The God of War - Editing
Mate

Julie’s POV

I woke up, and my body hurt so much. Uncle Michael’s beatings are getting worse each time. I took a deep breath. At least now, I could breathe properly, but when I tried to get up, I could not. I noticed I was still on the floor in the same position he had left me.

“Good afternoon, Jules. I wish you did not push me away when he does that to you. You should let me take all the pain and float to the back of your mind.” I would never do that to my wolf. I was taking his beatings for four years before her arrival. And I was scared she would leave me if he hurt her too much. Aphrodite already had to heal my body, and I was sure the beatings and the healing would take too much of her.

“It is ok, A. I let you heal me. That is good enough. Each one takes half of the torture. For how long have you been in charge?”

Aphrodite’s kind smile came to my mind. “Nearly four days. It is Saturday afternoon. I concentrated on your ribs. I feared how you were breathing, or should I say not breathing. I will be able to fix your eye and lips now. I am sorry that it is taking too long. The Silver in your blood made me very weak. It will be a while till I can fix your back. Now tell me, why did he hurt you so much this time?”

I closed my eyes, trying to endure the pain. “The Blue Moon pack is visiting. They are looking for their mates. And Uncle Michael got angry with the Alpha.”

“Right, and instead of taking it with the Alpha, he used you as his punching bag. Of course, he would never take a real Alpha on a fight.” Aphrodite jumped inside my head. “I need to heal you faster now. You need to get up and go outside to look for our mate. That is great news, Jules. We have not received visitors in forever. Our mate could be here right now, and I was too weak to sense him.”

“Uncle Michael took everything from us, including the rank. We are Omegas. We smell like Omegas now, A. Do you think the new Alpha was kind enough to bring Omegas too?” Like her, I, too, longed for a mate to take us from this hell and improve our life. “I don’t think a warrior would accept us.”

Like always, Aphrodite encouraged me with kind words. “Darling. Don’t think like that, ok? We are beautiful. Selene, the Moon Goddess, selected our mate before you were born. He will come for us soon, take us to his pack, love us and care for us. I can feel it. If he isn’t from the Blue Moon pack, he will be from another.”

I was trying to be an optimist like her, but it was not easy after all those years. We were less than nothing, and like my uncle said, no wolf would choose us. “What if he replaces and rejects us, A? You are beautiful, but I have been disgusted for a long time.”

“He won’t, Jules. He is destined to love us forever. And enough with that, we were not born to be Omegas. I had enough of this life, and so should you. Our mate will help us heal and make us beautiful and strong again.”

Tears filled up my eyes when I remembered uncle Michael’s demands. “I am sorry, A. We are not allowed at the party tonight. Uncle Michael said we couldn’t leave this shed or our scent anywhere.”

Aphrodite growled hard in my head. “Of course, that piece of shit said that. Why would he let us leave when he uses your body to keep the pack in line? You cannot obey him on this, Jules, we need to go, and Blue Moon might be our chance. If not with our mate, we must replace a way to sneak out of here with them without that monster replaceing out. Woodland was never able to help us, but maybe if another pack sees your state, they will see something is wrong and could call the council or do something.”

I was scared. My uncle hurt me so much when I tried to escape. “I am not sure that is a good idea, A. If Uncle Michael replaces out, he might kill us this time.”

Aphrodite sat on her front legs. “I know you are scared, Jules. But I am getting too weak, and I might leave you soon. I can’t leave you alone with that monster. You had endured too much by yourself before my arrival. Don’t think about that now, ok? Let me at least heal your face. It is a start, and let me think of our escape. Now close your eyes, and let me take control for a little longer.”

I knew she was speaking the truth. I was not sure how long she would be able to stay with me till she died, and once she did, I would die too. “Thank you, A. They are leaving tomorrow morning. I need to work tonight while they are sleeping. When it is time, please wake me up. I don’t want to get another beating before breakfast.”

Smiling, she said. “You got it, Jules.”

*****************

Max’s POV

“You must give me control, Max. I’m telling you, I feel something. Why are you not listening to me this time?” The stupid black fur was shaking, trying to dominate my body, and I was beyond annoyed with him and the hell we were in for the last three days.

“Ares, we already talked about this. Actually, that is all we have talked about for three days on this trip to hell. There are five hundred different scents here, including the flowers over there. None are from our mate. Can you give up already? PLEASE? I can’t take it any longer, and I’m glad we are leaving tomorrow.”

But it was not enough for him to stop the bantering in my head. He was getting increasingly annoyed with all the she-wolves throwing themselves at us. And I knew it would not end well. He would soon hurt someone.

I put our walls back up and went to look for my Beta. “You and Noah have to be on high alert now, Terry. I am done with the night with Ares. He is going to hurt someone tonight. Better to have my walls up for a while and return to my room.”

Terry gave me a friendly smile. I always knew I could count on him. “Don’t worry, Max, we got this. I can’t believe he is still nagging you even after nearly sniffing every she-wolf here.” We both laughed. That would have been funny. But true, Ares tried sniffing everyone, hoping to replace his mate.

“Max, we got another problem. Three of our warriors who found their fated mates complained that they are also warriors here, and their females think Alpha Michael won’t let them follow their mates to our pack.” I narrowed my eyes. “He cannot do that, Terry. It is pack law that the female must leave with their mates.”

“Technically, they are the same rank, and the law says the female should leave only if the male has a higher rank. He can use that and say our pack members must stay. And, of course, they don’t want to be here any longer than they should, Max.”

I rubbed my forehead. Of course, I knew I would have a problem in this awful pack. “What do the females want, Terry?” I would let my men stay if that were what the females wanted. “They don’t want to be warriors. They were forced into it, and they wish to leave. But the females don’t think it would matter, as they are sure Alpha Michael will create a problem tomorrow morning.”

“Of course, he will. I am sure he would benefit from three highly trained warriors here to do his work while he fucks his side chick. I will think of something, Terry. But assure them they will be leaving in the morning with us. If any of the men staying behind has found his mate, replace him with somebody else. Let’s only leave ten unmated wolves behind. They might be able to make connections while they are here helping and choose their mates.”

Terry just nodded, and I excused myself back to my room. It was early enough, but I could not stay any longer. I had enough of that place and was counting the hours to leave. I passed my men and noticed how happy they were dancing. Many of my men had found or chosen their mates here. Well, this might have been a trip to hell, but at least many of my men will return home happy with their mates.

The only bad thing was that Ares and I would return home once more with the emptiness inside us. After thinking about what I could offer to Alpha Michael in return for the three she-wolves for my men, I lay in bed. The house was quiet, and everybody had long gone to bed after the party. But I could not sleep. Ares did not let me sleep much on this trip, but I could not sleep this time because the stupid wolf did not stop talking and tried to take control of my body. I could not sleep because he was not talking at all.

Four hours ago, I lowered the wall, and Ares had not spoken or shown his presence. All I could think of was if he were starting a revolution against me, as he knew I would soon mark someone who was not his destined mate. Sometimes he says I do not want to replace her. But it is not that I do not wish to have a fated mate.

My parents are fated mates. All the love and care for each other made our pack stronger. The Alphas I had met with their mates at events, you can see a bond because they marked the female, but it is different from the mate bond the Moon Goddess created. It is a bond forced by humankind. It could not be the same.

My mother always said there was nothing more powerful and magical for the soul than your true mate’s touch. And my father always told me my mother made him stronger, and they fed on each other’s strength. But I got to be realistic, and my pack needs a Luna soon. They had been deprived of one for a long time, and it was time to give up on looking for my true mate and choose one.

I checked the clock, and it was four in the morning. I knew I would not be able to sleep today. “Ares, if we go for a run, will you stop ignoring me?” In less than two seconds, he showed up in my mind, bouncing. “Will you let me take control and explore the pack? I know you don’t believe it, but I think she is here.”

I took a minute to think about it and just hoped he would not invade anyone’s home in search of his mate.

“Fine. But no messing around. I already have a problem with those three she-wolves, and I am sure you don’t want to deprive them of their mates. If you disturb anything, Alpha Michael won’t let the women leave.”

He groaned. “Oh, Please. I will snap that runt’s neck with my canines. I don’t get why you are playing ball and being friendly with this man. This pack seems like it could use a real Alpha.”

I rolled my eyes, always so full of himself. “We are here for the women, not for the land, Ares. Now let’s go before I change my mind. Be discreet with your sniffing. We can shift in the back entrance and let the men on night patrol see us so as not to scare them.”

The minute we arrived in the back entrance hall, Ares perked his ears and got alert inside my mind. “What is it, Ares?” His eyes shone. “Someone is awake. And I want to check who it is before going out.”

I moved away from the door. “Fine, but it is your loss if you don’t have enough time to explore before the sun comes up. I won’t give you extra time.” Following Ares’ instincts, I got into a long corridor and felt the pull towards the end of it. It was more powerful than anything I had felt before.

Ares started to jump on my mind and howl to the moon. I pushed the door so violently that it banged into the wall. And there she was on her hands and knees, scrubbing the kitchen floor.

Everything happened so fast. Ares took control and left me in the backseat. With one long stride, he lifted her from the floor by her forearms, and they were so thin that my fingers closed together, swallowing them. I thought Ares would break her. She was tiny and looked sick. Her body trembled from fear like a leaf on my hands, but it stopped when she looked into my golden glowing eyes, and Ares said.

“Mate.”

They just found their mate scrubbing the floor in the middle of the night. What do you think will happen next? Ares is in control, leaving Maximus as a coadjuvant in this play. Do you think both will accept their destiny? Please leave your comments below.