The Warrior King

Chapter 8

Zander's POV

It's been four weeks since the last warrior was found and I received the note. My Beta and Gamma have done their best to act as though things are normal in the pack, but I can tell they are on edge, and so am I. Today is Tuesday and I watch as a group of warriors leave their range training and another group shuffles in behind them to start their rounds. I've had an unexplainable amount of anxious energy over the last few weeks and I decide to head to the training building to see if I can find another warrior who's willing to spar with me. I need to burn some of this off.

As soon as I walk in, I start to warm up on one of the punching bags. There're a few guys fighting on the far side of the room and I'm about to ask to join in when Kane walks in. Perfect.

"We're sparing." I say to him in the mind link.

"Fine. Give me 10 to warm up." He replies back.

Not even 30 mins later we are both in the middle of a great workout session when my wolf perks up and the slight shift in my focus causes me to take a hard hit to the jaw.

"Whoa! What the heck happened?" Kane asks as I rub my face. "Sorry man, I wasn't expecting to hit you, that's usually an easy block."

He's right, and I have no clue what happened.

"I'm fine, just got distracted for a minute." I say but I can't hide the fact that I'm irritated. After a few more minutes with no improvement, I've decided I've had enough and it's time to throw in the towel for the day.

"Alright Kane, I'm done." I begin walk over to the bench when my bag is. As I do, I can feel eyes watching me and when I turn around, I find her. She's staring at me from across the room as Liam is anxiously paces back and forth in my head.

He's urging me to get closer and talk to her but I know it's a bad idea. Plus, she has that same male with her today.

I glance over to see him trailing behind her and I feel a pang of jealousy in my gut. When I look back, I can see her studying me still, not even the least bit focused on him, and for some reason it feels great. I wink at her, not knowing who I even am anymore, and she gives me a shy smile back. From there, my legs start to move on their own as I make my way over to where she is.

I'm stopped short when a figure steps in front of me, extending their hand out for me to shake and blocking my path.

"Cameron." The man says, a hard look on his face and obviously expecting me to accept his hand shake.

"Oh. Um, Elliot" I say as I grab his hand, but my attention is somewhere else.

Elliot is the fake name I've been using for so long now to keep my real identity hidden. I don't socialize with many people outside my beta and gamma much, but when I do, I try to stay consistent and cover my tracks.

"What are you doing?" Kane mind links me

"Waiting for this jackass to get out of my way so I can talk to the girl behind him."

I look at the spot on Cameron's neck where his head and shoulder meet and can see there's no mark. It's can tell he's after the female behind him by his possessive stance but it's obvious they aren't mates since they would have marked each other by now. Game changer.

He still hasn't released my hand yet and is clearly expecting me to walk away from them it's not happening. I was an alpha born and bred and I've never been one to back down. His eyes narrow when he sees me looking at his neck, realizing I know he's not mated. I raise my eyebrow in question and glance back at the girl as he scowls.

"Cameron!" I hear Kane yell from across the room and I make a mental note to thank my beta later.

"Coming sir." Cameron growls out through clenched teeth.

He steps away and I'm met with the most beautiful pair of hazel eyes. I breathe in her intoxicating scent and it's in that moment Liam howls.

"MATE!".

I freeze. Mate?! I didn't think I'd ever find my mate. Hell, after being alive for 103 years I started to accept the fact that my mate probably got killed in the last war, but here she is. She seems just as shocked as me and I wonder if she knows who I am yet. I keep my scent, signature, and pretty much everything else about me locked up tight, not wanting anyone to find out who I really am. Can she sense we're mates still?

"What's your name?" I ask and that seems to break her out of the trance.

"Nicola." She replies.

"Nicola..." I let the words roll off my tongue loving the way it feels.

"And you?" I can feel the curiosity of her wolf burning through.

Suddenly, I'm panicked and unsure what to do. Should I tell her my name? If I do then she'll definitely know who I am and I'm not sure I'm ready for that. But I also don't want to lie to her, she's my mate.

"Elliot..." I finally say and guilt floods me knowing I've already started this out being dishonest. My wolf is fuming inside my head that we had lied to her, the one person we're supposed to trust. But it isn't necessarily that I don't trust her, but I need to protect her. Protect everyone.

"Elliot." she repeats back and I hate it. I desperately want to hear her say my name, my real name, better yet scream my real name while she's underneath me.

Lust and desire start to consume my thoughts and I know I need to step away while I still can. I've waited so damn long for her and the urge to be with her this instant is unlike anything I've ever felt. The haze breaks when an arm wraps around her shoulders and I see Cameron standing next to her. My wolf is fighting for control and for a brief moment my walls come down, my alpha signature showing as a growl escapes my lips. His arm immediately falls off of her and I can feel his wolf submitting to me. Confusion floods his face as he looks at me and back down to her.

"I'm so sorry, I have to go." I say as I spin around and quickly stride out of the building. My wolf is howling for me to turn back but I can't.

I run into the pack house before storming into my office, slamming the door behind me. So many emotions run through me before I finally stop on one. Rage. I swipe my arm across the desk, sending everything on top flying into the wall. My fists come down hard as wood splinters fly everywhere while I proceed to tear the room to shreds. In the middle of the chaos, I don't even hear my Beta walk in.

"Zander!" He yells at me and I stop to look at him. My chest heaving up and down, more now that it had in our previous workout.

His eyes soften knowingly and I hate it. "She's your mate." It comes out as more of a statement than a question.

I continue to stare at him, my face hard, before I let out a long breath and give him a nod.

"She is."