The Alpha Can’t Sense His Mate

ZADOK

Shilhi, Azriel and Zadok were seated round a wooden table in the greenhouse.

“She suddenly became powerful, like she wasn’t weak and complaining some seconds ago.” Azriel narrated to Shilhi, speaking about the training session with Ithra. “She took off his hands like it was nothing.”

“We can’t take that for a fact, who knows, perhaps the alpha didn’t use as much strength?” Shilhi opined, her gaze flickered to me, and I answered.

“I obviously didn’t use as much strength, but I am certain she shouldn’t have been able to get out of my hold that easily. I didn’t exert much strength, but it was strong enough to hold her.”

“Maybe your hand slackened a bit during your interactions?” Shilhi said with her eyes focused on me.

“The alpha was angry.” Azriel said, “From my point of view, he was seconds away from strangling her. He couldn’t have slackened his hold in that mind state.”

It was good he answered her bizarre question because I doubted my answers will be anything but lethal.

“I’ll take your word for it.” Shilhi said, “However, that’s not fact enough to determine if her sudden surge of strength was triggered by her anger or she was playing games all along.”

“It wasn’t a game.” I find myself speaking, “She was weak. Very weak.”

“If you don’t mind, how exactly do you know that, Alpha?”

Shilhi’s eyes narrowed at me, and I felt uncomfortable. How do I explain that I felt her weakness inside of me? That she was so weak I could feel it deep inside of me.

“I sensed the weakness of her essence.” I managed to say, shifting within my seat.

“What essence?” That was Azriel, he adjusted his seat and leaned forward, with prompt attention.

“Pray tell, Alpha. What essence did you feel? Is it the first time you’ve felt her essence or has this happened before?” Noting my reluctance to answer, Shilhi added, “Please do not skip any detail, as it could be helpful to determine the extent of the chosen one’s abilities.”

I let out a deep breath and decided to spill my guts. It was about time, anyway.

“During the training, I felt her weakness with every punch. Before that, I felt her zeal to get through the training, but over time, it waned. Her essence and zeal weakened, alongside her performance.”

Shilhi’s eyes were slightly widened, “When you say essence, do you mean a witch’s essence?”

I looked between them. This was where the problem lied, how do I explain that a witch didn’t hold a witch’s essence, but that of a she-wolf?

My hands dug into my pockets and I picked up one of my potions. I’ve taken a lot more than I should within a short space of time but who cares?

I needed every help I could get since my Alpha Wolf instinct seems to be misleading. I couldn’t afford to be unsure, that was a risk in itself.

“Alpha?” Azriel called, and I heard the concern in his tone.

“It wasn’t a witch’s essence.” I mumbled after my shot.

“Then what was it?” Shilhi’s impatience was visible, this time, much more than usual.

“A she-wolf.” I breathed, “Ithra has the essence of a she-wolf.”

I looked up and caught the open jaws of Azriel. Shilhi on the other hand seemed shaken, like she didn’t expect me to say that.

“Has?” Azriel asked, “you said she has the essence of a wolf, not had. Are you saying all this while, she didn’t have the essence of a witch.”

His tone was grave, I could understand his fear, so I put him out of his misery.

“She didn’t always have the essence of a wolf. At first she was a witch, everything about her said that.”

“What changed? And When did it change?” Shilhi asked,

“Everything changed when she pledged her loyalty to me. Her essence immediately changed. I was thinking it was a mistake on my part and got close to her with every opportunity I got. However, it stays the same.” I explained. “Ithra somehow has the essence of a she wolf.”

“How do we explain that?” Azriel turned to Shilhi. “She still reeks of a witch to me. There’s got to be something wrong somewhere.” His tone was grotesque, “What have we missed?”

“You said it started the moment she pledged allegiance to you.” I nodded, “interesting…”

Azriel got on his feet. “We shouldn’t be taking this lightly. We are talking about a witch here! What if she has bewitched us to think she is powerless? What if she isn’t truly the chosen one? We can’t afford to be mistaken on who and what she is capable of, Alpha.”

“I agree” Shilhi got up and walked to a cupboard at the side of the greenhouse. “However, we can’t make rash declarations out of fear.”

She opened the cupboard and brought out a fresh stash of potions. “There is a logical explanation to this.” She lined up the potions in front of me. “With the appearance of the chosen one, the curse is accelerated.”

“What?” Azriel asked incredulously,

“What are you talking about?” I asked, unable to wrap my head around the implications of her words.

“That means with the appearance of the chosen one, the spell cast on you is working at a heightened rate. The witches made preparations just in case. the plan is to wreck your senses and drive your wolf to insanity.”

“So even if the curse gets broken, it’s of no use because he’s ruined anyway.” Azriel completed the logic, seething and pacing around.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“What do we do?” My blood was boiling, and so was Kir’s.

I took another bottle of my potion. How wasn’t the time to let Kir on rampage. I needed to sustain a clear head.

“That’s two in a row.” Azriel called out, “that can’t be good.”

“It’s clear that the appearance of the chosen one has shaken up the alpha wolf. I predicted that development and went ahead to prepare a stronger combination for his potions.”

She pointed to the batch on the table, “that should carry out the job more efficiently.”

“Thank you, Shilhi.” Azriel said, picking them up. “You are an asset.”

I nodded in agreement, battling the urge to take another bottle. “And Ithra.” I said, and she nodded.

“It’s unclear if her odd strength was triggered by her anger or it was residual all the while.” Shilhi said, “Taking into account that your alpha instincts are under attack with the appearance of the chosen one, we can’t make judgment based on your observations.”

“So what do we do?”

“We will test again. This time around, we need to get her agitated, push her to the limit and see what happens.”

“I can do that.” Azriel said with a smirk,

“Not you.” Shilhi looked at me, “we need someone who will replicate what you did but in a more intense manner.”

“Someone who she hates?” Azriel said, catching on, “Morgan?” He suggested.

Shilhi rolled her eyes, and tutted, “Too weak.”

“Athaliah.” I breathed, and she smiled.

“Bingo.”