THE BETA CHARLES

Unknown POV

“You didn’t think she could keep this up forever, did you?”, I absolutely despise the smug bastard.

“No. But I wouldn’t tell you even if she did. You think it’s easy to get in those walls?”, I asked.

I watched as he frowned and walked out of my cell. When the lock was secure, he turned his back to me, “Of course not. If that were the case, you would’ve already found security in her fortress.”

“Don’t talk to me like I’m foolish. If you think for even one minute that I’ll help you then you’re sadly mistaken. She doesn’t even know who I am.”

His face stretches into this deranged smile, “You and Gaia may not know each other but I know you’ve been having visions of her for the last few centuries. The advantages of having a powerful witch of premonition.”

My face blanched as I looked at him in shock, “That’s impossible. You couldn’t have known that.”

He threw his head back in laughter, “Do you think I’m unaware that a wolf in her midst is your mate? Why do you think you’re here?”. I could only glare at him in silence.

“Find a way into her fortress and I’ll spare your wolf. You of all people should know nothing is standing between me and her.”

If he knows about the visions, then Gaia probably knows about them too. I can use that to my advantage. If I can find a link, then maybe she’ll know what to do. I’m powerless right now but he’s also not sane enough.

Okay. It’ll have to do. I’ll leave everything to her.

GAIA’s POV

The next morning Avalon left early to deal with some pack-related work while I was left with Charles and Thomas. Great. Though Thomas soon had to leave to feed since the blood moon was in 2 days, which left me with Charles, "How can you watch this at your age?", I asked incredulously after staring at the TV. He was watching a program where the humans there tried to fight their fear by forcefully being put in a situation with their fear. I watched as one of the guys explained he had a phobia of snakes, and that he would faint if he came too close to one. I kid you not, a few minutes later the hosts decided to lock him in a room of snakes so that he could ‘stop being a pussy and overcome this life hurdle’ whatever that meant. I slowly turned my head back to Charles who was engrossed in this nonsense. He seemed highly intrigued with what they were doing. He was also eating some kind of potato snack and what smelt like sweet cream. I wrinkled my nose at the combination, "How can you even eat that?". He shrugged his shoulder and threw the packet in the trash then turned and went into the kitchen.

It was a relatively quiet day, seems as though the wolves of the Todium pack always try to stay clear of me when I visit. No one was in sight doing anything that wasn’t routine. I sat at the table and flipped through a book I found in Avalon’s office, ‘Origins of the Todium Pack’ it read. After about 10 minutes Charles abruptly shuts the TV off and turned to me with a serious expression, "Can I talk to you about something? I need your advice."

"The Beta of a wolf pack is asking me, a vampire for advice.", my one eyebrow raised as if to enforce my point, confused as to why he thought me of all people would be of any help.

"It’s about my mate. ", he said seriously.

That got me serious, "I still do not see what that has to do with me. Shouldn’t you be speaking to your Alpha about this? You know…The wolf that’s your best friend?"

"Um...", he started but stopped and looked away, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Hang on a second." I cast a quick dome spell to block out all external hearing, “supernatural hearing”

"Wow", he said with a look of awe.

I snapped my fingers in his line of sight, "Pay attention, Charles.”

(This scene contains a mixed dialogue with/without written indicators)

” Well......I'm not saying it’s her but I'm also not saying it’s him either.”

” You’re...?”

After a minute he gives me a slight head nod, “Okay what’s the problem then?”

” We’ll call my mate ‘they/them’ for now. We met a while back and realized we were mates, but they don’t want to accept the bond for some reason, yet they won’t outright reject me either. They keep denying it. Every time I try to talk to them about it, they run away. And when we’re not talking about it, we’re arguing.”

” Assuming from the way you’re talking about them then it’s safe to say they’re always here, in todium pack. It’s certainly not my mate so it’s someone beneath you in ranks. You're the beta wolf. How do they keep escaping you of all people?”, Charles’s red hair is a mess on his head. The spiky tips keep getting messed up every time he runs his hands through them. Like how he’s doing right now.

” It’s that stupid phasing.”, he sighs.

I immediately sit up straight, “Phasing? Your mate is a vampire?”

When he nods, I let out a sigh of disbelief. Well, there’s something you don’t usually hear. And such a coincidence too? Wolves mating to vampires is a 1 in a million chance, almost unheard of. And that’s coming from me whose coven is the home to all the wolves mated to vampires.

” Yeah. I've waited years for my mate. YEARS and now that I've found h-I mean them, they won't even talk to me for more than 10 minutes, they won't even look at me for too long.”

” Did they tell you why?”

“I've asked them why they don’t accept the bond. Do you know what they said? They say that they have a duty to uphold and until their master gives them the ok to be free, they won’t. They said that their sorry that I was cursed with them as a mate, that I should reject them and wait for my second chance mate. Because even though their master would let them be with me and they would do it without a second thought, he owes her his life and wouldn’t give up his oath until they completed their mission.”, he rolled his eyes at the last part of his sentence, “whatever that means.”

” Through all that ranting I've concluded that you should just fuck them into submission.”, I told him as seriously as I could sound.

He choked, “Wh..a..wha..what?”

He didn’t realize he slipped up, but I heard it. Charles mentioned his mate wouldn’t give in to the bond because of ‘his’ mission and sworn oath to their master. ‘His’. There weren’t any vampires allowed on this territory without Avalon’s permission unless it was the council, and any vampires without his permission all came from my coven with my permission. If Charles’s mate is who I suspect, then the best way to get them to listen is to use sex.

"If it’s a vampire...here, take this and spread it around the room so they can't phase and use the mate bond to your advantage. If that doesn't work, then fuck them until they submit to you.”, I told him while giving him a vial of x potion.

He collected the vial and eyed it strangely, “What is this?”

“It’s a potion that temporarily puts up a protection ward in a small area. My brother and I created it during the war for the witches. Most of us that took part in the war weren’t sane at the time and the witches suffered the most from it. I did what I could to protect my coven, but others weren’t so lucky. We created this as a temporary measure until they could find asylum in my territory. It lasts about 30 minutes so make do with that time.”

The potion renders whoever is caught in it to nothing more than a mortal but I’m not going to tell him that.

***************

Charles left to go confront his mate while I decided to take a walk through the pack again, I do it at least 3 times a week when I’m here. After spending about a few hours walking around the pack, I decided to pass through the pack house. When I got outside, there were some young wolves in the center room. When I walked in, they straightened up and stopped what they were doing but I waved them off. Most of these wolves despise my kind, I won’t force them to submit to me like this, at least not this pack. I recognized the young wolf shielding them, but the other two remained a mystery. The blonde female smelled funny. A hybrid. Another surprise for the day. We were as rare as mixed-species mate bonds. The only hybrids alive belonged to my pack so where did she come from?

"We're just showing the newest members of our pack around. They joined yesterday.", a young wolf I've come to know as Chase said before I could ask. He must’ve seen the question on my face.

"Alexander here is a human and his sister Leanne here is a hybrid. Part werewolf, part human."

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion, " I’m assuming one of your parents?

Alexander was currently into chase’s side with his arms wrapped around his waist. Quite a pair though, anyone could see they were mates. While Chase was muscular and about 6"0 tall, Alexander’s grey eyes were almost covered by the mop of brunette curls on his head. Interesting that he and Leanne were the same 5”5 stature.

“I’m sure Chase is going to keep you informed so welcome to the pack.”, I waved and walked off.

Avalon should be back in the next 15 minutes and Thomas should be arriving soon. We need to prepare for the blood moon. I rubbed between my brows as the ache grew. My head throbbed with what felt like the oncoming of a headache. Effects of the blood moon because vampires NEVER got sick.

I followed his scent to his office but upon arrival, I smelt another scent. One I've grown particularly familiar too. The door was slightly open and I could see from all the way over here, there on the wall with his hands in Charles’s grip was Thomas, my best friend, my second in command, and most importantly, my mweya. The remnants of the wards from the potion float around them in blue speckles but neither seem to notice. I watched as Thomas glares at Charles who glares back but they don’t speak. And as soon as he opens his mouth to say something, Charles slams his mouth down on his lips. He tries to fight what the mate bond is making him feel but soon gives in and kisses Charles back. Now I understood why I never noticed. Thomas’s vampiric gift is that of an empath but when he reverses that power it allows him to cut off his feelings from anyone else, including me. Though he seems to think it did the job 100%, negating the fact that we’re mweya. These two are so caught up they don’t even know I’m here. When they start having literal sex in front of me is when I freeze.

Oh. My. God.