My Cursed Mate

CHAPTER 12

I arrive home after a long drive. I was able to hitch a ride with a few humans. I open the house door, expecting to smell Mom's scent, but I don't. She's been gone for too long that her scent has faded away. The whole place is turned upside down. The living room looks like someone was trying to tear it down. There are pillows everywhere, and the TV is broken. Did they fight in here? The kitchen is like the living room, but my breath catches in my throat when I see blood on the kitchen counter.

There's a weird smell in the kitchen, but I realize what it was, and I wish I didn't. Please, I hope it's not Mom's. I sniff the blood to find out if it has the scent of Mom, but I can't tell because it's too decayed. I empty my stomach in the kitchen sink because the blood smelt so bad. I think it's been here for days. The amount is so tiny I can't tell who the blood belongs to. I feel little comfort knowing that if it belonged to Mom, she didn't bleed a lot.

I walk upstairs to check the rooms. Unlike downstairs, which looks like it was used for a WWE match, the rooms are intact. I think about the horrors Mom might face wherever she as I get to her room and search. Her room still has her scent. I'm sure it's because of her clothes. I try to push back the tears—I need to be strong right now. I can't be crying about every little thing. I need to shower and visit our Alpha and find out how the search is going.

***

After I finish showering and cleaning up the house, I walk outside to the packhouse. The second I step inside, all eyes turn to me. Why is everyone looking at me? It's not like I'm a stranger here. A girl around my age, who I hardly speak to and heartily dislike, walks toward me with the worst fake smile plastered on her face.

"Oh my God, Liz, I can't believe you're back," she says, pulling me into a hug, but I don't hug her back. I wonder why she's talking to me like we're friends.

"Kimberly, are you losing your memory? You're talking to me and hugging me?" I ask, pulling myself from her arms.

"My memory is fine. I missed you. I can't believe you're back," she says in that annoying high pitch voice of hers.

I'm not fond of Kimberly for many reasons. She's the pack slut, yet she always calls me the slut because I was dating a human. I regret dating Matt so much after what he did to me. I hope when I go into the city, I won't run into him. A lot of werewolves frown upon others dating humans. Kimberly is one of them and she expressed her dislike by calling me a slut.

The second reason I hate her is that she slept with Matt. She hates me for dating a human, and then she goes and sleeps with him. Imagine my shock the day Chloe told me they started dating as soon as I left. Apparently, Matt started cheating on me with her before the night I caught him. I may have found my mate and my feelings for Matt have almost disappeared but it doesn't change the fact that I was betrayed by someone dear to me as well as another woman in my pack.

"Kimberly, I don't know why you're acting like we're friends, but we're not," I say and walk past her.

I walk to the Alpha's office and knock on his door. It's noon, so he should be there. I turn the doorknob once he tells me to come in.

"Liz, sorry, Luna Queen; I can't believe you're here. The Alpha King didn't notify me you were coming," my old Alpha Steven says before I even fully walk into the room. One of the downsides about being a werewolf is that everyone knows you're coming before they see you because we can smell each other's scent.

It feels odd that the Alpha I grew up bowing my head to is now bowing his head to me. I realize that I'm truly the Alpha King's mate even though he doesn't acknowledge me.

"You don't have to call me that Alpha Steven. The Alpha King must have forgotten I was coming," I lie because the minute Steven knows I left without my mate's approval, he'll tell Nate that I'm here, and I don't want that. I'm surprised Nate hasn't asked Steven to check if I'm here already. He really doesn't care about me just like he's been telling me.