The Alpha's Oracle (SAMPLE, IronMoon #1)

The Monster Who Eats Fear

 Everyone just stared at us. Even Gabel's packmates seemed shocked.

With werewolves, the male could sense females he could potentially bond with. He was always looking for the best possible match. When he found her, he Marked her. Marking wasn't done casually. This ripped open the bond (like ripping open a gift) and forged the two together. It didn't complete the process but it was basically like getting engaged and setting the wedding date and hiring the planner all at once.

There were ways to break the Bond but it wasn't easy and could be deadly.

Marking was never done on a first meeting, and Marking a female by force was not allowed.

Many males said they knew "the one" when they met her, but because females couldn't sense it, the male had to spend a lot of time courting and convincing the female (and her family, and maybe her pack) that he was "the one" for her.

Gabel had just swooped in and bitten me like a crow stealing a bag of chips.

But try to tell Gabel what was and was not allowed.

None of this was what was truly crazy. Opening the Bond meant the mates were tied together. Their souls were joined. I would be loyal to him and to his pack. That was the smart part.

The part I could not understand was this made him loyal to me. That was crazy. Why would Alpha Gabel want to risk tying himself to someone he barely knew?

The only possible explanation was he was truly insane.

He just smirked, swollen on his own smugness. "I've been accused of that before."

My mouth unhinged.

Gabel turned to Jermain. "We have nothing more to discuss, Alpha Jermain. My business here is done and I have what I have come for."

Then he turned to me. "I believe," he turned and grinned at me with gleaming, bloody teeth, "That the tribute of a Seer and a potential Mate will fulfill your obligations to Iron Moon the next twelve moons."

Potential! He had Marked me and already was talking like he wasn't going to carry through with it?!

Already, his words made me ache. I was Bound to him, so the mention of him discarding me made my soul ache in protest. It had to have hurt him too. So why did he say it?

Because he was crazy.

He stood back and waited while I bid my pack farewell. I don't remember the goodbyes. I drifted in a fog of shock and grief and a newly-rended Bond.

I didn't have much to take with me. Just two duffel bags of clothes and my precious scrying bowls and orbs. One of the Iron Moon enforcers stood at the doorway and watched me, and then insisted on carrying my things. He addressed me as "ma'am", but not Luna.

There were two more things Gabel and I would need to do to be fully mated: actually well, you know... mate. After that, he would have to re-affirm the Mark under a full moon, in front of the Moon Goddess and as many of our pack as possible. After that the process would be complete.

But he had done the biggest and most important step.

He couldn't force me to do the other two. The Bond would prevent him from forcing me to do the last two.

But the Bond would also work against us and make us want to do those last two things. The Bond made you do stupid things. The Bond wanted to be final and complete. The Bond was a living thing. It was like your lungs. Lungs wanted to breathe.

No matter how hard someone might try, they couldn't force themselves to not breathe. Eventually their most basic instincts would kick in, and their body would force them to take in a big deep breath.