"Mate?" Andrew and Marc said at the same time. They exchanged a glance, and it was Marc who broke the silence. "Are you sure she is your mate? Maybe you're just horny."
"I bit her, then a crescent moon mark, identical to the one I have beneath my nape, appeared between her collarbones," Calhoun explained, omitting the part where he kissed her, reluctant to admit how his instincts had briefly taken control over himself. "That crescent is supposed to appear when I touch my mate."
Marc and Andrew fell into silence, struggling with the revelation that Calhoun's mate wasn't a fellow werewolf.
Even they could tell, from the scent beyond that closed door, that the woman was undeniably a normal human.
Though, they had to admit the woman had a tempting scent, for sure. Her scent was so tantalizing, in fact, it triggered a mix of hunger and desire that stirred within both Andrew and Marc.
"Why would you mark her anyway? You know that's not something you're supposed to do, especially with a human."
"I bit her on her shoulder. It's supposed to be a temporary mark to ward off those pesky vampires. Her blood is strangely very tempting to them… and to us," Calhoun replied, to which Marc and Andrew nodded in agreement.
That woman's blood was strangely fascinating; it smelled fantastic and must've tasted even better. So, a temporary mark was a good idea to stop the vampires from hunting her.
Unfortunately, not many werewolves could indulge in such a bite without risking their primal instincts to take over themselves, turning them feral..
Only those with great self-control over themselves could resist the urge for their thirst for blood.
"So we'll have a human as our Luna?" Marc asked.
"Fuck no," Calhoun denied quickly. "There has to be a mistake. How could a weak human be my mate? What kind of sick joke is this?"
"Well, there're accounts of alphas having human mates. Maybe you're one of them?"
"And I refuse to be one of them," Calhoun stated firmly. His gaze darkened as he remembered a bad experience when he was young. "I fucking hate those fragile humans who can only cry but still betray you even after you saved them, a bunch of ungrateful weak bastards."
Marc and Andrew didn't really understand Calhoun's perspective. He cursed at their weakness and ingratitude, yet tirelessly protected them each night.
In fact, Calhoun was the one who imposed a strict patrol schedule for his pack and always made sure his pack was in peak condition in case of an invasion from the vampires.
Nevertheless, none of them dared to question Calhoun's hatred for humans because he would only grow irritable when the topic arose.
"Then what are you going to do with that woman inside?" Marc asked. "If we're following what our parents said, you should've… you know, knot and breed her by now."
"I won't do that. This is definitely a mistake. That crescent mark on her might signify something else," Calhoun said. "I'll call my dad in the morning. Maybe he can help me with my problem."
"But what if she is really your mate? Would you reject her?" Andrew asked solemnly, fearing that his leader might make a grave mistake.
Calhoun opened his mouth, but his words felt like a lump lodged in his throat.
He wanted to say he would reject Celine even if she were his soulmate.
However, an inexplicable force restrained him from saying that as if his instincts had its own consciousness, telling him not to reject her.
"There's no possibility she is my mate," Calhoun said. "So don't think too much about it. My mate won't be a burden to our pack."
"That's not what I meant," Andrew sighed. But he didn't elaborate further, knowing that Calhoun simply disliked the idea of having a normal human as his mate, so he would ignore Andrew's opinion anyway.
"Then what are you going to do with your hard-on, dude?" Marc pointed at Calhoun's crotch.
Calhoun looked down and realized he remained naked and fully aroused. He gritted his teeth and ordered Marc, "Get me a towel. This erection isn't going away anytime soon."
"So you're just going to stroke that out for the whole night? Man, your dick will get chafed by morning," Marc teased, tossing a towel to Calhoun.
"I'll deal with it once and then sleep," Calhoun replied. "You two should rest as well. It's almost dawn. We'll talk with her once she wakes up."
"I'm already well-rested today, so I'll stay to guard the mansion," Andrew said. "You should rest, Calhoun. You've been on guard for three days straight. You've been pushing yourself too much after that woman went missing."
Calhoun's gaze deepened. He disliked it whenever someone mentioned that woman to him. It reminded him of his failure.
In fact, he forbade anyone in his pack to mention her name because his heart ached for her.
Unfortunately, he had to face his failure soon because Celine was related to her.
"Tsk, this is fucking annoying," Calhoun said while ruffling his hair. "These pesky weak women shouldn't be here in the first place."