The Intricacies of the Underworld

The interior is even more beautiful and extravagant, rich with the smell of history and power. I stop myself from awing in wonder as I follow the two warriors that drove with me here. The ginger-head, I learned is called Rus and the quiet brunette is Luke, from what I heard the warriors at the palace entrance address them as.

I wasn't able to see the King when we arrived, something about separate parking channels and security. But I'm thankful for it anyway. Staying in his presence when he's the King and also, knowing he's my mate makes it hard to focus for me. Even now, my wolf yearns to be in his arms, to be scented by him. And that's concerning because I haven't stayed fifteen minutes in his presence and I'm already spiraling down the curse of the mate bond.

Maybe it's that way because our mate is the descendant of the Moon. My wolf whispers in my head and I find myself agreeing with the theory.

Could be.

As we enter the central wing where Rus told me all the formal gatherings, balls, and royal events take place. I'm told that the King will be seeing me in his study for an informal, first statement.

"Don't worry, omega. The King isn't a bad man," The quiet wolf to my right, Luke, mutters as we go up a series of stairs. "Just be honest and he won't be mad," He adds, surely after detecting the anxiety within my body. I'm still wearing my scent-blocking spell so there's no way he can tell my emotions by my scent.

"I plan to be. Thank you, Warrior," I give him a tight-lipped smile.

My heart thuds in my chest as we enter the King's chambers and my senses get flooded with the scent of forest and rain so strong, that I have to stop walking to refrain from hitting the floor. My knees shake under my weight, the scent of my mate soaking my lungs mouthwatering clutches and suddenly, I'm shaking from the effort of suppressing a keen of want.

I never thought someone could smell so good to me, so good I just want to make myself a nest on his chest and call it home. So good that my inhibitions fade and I'm left as the one thing I never wished for myself to become; a weak omega, driven by instincts.

I gulp when the warriors also stop a few feet ahead when they notice I'm not following them, looking at me weirdly when I wipe the sweat from my forehead. Luke has a contemplative look on his face and Rus, well, he just looks as smug as he usually does, "Well, at least now we know you're a real omega. It was fucking with my head how you seem to have no scent at all." Rus rolls his eyes heavenwards and I'm going to retort with something mean but I'm beaten to it by Luke, who hits the ginger-haired warrior on the back of his head.

"Know your limits, Rus. I apologise for his inappropriate behavior, she-wolf. He's fairly new and it seems he doesn't know when to hold his tongue just yet," The older, wiser warrior bows his head in apology and I'm left speechless, giving the other warrior a bad look.

Inappropriate? I thought he was being mean.

I think he means Rus shouldn't have commented on you getting worked up on the Alpha King's scent, Belle. My wolf explains and suddenly, I feel heat climbing to the apples of my cheeks.

I was not! I return in my defense to my wolf as I nod at the warrior in front of me in acceptance, keeping my eyes on the floor in embarrassment.

And just like that, we resume walking again. With me trying to breathe through my mouth and calming myself down, Rus suppressing his laughter, and Luke with a grim look on his face until we reach a set of closed doors guarded by two warriors. From scent alone, I can tell my mate is behind them.

The two warriors open the doors once Luke signals them to do so, saying he just asked permission from the King. And only now do I remember that wolves, especially wolves that live in packs have mind links with the Alpha of the pack. Kind of like a telepathic route for the leader to exchange information. I never thought the King Alpha would have such a connection with the warrior wolves, mainly because there are a lot of warriors, much bigger than the population of any pack. The more the number of the mind links, the harder it becomes for the Alpha to manage them.

Think of it like a small cellular device attached to your head that you can't turn off. And the more your contacts, the more it rings and the more your contacts talk. I would grow crazy. But I still save the information for later to ponder over, or better, ask someone about it. If I'm not thrown in the dungeon after this meeting, obviously.

Maybe Luke and Rus will visit me if I ask them nicely, they seem like good wolves. Maybe I can make friends with the warriors who would guard my cell?

I'm brought out of reverie when the doors are opened and the scent of my mate hits me like a tone of bricks causing every nerve ending in my body to tingle and sing. And I'm suddenly not so sure if I will survive this meeting.

Gods help me. I sent a tiny prayer up to the Moon Goddess before stepping into the room behind the two Warriors.

And there sits my mate on his black leather chair, his elbows resting on the table and his hands clasped before his face so I can only see his breathtaking eyes, wearing power and dominance like a second skin. I see he has taken off his blazer and the sleeves of his white button-down are rolled up to his elbows, showcasing the tattoos lining his arms, starting from his knuckles and going all the way under the cover of his sleeve. His eyes glitter a turbulent shade of blue as he watches me and I'm left in trance, unable to move again.

My knees quiver under me but I hold strong, only now realizing that the two warriors beside me are bowing in courtesy. Gathering my senses, I also lower myself in a bow, tilting my neck so he can see my pulse point, all in a loyal display of submission.

I press my lips together to hold back a whimper when the scent of my mate brightens a subtle note in satisfaction at my submission. The change being so slight that I know no one else but me in the room could detect it.

The King bow back in respect before all three of us is allowed to rise to our full heights. I'm thankful for not being alone with him this time. Gods know how hard it was for me to keep sane when we were alone at my apartment.

I grasp the hem of my dress in fists, pulling it lower in nervousness as the two warriors step away to stand behind me close to the wall. I keep my eyes trained on the ground, my heart threatening to beat out of my chest as I wait for the King to address me.

"Annabelle, you are brought here under the charges of treason, unauthorized overstay on human lands, falsifying death and the probable murder of your Mother, Grace Swanpool. Everything you speak before me today, will become an important part of your trail that is going to take place tomorrow in the Royal Court," I feel hurt, strong, and shaking grip my being when I hear that I'm being charged with the murder of my own mother.

The King continues on, unaware of my inner turmoil, "The reason why you're getting the advantage to talk before me before you talk before the Royal Council is because you left Underworld when you weren't of age. So your case falls under the law for minors. If you convince me of your innocence today, I will be the one advocating your case tomorrow. So be thankful for the chance and be honest with me. Do you understand, she-wolf?" His voice is neutral, calm, and detached as he addresses me.

And although, a part of me still hurts from the distant way my mate talks to me. The other part feels lucky to have been granted the chance to defend myself before the King. So with uncertainty clogging my mind but with determination in my heart, I gulp to clear my voice, "Yes, My King," I reply strongly.

"Good. You may speak your story, Annabelle." The King says and I have to hold my hands behind me to hide the shaking.

"I don't know where to start, My King but the one thing I reject with everything in me, is the accusation of the murder of my mother, I-I could n-never... Ever since I was a child, my father despised me. I thought it was mainly because I was the only omega wolf in the pack..." I feel myself detaching from my body as I speak, going right back to the sad and depressed little she-wolf that I was in my childhood.

"I was sheltered a lot, wasn't allowed to attend pack gatherings or go to school. Instead, I was home tutored and kept locked within the house all day," I can still feel the hurt, I would experience when I would watch children my age run around the pack from my window. And how much of a loser I would feel when my brothers would be taken for their training sessions and I would be disregarded no matter how hard I begged the pack beta to take me. The apologetic stares of my brothers each time they would leave me alone in the house are embedded in my mind.

"Growing up, my mother was the only person that I was deeply connected to. My brothers being alphas were always getting trained or taken on Alpha camps. But I was okay with the situation. I-I had my mother and my brothers; however little time I was granted with them. But when I turned fifteen. Things just changed," I remember the first time, someone tried to assassinate me like it happened just yesterday.

I was sitting in my room, reading a book when my nose detected the stench of strange wolves before I saw them. I hastily hide under my bed, thinking rogues had attacked the pack. Oh, but I was wrong, so wrong. Three wolves burst into my room almost like they knew exactly where I was and before I knew it, I was yanked out from under the bed by my hair and pressed against the soft mattress of my bed, face first. And I wanted to scream, cry out for help but I was left speechless at the sudden turn of events, and besides, there was no one in the house I could cry out for. My brothers had gone on a camp and my mother was out, performing pack healer duties.

I didn't see how those wolves looked and how I came out alive in the end because the moment they pressed the sharp edge of the silver knife against my throat, I blacked out from terror. "I was attempted to be a-assissinated multiple times. I d-don't know why..." I breathe deeply as I come out of the scary memory, trying to calm myself down by inhaling the scent of my mate.

And I don't know why the heavenly scent intensifies, so much that I can feel the tension in my muscles melt under its effect but I don't question it. "I'm just a regular she-wolf, omega; yes. But there are plenty omegas out there. I was seventeen when my mother discovered the person behind those attempts was my own father. She was blinded with rage when she found out, deeply hurt and betrayed."

"She said, I couldn't live in the pack anymore, said it wasn't safe. The night of the accident, I found my mother had the power to cast spells. She took me to the lake, she usually took me to and casted the most complex of spells. She said it will help me hide, that no one will be able to tell whether I'm a she-wolf or not. I later found it shielded my entire existence as a supernatural from the Underworld..."

"That day, in the car... she said she had to bring me to you, my King. Said you were the only one who could help me." I look at him with tears shining in my eyes, and I'm surprised to find ill-concealed rage shining back at me in his. So I gulp, hiding my eyes once again even when my wolf cries to be in the arms of our mate.

"We... it wasn't a car crash... we were attacked by a coven of Vampires." I hold back a sob when I remember the way fear replaced the hope in my mother's eyes when our car was stopped. "My mother fought every single one of them... at first, t-they seemed skeptical about h-hurting my mother but w-when they s-saw that m-my mother was more p-powerful than they thought. They fought back. She killed all of them b-but the injuries she took were way too many. S-she s-said, she c-couldn't survive, k-knew I c-couldn't help." I pause when it becomes difficult to speak over the knot in my throat.

"So s-she opened a portal for me to the h-human world. Told me to run b-before she got back in the car and... s-she drove it off the cliff... j-just like t-that," I hiccup when I finish, the feeling of loss, of seeing my mother sacrifice her life right before my eyes returning to me full-force.

And I find myself falling to the ground, unable to restrain the body-wrecking sobs that leave my mouth, "I don't know how she was able to f-falsify my death. I d-didn't ask f-for this, I d-didn't want to l-lose my mother, A-alpha! W-why me?" The strong facade I was able to hold up until now falls like it wasn't even there, hitting the ground with a thud, masked under the sound of my sobs.

And I feel it, the way the mate bond pulses between us, drawing us closer as my mate's scent intensifies with protectiveness and rage. And I just wish he could hold me, take me in his arms without any formalities.

"Leave," the Alpha King commands, and the simple word holds so much power, I find my sobs dying down thinking it is directed at me. But when I look up, he's looking straight at the two warriors behind me. I hear them bow and leave in the next moment, all the while sniffing and trying to regain my breathing as I clutch my chest as if to stop my heart from aching so much.

The scent of my mate intensifies tenfolds the moment the doors close and I breathe rapidly to get as much of his scent into my lungs as humanly possible. I watch the King rise from his chair, his frame is tall, powerful, and majestic as he rounds the table in three strides to stand before me.

"Stand, Omega. Why are you being weak now?" The way he addresses me with my rank makes my wolf preen in happiness. And I find myself gathering all my strength to stand back up with no help on his part. His hands remain in the pockets of his tailored pants as silver eyes watch each and every one of my movements keenly. He pulls a chair for me once I do so, inviting me to sit down, which I'm thankful for because it wouldn't be long before I collapse again.

"Annabelle, do you know how I could tell you were a wolf even with the spell still present on you?" He asks me grimly, long fingers gripping the table behind him as he leans against it, two feet away from me. And I hate myself for thinking the Goddess gave us a very capable mate at such a critical time.

At least, it's true.

I shake my head in reply as I pat my eyes dry with my sleeve, watching my mate rub his perfect, perfect forehead with long, tattooed fingers before focusing his stormy eyes back on me.

He gives me a look like he knows exactly what I'm thinking and I need to snap out of it. "The spell she cast on you has a marker, like a tag that only lets me in. It's like she cast it with the purpose of you being caught by me intentionally," He explains and I find my mouth parting in surprise.

So that is how he could tell I'm a she-wolf. Mother wanted me to get discovered by him alone.

"But... that makes no sense. Why would mother do that? We've never met before so there's no way she knew we were..." mates, I stop myself from saying the word.

"Mates?" The King finishes for me anyway and the verbal admission of him recognizing me as his mate causes my body to light up. All previous sadness was forgotten as my wolf howls and jumps in joy in my head and I barely hold myself back from squealing. "There's no way she could have known you perceived me as your mate, yes..." My mate seems just as perplexed about the situation as I am. And the fact that he only acknowledges my recognition of him as my soulmate cause alarm bells to ring in my head.

His scent gets loaded with worry and I don't like it at all.

"What if she didn't exactly know we were mates but she trusted you enough to keep me safe if I ever happened to be found? I mean, I would've had to appear before you one point or another," I question, chewing on my bottom lip in contemplation.

And my mate watches me for a minute too long. Sharp, mysterious eyes run across my face like he's searching for something, it makes me squirm where I sit, my heart beating in my mouth. Suddenly, he is bending. Placing his hands on his knees so he is eye-level with me, peering into my eyes intensely. "It wasn't just any marker, little wolf. She cast such a spell that if I ever were to enter into five miles radius from you, I could sense you without even smelling you. Sort of like a very tall banner on top of your head." He breathes against my face, gentle puffs of air hitting my cheeks delicately. I find myself speechless, not just from his admission but also from the proximity.

"Do you realise the type of knowledge it requires to do such magic?" He asks me slowly. Tongue-tied, I shake my head no. Because, well for one, I've always been sheltered. And two, I spent my adulthood in the human world, far away from the Underworld and magic.

He scoffs at the action, getting back to his full height when I supply him with nothing else. "A lot, Annabelle. She must have been an expert at white magic," He rounds the table, looking at the several books lining the shelves and muttering to himself. Finally being able to breathe normally again, I ask him the one question that has been bugging me since the start.

"So like, can you smell my scent?" I ask meekly, hating myself for the question but needing an answer nonetheless.

And the King just stops everything for a moment, a book in his right hand as he turns to peer at me, grey eyes shining a breathtaking shade of blue. My heart beats in my mouth as I watch his mouth twist, a certain type of darkness setting in his eyes that makes me want to squeeze my thighs together.

"I can, little wolf. I can tell your emotions apart from your scent alone. That's why I'm not questioning your honesty. But you've put me in a dilemma here," he opens the book once he is finished speaking, long fingers flitting through the pages of the book in a hurry.

"What kind of dilemma?" I find myself asking, gripping the handles of the chair tightly as I watch my mate come back to sit on his chair, a small frown on his forehead as he reads through the book. "What are you looking for, my King?" I ask curiously, stretching upwards to peek into the book he is so urgently reading.

"The source of white magic that she used, Annabelle. I've seen magic like that ever since... shit," The King seems to realize something in that very moment, his eyes widening so much, it's kind of cute. But the way his scent gets laden with worry makes me want to puke and comfort him at the same time.

"What's the matter, my King?" I ask him in urgency as he holds his head in both hands, groaning in frustration.

"You can't appear before the Royal Court," I'm taken aback by his words that hold so much conviction as if going against him will be a grave crime. His persona does a complete one-eighty, chiseled jaw setting into steel, and steely eyes sharp and resolute as he looks back at me.

"Huh? But the trail-"

"There will be no trail, Annabelle. No one is to know why you're here. I will direct my warriors to not speak of it. And you... you must not tell anyone about the whole mates situation," He replies solemnly perfect face perched on the back of his hand as he goes back to his book, completely ignoring my presence now.

"Why- ?" I'm dumbstruck now, confused by his change of attitude.

"Just do as your King says," He cuts me off once more just to re-establish his authority over me and I feel whatever is left of my heart break too.

*