The Alpha's Slave Mate

Daphne's Point of View It did not takelong to finish getting ready after Caleb left. | took a few long breaths to calm my inflamed face before | left our room. Caleb has my heart pounding. As the Luna of my pack, and with us still entertaining guests then | cannot be waltzing around like a lovesick puppy, filled with lust. Once | felt the blood leave my face, and my pulse slow | knew it was tto leave the room.

Surprisingly | felt rather hungry this morning but thinking about the activities of the previous night it should not have been a surprise that | have worked up an appetite.

With the ghost of last night replaying through my mind, and a huge smile on my face | happily left the bedroom and headed downstairs to have breakfast. | barely made it out of the room before my arm was grabbed and | was yanked into the study.

“What the hell Scarlett that hurt.” | whisper yell at my sister as she finally relents and releases my arm.

“Sorry for the rough handling, but we both decided that we wanted this conversation to remain private.” At Scarlett’s words | look around the room and realize that Luna Alma is also in the study with us.

“Sorry for not greeting you sooner Luna Alma. | hope that you have thoroughly enjoyed your stay with us so far, and tonight's summers bash will also be a delightful event.” Alma smiles slightly at my words, but | can see there is also sstrain in her face.

“Yes, our stay has been delightful, and Jerand | have a deep appreciation for the kindness that you and Caleb have bestowed upon us both.” Alma heaves a heavy sigh before she continues. “Scarlett has toldthat she revealed that | was in contact with a witch, and that you are hoping to be in contact with her as well.” She looks uneasy and is wringing her hands in front of her.

“I am very sorry if this is causing you any concern, | promise that Caleb and | have no intention of trying to make anything difficult for you. We are seeking answers to svery formidable puzzles, and until recently neither of us had any true knowledge of witches.” | take a deep breath and move to sit in one of the chairs facing Alma.

Scarlett looks atwith her arms folded across her chest. | know the look on her face. She wantsto go into farther detail and tell Alma about our peculiar wolves. | gently shake my head no at her. Although | do not think that Alma or her pack would intentionally do any harm to mine, but | am certainly not going to bet on it.

“Alma | vow to you that Caleb and | intend no harm to the witch. If anything, we would be asking for her help.” Alma releases another heavy sigh at my words.

“Daphne, | know that you do not intend to harm the woman, that was never a fear in my eyes. In truth until Jergot sick, | was not sure how many of the old legends | believed. | mean we all have heard the tales of witches, and fairies but | had never seen any. Jeris literally the other half of my soul though. Knowing that he was sick, droveout of my mind.” | can see small tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. “I read every book | could get my hands on, sent messengers all over the place, and bartered heirlooms for any pertinent information that | could get my hands that could even potentially help him. | did sthings that | am not proud of.” With her admission Alma bows her head.

| can no longer stand to see her misery. | hurry out of my seat and envelope her in a hug, comforting her. “Alma please calm down; we all would do things to protect our destined mates. They are literally the other half of our souls.” It takes a few moments before she is calm enough to continue. “Thank you again for your kind words, but | doubt that the woman would be inclined to help you. | am afraid that she was treated rather roughly at the hands of our warriors that originally found her.” Alma’s face flushes a deep red and it is clear to see that she is embarrassed by the actions of her pack. “It tookseveral weeks of bribes, and apologies before she would even helpwith Jerome. | had also told her that | would keep her identity a secret. As you can imagine she was very protective of herself.” “Alma, out of natural curiosity how did your warriors capture a witch in the first place?” | had almost forgotten that Scarlett was in the room until she posed the question.

“It was no secret that | was searching everywhere for witches, potions, secret herbs, and cures. Most packs assumed | was taking an active role in learning the old ways of healing so most turned over any information that they had. Through a few of the old books, | started a small garden on the edges of our land that contained sextremely rare herbs that seemed important in sof the potions | had read about.” Alma takes a deep breath, and Scarlett and | wait patiently for her to continue. “I never planted the garden with the intention of catching a witch. | had planned on trying to recreate sof the healing tonics | had read about.

One night though our patrol caught a woman taking cuttings from sof the plants. It was not until she put three of our warriors on their backside that they suspected that she was anything other than human.” We all have a slight chuckle, thinking of the three stunned warriors.

“So, they captured her and brought her back because she knocked out swarriors. That's actually really ingenious.” Scarlett stated.

“Well yes and no, you see one of our warriors felt that she may be his mate.” Alma’s voice got very soft at the end of her statement as if she realized too late what she was saying.

“So, one of your warriors is mated to a witch?” | cannot hide the curiosity in my voice.

Alma sighs deeply and appears rather troubled. “Yes, one of our warriors feels that Viola is his mate; however, she is not convinced that he is suitable husband material.” As Alma finishes speaking her words finally dawn onand its as if a giant lightbulb finally turns on in my brain.

“Alma” | try to keep my voice calm and steady. “Are you saying that the witch is still within your pack lands?” | can see the hesitation in her and | understand the awkward situation that she is in. She continues to struggle a few more minuets before reaching a decision that she is comfortable with.

“Yes, Viola is still within my pack lands. She has been helping to slow the spread of the cancer, and she is still exploring her relationship to see if she would like to make it more permanent. | will ask her to chere, but there is one last bit of information you should know before | do that.” Once again, | can see the struggle within Aima, and | nod my head to show that | am listening.

“The warrior that feels that he is mated to Viola is my own son, Hawk.”