Chapter 3: My Mate Darius

The morning rolls in, and I find I have been asleep in the garden.

I wake up to several maids surrounding me.

They help me up, lead me to yet again an enormous, elegant, and majestic bathroom, where they help me take my shower, then provide me with one of the most beautiful dresses I have ever seen.

When I am done getting dressed, I am led to another enormous hall which I soon discover to be a dining room.

The vastness of it all is enough to make me dizzy.

But what really makes my stomach churn is finding Darius at the edge of the long rectangular table.

Seated in the master chair, designed like a throne.

I make to sit at the far end from him, but the maids urge me forward.

And to my fear, I am placed in the chair adjacent to his.

His presence is mighty and looming.

Which makes me anxious, and fearful.

Up until now, he has yet to speak to me.

This is the perfect opportunity for him to do so, should he please, I can't help but feel all the more anxious as to what he will say.

But he is just busy with the plate of rice stuffed with meat in front of him, while diligently avoiding everything else, and somehow, I can sense him particularly avoiding the bowl of broth in front of him.

The maids serve me up a plate of rice and tomato sauce, stuffed to the brim with meat, so much so I can barely see the sauce or rice underneath.

This is really a meal fit for wolves, a meal I hardly had with my father.

I can't help but drool upon seeing this, and all at once, my stomach screams at me, and I am dying of hunger.

I don't waste any more time, so I dig in.

The flavor is ever present and the spices that make up the meal are accentuated by the chef's incredible hands.

May God bless whoever made such an incredible meal.

I continue to stuff my face, when, at the side of my eye, I sense Darius pursing his lips, as though making to speak.

I pause everything I am doing, and I wait.

"Did you..." He speaks, as expected.

His voice is more gentle than I had presumed, but as expected, laced with power, authority, and a tinge of aggression which I know is all he is, but just pretending to be poise.

"See your mate last night?" His words cut into my soul, my heart stops, and my body goes numb.

"Did you hear me?" He repeats himself when I don't respond, now raising his voice ever so slightly.

What am I supposed to say? How am I supposed to respond to this? What will he do to me if I tell the truth?

"I..."

"And before you speak, just know that one of my instincts is the ability to tell the difference between a lie and the truth." He says, as he drops his spoon, picks up a paper towel, and wipes his mouth.

After which, he turns his gaze to me, which I wish I could shrivel under.

I can feel his red eyes piercing into and through my skin, as though he had heat vision.

"So choose your words very carefully." He says once more, with finality in his voice.

I hesitate, buying my time as I search for the words to speak, and contrary to what I expect, he is waiting for me to talk.

"i..." My voice is an ant, and now my throat is parched.

I force down a gulp, then I clear my throat, before trying again.

"i...did." I say, with the might of a dead chicken.

He says nothing, he just stares at me for several seconds, which I feel biting at me.

"Did...did he touch you?" I become astonished by the break in his voice, I didn't think I could find any slip-ups in such a perfect man.

"he...kissed...me." I force myself to say, avoiding his gaze as much as I possibly can.

"Did he do anything else?" He asks, curiosity and anticipation becoming him, and I can feel it.

"No." The one word I can say with my full voice.

He leans back into his chair, and after a second of what I presume is contemplation, he returns to finishing his meal.

I stay motionless, fearing for what my decree will be.

"Eat." He says, mouth full.

"...will...you punish me?" I ask, I have to know, better than killing me with concerns and worries as to what he will do to me.

"Punish my mate?" He laughs a powerful laugh, which astonishes me all the more.

An act I never thought he could do.

"Of course not, you did not betray me, so all is well." He says as a huge chunk of beef is placed in his mouth.

He chews it down and swallows it in less than a second.

"No, if I were to punish you, I'd go for your pack." He says, the smile gone from his face.

Then he turns his gaze to me, and I turn away.

"But you have nothing to worry about. For now." He says with a sinister tone glazing his voice.

I don't know when, but my legs start to shake.

"what...wh..." I gulp down a mouth full of saliva. "what about my...mate?" I shrink.

He stops eating and just stays still.

I fear I have overstepped.

"Your wrong mate." He says, and then resumes eating.

"what..." I have to know, but he doesn't let me speak.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about all that, eat." He says once more, and though I want answers, I dare not make him say again.

So I do as told while trying to steady my hands.

"Is there anything you would like?" He asks me, like a caring husband would ask his loving wife.

I would like to say no, but he can tell if I am lying.

I turn my gaze to the broth, and I point.

"Oh, now that you bring that to mind." He turns his head over his shoulder. "Um...umm, you." He points at one of the several maids on standby.

She comes as told, and takes his side, head low, eyes avoiding his.

"Ahhh, right." He snaps his fingers, remembering what he is saying. "Call the chefs, bring them all here."

The maid bows a bit, showing she understands his message, and then she scurries off.

In less than a minute, the chefs he asked for arrives, lining up like soldiers beside him.

All five of them.

Darius cleans his mouth with a paper towel once more, before rising off his chair, now revealing himself to be the giant he is, as he towers over the chefs like Goliath.

He walks up to the first chef, who is sweating bullets, and then he smiles.

"Answer everything I will ask you honestly." He says, looking down at the chef, who is struggling to keep eye contact with him.

He nods erratically, making sure Darius sees he understands.

Darius turns to the rest of the chefs.

"All of you." He says, his smile gone, and his voice menacing.

They all nod, then he turns back to the chef in front of him.

"Did you poison my meal?" He asks with a voice more dangerous than a tiger searching for his tigress in heat.

Those words freeze the very air into silence, and a chill creeps into the massive hall of the dining room, and into my bones.

What does he mean, poison? I ask myself pointlessly.

Something about his presence almost chokes me, I find it hard to breathe, and my hands refuse to stop shaking.

I can tell I am not the only one feeling this, as all the maids and chefs force themselves to remain steady.

I hear a gulp louder than a hammer falling thirty feet and landing in an empty hall.

"No alpha." The chef says, his voice almost falling apart.

Darius' eyes start to glow and then change color from red to gold.

He moves over to the next chef, his footsteps sinister and menacing.

He stops at the next chef and asks.

"Did you, poison, my meal?" When he asks this question, footsteps echo behind me, and I find a chef trying to reach for the exit.

I can see the smile on Darius' face, so wide, spreading from ear to ear.

He raises his two hands, and then he twists his fist.

All the doors slam shut, and locking mechanisms reverberate into the air.

The chef reaches the door a little too late, he clampers onto the door as he starts to cry.

A wasted effort.

Darius walks towards him, fur lines his hands, and the corners of his face.

He is trying to transform.

"Chef...I don't know what your name is, but you're about to be a nameless grave." I can sense a chuckle in his throat.

He walks past me, and I find I have been holding my breath.

"If you tell me, who else was involv..."

"The maids!" The chef cries out. "Please alpha, spare me." He pleads and crumbles to his feet.

Darius turns to the maids, as they start to cry, and take several steps backward.

"Alpha, please."

"Alpha, I was forced."

"We had no choice." They all beg and plead whilst walking back.

A shadow passes over me, and I find Darius leaping over me, towards the girls, now in his full humanoid werewolf form.

His suit torn to shreds, and now he is covered in fur.

He extrudes his claws, and without any hesitation, he tears through the girls in a bloody frenzy.

I am unable to move, react, or even breathe still.

I just watch, in horror.