Chapter 7
Roland
“Where do they think they are going?” For the first time since he had known Mack, his best friend and first in command, looked and sounded amused.
He rose up from off the floor and turned and faced his friend, whose eyes now matched his own, gold signifying that they had in fact met their fated mates.
“Her home, at a guess.” He pushed his voice through the suddenly tight vocal cords and the teeth that had dropped for the bite that he must give to mark his mate, along with the semen he was going to implant in and on her body.
Rubbing his ejaculation into her skin so everyone will know his scent on her until they die.
His sac was swelling in anticipation as they stood there in the kitchen.
He could see his friend, Mack, was excited for the chase, but he could also see and smell his fear.
Mack and Roland had been inseparable as pups, and Roland felt like Mack was more of a brother than a friend. It had broken his heart, and he had kept his friend’s secret. Mack, when he had turned eighteen, had met someone while they were away doing business with the Calais clan.
They had attended one of their festivals, and Mack had met a female Lycan, also from a different clan, who was there with her family. To their surprise the female had gone into heat and had wanted Mack to mate with her.
It had not ended well for either of them.
Mack had not been able to control himself and made the experience for the young woman unbearable.
Mack had not been able to perform the mating ritual properly because she’d run off before the bite and disappeared.
They tried searching for her and her family, but she was like a ghost; no one knew who she was or ever saw her again.
Since that day, Mack did not take another woman to his bed even when she was not in heat and willing.
Roland hoped that someday Mack would talk to him about it more and eventually heal from the experience and try again.
He understood his friend’s fear, but he felt that the young Lycan woman was not his true fated mate.
Now a new opportunity was in front of his friend Mack.
Emiyah was his fated mate, and if this very moment wasn’t a serious one, Roland would have laughed himself to death.
The bane of Mack’s existence was now going to be his for the rest of his life.
Roland couldn’t hide the smirk, and his friend Mack turned his gaze to him and scowled.
His smirk dropped when he realized who he was. This was going to be a problem, and how was this going to look to the people and his father? His mother’s murderer’s child was now going to be his queen.
He felt a heavy hand on his shoulder.
“It will be all right. You finally have your mate, and the king will be happy.”
“He doesn’t have a choice now.”
“You could always not claim her.”
He let out an angry growl, and he took a step to his friend, ready to rip him to shreds at the suggestion that he would not claim his mate, dishonoring her.
Mack just stared at him calmly. “Be easy, friend; just proving a point.”
He took a breath, and her delicious scent hit his nostrils, thoughts of claiming her now filling his head. “Do you think we have given them enough of a head start?”
He saw fear flash suddenly in his friend’s gaze. “I think it would be best if we get Nuri to chain me to something. I don’t want to go feral again. I—"
Roland felt eyes on him and turned to see the staff watching him and Mack in fascination. They were all bonded and would not be participating in the heat cycle, and the men and women had looks of surprise, excitement, and curiosity as they watched the scene unfold in front of them.
It was an honor to find your fated mate within your clan, and not only being the next king in line but also finding his queen before officially taking the reins would be an integral part of ruling with his mate by his side, making him and the clan stronger.
That was truly a cause for celebration and a blessing.
And now he had secured that his lineage would not die out with him, because she would be carrying his pups before the night was over.
“Come, we must go, or they will have too much of a head start. You will control yourself this time around.” He gave the command.
Mack looked at him skeptically, but he knew he wasn’t going to argue with his ruler.
He and Mack, in sync, turned and left the kitchen, their strides long and sure. He let out a low whistle, and his men that were stationed around the house came and met them in the middle of the hallway.
“Watch my father. I have—”
He heard a loud scream and then Fantasy shouting. “No! Stay away, stop! Don’t come any closer!”
His father was in danger. They all moved quickly to the door that led into the family room.
Roland and Mack stopped in surprise. His father was approaching Fantasy, who was withering with her back pressed against the wall. His dad turned, and his eyes were gold like his; he was bulkier with his canines dropped. His father growled in warning at him and turned to face them.
“Get out. She is mine.”
Fantasy's scent hit his nostrils as he saw her put out her hand as if that was going to stop what was meant to happen again.
Her face was a twist of need, hunger, anger, and yearning as the heat took over.
This was unusual but not unheard of—that a Lycan could have more than one fated mate at a time—but a rarity, and the King was about to take himself another mate.
His father expanded before his eyes, taller and broader, and he turned fully to face them.
“Out now. But stay outside the doors and, umm, try not to listen.”
He ordered, and his father turned in just enough time to catch Fantasy as she suddenly leapt on him, her dress lifted to her waist.
Roland began to move quickly to the door and shifted on his way out with Mack right behind him.
He usually took his time to appreciate the run, but today was a different day.
The heat cycles had begun, and he could smell some of the women in the village and hear their groans of ecstasy as they mated.
Their feet hit the grass, and they moved quickly through the village.
Roland noted the men and women posted around the village on guard, and as he ran through the forest toward Shea’s home, he saw that word had spread quickly and the other clans were hiding in the foliage, keeping guard.
He could scent them as he and Mack ran, excitement running through his veins.
He felt exhilarated and alive; his blood was on fire from the chase and to finally pin his mate down and mark and take her for his own.
Making her all his. Despite being angry with her, happiness coursed through him; he was not going to live his life without his mate nor live with a deep ache where her presence would have filled.
Having a mate was life-changing—someone you bonded with and would be a part of you for life, someone to talk to and share your burdens with, to be a mother to your children, to love and be loved.
You only felt half complete until then. Roland secretly hoped to have the same fairytale love his parents had when he found his mate.
But knowing that it was Shea now, he didn’t know if that would be possible between them, maybe just mutual respect and affection for now, but he could already tell that the heat between them would be explosive.
There had been signs all day with them, and now he could smell both women’s heat all the way as they ran, but hers was the most enticing to him, and she smelled divine.
The things his tongue wanted to do to her—he craved her taste in his mouth, and just the thought of it made his heartbeat faster.
Roland spotted them up ahead, and he veered another way, getting ready to cut them off before they could get inside. Nothing would stop him, not even her front door. After they mated, she would not be living there any longer.
He grinned with all his teeth when he saw the look of surprise on her face, and she couldn’t slow down as she leapt up the stairs to her dwelling, where he was waiting.
His smile didn’t last long as he felt a hard body hit his side, and he was knocked back, giving her time to change human again and open her door, racing inside.