Dark Alpha: A Fated Mates Novel

13: THE DAEMON'S MATE

~VANNIE~
"The King has suffered a lot, you know? Maybe even more than the rest of us combined. It's a different kind of torment to have your life pre-ordained for you. To have every footstep you take be because of an ancient prophecy. To be at war with your wolf, who is supposed to be half of your self."

Vannie groaned at Zara, who was now sprawled across from her on the large bed. Sometime in the past hour, an Omega server brought in a tray of fruits, and Zara was helping herself to them eagerly.

"I didn't ask you here so you could come wax poetic about the King," Vannie said. She didn't want to admit it, but the Seer's companionship was nice. Talking about Alpha Sin would just ruin the atmosphere.

Zara giggled, reaching for one of the grapes at the table. She may be blind, but apparently, she didn't need eyes to see food. "No, I think this is something you really need to hear. Nobody else will tell you. Especially Alpha Sin. He won't want you to think he's trying to get your pity."

Vannie snorted. As if she'd ever pity the King.

"Come on," Zara urged. "You have to be a little bit curious about him, right? Even against your better judgement?"

Vannie touched the place above her heart where she should have felt the warm tingle of her wolf. But it had been dormant for a long time, and Vannie had given up on awakening her.

Yes, she couldn't deny that she was curious, because losing her wolf was like losing her best friend. She hadn't dwelled on it when it happened, but in retrospect, it felt like betrayal that her wolf left her to face torture alone. "Why is the King at war with his wolf?"

"Because they're not the same. The wolf may be reincarnated, but Sin himself is not."

Vannie shifted uncomfortably. "If they're not the same, does that mean that Sin may want me as his mate, but his wolf may not?"

Zara shook her head. "No. You're the daemon's mate, no matter what."

A shiver of trepidation crawled down Vannie's spine at that. "Can the daemon carry out actions without Sin's knowledge?"

"Not anymore."

"Then you can't say they're different, can you?"

"At the core of the matter, they are different." And then the woman grew even more solemn. "Sin is still that boy that was chained to the fire because his parents thought he was possessed."

Vannie gasped before she could swallow it down. "What?"

Zara smiled, but it was a pained one. "When he was born, his parents wouldn't let Seers read his destiny. They wanted him to make that choice for himself when he was old enough, because they were scared they wouldn't like what they'd hear and it would affect their love for him."

It was making sense so far, and Vannie didn't want to seem impatient, so she kept her mouth shut.

"And then, when Alpha Sin was nothing more than five moons, a wee thing he was, the manifestations began. He'd sit on his Sire's throne like he was King already and begin to threaten to beat his nanny when she tried to draw him away."

A pup of five threatening to beat up someone? It was hard to picture that. But to be fair, it was hard to picture Alpha Sin as anything other than hulking and imposing.
"Did his Sire punish him?"

"Oh, yes. The late King wanted to make sure Sin was humble and kind to the people when he became the next Alpha. It worked for a while, but the daemon wouldn't stay caged. Sin was fifteen moons when he went head to head with his Sire the King, and won."

Another gasp from Vannie. "He fought his Sire?" And won?

"Yes. That was when they decided that he was possessed, and tried exorcisms of every sort. Sin's Mam was—"

"Rosann the Seducer. I know."

"Well then, you must know she was the spiritual sort. She made friends with witches. But witches are not fae. The couldn't tell that Sin housed a cursed wolf."

Vannie put two and two together. "You were the one who figured it out, right? You were the one who told them it wasn't Sin's fault?"

Zara nodded, eyes twinkling with emotion. It seemed like the memory had triggered some bad memories for the fae, enough to make her want to cry. "I found him bleeding and burned after one of the witches' exorcisms. He was calm by then, and didn't know why his parents were punishing him, and you know why? Because he used to come out of these aggressive episodes without a single recollection of what happened. All he'd know is, he blanked out at dinner, but he'd just feel that he did something wrong. And that guilt would burn at him."

Vannie felt her own eyes watering without her permission.

"Do you understand what I'm saying now, Queen Vannie? The daemon started making decisions for Sin before he could understand anything. It took a while for Sin to know how to control the daemon, and before he met you, he was still hanging on the thread of sanity."

How many times had she heard 'The Mad Alpha' being whispered, even back at Zhode? How many times had she herself said it, or thought it? "That didn't give him any right to destroy my life?" She asked, rather than said.

"Now, Alpha Sin himself is no saint. But we all think the prophecy was the reason why he was so hard on you. I also think he needs to be given more allowances for the good he has done — even without he realizing it sometimes. He has needs and fears like every other werewolf, you know. He has suffered, too. He has lost a lot, too."

Vannie's chest felt like someone had taken a rake to it. "What is happening to me, Zara? I hate him. I hate him so much. And yet, I'm sad that this happened to him. It was not his fault. It wasn't."

Zara's hand began a comforting rhythm on Vannie's thigh. "No. It really wasn't."

"It's the mate bond, isn't it? Making me feel this way about the King."

Zara looked down at her, not unkindly. "No, Your Majesty. You're just an empath. You know that nobody deserves to go through what he did, just as I know you didn't deserve it, either."