The Mating Rules

Again, the tall man from the Council approaches, breathing in deeply before fixating his eerie red eyes on my mate.NôvelDrama.Org content rights.

‘State your name’ Hendrix orders.

‘’Warrior Hadley Carrington’ the warrior replies immediately, ‘elite warrior of Diamond Star pack and mate to the future Luna.’

The man raises an eyebrow, ‘the rightful mate?’ he asks snidely.

Hadley’s face is impassive as he nods, ‘the Goddess gifted Jamie-Lee to me so yes, I am her rightful mate’ he replies.

‘So Alpha Caden is not then’ Hendrix pushes.

‘Alpha Caden was also gifted Jamie-Lee’ Hadley returns, ‘that means that he is also her rightful mate.’

The tall man grins, ‘but you can only have one rightful mate Mr Carrington, so thus you both cannot be her rightful mate.’

The warrior shrugs, ‘if you disagree with the situation then I suggest you take it up with the Moon Goddess’ he murmurs quietly, ‘I am only telling you what I know. I do not have the right to question the Goddess on her choices and quite frankly, neither does anyone else here in this courtroom.’

I gasp loudly as Hendrix eyes narrow, ‘we have laws!’ he starts, the first flicker of anger in his gaze.

‘Designed by creatures that were created by the Goddess’ Hadley retorts. ‘It’s a bit like one of your receptionists coming in here and telling you how to run your court room. You would not like to be questioned on your decisions I presume, I expect the Moon Goddess feels the same way.’

The older man glares at my mate who continues to stand rigidly, eyes fixated on the podium in front of him.

‘So you feel that the Council is wrong to think about sanctioning you?’ he demands, ‘that the rules should not be in place?’

Hadley shakes his head, ‘I think we need rules’ he agrees, ‘but I don’t think we should be telling the entity that created us that she is wrong.’

‘Do you think you are worthy to be the mate of the future Luna of your pack?’ Hendrix asks after a moment, changing direction quickly, his face morphing back into one of eagerness.

Hadley freezes for a second and I will him silently to say yes, ‘no’ he finally murmurs quietly, but with the silence in the room he may have shouted it for all to here.

‘And why is that?’ the man pushes, a victorious smile stretching his lips.

‘Because Jamie-Lee is perfect’ my mate sighs sadly, ‘she deserves the very best.’

Hendrix, prowls around him, sniffing at the warrior delicately, ‘so you would say that claiming her for yourself was selfish’ he purrs.

‘No, I wouldn’t say that’ Hadley replies quickly.

‘LIE’ the man hisses in his ear, ‘you do believe that.’

Hadley shakes his head, but doesn’t refute the man a second time.

‘If you feel it was selfish warrior Carrington’ Hendrix continues viciously, ‘then your claiming of her was not as straightforward as you say. Your wolf claimed her without your consent, yes? But I put to you, Warrior, you wanted to claim her, on some level you agreed with your wolf, and you knew that if you didn’t sink your teeth into her neck against her will, that she would indeed pick the Alpha over you.’

I jump to my feet angrily, ‘that’s not true!’ I yell.

‘SILENCE’ Chandra growls, waving her arm as I find myself mute, just like Caden before me. I open and close my mouth, trying to force words out but I cannot utter a sound.

Beside me, Caden grabs my arm and pulls me down into the seat, holding me tightly as I fight against him to stand up and run to Hadley who suddenly looks agitated. His anxiety washes through the bond to me, his calm façade breaking under the interrogation.

‘I did not forcefully mark her’ the warrior gritted out.

‘True’ Hendrix mutters, ‘but you also knew that it was going to happen . . ‘

Hadley swallows, blinking as his fists clench at his sides, ‘yes’ he finally whispers.

‘And Jamie-Lee, she agreed didn’t she’ the man continues, ‘she agreed to allow you both to mark her.’

I eyes widen as my mate closes his eyes, refusing to answer the question, which in itself is an admission.

‘Answer him warrior’ Chandra orders loudly, waving her fingers toward him.

‘Yes, Jamie-Lee allowed us to both mark her’ my mate blurts out immediately, his jaw clenching achingly afterwards.

Stepping back, the older man glances at the enchantress and nods, the ethereal woman smiling faintly and telling Hadley to return to his chair which he does, glancing at me with pain and regret in his eyes.

‘Luna Jamie-Lee’ Chandra’s voice rings out, drawing my attention to her, ‘please step forward.’

I climb shakily to my feet, walking past Hadley’s back, my hand finding his shoulder as I squeeze it, letting him know that he didn’t let me down.

Positioning myself in the same spot that my mates have each occupied before me, I wait as the enchantress waves her hand and my voice returns.

Suddenly Hendrix is beside me, he smells faintly of rotting flesh and a dying fire. I try not to wrinkle my nose as he inhales deeply beside me and a weird feeling of detatchment washes over me.

‘State your name’ Hendrix voice calls out through the invisible shroud that seems to have fallen over me, his voice lighter as though we are talking through a cell phone.

‘Jamie-Lee Carrington Star’ I respond immediately, ‘future Luna of Diamond Star pack and mate to Caden Star and Hadley Carrington.’

‘Jamie-Lee Carrington Star’ the man beside me muses softly, ‘did you choose that name Luna?’

I shake my head reluctantly, ‘no’ I whisper.

‘Who picked that name for you?’ the coaxing voice asks, moving around me but I can’t seem to concentrate on who is speaking anymore.

‘Caden called me that when he introduced me to the Council’ I reply.

‘Did you intend to make that your name?’ the voice is soothing, making me want to answer him.

‘No’ I reply again

‘What did you intend your name to be?’

I swallow, a tiny voice inside my head nudging me, telling me not to answer but I can’t seem to fight it, ‘Jamie-Lee Star’ I murmur, ‘I thought I would be Jamie-Lee Star.’

‘So Caden Star is the one whose name you wanted? Not Hadley Carrington?’ the voice pushes again as I frown.

‘No’ I blurt out, ‘I never said that, I just thought that would be my name, he is the Alpha, I am his Luna.’

‘That’s right, you are the future Luna of Diamond Star’ the voice soothes, ‘future leader, you should carry your Alpha mate’s name, yes?’

I nod slowly, the voice is making sense but that buzzing voice in the back of my head is arguing with me. I shake my head again, trying to force my mind to think clearly, why do I feel funny?

‘Did you agree to be marked by both men, Luna?’ the voice pushes.

I go to open my mouth but pain flashes through my head making me cry out, the haze lifting off me as I blink, staring up into the face of Hendrix who is leaning in toward me, leering.

‘No’ I snap angrily, ‘we already told you, our wolves took over, Skarla wanted her mates, they wanted Skarla and hated how much we were suffering over the decision. My mates and I were incapable of stopping them, that is what happened.’

My chest is heaving as I glare at the man in front of me who tilts his head to the side, studying me.

‘Hendrix?’ Council woman Chandra calls out, pulling the man’s gaze to her.

He gives her a small shrug and her eyebrows raise in surprise before she schools her features once more.

Hendrix looks back at me, moving closer and breathing in but this time I fight against the haziness, refusing to give in to the comforting feeling.

‘Are you sure that is what happened Jamie-Lee?’ he hisses.

‘Yes’ I growl back, glaring at him, ‘and its Luna Jamie-Lee Carrington Star’ I add. ‘My friends call me Lee, my acquaintances call me Jamie-Lee, you are neither and as such will address me by my full title and give me the respect my position deserves.’

The man’s stumbles back physically from my words as if I’ve reached out and slapped him, eyes wide.

I can feel anger building inside of me, my gaze starting to raise to the other members of the Council before a huge body steps in front of me and two hands cradle my face.

My gaze clearing, I blink to find Caden before me, stroking my cheeks with his thumbs. ‘Calm down Leeway’ he murmurs softly, ‘we are fine, Hadley and I are OK.’

I blink again, focusing on his concerned gaze, his eyes boring into mine and I stiffen, suddenly terrified that my eyes went silver in front of all these people.

‘You are OK, we are OK’ Caden continues to murmur quietly, ‘nothing happened, it’s OK.’

I nod, taking his words to mean that my eyes remained their normal brown colour and my secret is still safe.

‘Take a seat Luna’ Chandra bites out, breaking through the protective bubble that my mate seems to have placed me in with his presence.

Peering over his shoulder, I find Isaiah and Ay-Rohn both looking at me with curiosity, Allegra’s features are awash with animosity and anger. Beside me, Hendrix seems reluctant to come near me and I wonder if I somehow did something to him that I’m unaware of.

The enchantress is studying me openly, a look of confusion on her face. I give a small smile and hurry back to my seat, sliding in next to Hadley who reaches for my hand under the desk, squeezing it gently.

Chandra stands up, sweeping her gaze over us for a second before saying, ‘the Council will retire to discuss everything that has been said today, we shall return with a verdict. You will remain in this courtroom until we reconvene.’

Caden frowns, ‘we haven’t eaten since this morning, surely we could go and get some food while we wait’ he argues.

Chandra’s gaze lands on him, trying to intimidate him, but Caden stares back at her openly, refusing to submit which seems to impress the woman as she smiles faintly.

‘You must remain here’ she replies simply, ‘but I will have food and beverages supplied to you whilst you wait.’

The Alpha nods, ‘and bathroom facilities?’ he asks pointedly.

I see Allegra roll her eyes to the side but Chandra just nods, waving a hand toward the door that our warrior appeared and disappeared through, ‘you will find restroom facilities through there’ she says before nodding to her fellow Council persons who stand up and file out of the room.