Ella instantly felt the connection between them. She was perplexed as to why she hadn't noticed before; it was probably due to her other identity.
"I, Ella,"
" One more word of that sentence, and I will slit your throat". He intimidated her, placing the blade of his silver sword on her throat.
Ella began to tremble. She didn't take account of this factor in her mission: meeting her mate now or meeting her mate at all. She didn't know what to do because her heart had always been drawn to Gamma Thorne.
Just as he was about to move closer to her, Ella dashed off, out of the castle.
He looked down at the small piece of cloth in his hands and sighed.
"Hey, give this to Omega Ella tonight when she arrives," he said to a maid who walked past him.
He walked away afterward, trying to picture what she looked like. She seemed adorable at first glance. His impatient inner wolf prompted him to chase after her, but there must be a reason as to why she wanted to reject him.
Ella prepared to go to the inn the next night. The piece of cloth was a short and cryptic letter informing Ella where Charlotte was.
Charlotte sat on the porch of the inn. There were only a few candles outside to lighten the dark porch. Charlotte stared into the clear dark sky and sighed.
"Can you please maintain a little more distance from me?"
"I'm sorry, my lady. This is the farthest distance I can stay away from you to be able to protect you adequately. Some wild animals roam about at night, and it's very cold right now, at least for someone like you. Please let's go inside."
"You wouldn't let me do anything, and you wouldn't let me sit outside too?"
"I'm sorry, my lady," he said with a bow. Joe didn't want to be doing this either, but he was scared about the incident the other day. If the alpha king didn't come to save her, it would have gone awry.
"Allow me to wait a little more; I await someone."
"Okay, my lady."
Soon, Ella got to the inn.
"Why are you in such a faraway place?"
"Let's talk inside," Charlotte said, dragging Ella's hands.
"So what do you have to say?" Ella questioned as they got into the room.
"The King said I should come here as I can't stay at the palace for the next few days. Is there any strange occurrence at the palace?"
"Well, on the day of your disappearance, a powerful but silent werewolf visited the castle. She used to be one of the best female warriors in the land, and she was the foster mother of alpha king Aurelius."
"Why didn't Luna take care of him herself?"
"She wanted to kill him, but Madame Rueda saved him," Ella replied and narrated the whole story to her.
"So that is why he doesn't have a mate."
"He has found her, and Madame Rueda knows," she said.
"She sensed her presence in his room." She continued. Charlotte's heart started to thump harder at Ella's words.
"That was why all the nobles that had been in the castle lately were summoned. She wasn't one of them, but she had a peculiar scent." Ella continued, now looking at Charlotte straight in the eye.
Charlotte's eyes darted around the room for a while.
"Charlotte!" Ella called out.
"It can't be me; I'm not his mate," Charlotte disputed.
"It's clear, Charlotte. Even a pup can connect the dots. The next question is why he didn't carry out the marking process and why he is hiding you."
"I can't think of a reason."
"Your life must be in danger, in one way or another."
"This is not the time for you to be so blunt, Ella," Charlotte grunted.
As they were conversing, two werewolves in their human form stealthily moved towards the inn. They stopped in their tracks, feeling a strange but immense power emanating from inside the inn. They paused for a while to strengthen their resolve. Just as they were about to take one step further, a werewolf behind them swiftly took out their hearts from their ribcage.
Charlotte and Ella were oblivious to what was happening outside.
"You have to find a means to get your power; I already found who can help. We have to go tonight."
"I don't want to."
"You may not know the gravity of this situation, but the burden of the whole country is on the shoulders of the alpha king, and as his mate, you're automatically sharing his burden."
"I'm not his mate," Charlotte grunted.
Ella rose and smacked Charlotte on the head before dragging her out of the room.
"Sorry, my lady," the innkeeper faced Charlotte.
"You can't go outside now. It's dangerous outside. You should know that the king didn't house you here to wine and dine," he said, raising the two beating hearts in his hands. Ella was quick to cover Charlotte's face, and the innkeeper turned and walked away abruptly.
"I can only handle one blunt person at once," Charlotte whimpered as they headed back to the room.
"Why does he have their hearts?"
"He killed them and probably has something to do with the hearts."
"So when would we go?"
"This would have been the best time for you to go since you're not doing any work, my lady" Ella teased
"Stop that" Charlotte whimpered
"Yes, my queen"
"How is the palace without me?"
"You weren't replaced. The other two maids take care of his clothes."
"Who feeds Koda?"
"I don't know."
"Will you return tonight?"
"No."
"You seem agitated; I don't want to believe that it's solely because of me."
"I've been worried lately."
"Why?"
"I found my mate."
"Who is it?"
"The person you gave the letter to."
"Oh my, I'm so glad. I gave him the letter hoping that you both would be able to talk since you seem to like him. Why are you then worried?"
"I can't do that right now. I have important work I'm doing right now, and I can't leave the palace."
"Are you so keen on being a lowly maid, working for the rest of your life? The moon goddess just took pity on you; you're too good to be a servant, Ella. I'm positive that you will be able to take care of his household with proper training."
"You're only saying that to make me feel better."
"I'm not."
"I'll reject him," Ella breathed.
It was now Charlotte's turn to knock some sense into Ella's head.
"I'm sure it's something you can sort out."
"I'll see if I really can do that."
Ella went the next morning and came back at dusk the next day.
"I've found a way," he said. "All you need to do is to give something of yours to me. Something that's yours."
"I don't have anything."
"What about that?" Ella said, pointing to Charlotte's necklace.
"No, I can't take it off."
"Why?"
"I never tried."
"Then try now."
"I don't want to. Don't insist."
"Some strands of your hair, it is then."
"Who is this werewolf?"
"Rumors say he's not a werewolf."
"Then what is he?"
"Come closer."
Charlotte leaned in to hear what Ella had to say.
"He's a sage wizard," Ella whispered.
Charlotte burst into laughter as she heard what Ella said.
"Be serious, Ella."
"I'm being serious."
"Okay then, I'll leave you to your delusions," she said as she took off two strands of her hair.
"Why are there states here and not packs?" Charlotte suddenly asked.
"There are packs. The states were the ancestor pack. The first packs as far back as history can account for. The packs that stemmed from them decided not to live far from each other. Fristia is fairly small and cold. So the states are an aggregation of many packs. You may not notice that in the palace."
"Does the alpha king have a pack?"
"His mother killed all the male pups, and the female ones married into another pack; he's the only one who's purely from the royal pack that has been ruling from the beginning of Fristia. Most of his distant relatives from other packs are the ones that are called nobles. The rest are the packs from which the alpha king's ministers are chosen."
"Oh."
"Let us sleep now."
"No, let's talk some more. I slept all day."
"Did you write with the papers I got for you yesterday?"
"Sure, I have."
"When will the first one be ready?"
"Tomorrow."
"Good. I plan to sell it at the tavern that the nobles frequent next week."
Madame Rueda left the palace the next day, and Charlotte was conveyed to the palace the next morning.
She resumed her duties immediately, though it was past the king's morning routine time.
She went off to Koda's cage with fear in her heart, remembering what happened the other day.
She was surprised to see Alpha King Aurelius inside Koda's cage, and what was more surprising was that Koda was docile and playful.
"Come in," Aurelius said without looking back.
When he didn't sense her coming over, he turned.
"Don't keep me waiting," he growled.
She walked in slowly, her heart thumping hard in her chest. Aurelius thought that she was scared of him, and his expression turned sour.
"Koda is quite aggressive these days; can I stay here instead?"
"It won't hurt you while I'm here."
Even in her hesitation, she felt the urge to go in and feel the wonderful white wolf's fur.
She finally entered the cage, and Koda ran towards her and placed its front paw on her dress.
"You should rub his head."
She rubbed its head, down to its spine. She felt terrific when she finally touched Koda.
She suddenly felt a strong arm snake around her small waist.
"Stay still for a while," Aurelius breathed, taking in her scent.
He sensed her calm heartbeat pick up its pace, and he felt good that he was able to stir a reaction in her body and it tempted him to do more.
"I don't think I can hold still any longer."