Jonathan’s POV
Daniel’s voice in my head woke me up from a peaceful sleep with my mate safe in my arms. Anna was still sleeping on my naked chest. I slowly got off the bed and tucked her in.
I walked out her room and mind-linked Daniel. ‘What is it?’ I asked.
It had to be an emergency or something because Daniel has never mind-linked me since I’ve left him in charge of the pack. Whenever I checked in, it was mostly just everything running smoothly and no drama.
‘We caught a few rogues’ Daniel informed me.
‘Do the usual procedures, then tell me what they say’
‘That’s the problem’ Daniel said sounding irritated. ‘The guy won’t talk. And the chick keeps repeating the same sentence’
‘Well what does she say?’ I inquired.
‘Where’s the Alpha’s Princess’
I cut off our mind-link and walked to the living room. Thomas was there with a sleeping Ford. I motioned for Thomas to come over to me. “What’s up?” he asked.
“I gotta take care of some stuff. Watch over Anna for me” I said.
Thomas nodded, but stopped me when I tried walking past him. “You need a shirt” he stated.
“Why? I’m gonna shift anyway”
“There’s kids in there” he nodded towards the living room. I peeked in, and Alyssa was there with Claire and other kids.
“My stuff is in there” Thomas said while pointing to the door next to me. “Just take a shirt and go. But don’t shift with it on. I want it back”
I rolled my eyes and went to grab a shirt. I settled for a plain white one that was on his bed. I walked past Alyssa and the kids, then out the castle. I took off Thomas’s shirt before shifting and holding it in my mouth.
*****
Half an hour later, I shifted back into human form and slid back on the shirt. Daniel was waiting for me on the porch. He had two files in his hands along with a pair of shorts. He handed me the shorts, then the files.
“The guy didn’t give us any information, but I still wrote up the report. The girl answered a few questions, then kept repeating the sentence” Daniel said quickly.
I opened up the file and read it aloud. “Ariana Walters. Age: 18. Rogue for 2 years. Ran away from her pack. Hasn’t found a mate”
“Why was she on our land?” I asked Daniel.
He shrugged. “That’s when she started talking about Anna”
I nodded and we walked down to the cells together. The two rogues were the only ones in here. The guy had short raven black hair, he was knocked out, and he was well-built; but all werewolves are well-built. The girl had brown hair with lighter highlights that went down to her shoulders. Her eyes were brown, and they were staring right at me.
“Are you Ariana?” I asked.
The girl just stared at me and sniffed the air. She kept sniffing and looking around the room. “Where is he?!” she shouted.
“Who? Where is who?” I questioned.
“Where’s my mate?!”
I thought she said that she hasn’t found her mate. “I don’t know who your mate is” I said calmly.
“You’re lying!” she yelled as she came as close to the bars as she could without touching them.
“Who is your mate?” Daniel asked.
“I don’t know” she said exasperated. “But I can smell him”
“He’s probably part of my pack” I stated. “You might have smelt him when we opened the door”
Ariana shook her head. “No. Its like he’s in this room, but he’s not”
“Ariana” Daniel said softly. “That makes no sense” he deadpanned.
She growled at him. “I can smell him!”
“What does he smell like?”
She took a long whiff while her eyes shut. “Like… Coconuts?” she said, but it sounded more like a question.
Coconuts. Who the hell smells like coconuts?
“Do you know anyone who smells like coconuts?” I asked Daniel.
He shook his head. “I’ve never smelt anyone who smells like coconuts”
“That’s what he smells like!” Ariana insisted.
“We’ll help you find you’re mate. But for now, I need to know what you want with the princess” I said.
Ariana shook her head. “Mate now. Princess later”
Knowing what it feels like not to find your mate, I agreed. I thought about everyone in the pack, but I don’t remember anyone smelling like coconuts. “Who else came down here?” Daniel asked.
“No one. Just you this morning, then you guys now” she answered.
“Is his scent still here?” I asked.
She nodded. “Its not moving, but its faint. Like someone else’s scent is mixed with it”5
“What’s the other scent?”
She sniffed. “Oranges and grass” she shuddered. “Such a weird combination” her face scrunched up in a disgusted manner.
‘Jona’ Daniel said through the mind-link. I glanced at him, waiting for him to say something. ‘That’s your scent. Citrus and grass is your scent’ he informed me.
“How is her mate’s scent on me?” I asked aloud.
Ariana growled. “I know you have him. Where is he?!”
“I swear that I don’t have your mate” I said calmly. “How could someone’s scent be mixed with mine?”
Daniel shrugged. “It mixes when you use someone lotion, or perfume, or hug them, or wear their clothes”
I didn’t use any lotion or perfume. I hugged Anna. But she’s my mate and she doesn’t smell like coconuts, so its not her. And I just got shorts from Daniel, but they didn’t smell like coconuts. And I have Thomas’s- “I got it!” I exclaimed.
“Who is it?” Daniel asked.
I took off my shirt and handed it to Ariana through the bars. “Is that it?” I asked.
She nodded and continued to sniff the shirt. Honestly, she looks like a creepy ex-girlfriend who couldn’t get over her boyfriend. So she stole his shirt to cuddle with it or something. Don’t judge my weird imagination. “Who’s is this?” she questioned.
“He’s not from my pack” I stated. “I have to make a call”
*****
Thomas’s POV
“Jonathan?” I asked while picking up the phone.
“Have you found your mate?” Jonathan blurted.
“No” I said sadly. I’m 19 and mateless. I didn’t go on a trip and look for my mate. I just let nature take its course and hoped that we would eventually bump into each other. “Why?” I questioned.
“I think I found her” Jonathan said. “Come to my pack house”
“What about Anna?” I asked. She was still sleeping, but I didn’t want to leave her alone.
“I can watch over her” Alyssa offered. “Go get your mate”
Of course she would listen to my phone call. I smiled and mouthed ‘thank you.’ “Alyssa will watch Anna. I’ll be there in half an hour” I said before hanging up.
I ran out the castle and shifted, not caring about my clothes. My mate is waiting for me, and that’s all that matters. My wolf was all giddy and pushed me to go faster. I ran past trees and jumped over logs. My gray fur was blowing in the wind as I forced my legs to run faster.
My legs ached when I made it to Jonathan’s pack house. He was waiting for me at the porch with a pair of shorts. I shifted and put on the shorts.
“Where is she?” I asked.
Jonathan put his hands up in surrender. “She’s a rogue. She’s in the cellar”
I held in a growl, knowing that he was following procedure. You’re supposed to bring rogues into the cellar and question them- even if they look harmless. Looks can be very deceiving. “Why do you think she’s my mate?” I inquired.
“She smelt your shirt” Jonathan informed me as we walked into the pack house. “She still has it by the way. I don’t think you’re gonna get that back” he said with a small chuckle.
He opened the door to the cellar, and I was hit with her scent. She smelt like rogue, but there was more. Like strawberries and cream. I inhaled as I walked closer to the cells. ‘Mate’ my wolf growled.
“Mate” a girl mumbled from inside a cell. She had short brown hair with light colored highlights and she had big brown eyes.
“I’m Thomas” I introduced myself.
“Ariana”
“Can you guys open the cell?” I asked Jonathan and Daniel.
Jonathan gave me an apologetic smile as he shook his head. “We need some info” he said.
“She’s my mate!” I exclaimed. “Can’t you get info with her outside the cage?” I questioned.
“She was talking about Anna” Daniel stated.
I looked at Ariana who was now staring at the floor like its the new iPhone 7. I felt my heart drop. My mate wants something to do with Anna. My mate might be a danger to my princess, my best friend.
I nodded and Jonathan and Daniel, then leaned against the wall while they began to question Ariana. “What do you want with the princess?” Jonathan asked sternly. I wanted to growl, but he was doing what was needed. It would be hard to chose between my mate and Anna. My mate should come first; but at the moment, I know nothing about her. All we have between us is the bond. Anna and I have years of our friendship. I’ll stick up for her even after I die and people bad mouth her in Heaven.
“A witch said that the princess can help me” Ariana answered.
“Help you do what?”
“Find my sister” she said quietly. “Olivia ran away with me two years ago, but we got split up. I’ve been trying to find her ever since”
“Did the witch say how Anna can help you?” Daniel asked.
Ariana nodded. “My sister is her guardian”
“But guardians are angels” I piped in, confused.
“And angels are dead” Jonathan added.
Ariana frowned. “I know” she said quietly.
“So your sister is dead” Daniel said.
“Yeah” she said sadly.
‘Mate is sad! Help mate!’ my wolf shouted at me. It hurt us to see that she’s sad. That she’s hurting. I pushed myself off the wall. “Can you open the cell now?” I asked Daniel and Jonathan.
They nodded and unlocked Ariana’s cell, but she didn’t walk out. “What about Lloyd?” she asked.
“Who’s Lloyd?” I growled.
Daniel and Jonathan nodded towards the cell next to Ariana’s. A guy was knocked out on the floor. “He’s like family” Ariana whispered. “He took care of me and helped me find my sister”
“Why wasn’t he talking?” Daniel asked.
Ariana smiled. “He has a thing about authority” Well, duh. That’s probably why he’s a rogue. We fell into an awkward silence, then Daniel and Jonathan excused themselves. Ariana cleared her throat and took a step out the cell. “So… What pack are you from?” she asked.
“The Royal Pack” I stated.
She nodded. “Are you close with the princess?”
“Yeah”
Ariana looked down, then back up and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Do you think she’ll help me talk to Olivia?” she asked hesitantly.
“I’m not sure” I answered honestly. “She’s never even mentioned a guardian; but I can talk to her about it” I offered.
Ariana gave me a small smile and nodded.
“Come on, let’s go home”