking for a loophole, because my father couldn't be defeated. I wasn't afraid of him hurting me. I was afraid of him hurting the woman I had come to love. I knew I needed to become someone powerful so I could protect her before introducing her to the world as my mate.

But then, after a particularly bad night where my wolf had laid awake in heat and craving for a touch of our mate, I walked into the school with bloodshot eyes only to see how much Brooks had always wanted me.

How she described everything she wanted me to do to her in vivid details. I lost all my sense of control, lost a grip on all my structured plans, and I took her.

Once I had a taste, I couldn't stop. Sex between mates wasn't just sex. My father found out I had found my mate and reminded me of what needed to be done. I rejected it and told him I'd marry her because I can't just jeopardize my happiness for his alliance with an old friend.

He threatened me with killing her and I returned the favor by threatening to step away from the alpha line if anything ever happens to her. We circled around the conversation for days before he finally told me the real reason why I was banned from marking my mate.

There was a prophecy when I was born, and my fated mate was destined to bring ruin and damnation to our bloodline and the kingdom at large if I should mark her. That was why he and Lord Drahzar came up with the idea of a marriage alliance between their children.

The prophecy bothered me at first, but after a day of thinking about it, I realized it wasn't worth it. So I told my father that I'd deal with the ruin and damnation when they come because I'd be damned if I had to reject her anyway.

My father was okay with it, or so I thought, until his men bundled me one afternoon and dragged me to his study, where he showed me a life video of Brooks sleeping peacefully while a man held a knife against her throat. My rage was hot red, but my attack was futile against his alpha energy.

And his demands were simple.

Sign on the werewolf pact that you'll get engaged to Seraphine Drahzar and your little mate will be spared. She'd be allowed to keep her life if you reject her publicly and denounce her tomorrow. She'll be transferred to a school in another city, so you don't have to worry about seeing her again.

I tried to fight against it, tried to threaten him that I'd end our bloodline myself if he hurt Brooks.

And you want her to die just like that? You claim to love her, but you're not thinking about her life? Her dreams? Her aspirations? Just because of your selfish love?

I knew it was an emotional blackmail but then I remembered how Brooks' eyes always lit up whenever she talked about her dreams, about her hopes of changing the world one day and I knew I couldn't just let her die.

So I signed the contract.

But it didn't end there. My father and Lord Drahzar had arranged a private engagement party, and the next minute, I was slipping a ring on Sera’s finger while photographers clicked photos of us.

Still, I had a plan. On the outside, I'd go on with my father's wishes. I'd reject Brooks, allow her transfer, but I'd tell her everything. I’d make sure she knows why I was doing it, and I'd promise to come back for her after I found a way to get out of the pact that now binds me to Sera.

All of my plans went to fluff the morning after I rejected her, with my father's hired killer blending into the background as a student. My father's instructions were simple.

Make it hurt. Make it cruel. Make it humiliating, or she'd be killed. One day, you'd look back and realize that I'm doing all of this to protect you.

I was certain that day would never come, but I still did what he wanted.

And then, Brooks disappeared.

Theo was supposed to keep tabs on her, but according to him, my father's men held him back, and when they finally let go, Brooks was nowhere to be found.

She just vanished from the surface of the earth like she never existed. At first, I thought my father had gone against our agreement and hurt her, but I could still feel her through the mate bond, and so, we searched for her

Theo and I looked everywhere. We searched every nook and cranny. We turned the country upside down, but Brooks simply didn't want to be found. It's been seven years of looking for her, of chasing leads that always amount to nothing, and in those seven years, I haven't had a day of peace.

Her wounded expression always replayed itself in my mind. The way her lips quivered, the way she repeatedly tried to blink back her tears. It broke my heart every time I thought about it, which was literally every minute of my life. I lived through that pain, desperate to find her, desperate to make things right with her.

So much had happened over the last seven years: Father's health had dissipated completely, and I had to take over as the acting alpha king. I got busy running the pack, conquering new territories, and acting like a king. Still, with all my busy schedules, I go to bed thinking of Brooks, and I wake up regretting my foolish decision to oblige my father seven years ago.

It has been seven years of engagement with Sera. The council was pushing for our marriage, for the official marking, for the consummation, because I needed heirs and future stability, but how could I even think of touching another woman when Brooks was still out there? When I was incapable of wanting any other woman but her, mate bond or not.

The last time I touched a lady that wasn't Brooks was before I knew of her existence. Sexually, I've hardly survived these last years. The heat period was the worst because my body practically burned alive with a need to touch Brooks, and now, that sexual deprivation was starting to affect me both physically and mentally.

I was going mad.

My phone vibrated, and the suddenness of the sound jolted me out of my reverie. I realized I had zoned out again while staring at the computer screen in my office. I glared at the phone, my anger spiking a little when I saw who was calling.

He was the reason why I was in this mess. If only he had stuck to the plan, if only he had outsmarted Father's men, then Brooks wouldn't have disappeared just like that.

“What the hell do you want, Theo?”

“Good evening to you, too, Alpha Levi.” I could hear the smile in his voice, and that annoyed me more than anything. What the hell was he excited about? Losing my mate? Putting me in this hellhole?

“What is it, Theo? The only reason why you should sound this excited is if you've found Brooks.” I sat up suddenly, and when I spoke again, my voice trembled, “Wait, don't tell me you've found her.”

A second of silence passed, “I'm sorry, Levi.”

“Fuck you.” I slumped back against my chair, that sense of disappointment settling on my body like a second skin. Was I ever going to find her? I knew she was alive through the mate bond, but was she fine? How has she lived all these years? Does she hate me?

Of course, she hates you.

“I got a report of a security breach near the rogue territory at Blackfang. I was wondering if you'd like to check it out.”

“You want me to go and check some ridiculous breach out? Have you forgotten that you're talking to your alpha?”

“I'm talking to my friend right now, Levi. You've been holed up for months in the castle and your study. You need to go out. You need the sun. You need to feel alive.”

“Maybe I'll do all these things when you bring Brooks back.”

“I'll bring her back someday soon, I promise.”

“Someday soon, really? You mean after the council forces me to mark my chosen mate? Or you mean after I lose my mind because I haven't marked my mate.”

“Levi…”

“Do your job, Theo, and stop requesting things like this from me.”

I cut the call before he could reply, my anger now shimmering within me. I stood from the chair to pace the length of my office, fangs extracting and retracting, my wolf straining to burst free from the agitation that I felt.

How was Brooks? Was she fine? Why haven't we found her in seven good years? Was she intentionally hiding from me? Was she… My phone vibrated from where I had dumped it on the table. It was a text message from Theo with the address of the security breach.

Please go, Levi. There's a new lead on Brooks’ whereabouts. I'll share the details with you later, but you don't want her to come and meet an older man when she finally returns, right? Just go out and do something, Levi. Trust me, you won't regret it.

I frowned at the tone of his message, wondering why the hell he was so serious about me going to the rogue's territory. The news about the new lead on Brooks’ whereabouts didn't faze me. They've always been false, so the probability of this being false too was 99%, but still, a hope flared in my chest.

The possibility of this lead leading us to her made me gather security officers, and we started our 2-hour ride to Blackfang.

Even though the territory was just a two-hour drive from the capital and from the palace, it was basically a slum with small houses made of warped timber and rusted sheet metal. The houses were illogically arranged. You could open your door onto your neighbor’s living room, and there was a smell in the air, from the open gutters, mixed with the distinct smell that marked the rogues as different from normal wolves. The rogues here were the logical rogues; they were the ones who didn't go feral and were condemned to roaming the forest. But they couldn't live among the normal wolves, either, so they made a place surrounded by hills, nearest to the forest and their homes, and they called it Blackfang.

It didn't take long for my men to find the reason Theo called in for a security breach. There were three dead bodies, and they were people who weren't from Blackfang.

“We didn't want to stress the royal police force,” Zeke, the leader of the rogue, told me, “we just wanted to take care of it within ourselves.”

I chuckled, “You wanted to take care of it within yourself? Or are you trying to cover up for the crime your men committed?”

“Of course not, alpha,” he replied with a petulant smile, “We’re gentle rogues. Their bodies were dumped here, and we intend on finding out…”

“So, do you have a lead? A suspect? A…”

I trailed off mid-sentence, a sudden sweet scent hitting my nostrils and blurring the pungent smell of the territory. I whirled around as the scent grew overpowering.

“Alpha Levi, are you looking for something?”

I held out my hand to stop him as I moved in a trance towards the direction of the scent. This was a scent that I haven't smelt in seven years. My wolf was growing agitated and trying to fight his way out. I could feel my fangs trying to pop out, could feel my eyes changing colors as my wolf fought to take over.

It couldn't be. She couldn't be here. I've turned the whole country upside down. Heck, I've turned the world upside down searching for her within the last seven years, and she was here? Just two hours’ drive away from where I lived? No fucking way.

I shook my head in denial, but I also couldn't deny the happiness I was feeling. My hands shook, and my heart pounded as I walked into a clearing where some women were gathered around a large bowl, washing in it. They all stopped when they saw me, then bowed in greeting as my alpha energy reached them.

Her back was to me, and she stiffened when she registered my presence. I'd recognize her even if she were in a sack, so I knew she was the one, even though her hair was shorter and she had lost considerable weight.

“Brooks,” I choked out, my word torn between a plea and a prayer, and even though it was just a word, my voice had never trembled so badly.