His Mate

Chapter forty two

"No," Alan whispered seeing the rose on her neck that looked like a mark but different from any he had ever seen. "It cannot be," he shook his head, his eyes refusing to leave the hideous thing.

"It's true, dad," Aliyah whispered knowing that there was no hiding it anymore. She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh, knowing what she has to do and what she has to reveal and also what it would do to her. She hasn't figured her stand with Edward yet but the man never let her get hurt. Also, she knows that if she doesn't do anything then she would lose her father in the hands of her mate and that was not the guilt she wants for herself or Edward to live with. She licked her lips and exhaled, "Edward is my mate."

"Impossible," Alan yelled. "Have you gone deranged?" he asked. "Have you longed for a mate for so long that you will accept anyone as a mate?"

"It's the truth dad," Aliyah said, opening her eyes then. "Why do you think I have been using the scarf? To hide the mark, obviously," she sighed. "I didn't know how to tell you or anyone that..." she paused and exhaled deeply. "It all kind of happened and..."

"The blood moon was just a few days ago, you have been using the scarf long before that so how can you know..."

"I started using the scarf after the night I was punished which Edward had showed up and saved me from." Aliyah interrupted. "He marked me that night and on the blood moon night, we discovered we are mates."

"That is not true. You retired to your room after every other wolf mated, that was what Sean told me."

"That was what Sean thought," she said. "I hid it from everyone including him. The only person that knows is Gerald and Edward had compelled him to forget everything that happened in the wood hence why he is the way he is now."

Everything she was saying made sense but Alan refused to believe it. How can he? How can he stand and tell his fellow alphas and the High Howlers that his daughter's mate and the future alpha of his pack is a blood sucking beast? How can he stand and tell them that she is mated to a nightwalker, their life time nemesis? He could feel his growing anger and his burning eyes turned to Edward. "You..." he growled. He remembered what Aliyah said he did to Gerald, who is to say that he has not done the same to her? Brown furs appeared on his face as he started growing big and panting like a raging beast, "how dare you do this to my daughter?" he yelled, shape-shifting into his wolf then.

"Dad, no," Aliyah yelled, standing in between him and Edward. "Please, I don't want to lose you."

Edward glanced around at the howling wolves. He may be wounded and his strength not as it used to be but he knew he would finish them off before anything would happen to him. "Insolent fools," he whispered as he pulled Aliyah behind him again, "I guess you have not learned your lesson yet," he said to Alan as smoke started surrounding him, "maybe you need to remember what happened the last time you dared attack me."

"Edward, Edward no," Aliyah called to him. She hated to find herself in this situation yet again and she could sense there was something off about Edward, something which she could feel would make it hard for him to listen to her this time and not go for the kill. They have already lost enough men as it is, there was no need to lose their survivors and she wished her father could just open his eyes and let go of the hatred just for this night. "Dad please, you are no match for him, he is an Original!" she screamed, hoping that would do the trick.

"Alpha," Aton called, rushing to him after being filled by Sean with the mind link. "We don't have to fight." 'I don't need to remind you what happened the last time. Look around you, Alpha, we have already lost enough men as it is. Also, we all saw how he finished off the Nebuzars when we couldn't even kill just one of them. I don't think we should attack him blindly.' He added in the mind link.

'He compelled my daughter!' Alan yelled.

'Aliyah looks fully in control of herself to me, now Gerald is the one compelled and certainly not Aliyah.'

'Are you my Beta or his mouthpiece?' Alan growled.

'Your Beta, Alpha, that is why I have to stop you from your suicidal mission. We couldn't win against him when you were strong, what makes you think we can now that you are heavily wounded?'

'Alan,' Scarlet called in the mind link. 'I don't think we should attack blindly, we need to strategize.'

'This is our daughter, Scarlet.'

'And she is okay. He came here because of her. He fought the Nebuzars to protect her. If there is anyone safe here, then it's here. We really shouldn't piss him off.'

'But, he is a nightwalker for crying out loud.'

'We will find a way. Let's just let this night pass, please,' Scarlet pleaded.

"Edward," Aliyah called to the still pissed off man when she felt her father relenting. "Please," she pleaded.

Edward glanced at her, the smoke around him dying off. However, without a word, he wrapped his hand on Aliyah and then vanished.

'Aliyah' Alan yelled, staring at the place they were only but a minute ago in shock and not only him. Everyone was at lost on what just happened. They came out to fight and they ended up uncovering a very big news that would definitely ruin their pack.

***

Aliyah wrapped her arms tightly on the man as they kept jumping from one tree to another in lightening speed. She had always known that the nightwalkers were fast on their feet but she never knew that this was the view when they were running. They were passing by the trees so fast that the breeze was making it hard for her to keep her eyes open. She didn't want to think of the fact that Edward took her right in front of her father and her pack mates and she also refrained from thinking of what would become of them now. Their secret was finally out in the open just like she feared it would should he come over.

She shut her eyes more tightly, wondering where he could be taking her. This was the second time he was taking her with him. The first time, he had dropped her in the middle of the woods and had wanted to kill her but ended up marking her, now she wondered what he could be planning on doing to her now. What could be going on in his mind? How is reacting to what just happened and the very fact that their secret is out and how it would affect him.

She opened her eyes slowly to look up at him but something happened and she noticed that they were falling. She tightened her arms around him immediately while he cradled her head, wrapping his arms on her head to protect her as they crashed on the ground heavily, tumbling a few times before coming to a stop.

Aliyah was breathing heavily right where he held her tightly to himself to prevent her from sustaining any injury. She looked up at him then, feeling his heavy breathing. Again, she has that feeling that he must be deeply hurt. She tried to get up but he held her back. "Are you okay?" she asked, reaching up to caress his cheek. His eyes were shut tightly and his brows were wrapped in a frown and his jaw was tight due to how tightly he was clenching his teeth.

"I'm fine," Edward said, releasing her from his hold then to get up.

Aliyah rushed to help him but he shrugged out of her hold. "You don't look fine to me," she said. She doesn't need him to tell her anymore for she could see it as clear as day. The paleness of his face and the fact that it was taking him an awful lot of time to get up was all the proof that she needs. "That Nebuzar, it hurt you didn't it?"

Edward scoffed, "why, so that you can gloat to my face that I am hurt?"

"What is wrong with you?" Aliyah asked, annoyed at him and his manner of thinking. "You are hurt and it's because of me and the only thing in your mind is that I am going to gloat over it? For what reason exactly? What am I going to gain over it?"

"Don't get all righteous with me, wolf," he glared at her with his red eyes. "And don't pretend to care. You hate me as much as I hate you," he said and closing his eyes, he finally got up from the ground. His chest hurt so badly and the last time he could remember ever feeling such pain was more than eight hundred years ago, right before he went into his deep slumber. He tried to walk but his leg failed him and he slumped on the ground.

Aliyah watched him and she could feel the tears accumulating in her eyes at the obvious reason that he won't even let her help him despite being in this condition because of her. "I don't hate you," she whispered and noticed him stiffened. "Not anymore."