NATALIE.
I can't help but giggle as he walks away.
Damien Varon.
My mate.
I flop down on the bed with what I am sure is a deranged smile.
I can't help it.
For years, I had dreamed of my mate. Of him saving me from the hands of that lunatic only for her to dash my hopes by informing me of the curse that had been placed on him.
It had then been up to me to save him.
So, I watched her and planned and waited.
Waited for an opportunity to escape.
She had been performing one of her full moon rituals when I had made my move.
I had increased the dosage of the plant that would send her into a trance and hightailed it from the cottage when she collapsed.
She is not dead.
I know she isn't, she is way too powerful to die from an overdose, but it had given me enough time to get some distance between us.
I had coated my body with sage and some other herbs to hide my scent.
I was not able to change into my wolf because of a binding spell she had placed on me, so I had only met legs for escape.
I had run, climbed, hopped rides, and done everything I could think of to get to the Varon pack.
My mate's pack.
"He is handsome," my wolf whispered faintly.
Ever since I can remember, her voice has always been faint.
Courtesy of the bindings placed on her.
"I know," I respond. "None of my fantasies even came close to how he looks."
Damien is a god.
He has wavy long hair that reaches past the nape of his neck, third back by a thick leather strap. His eyes were a sharp green, practically emerald, and his body…
Oh my.
He was fit.
I know he only spent a few minutes here with me but it was enough.
He had muscles that would make any mateless wolf eager to dig her claws in. Not the body building kind of muscles, no.
It was the lean type, all very proportioned and sexy.
He is a dream.
"To be fair, you didn't have much material to go on," my wolf remarks.
"True. Do you think now that we have found each other, you will be able to get your name?"
"I don't know. I was supposed to get my name upon sighting each other, but…"
Every werewolf has a name that belongs innately to them. It is what they are supposed to be called. The only catch is that we don't get their names until we find our mates. The name then comes instantly.
It is a way to ensure everyone waits for their mate.
You want your wolf's name, find your mate.
At least that's what I have been told.
"So, what now?" I ask.
Just before she is about to answer the door pushes open.
A blonde male wolf walks in and closes the door and rests on it.
He is fairly handsome. Ash blonde hair, light brown eyes, full pouty lips. He is almost similar to Damien in stature, almost.
And he is still staring at me.
Fine. Two can play this game.
I am a champion at it.
I stay, mute. Staring at him with what I call my dead goldfish stare.
I worked on it in the mirror for days.
It's not like I had anything better to do.
Eventually, he gives in and straightens up.
"So, you claim to be the Alpha's mate," he says as he saunters to my side.
I say nothing to that. He wasn't asking a question.
He smirks at me as if he can tell what it is I am playing at.
"What is your name?"
"What is yours?" I retort.
He chuckles at the question before answering. "Lucas. The beta of the Varon pack.
Hmm, figures.
"Natalie," I say.
It isn't the name I was called, it is the name I chose.
When I had escaped.
"Natalie what?"
"Storm."
"So tell me Natalie Storm, where are you from?"
"No idea."
"What?"
"I don't know where I am from," I repeat.
"How can you not know where you are from?" he demands with an upset frown on his face.
"It usually happens when you are kidnapped as a baby."
"You were kidnapped?"
"Yes, where is Damien?" I ask as I look past him to the door, willing my mate to walk in.
"That is Alpha to you and I am not done questioning you."
"Your Alpha has already questioned me, and am I not allowed to call my mate by his name."
He laughs at my question.
"Are you still holding on to that?" he mocks.
"It is the truth."
"Really? Do you feel the mate bond? Tell me, describe it for me."
I fall silent at that.
"Well?"
"I don't feel the mate bond," I mumble. "But I know he is my mate," I say vehemently. "My wolf feels it."
"Your wolf?" he scoffs.
"Yes. My wolf. I can't feel it because of the curse placed on me by the witch," I tell him.
"The witch?"
"The one who kidnapped me. I have had this discussion already," I snap, annoyed.
"Where is Damien?"
"Alpha."
"Where is the Alpha?" I reply snarkily.
"Not here."
"You are being deliberately infuriating."
"Glad you noticed," he retorts.
"Please. Just tell me," I beg, no longer in the mood to continue this banter.
He looks at me for a few seconds before moving away from the bed.
"He went to see a witch. To get answers."
"A witch?! Why the hell will he go and see a witch? It is a witch that got us in this mess in the first place. How could you let him go alone?" I demand.
"I didn't, he went with someone else," he says as he reaches the door and pulls it open.
"Who?"
"His mate," he responds as he leaves.
I am left staring at the closed door in quiet confusion and growing anger.
"What?!"