Alpha Terrell's POV
After sixteen rounds of continuous fucking with nothing to show for it, I finally found my release on the seventeenth round. Groaning in exhausted pleasure, I pulled out and collapsed on the bed.
Let the woman's cunt breathe.
The she-wolf gathered her torn clothing from the floor, her movements slow, as she limped toward the door. There was a satisfied smile on her face - the kind of smile that said she'd gotten exactly what she'd come for, even if she'd barely survived it.
The thrill of lovemaking was long gone for me. And now, even though I was still capable of giving immerse pleasure, it was getting really difficult to receive them in return.
I didn't say a word to her as she left. My body was sated now, the bloodlust finally tamped down to something manageable. The beast had fed and now lay quiet in my chest, content for the first time since the battle.
Morning light filtered through the heavy curtains, painting stripes across the floor. I should sleep. My muscles ached, demanding rest.
But then the door opened again, and I didn't need to look to know who it was.
"Sheena." I muttered in displeasure, as I forced my exhausted body to sit up. I had no clothes on, and there wasn't any need to.
The High Priestess had enjoyed every inch of me when she was younger, before age and devotion to the Moon Goddess had claimed her. "What do you want?"
"I've been waiting all night to speak with you, Alpha." She spoke formally. "It's a matter of great importance."
I groaned, throwing an arm over my eyes. "Then say what you need to say and leave. I want to rest."
Silence. The kind of silence that meant she was looking at me in ways a priestess shouldn't.
I moved my arm and caught her staring - her eyes trailing down my bare chest, lower, hunger flickering in those ancient eyes before she caught herself.
"Sheena." My voice held a warning now.
She took a sharp breath, jerking her gaze away. "The Moon Goddess has revealed your True Mate."
I laughed out loud, her words sounding incredibly funny. "You stayed up all night to share a joke? Your sense of humor has gotten worse with age, witch."
"I'm not joking, Terrell."
Something in her tone made me go still. I sat up slowly, studying her face. She stood rigid, hands clasped in front of her, her expression deadly serious.
"If you're playing with me about this…" My voice dropped cold. "I will have your head. Do you understand? After a thousand years of waiting, if this is some game…"
"It's not a game." She met my eyes finally. "The Moon Goddess came to me in a vision yesterday. She showed me your mate. Your Luna. She's real, Terrell."
My heart - that organ I'd thought had turned to stone centuries ago - suddenly hammered against my ribs. A mate. After a thousand years of emptiness, of watching other Alphas find their destined ones while I remained alone, cursed by my own brutality to walk this earth without the one person meant to complete me.
"You're certain?" The words came out rough, almost desperate, and I hated the vulnerability in them.
"I swear it on the Goddess herself."
I was on my feet before I realized I'd moved, grabbing clothes from the chair. "Where is she? Where's my Luna?"
Sheena said nothing.
I turned, shirt half on, and caught the fear on her face. My blood went cold.
"Where. Is. My. Wife."
"She... she disappeared, Alpha."
The words didn't make sense. I stared at her, waiting for the real answer, the truthful one that I wanted to hear.
When she just stood there, trembling, rage exploded through me like wildfire.
"DISAPPEARED?" My roar shook the windows. I crossed the room in two strides and grabbed her throat, lifting her off the ground. "What the fuck do you mean, disappeared?"
"Alpha… please…" She clawed at my hand, her face turning red.
"If that word comes out of your mouth again," I hissed, squeezing just enough to make my point, "I promise you, I will snap this delicate neck that once accommodated my cock. Do you understand me?"
"She… left.." Sheena gasped. "Because…you killed… her family…"
I released her instantly.
She fell to the floor, coughing and gasping, her hands going to her throat.
"What do you mean, I killed her family?" My mind raced through recent battles, executions, raids. "Have I ordered any executions recently?"
"No," Sheena croaked, still on her knees. She rubbed her neck, wincing. "Her family was visiting the Hound pack. They were there when you... when you laid siege."
The words hit me like a heavy punch.
"Fuck." I dragged both hands through my hair, turning away. "Fuck!"
The Hounds. The massacre yesterday morning. I'd ordered everything killed - men, women, children, visitors. Everyone. No mercy, no exceptions.
And somewhere in that carnage, I'd slaughtered my mate's family.
After a thousand years of waiting, I'd found her. And in the same breath, I'd destroyed any chance she might accept me.
But what's done was done. I couldn't bring back the dead. I'd have to find a way to make amends with whatever family she had left. Offer compensation, protection, whatever it took.
I turned back to Sheena, who was finally getting to her feet. "What's her clan name? I'll send word, offer reparations."
"Her family name is Stallion." Sheena's voice was still hoarse. "But she doesn't belong to a clan, Alpha."
I frowned. "What do you mean, she doesn't…"
"She's human."
The world stopped.
I staggered, catching myself on the bedpost. For the first time in my thousand years of existence, words completely failed me.
"What?" The whisper barely made it past my lips.
"Your mate is human," Sheena repeated, standing straighter now. "Her name is Angel Stallion. She was going to be ordained as a Catholic nun yesterday, but I arrived in time to stop the ceremony."
A human.
Not just any human - a human who'd been about to take holy vows? That means she must be an innocent! What could she possibly know about mating or giving pleasure?
Shit.
I dragged my hands down my face, my mind reeling. "Are you certain?" I asked again, desperately hoping she'd misheard the Goddess, made some mistake. "Are you absolutely certain the Moon Goddess said she was human?"
"Yes, Alpha. I'm certain."
"Is this payback?" I looked up at the ceiling, as if the Goddess herself might be watching. "For all the blood I've shed? All the heads I've severed, the tribes I've raided and colonized? You give me a mate who's human? Who I've already wronged in the worst possible way?"
Sheena said nothing. What could she say?
I grabbed my shirt, yanking it on. Then my pants. My boots. "First things first - we find her."
"Alpha…"
"We find her," I repeated, buckling my sword belt. "Then I'll figure out what to do from there."
"She could be anywhere by now. She fled into the woods last night…"
"Then we search the woods." I strode toward the door. "Gather the trackers. Get Kane. I want every available wolf out there looking for her."