My Eternal Mate
Chapter Ten

ALEXANDER

"We found imprints, but there is no lingering scent," Jonah, one of the fighters said, confused.

My eyes narrowed at his words. It wasn't necessarily that I didn't believe the wolf, it was quite the opposite. I was aware that the only wolves able to travel unscented had been my father and his ancestors, dating back. It was a gift that I also carried, but no one knew that except for my father.

Thus, Jonah, who was currently stood shaken a couple of feet ahead of me, told me a wolf had trespassed and that the wolf was unscented. Something about that did not feel right. As far as I was aware, Zynthéa and I were the only existing wolves with that gift.

"Alpha," another voice snapped me out of my daze, making me stare hard at the wolf in query. "We will be on guard for the next couple of days, just to be on the safe side. Is there anything that you would like to add?"

"That's adequate for now," I responded, trying to formulate a quick plan. "A couple of you can complete rounds whilst the rest train. I need a continuous cycle of this routine until the wolf is out of my territory. Understood?"

"Of course, sir," Jonah responded, with the other fighters chiming in, in agreement.

My wolf was on edge, something appeared very off. The safety of my pack and my Luna was my priority. To know a wolf had trespassed, one that is able to shift their scent and make it appear masked, that concerned me.

There had to be a potion that existed that would allow wolves to travel around masked. That was the only possible explanation.

Before I could get lost in thoughts, I was about to proceed with the intended routine, when my wolf purred. It took a mere second before I realised my Luna was here.

Meanwhile my wolf was ecstatic and wanted to dump his responsibilities to attend to our mate, I was concerned. I could feel the worries my Luna was feeling through the connection.

'You're here,' I mind-linked her, and had to contain my growls when I noticed a couple of my men eye my Luna. 'Is everything alright?'

I knew something was wrong. My Luna always turned up announced, unlike today. There was a possibility of her just wanting to see me, but the frustration through our connection told me it was something else.

'I need to speak to you,' Lyra responded, her voice holding an edge.

Her words served as a confirmation that something indeed was not right. Knowing that, I couldn't proceed with training. My mind would be filled with concerns for my Luna. Her safety was my priority.

'Dyami, training grounds. Now,' I quickly mind-linked the beta, knowing he was on a run not too far by.

"You are all dismissed for a break," I instructed, my voice loud and clear. I ignored the puzzled looks that I was met with in return, and proceeded to conclude my instructions. "Training will commence again in fifteen minutes."

'What's going on?' Dyami's voice filled my head, but I ignored him as I stalked towards my girl.

She appeared nervous, but also confused at the same time, yet frustration was the only thing I could feel through our connection. I could hear Dyami mutter something to Lyra, but I tuned out. My thoughts and eyes were on her, making sure she was okay.

Once I had reached her, I pulled her in to my arms, feeling myself able to relax when I inhaled her vanilla scent. Her skin soft under my touch felt right, like she had been perfectly moulded for my arms. She was undeniably perfect.

'Xander, they're all very confused with the sudden break,' Dyami mind-linked, and I could feel his eyes bore in to my skull.

Pulling away from my Luna, I searched her face, warily, to try and replace clues on what must have brought her here.

When I failed to read her, I spoke aloud, "Dyami."

"Alpha," he replied.

My Luna's emerald green eyes searched my face, with a frown on her face. I fought the urge to lock my lips with her, wanting to cover her pouted lips. I needed to replace out what was wrong.

"I have fifteen minutes to replace out what my Luna is doing here when she is supposed to be spending the day with her friends," I told the beta, narrowing my eyes slightly at my girls as her brows pulled closer. "If I do not return after fifteen minutes, you will lead their training and update me."

'Sure. Should I be worried?' my beta responded, in the mind-link.

'Something is not right. I need to speak to my Luna,' I elaborated.

My beta's eyes travelled to my girl, a puzzled look on his face, before he vanished as per my instructions.

"What's wrong?" I asked Lyra, fighting the urge to wrap her in my arms.

Her brows twitched, she appeared hesitant before she spoke, "I saw something. The pup."

"Lyra," I said, my voice stern. "What are you saying?"

My eyes narrowed as I awaited for her to elaborate on her words. The pup? As in our pup that she had lost? I couldn't understand. Her voice seemed cold, making me realise it couldn't be our pup that she was referring to. Thus, confusing me further.

"I saw Jessica's pup," she explained, sighing.

The concerned thoughts that had filled my head, were replaced by annoyed ones. Out of everything that my Luna could have rushed here for, the mention of that wolf and the pup had not been something that I would have expected.

My wolf growled lowly. He despised the mention of the wolf that had tormented me and ruined my past. Why would my Luna suddenly bring this up?

"I thought we had closed that chapter," I growled, but tried to remain composed for my mate. "Baby, what is going on?"

"I thought so too," she whined, a whimper escaping her lips as her palm rested on my chest, and she tried to push a little to create distance between us but my grip on her only tightened to keep her close. She didn't seem to notice as she continued speaking, "Until I saw that pup with my eyes today."

Arching a brow, I challenged, "And?"

"He looks exactly like you," she stated, flatly, her voice low.

The way she glanced at me as if she was accusing me of lying to her. My brows furrowed and my wolf growled, not appreciating that even though the wolf was dead, she still seemed to affect my Luna.

I pulled away when I could feel my wolf's anger build up, not wanting to hurt my girl. My mother had also told me that the pup looked like me, but in all honesty, I had never seen him. I was curious but I didn't want to chase the root cause for many of my problems.

"You still believe that the pup is mine," I accused, my voice harsher than I intended for it to be as I glanced at Lyra. "What do I need to do for you to believe me? I promise, I have never even seen the pup."

"It's not that, Alexander," she cried.

At her voice, I couldn't help but rush to wrap her in my arms again, hating that this problem had resurfaced, worrying my Luna.

Placing my fingers on her chin, I lifted her head so I had full view of those beautiful green marbled eyes. God, she was beautiful. Even in a heated moment like this, I wanted nothing more than to kiss her worries away.

Clearing my mind, I questioned, "Then what is it?" Swallowing, I scanned her eyes before I continued, "Because frankly, I am getting bored of this. I want to move past this without having to worry about the mention of her and anything related to her again."

Lyra frowned, her eyes scanning my face frantically before she cut me off, "Aspen!"

My eyes narrowed as the word registered. "What?"

She gave me a bored look, as if I was playing dumb to what she had just blurted. "Aspen," she repeated, once again, as if it would help to make me understand.

"Who's Aspen?" I questioned, confused.

The name did sound familiar, but I couldn't pin-point the memory or where I had heard it from.

Lyra huffed, before she narrowed her eyes as if she was doubting me, as if she couldn't decide if I was being honest or not.

"Aspen Rathborne," she whispered with a pokerface. "Your brother."

As if time had paused, I completely froze. At first, I contemplated if I had heard my Luna correctly, but when my wolf growled, and the memories of my father on his death bed returned, I knew what Lyra was trying to tell me.

Aspen. I didn't know back then what he had uttered as he had taken his last breath, but now my father's voice muttering that name echoed in my head. He had tried to tell me about my brother, but I had been too confused to understand.

Even so after asking my mother, she had told me she didn't know the name. Yet, here my Luna was, telling me that Aspen was a Rathborne, he was my brother. Frustration consumed me, and I could feel my wolf at bay.

How did my Luna know about this? I didn't even need to confirm if she was telling the truth or if the existence of Aspen was real, because my wolf already knew.

As if that was not enough confirmation, the fact that an untraceable wolf had trespassed, was enough to tell me that Aspen, was not only real but very much related to me.