20. The Evil Eye

Chapter 20

The Evil Eye

NIKA

I sat along the bank of the pond, on the pack's land, and soaked up what little sun managed to peek through the clouds. There were no others there with me. It should have made me wary, especially considering all the nasty looks that came my way from some of the pack when Thorin wasn't with me.

Still, I felt at peace. Everything was falling into place and soon, Thorin would be my mate. Despite the few odd occurrences with some of his pack, I had not seen a reason to be cautious of the man himself.

I leaned my head back and closed my eyes to give thanks to the goddess who had brought us together. Before I could register his familiar woodsy scent, Thorin lowered himself in front of me. I leaned back until I was laid out beneath him like a gift.

"I've been waiting for this moment." His voice was a growl as he pushed closer. It was only then that I noticed neither of us wore a stitch of clothing.

"How?" I asked, knowing I had been wearing something before he showed up.

"We are favored by the gods themselves, Nika. That is the only thing we need to know." He leaned in again and nipped my bottom lip quickly before he pulled back and smiled down at me. "Always so sweet and willing for me. We're done doing time, my Luna."

"Done doing time?" I questioned before he ran his finger down the middle of my chest, between my breasts and then continued down the center of my body until he reached the apex of my thighs.

"I can smell how much you want me." His words made me grow wetter than his mere presence did and the smirk on his face told me he knew it. "That's it, my darling Nika." I whimpered as his finger pushed inside me. It was a foreign feeling, as nothing had ever been there before, but not unwelcome.

"Thor-"

His name ended abruptly as he curled that finger and ran it across a spot inside me that promised pure pleasure. "Mmm," He groaned into my ear as he leaned down further and continued to rub back and forth over that magical spot. He pulled his finger in and out and added pressure at just the right moment before removing it again in a teasing dance that kept me on the edge waiting for more.

"That's it love, give it all over to me." His voice stroked my brain in much the same way his finger stroked my insides. It made me putty in his hands as he leaned in and took my mouth fully for the first time. Our lips meshed together only for a moment before his tongue traced the seam of mine and demanded entrance. I wasn't about to deny him any longer. We had waited long enough.

"Beautiful and delicious," Thorin complimented as he pulled back from a searing hot kiss. He pulled his finger out of me, and I watched with rapt attention as he stuck it into his mouth, closed his eyes, and moaned while he savored the flavor of me.

When his eyes popped open again they were swallowed in black. I couldn't see any of the warm brown that made me feel so at home. "You are so fucking tasty, my Luna. I could eat you up."

"Yes, please." I wasn't even sure what I asked for, but Thorin wasted no time in showing me. He slid down my body and threw my legs over his shoulders. He made himself comfortable between my legs and then dipped his head down and swiped his tongue up my center.

His mouth latched on to my clit and then he hummed up at me and gave me a wicked grin before his hum turned into an annoying buzz. A knock on the door made me look to the left. We were no longer by the pond and instead, in the room I'd been given when I first came to the pack.

* * *

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

"Turn your alarm off, Nika!" Janella's voice came through the haze left over from my dream.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

"Sorry," I called out and then leaned over to turn off the alarm that had apparently been buzzing away long enough for my roommate to become annoyed with me.

Thorin and I spent twenty-five days getting to know one another. In that time, I had nearly been zapped to the point of pain multiple times. My patience had worn thin about a week ago, and I think mine lasted longer than Thorin's. My dreams had gone from sweet and romantic to hot and spicy in the past week. Truth be told, if we didn't get to have a private moment before our mating ceremony, I might be tempted to fully mate Thorin in front of the pack, visiting dignitaries, and whoever else wanted to watch. I'd do it without any shame at all because I was starved for his touch.

We still had four more days to go and then our courtship would end as the moon rose. Our mating ceremony was set for three in the morning the following day. It was the peak of the full moon and for our people, the closest to the Goddess Selene we could get, especially since it fell on the summer equinox.

I groaned as I got out of bed and felt the slick fluid of my arousal between my thighs. "Four and a half days, Nika!"

I heard Janelle giggle from the kitchen outside of my room and rolled my eyes. She knew exactly what I was counting down and why. When I finally made myself presentable and walked out, she offered a knowing grin before she sipped on her tea.

"Another dream?"

"Goddess help me," I whimpered. "I am seriously in danger of a public display at my mating ceremony that should not happen."

Janelle giggled again. "If it makes you feel better, I think your mate is in the same boat. Yesterday, he snapped at everyone who crossed his path and then he threw his nose up in the air and caught your scent. I have never seen a person move so fast as Thorin did when he realized you were about to leave the pack house."

"Really?"

"Mhmm." Janelle offered the sound of assurance as she sipped her tea again. "He caught your scent and was on it in the space of a heartbeat. Then, it was hilarious to see the two of you try to hold back from touching one another. I swear, the whole pack lives for those moments. Will they or won't they get the shock of their lives this time?" Janelle teased as I pouted.

"It's not funny. I'm so thrilled that everyone is entertained but I feel like I might spontaneously combust if Thorin and I can't consummate our relationship sometime soon."

"Poor thing," Janelle offered and she meant it.

"If you find your mate soon, just remember what I'm going through and don't do this to yourself."

Janelle's eyes cast downward, and I moved quickly to sit beside her. "What's that about?"

"I think I did meet my mate the other day."

"You did? Who was it?"

"I don't know. He isn't someone who I've seen around the pack before. The man looked a bit like Thorin, but slightly shorter. Maybe 6'3" instead of gigantor's height. They have the same facial structure and coloring though. He was deeply tanned with dark hair, a beard, and dark eyes, though I couldn't be sure of the color. The minute he saw me, and I started toward him, he froze. By the time I was halfway there, I think I called out ‘Mate' and he took off. He literally ran away from me."

"That's odd. Are you sure you said the word? Maybe he didn't hear you."

"No, I'm certain he heard me. More than that, it was as if he knew I was his mate too."

"The men don't usually know until you touch, and the bond snaps in place."

"Yeah, I know, but weird things seem to happen with this pack. Look at you and Thorin. He shouldn't have been able to be your mate for months and then only as a second chance, choice mate."

"That's true. I guess we need to stop thinking of everything as an absolute."

Janella nodded her head. "Maybe he'll be around more this week, since we're all getting ready for your mating ceremony."

"If you see him again, and I'm around, point him out. I'll ask Thorin who he is."

"Thanks," Janella mentioned. "It makes me wonder if he already has a mate or something. Why else would you run from your moon-blessed?"

"I could not begin to tell you why some people try to deny the mate bond, Janella. Let's hope that is not what is going on."

* * *

We left to go help with the preparations for the mating ceremony, since it would also be the Luna ceremony and my introduction to the other pack leaders as one of them. I wondered if Aiden had received an invitation to be there to see me mated to another Alpha. A small part of me wondered if he would even care that another had claimed me for himself. Would he care? Would he try to fight for the right to mate me? It wouldn't matter because I refuse to be mated to him after what he put me through, but it made me a little sick to my stomach to think that he might be there at the ceremony and that he wouldn't care at all.

As Janella and I walked through the pack lands to get back to the pond, we came across Miriam and a few of the other women from the pack who didn't seem to like me very much. I tried to remember what Thorin said about the woman losing her daughter, and how she had once hoped her girl would be the Luna of their pack. Still, my patience for her snide comments had worn thin about a week back. Empathy only went so far in the face of blatant disrespect.

"There's the trollop now," Miriam called to her friends who snickered at her audacity.

"I hope you're not speaking about your future Luna," Janella called back to her.

"Don't see no future Luna anywhere." Miriam spat at her.

That stopped me in my tracks. "My mating and Luna ceremony with your Alpha is only days away. If he knew you spoke to me this way, you would be punished. I have held off because he told me of your situation, and I felt for you and the loss of your daughter. I will not continue to tolerate your disrespect though."

"Oh?" The woman stood taller then, as if her stooped appearance had been a figment of my imagination. "And what if you weren't to make it to that ceremony?"

"Is that a threat?"

She cackled into the air, as if she were some sort of diabolical nemesis I should worry about. Her friends stood back and watched without interfering.

"Did your precious Alpha tell you that he was once in love with my daughter?" I worked hard to keep my face neutral. Thorin had told me that he had been with three women before me and that none of them were in the pack. Had he lied? I supposed if one of them was dead, that would mean she was no longer of the pack, but clearly her people were still here and that wasn't the same thing at all.

"Thorin and my Catalina were meant to be. Neither of them had moon-blessed mates and they promised themselves to one another."

"He has never been mated to another," I countered.

"Only because my daughter was shot and killed by hunters before they could hold their mating ceremony." Her eyes narrowed on me then. "Careful, girl. All sorts of things could happen to a potential mate before they're claimed. Thanks to your courtship, everyone knows that you can't force a claim before the ceremony." Her laughter rang out loud and clear then too. The companions who stood by her side earlier and laughed along with their friend now had concerned looks in their eyes as they darted from Janella - who was a witness to the madness - to me and back to their friend.

"I will be sure to alert my mate about the possibility of foul play before the ceremony. Thanks for the head's up."

That cut short Miriam's laughter, but did nothing to ease the evil glint in her eyes. "You're the fool if you think you can hide from fate. My daughter couldn't hide from it, and neither will you."