Chapter 10 Help me…please

~Keith~

My room door slammed hard enough to rattle the weapons mounted on the wall. Matt followed me in, closing it more quietly behind him.

"Well, that went well," he said dryly. "You practically announced to the entire council that you want to mount the Alpha King's bride."

"Shut up, Matt."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was the growling supposed to be subtle? Because elder Morrison nearly pissed himself."

I poured whiskey from the decanter on my desk, downing it in one burn. The alcohol did nothing to calm my wolf, who was still pacing restlessly beneath my skin.

My father wanted to mark her. That was all I could think about. He wasn't just satisfied with making her his bride, he also wanted to make it so that no other wolf comes close to her. He wanted to imprint his scent on her.

I'd grind my dick on a rolling stone before I let that happen.

"You want to tell me what that was about?" Matt dropped into the chair across from my desk. "Because I've seen you face down rabid rogues without breaking a sweat, but your father mentions marking Sage and you lose your whole mind."

"I didn't lose anything." I said grimly.

Matt nodded as if he understood my plight. "Right. That's why you're death-gripping that innocent glass who has done absolutely nothing to deserve that premature death."

I looked down. The glass was cracking under my fingers. I set it down carefully.

"Keith." Matt's voice turned serious. "Talk to me. What's going on?"

I moved to the window, staring out at the courtyard below where servants scurried about preparing for the celebration that would seal Sage's fate. "When I was with her earlier, in the safe room..."

"Yeah?"

"We almost kissed."

"Okay. And?"

"And my wolf reacted... strangely."

Matt snorted. "Your wolf reacted strangely to almost kissing an extremely beautiful woman? Alert the elders. This is so abnormal for a healthy werewolf."

"I'm serious." I turned to face him. "It felt like... binding. Like something was clicking into place."

Matt's eyebrows shot up. "You think she's your mate?"

I shook my head. "No. That's impossible. Mate bonds are instant."

"Usually."

I froze. "What do you mean, usually?"

"Come on, Keith. You know the stories as well as I do. Sometimes bonds don't manifest immediately. Especially when one person hasn't fully wolfed out."

"I don't think she has fully wolfed out,” I said, exhaling deeply. “She seems like a late bloomer."

"Exactly. Those kinds of bonds work differently. They can take time to develop, building slowly instead of hitting all at once." He tilted his head, studying me. "Has your wolf been acting differently around her?"

Different was an understatement. Since Sage arrived, my wolf had been in a constant state of agitation. It wasn't aggressive. It was restless. It was hungry for something. And when I saw her that first time in my room, looking lost...

"I want to mark her," I admitted quietly.

Matt choked on air. "I'm sorry, what?"

I turned to him, the seriousness on my face leaving no room for doubt. "I want to mark her, Matt. I want to sink my fangs in her throat and make her mine. The thought of my father touching her makes me want to tear this palace down pillar by pillar."

"That's..." Matt paused, looking like he was trying very hard not to laugh. "That's a mate bond, you idiot."

"It can't be."

"Why? Because she's promised to your father? Since when have mate bonds cared about politics?"

I slumped against the window frame. If Sage was my mate, truly my mate, then watching my father mark her would destroy me. Literally. Wolves who lost their mates often went mad from the grief.

"This is bad," I muttered.

"This is hilarious," Matt corrected. "The prince who swore he'd never take a mate is pining after his father's bride."

"I could kill you, you know."

"You could try." He sobered slightly. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." I ran my hands through my hair. "Father threatened her. If I challenge him, he'll hurt her."

"So we get her out."

"And go where? He's the Alpha King. His reach extends through every pack territory."

"Not every territory," Matt said slowly. "There are the neutral zones. The human cities where pack law doesn't apply."

"You're suggesting I kidnap the Alpha King's bride and run away to human territory?"

"I'm suggesting you stop being an idiot and claim your mate before your father does."

The words hung between us. Claim her. Make her mine before the celebration, before Father could mark her publicly. It was insane. It was treason.

It was tempting as hell.

"Even if I wanted to," I said carefully, "the marking has to be consensual. She has to want it too."

Matt gave me a look. "Have you seen how she looks at you?"

"With fear?"

"With want, you moron. When you were cleaning her wounds earlier, her pupils were so dilated I could see them from the doorway."

"That could have been adrenaline."

"Could have been." Matt stood, stretching. "Or it could have been a human responding to her mate bond. Only one way to find out."

"Which is?"

"Go to her. Tonight. Explain what's happening." He moved toward the door. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"She rejects me, tells my father, and he executes me for treason."

"Well, when you put it like that." He paused at the door. "Keith, can I tell you something your mother once told me?"

My chest tightened. "My mother?"

"She said the mate bond doesn't always make sense. Sometimes it brings together the most unlikely people at the most inconvenient times. But it's never wrong." He met my eyes. "She also said the only thing worse than dying for love is living without it."

"Matt..."

"Your father killed her because she tried to leave him. She'd found her true mate, you know. A warrior from the Eastern Pack."

The floor seemed to tilt beneath me. "What?"

"She was going to take you and run. But someone betrayed her." His expression darkened. "I've never forgiven myself for not being there that night."

"It wasn't your fault."

"Wasn't it? I was her guard. I should have protected her." He gripped the door handle. "I couldn't save her, Keith. But I can save Sage. We can save her."

"How?"

"First, you need to be sure. About the bond."

That was entirely true. If I was going to take Sage away from my father, then I had to be sure about this feeling that my wolf was pushing on me.

"How do I do that?" I asked.

Matt grinned, and for a moment he looked like the troublemaker I'd grown up with instead of my beta. "There's one surefire way to test a mate bond. But you're not going to like it."

"What?"

He lowered his voice, "You have to taste her blood."

I stared at him and my jaw dropped. Blood tasting is the most intimate moment in the life of any werewolf. It's more intimate than sex, and it signifies a forever bond if actually done.

"That's…” I cleared my throat nervously. “That's too intimate, Matt."

"Extremely. Blood sharing between mates creates an unbreakable connection. You'd be able to feel her emotions, know her location, maybe even communicate telepathically."

"And if she's not my mate?"

"Then you'll have a very awkward conversation to explain why you're acting like a vampire."

Before I could respond, a knock echoed through the room. Not from the door. From the wall.

Matt and I exchanged glances. The knock came again, from behind the hidden door that covered the old servant's entrance. Three short, two long. The pattern only a handful of people knew.

I pulled the wall aside and opened the hidden door.

Sage stood there in nothing but a silk gown that left very little to imagination, her skin flushed and her breathing uneven.

"I need you. Help me…please," she gasped, and then her eyes rolled back as she collapsed into my arms.

Her scent hit me immediately. But underneath it, something else. Something that made my

wolf roar with need and recognition.

It was her andro-attractant.

Sage was on heat.