Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Elias tugged on his tie as he stood in the doorway that led to the room in his home meant for his Little mate. He really was an asshole. He’d done very little himself to prepare this space.

When Elias had returned from his run in the forest that day, he’d found his father and brother in this room, assembling the furniture. His mother and Suzette had come to join them. The two women had unpacked several boxes into the drawers of the dresser and added a feminine touch to things.

It looked nice, and Elias felt kind of bad that he couldn’t take credit. After all, it wasn’t his mate’s fault that this entire union wasn’t something he was looking forward to.

He kept thinking about what his father had said and how his mate had probably spent her entire life waiting with anticipation for today. He was aware that most marked girls were both nervous and excited to meet the Alpha Protector who would vow to take care of them for the rest of their lives.

Elias adjusted his tie again. He’d gotten up early this morning, before the sun, and had sat on his back deck sipping coffee for two hours. He’d watched the sun rise over the mountains in the distance alone for the last time.

He hated that he felt like he was heading to prison. This mating was, after all, a life sentence. From this day forward, he would have someone else in his space, in his home, in his life. Would she chatter all the time and ruin his silence? Maybe she would be the quiet sort, and they could coexist without bothering each other.

Elias drew in a deep breath. None of that would happen. He wasn’t ignorant. He was well-aware that as soon as he stepped into that round ceremonial room and breathed in her scent, his life would change. It was fated. It had happened to every man he knew.

Brock, Arion, and Damon were not the same men they had been before they’d claimed their mates. They’d changed. Drastically. They loved their mates more than anything in the world, and everyone knew it.

Elias would, too. It was inevitable. But he was still irrationally disgruntled about the entire concept, and scared out of his mind about how it would feel to care more about someone else than he did himself.

Because that’s what he’d witnessed with his brother and friends. After all, it was in his blood. He was an Alpha Protector. Protect was what he did, and the mark on his left wrist would bind him to this stranger in a way that was going to bring him to his knees before the sunset.

Elias was a fool. He knew it. A stubborn fool. He had no idea who his mate was. He’d never asked. He’d never sought her out. He’d been told the day she was born, but that was all he’d ever known.

Arion had watched his Little mate grow up from a great distance, his superior vision allowing him to see her when she was on the school grounds. Brock had done the same, though he’d lied about it. He had known his mate, Suzette, was Jezebel’s best friend. He’d simply kept that knowledge to himself.

Damon was another story. He hadn’t told many people, but he had inadvertently met his mate a year before the claiming ceremony. Olivia, the naughty Little, had sought him out in town and snuck up close. No one could blame her. She’d been slowly losing her eyesight, and she’d wanted to see her mate before it was gone entirely.

Elias didn’t even know his mate’s name. It was rude and insensitive that he knew nothing about her. He’d chosen to live his thirty-six years in ignorance rather than face his impending claiming.

That day was today, and he was heading into it with trepidation. He needed to get his head on straight so he didn’t hurt her feelings. It was not her fault that the two of them were fated. He was nearly twice her age and a Protector for fuck’s sake. He needed to man up and take his place in this world.

“Son?”

Elias turned around at the sound of his father calling his name. He’d come to the house to accompany him to the valley where the ceremony would take place. His mother was here also. Elias could scent her, too, but she wasn’t inside the house. She was probably waiting on the front porch.

Elias sighed. “I’m an ass.”

His father surprised him by chuckling. “No, you’re not.”

Elias frowned. “Aren’t you worried I’m going to be a dick and make you look bad?” If the roles were reversed, Elias would be concerned.

Owen shook his head. “Not in the least. It won’t happen. The moment you get near her, you will know. It will change something inside you. You’re not like your friends and your brother. You never sought her out even from a distance, so you’ve never let the seed grow in your soul, but it doesn’t matter. Maybe your way was easier for all these years. Maybe ignoring her existence kept you from fretting over her for two decades.”

Elias figured there was a certain amount of wisdom in his father’s words.

Owen continued, “I promise all your doubts will dissipate in one breath. It will slam into you like a freight train at full speed. She will suck all the oxygen out of the air and leave you breathless and dizzy.”

It seemed preposterous, so Elias didn’t comment.

“Your world will flip upside down. She will have you wrapped around her tiny finger in that same single breath. All you will know from that moment forward is ensuring she is safe and loved. I promise.”

Elias knew these facts. He just didn’t like the idea of feeling so irrationally consumed by another being. And he certainly didn’t like the idea of not being able to control the instinct.

Elias turned back to look into the nursery. “What if she hates this room?” he asked more to himself than anything.

Owen chuckled. “She will loathe it at first. Most newly mated Little girls are completely blindsided by the level of submission that will be expected of them. She will most likely balk and exert her defiance over the concept. Eventually you two will develop a rhythm. As the bond grows, so will your need to dominate her and her need to submit to you. Trust me. Fate does not make mistakes. She knows what she’s doing. I’ve never once heard of a single union in which the couple didn’t find themselves instantly googly-eyed.”

Elias was baffled by the level of submission that would be expected of his mate. It didn’t matter that it was all he knew. Every Alpha Protector had a Daddy/Little relationship with his mate. It would fall into place naturally.

Every male in their entire pack, including the citizens in the valley, was naturally dominant. Every female was naturally submissive. It was how they were born. Relationships in the valley developed over time, though. They were not fated. Love between couples grew over time. Inevitably they fell into their roles. The bond Alpha Protectors had with their mates was stronger than pack members in the valley, and the level of submission that eventually came naturally to the females was far deeper.

Elias was aware his mate would be blindsided and hesitant when she found out what would be expected of her. Elias was meant to be patient with her. Pressuring her to accept her new way of life was frowned upon.

Elias may be a dick about a lot of things related to this archaic claiming, but he wasn’t mean. He would never pressure his mate to come to his bed. She could take all the time in the world to accept things.

He’d sometimes wondered what would happen if she never wanted to consummate their mating. That idea wasn’t rational, though, because everyone would know. She would not be capable of shifting until he had been inside her.

“Give me a second,” Elias stated before turning to quickly head for his bathroom. He shut the door and looked at himself in the mirror. His cock was hard. He had no idea why, but his damn dick had been hard more often than not lately, as if it weren’t actually part of him, had a mind of its own, and was aware that it would soon be buried in the tight heat of his mate.

Even though Elias did not know who his mate was, had no idea what she looked like or even her name, he’d developed feelings for her that unnerved him over the past few weeks.

He’d begun to have flashes of what it would be like to hold her. She was faceless in his visions, but she wrapped her small arms around him, held on tight, and put her trust in him.

He had begun to toss and turn at night, unable to keep the errant thoughts at bay. He pictured her next to him in his bed, curled up against his chest. Their hearts would beat as one. Their breathing would intermingle and sync. Visions. Why?

He knew why. It was Fate’s way of preparing him. The pushy bitch even made his cock hard more often than ever before by consuming his mind with such random thoughts.

Elias turned on the water, splashed his face, and grounded himself. Putting off the inevitable was foolish. It was time to head to the valley. He was making them late.