Beyond the Grasslands (Mirage Islands Mates #2)

5. Mating Marks

Chapter 5

Mating Marks

NIKA

After I moved a bunch of rocks and one very heavy boulder onto the hatch I’d come through, I continued to follow Brennan’s advice and ran straight, though I wasn’t sure if it was in the direction I was meant to go as the dizziness and disorientation from the bright sun made it hard to determine.

The hatch had come out at the edge of the forest, so running straight meant that I ran through a heavily wooded area. Adrenaline was the only thing that kept me upright as I stumbled through another thicket of brush that was taller than I was. The sticks and thorns from a few blackberry bushes had scratched and scraped the skin of my arms and legs, but I didn’t care.

I carried on until I managed to push my way through, only on the other side I was greeted by what looked like half an army. I could feel Thorin before my eyes were able to track him.

Just before I could get his name free of my lips, his wolf lunged for me. I stumbled back a step, but the thick brush at my back held me in place until Thorin’s wolf knocked me flat to the ground. My head bounced off the ground and made my vision swim even worse than before.

“Thorin! No!” I heard someone shout.

Before I could clear my head from the pain and swirly feeling caused by the impact, teeth gnashed and then clamped down where my shoulder met my neck.

It wasn’t the sweet, lust-fueled bite you were supposed to receive from your mate. I felt my flesh rip apart beneath the wolf’s teeth as his warm breath spread out around the spot. My heart hammered in my chest, which assisted in pushing more blood from my body. My vision swam once again. It all happened in the matter of a few horrifically strung-together moments.

“Thorin!” That name was shouted again. I thought it might have come from Warren, the Beta of the Grasslands’ Pack. I wasn’t able to verify that because the darkness claimed me into the abyss before the pain of my fall and the unwelcome bite became too much to bear.

It was good that my mind seemed to fade away to darkness because I had just been betrayed by the one male shifter I had grown to trust. Thorin hadn’t come to rescue me. My rescuer came from within Aiden’s pack and Thorin ended up becoming another attacker. Another Alpha who felt entitled to take what they wanted. It didn’t matter that I agreed to mate him before. I would never agree to mate with someone in such a traumatic way. Never.

Eventually, I was moved, though I hadn’t been aware of it happening. The first time I woke, it was to find myself in the back seat of a van being driven by Warren.

“No,” I managed to whimper past my cracked lips and ravaged throat. Thorn hadn’t torn into the important parts of my throat, but apparently my screams - that I didn’t even remember - were enough to damage something.

My head throbbed almost as much as the wound at my neck. A woman who I didn’t recognize leaned over and looked down into my eyes with pity and something else that seemed a lot like disapproval. I wasn’t sure what I’d done to earn it, but there was no time to ask the question as she pushed a needle into my arm and dropped the plunger.

Warmth ran through my veins and then whatever had been in that needle worked. Between the sweet relief of the medicine and the van’s movements that rocked me back and forth on that bumpy road, I was out for the duration of the trip.

“Now you understand.” The woman’s voice called to me from somewhere in the distance. I couldn’t make anything out in the dark, though the voice sounded familiar. Slowly, the moon peeked out from behind a set of heavy, dark clouds that shifted. I glanced up and heard the voice inside my head again.

“I’m so sorry, sweet girl. You have been through enough already, and I’m sure this seems like a step too far.”

“I don’t understand.” Despite my earlier attempt to speak, the words came out perfectly. The pain in my head, neck, and heart had subsided too. It was then I realized this must be a dream.

“I know you don’t. I’m so sorry, Nika. Please, understand that you were not given more than you could handle. You are being tested for a reason. We need a strong shifter to move your people into a better place. Too many blessed-mates are being abandoned. It cannot continue.”

“So, I get to be the poster child for what happens if some asshole decides to have a harem instead, or I don’t know, nearly takes my head off in a mating frenzy.”

“I am happy to hear you understand what happened to Thorin and his wolf. He has been too long without a mate in his position.”

“Whose fault is that? What happened to his real mate? I know it couldn’t have been me.”

Instead of speaking to the moon, a beautiful, ethereal woman appeared in front of me. Her hair might as well have been made from moonbeams or stardust for the way it seemed illuminated from within and sparkled with her every movement.

“Thorin did have another mate. She came to find him years ago.” Selene - because the woman before me could be no one else - appeared saddened by this news.

“Thorin said he never found his mate. Was that a lie?”

“No, it wasn’t. She went in search of him, but never made it there. Unfortunately, Bethany bragged to the wrong people about who her moon-blessed mate was before she headed out. The same female responsible for your attack and kidnapping made sure that Beth never made it inside the Grasslands Pack to meet with Thorin.”

“Miriam,” I whispered.

Selene nodded. “She had aspirations for her daughter that were not meant to be hers. Catalina was never a strong enough shifter to help lead a pack. She wasn’t even strong enough to lead her family. That didn’t stop her mother from trying to fix the situation for her and Thorin.”

“Catalina never had a mate dream.”

Selene shook her head. “That much was true because it was her fate to die early. We all foresaw what might happen, and planned accordingly.”

“You planned for her to die?” I questioned. When Selene said nothing, I huffed. “So, instead of planning for Miriam to meet an unfortunate end, you punished her daughter.”

Selene opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again quickly. “We don’t always get things right. When we saw the possibility of Thorin and Catalina, everyone assumed that it was because of the woman herself. It wasn’t until later we realized that we had missed a very crucial part of the puzzle.”

“You are a Goddess. How in the world could you miss something like that?”

“We only get glimpses. Despite our interferences, you are all capable of exerting free will that can change circumstances and outcomes. That is why some mates are rejected and others are accepted. The choice is still there.”

“What if I choose to not take a mate, despite the mark upon my neck?”

“Then that will be a scenario none of us saw coming. You are meant to choose between the two Alphas. I did warn you that neither would appear to be a good choice at first.”

“One who is selfish beyond measure and another who is half mad already.” I tapped my finger on my lip, as if I had to think about it. “And you expect me to choose between them?”

“Nika, you did make a choice already. You were set to mate with Thorin before Miriam and Aidan interfered. Ask yourself why you made that choice and if anything truly has changed.”

“He attacked me!”

“His wolf attacked you. The man was pushed out of that scenario.”

“And who is to say that won’t happen again? I can’t help others if I will be in danger.”

Selene’s shoulders drooped. “You were supposed to meet him sooner. It almost feels as if another God has whispered the plans in Miriam’s ears. I am not supposed to tell you this, but you were meant to meet Thorin years ago when you made the trek to his pack.”

“When I met his father?” Selene nodded. “He wasn’t there and that was years before my final transition and the mate dreams.”

“You would have known immediately that you were to be his mate.”

“Then what happened?”

“Miriam insisted that Thorin needed to go save her daughter from some disaster or other and he accepted it at face value and took off despite his father warning him against doing so.”

“Why would his father have stopped him?”

“He had a feeling that you might prove to be the mate his son was waiting for.”

“None of this makes sense. It feels like you’re telling me that Thorin was supposed to be my choice.”

“Normally, I would leave it up to fate, but someone else keeps interfering…” She paused and glanced over her shoulder. “I’ve stayed in your dream too long, Nika. Please, think things over and trust in your initial decision. I will try to help as much as I can.”

“I don’t understand what it is you want from me.”

“Follow your heart, Nika. That is all I want you to do. Follow your heart and remember your pledge to the women who have been discarded on that godless island.”

Before I could question anything else, the moon’s light was once again covered by thick black clouds and they seemed to swallow Selene up with them while I was dropped back into the dark, quiet oblivion.

“Nika, I swear, if I had control that would have never happened. It was supposed to be a rescue. You were meant to come back to my pack willingly, where we would be mated in a ceremony as we planned before. Please, know that I never intended to harm you. I am so sorry.” The sound of an Alpha sobbing by my bedside felt devastating. I moved my fingers to reach for Thorin, but he jumped up and left the room before I managed to peel my eyes open.

His scent lingered in the room, otherwise, I might have chalked what I heard up to a dream. I knew from my talk with Selene, and what I’d heard Thorin admit to, that the way his wolf attacked me hadn’t been his fault. More to the point, it wasn’t what the man wanted. The problem was that wolf and man were tied together and his wolf had proven to me in the worst way that he wasn’t to be trusted.

How in the world did Selene expect me to move forward with Thorin as a mate after what happened?

I hated that we had our original choice taken from us, that his wolf had tainted what we’d started to build together. I hated even more that Thorin’s pack mates were partially responsible for the outcome. If Miriam hadn’t attacked me and handed me over to Aiden, I would be officially mated to Thorin, the Luna of the Grasslands Pack, and most likely happy with the outcome.

Instead, I was left to question everything. It was obvious that Selene wanted me with Thorin, even if she said the choice was mine. I could only assume that meant that I’d be the best version of a Luna with him and his pack. There was no doubt in my mind about that.

Aiden had proven himself a shitty Alpha on numerous occasions. I wasn’t sure what he thought he could accomplish by kidnapping me, but it wouldn’t have worked out for him. I meant what I said all those months ago. He made his choice and there was no way I’d go back on mine.

Thorin came to mind then. I’d made another choice, too. Our agreement to become mates had already been set in place. Technically, Thorin’s wolf didn’t go against my wishes. While I understood that, it was still hard to wrap my mind around what happened. It was made even harder to grasp by my physical and emotional state at the time.

The door to my room opened and I glanced up to find Janella standing there. Her lip wobbled just as tears started to fall free on her face. “I thought you were gone forever!” She proclaimed as her tiny body flew toward me. It was only at the last minute that she stopped and glanced down at me, as if to assess any injuries that she might make worse.

“It was my head, neck, and pride that were injured. You won’t kill me with a hug,” I teased.

Her mouth dropped open in shock and then her shoulders shook with her sobs. “I thought you were dead.”

“I’m here,” I hushed her sobs, not that it did any good. “Come here, my friend.” I opened my arms and she crawled into them. While Janella was most likely somewhere around my age, moments like this made me think of her as a little sister. She had never had someone to take care of her and hold her when she was scared. I wondered if anyone had been there for her while she was worried about me or if she had been forgotten then too.

“I promise to always make my way back to you, so long as I’m still breathing.”

“Don’t ever stop breathing!” She demanded as her arms wrapped tighter around my middle.

“I don’t plan to stop any time soon. I’m sorry you were so worried.”

“It wasn’t your fault. I saw them take you and ran for help, but I was too late.”

“No, you did the right thing. If you had stuck around and tried to help me, you might have been lost to me instead.”

Janella heard the serious tone in my voice and leaned back to look up into my eyes. “You sound very sure of that.”

“I am. Selene visited me in a dream.”

Janella gasped. “Another dream from the Goddess? How is that possible?”

I shrugged and immediately regretted the gesture as pain lanced through the healing bite and the wound on the back of my head.

“She said Miriam is responsible for Thorin not finding his original mate.”

Another gasp came from my friend and then a male voice rang out in the room. “I need you to elaborate on that for me.”

I glanced up to see Warren there. Selene never told me to keep that information from Thorin, so I saw no harm in giving it to his Beta. I told both of them what the Goddess relayed to me in the dream.

“She said Bethany?” Warren asked quietly.

“Did you know someone by that name?”

“We were supposed to receive Alpha Winslow’s daughter and her traveling companion, a female guard from her pack. They never told us why she was on the way, but there were rumors that she might be Thorin’s mate.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“She never arrived. Her pack started a search for her when she didn’t show up, but no trace of her or her guard was ever found.”

My heart hurt for everyone involved. “I think Alpha Greywolf and Alpha Winslow should be told. Maybe if you approach Miriam the right way she will confess and Bethany’s family can get the closure they need.”

Doubt creeped across Warren’s face, but he didn’t deny that it needed to happen. “We’ll try with her and the rest of her family. She would have needed help to carry that out.”

“Do you think her daughter was the one who helped?” I asked. It didn’t feel as though Catalina was part of it when Selene spoke of the incident, but who knew. It was obvious that the gods disclosed only what they wanted, and if what Selene said was true, they also didn’t know everything.

“I doubt it, but we’ll check into all the angles. We can at least put the question of whether she’s still out there to rest, since the Goddess confirmed it with you.”

“You believe I really spoke to the Goddess?” I asked because it wasn’t every day that a shifter received personal messages from any of the gods. The mate dreams were usually the extent of that interaction, and even my own mate dream had been different from the others. Selene didn’t normally speak directly to the shifters. She usually just bestowed dreams of their mates on the females who needed to seek them out.

“The dream you had of speaking with Selene before was true enough. You had your choice between two moon-blessed mates. That means something to me. If she spoke to you then, I won’t doubt that she spoke to you another time. I assume there was more to that conversation.” I nodded, but didn’t bother to fill him in. The rest of what was said was for me.

“I won’t ask about the rest. The pack doctor will be along shortly to check in on you and to see how your wounds are healing.”

“Thank you. Do you know where Alpha Greywolf ran off to?” I asked. It was the second time I’d addressed him as such instead of Thorin and Warren apparently picked up on it, if his wince was anything to go by.

“I believe he is training with the warriors in case there are any repercussions from our time in the Thornwin’s pack.”

I offered a nod and weak smile before Warren came over and dropped a chair beside my bed. “Why don’t you sit here, Janella. Give Nika a bit of room to breathe.”

“Sorry, Nika.”

“Don’t apologize for caring about me because if the rolls were reversed, the Alpha himself would have to peel me away from you.”

Warren smiled at my sentiment, gave me a quick tip of his head, and then left the room. Janella moved herself to the chair and then took my hand in hers. “I was so scared for you.”

“I was afraid for you, too.”

“I need you to know that I think of you as a sister. A real one. There might not be a blood bond between us, but you are my person, Nika. Ever since that first night you were on the island, I felt this incredible connection with you and it has only grown since then.

“I feel exactly the same, Janella. That will never change.”

I closed my eyes with a smile on my face for the first time since I’d been kidnapped. I had lost my family a couple years ago, but a new one had been waiting for me on that stupid island and I was so thankful for it.