Book 2 of Mate of the Alpha.
My mate was one of the most powerful Alphas in the world, one of the three brothers. No one would have known that he had a mate, everyone thought that he and his brothers were mateless, until I came.
I was once a normal...
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"Finally," Blair muttered after the lycan made its move to leave.
We had watched the lycan move around, sniffing and looking for its prey. We'd been staring at it for hours until it finally left the forest, but before that, I was pretty sure it looked straight at where we were hiding.
But I think no one else noticed, so it might have just been my imagination.
I got up from the pile of fluffy pillows and blankets on top of a floating bar of wood held up by two magical strings up to the ceiling. It just appeared out of nowhere. It seems that only Blair or Ana could call it down from the ceiling, it was really useful whenever you're spying on someone outside the window and wanted to be comfortable while doing it.
As soon as my feet touched the ground, the magical strings pulled the wooden bar of wood up to the ceiling, then disappeared.
Turns out, this small treehouse can hide a lot within.
I figured that either Ana or Blair is a witch, or maybe even both of them were witches. I didn't get why they're not in coven territory though. Witches, like werewolves, usually stick together.
From what I have learned, witches who weren't with their coven are easy prey for either werewolves or a vampire, because witches take time in concentrating to cast a spell while werewolves and vampires can easily overpower them because of their physical strength.
Maybe they were safe because they had the beasts in the den's protection, or was there some sort of barrier to keep them safe? I didn't really know and I shouldn't really bug into their business.
My thoughts drifted onto Marshmallow. While I was sitting here, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace and blankets, was he safe? I feel guilty whenever I think of him. I just let him go off on his own, knowing how dangerous things could be.
There wasn't any use in trying to argue with myself now. The past is in the past, it happened and I can't do anything about it now. All I can do is hope that Marshies is fine.
***
"What are you doing?" Blair asked Ana with a scowl.
"I'm going to pick some of the fruits that are supposed to be ripe by now. It's just near," Ana replied. "We'll need it anyway, we're out of food."
"What?! I thought you already picked all of the harvests last Friday."
Ana scratched her head before giving her a sheepish smile. "I thought it was your turn to harvest it's why I stayed at home the whole time you were outside."
Blair face-palmed. "I was out hunting and if it was my turn to harvest it would be your turn to hunt."
"I had already placed traps around the forest, I caught a fawn, and I can't just kill it so it's in the shed right now."
Blair sighed. "I thought the bleating sounds came from the goats we had, but I guess it was too high-pitched to be from a goat. What now?"
They had a shed? I don't think I came across a shed when we made our way to the treehouse.
"I can go fetch the berries, mangoes, and coconuts, they're the ones nearest from here," Ana offered. "It was my fault for forgetting about it anyway."
"No, it's way too dangerous for that. Not when there's a threat going around," Blair stole a glance at me, then looked back at Ana. "The strawberry and blueberry bushes around the treehouse will do, I'll fetch them. Porridge for the night I guess."
Without another word, Blair left the room, heading for the exit.
I couldn't help but feel guilt. If I hadn't resided in their home, they wouldn't have this 'threat', and their food would last another day more.
When Ana saw my expression, she immediately gave me a huge smile. "Don't worry, it's no one's fault other than mine. I should've paid closer attention to our schedule, we just remade it because of the vampires lurking around lately."
"There are vampires in here? I thought they were mostly living in mansions because they're more of the luxury type?"
Ana shrugged. "I overheard them while I was setting up traps. They said something about a rebellion and some of them were complaining about having to stay there."
That certainly caught my attention.
Why would the vampires need to be in the woods? That's way out of their comfort zone. They are the top second largest species, right after the werewolf population, of course, which is why they had enough power to live peacefully and luxuriously inside fancy buildings.
I didn't get why the vampires had to move out because of a rebellion though. As far as I know, vampires usually live by family, unless when the vampires were in the lower class, that is. But if the vampires Ana was talking about were lower class, then they wouldn't complain about having to live in the woods. It was a lower class vampire's dream to have freedom, but the higher and mid-class just dominates them and prevent them from doing so.
Not letting her know about my inner thoughts, I simply shrugged, and I guess that ended the conversation.
A few minutes later, Blair came barging into the house, a furious look on her face.
She threw her basket to the counter and I noticed that the basket was barely filled.
"Those pesky vampires are really adding up to my headache. First, they start roaming around the territory, which we only chose to live in because it was quiet and peaceful. Now, they steal our harvests! They even had the audacity to tell me that if I took any more of their berries, they'd suck me dry."
It took Ana a moment to understand what was happening. She blinked twice, before saying, "Maybe we should have done what I had said before then. Indoor garden at the large balcony in the last room. It's not like we own the land around here anyway."
Blair glared at her. "I didn't know that some random blood-suckers would start popping up into this quiet forgotten place."
"Exactly, I wanted everything to be within a hidden place because we never know who'd reside in this place."
"You know what, I'm going to my room. You're not helping me with my mood either," Blair grumbled as she walked away.
Ana mumbled something under her breath, before going back to her room.
Okay, I guess I'm back to being alone and staring at the ceiling, waiting for time to pass.
