Rowan's POV

Her gray eyes are staring at me, if they could, they would have drilled holes through me.

She is looking at me as if she has seen a god, I could tell by the way that her throat rippled when she swallowed her saliva. She is thirsty for something and it's not water.

She is shamelessly looking at my bare abs, has this girl never seen a man without a shirt before? I clear my throat and she immediately comes back to her senses.

"Sorry, sir... I brought your food," she keeps her eyes on the ground.

The sweet scent of the food hit my nose even before I could collect the food from her. She is the best chef that I've ever eaten from.

Her name is Draka, the chef and slave of the park. She never joins the park meetings, she always has her eyes on the ground, she never speaks to anyone.

I still remember being a young boy, sharpening a stick on the front porch with my pocket knife and my parents pulled up in their truck.

There was a little girl with them, I didn't know where they got her from. They said she was now going to become a member of our park and that was it....

"I asked for fresh soup, you will be in trouble if this isn't fresh." I warn her.

"It's fresh... sir," she assures me.

Her chest heaves and she looks away, her hands fidgeting. I would be a fool to say that I don't understand what's going on with her.

"Go on, get out of my presence." I say to her as I start to spoon the food into my mouth.

She gathers the hem of her gown in her hand and begins to hurry down the stairs. She turns around, trying to catch another glimpse of me, but she falls down the stairs instead.

I huff as I shut the door with my foot. I walk to the window and continue to eat from the bowl of soup that she gave me.

I shut my eyes and savor the food. She is really the best chef, she even cooks better than my mother.

I watch as she walks out of the house. It's a huge house and it has a lot of rooms, but she doesn't sleep in the house.

She sleeps in the shed that holds all the tools and stuff that no one wants. She stays there in the sun, rain, and snow.

I watch her get into her little shed and I keep on eating. I know exactly what's wrong with her, I know why she was acting strange in front of me.....

The first time I noticed it was when I turned eighteen. I was supposed to get my mate finally, I had been looking forward to that for all of my life.

"Have the moon goddess revealed who your mate is to you yet?" My mother asks in excitement.

I was supposed to have known my mate as soon as I turned eighteen. I got my wolf pretty early and I knew that he was looking forward to meeting her too.

Imagine my shock when my wolf growled as soon as I saw the kitchen slave walking to the back of the woods to get some mushrooms one day?!

I was disgusted, so I immediately instructed my wolf to quit it. I was not going to be mated to the low life kitchen girl.

That was six years ago, I have kept myself under control, my parents are worried that I hadn't gotten my mate, but I kept my secret to myself.

I don't know what I am going to do to her yet, but now I could see that she was starting to feel the attraction already... it had taken longer than usual, but the kitchen slave is finally getting her wolf. She will be able to feel the mate bond.

I have so many things to do, I don't have the time to think about the kitchen slave and whatever glitch it is that has got her mated to me..

*****

I watch Draka for the next few days and it has started to become even more obvious. She can't control herself.

She is always staring at me, sometimes someone has to smack her before she comes back to her senses and everyone will laugh at her.

"Wow, Rowan , since when has the kitchen slave started to notice you?" Levi, one of my friends, mocks me.

"Shut up." I look away.

"She looks like she wants to fall on her face and beg for your dick–"

"Shut they fucking hole in your face." I give him a harsh shove and he immediately shuts his mouth.

I see my mum looking at me. She knows what is happening, my father too.

I am twenty four and I will be becoming alpha in a month or so. I will be needing a Luna, I will be needing a mate, and it's sure as hell not the kitchen girl.

Everyone knows, I can tell by the way that they are all whispering to themselves. It's just an open secret at this point, there's something between I and the kitchen girl.

"Rowan!" My father calls my name with great authority.

"Yes, father," I stand up to my feet and everyone goes silent.

Everyone has their eyes on me. Even Draka, who is the farthest away from the circle. Her face is partially illuminated by the bonfire.

"Is there anything you want to say to your Luna and Alpha?" He gestures to himself and my mother. "Is there anything you would like to say to the park that you will be leading soon?"

I brush my nose, knowing that this day is going to come anyway, but I hate that it's here already.

"My mate has been revealed to me." I say.

Everyone starts to mumble, the ladies are looking at each other. They all have been hoping that it's one of them.

"Who is this person?" My mother asks. I could see the disappointment on her face, she thought I was going to tell her as soon as I found out.

I sigh as I look at the ground. I don't want anything to do with the kitchen girl, how can I confirm to everyone that she is the one?

"It's me." Draka raises her hand, to the surprise of everyone.

Everyone gasps and looks as she walks into the circle, even though she is shaking like a leaf.

She is scared, but the bond is irresistible. The only reason I was able to control mine is because of my strong will and stubbornness. She is not as strong as I am, she can't hide her lust and the way her wolf is drawn to mine.

Some of the members of the park are laughing at her. Perhaps they suspected that it was a crush, but it's obviously more than that now.

"What do you have to say, Rowan?" My father asks with a very tense voice.

I look at the timid kitchen slave and blurt out. "I reject her!"

Draka's POV

I wish that the ground will open and just swallow me, so that I don't have to keep existing to experience this pain.

They are all laughing at me, pointing at me and jeering.

"How foolish she is!"

"She thinks that Rowan, the future Alpha, would ever be mated to her?"

"She is nothing but a kitchen girl, she thinks that she can become a Luna?"

I shut my years as I feel the pain growing in my heart like a thundercloud. I knew I was going to get rejected, I knew that there's no chance between Rowan and i, but the mate bond pushed me.

I wipe the tears from my face, but it won't stop pouring out. My heart is broken.

"You have heard your future Alpha, Draka. He has rejected you." Alpha Dante says. "Accept his rejection!"

I know that it's just protocol and I have to accept his rejection, but I run into the woods because the laughter is just too much.

I know that disobeying Alpha Dante is going to attract a heavy punishment, but I don't care.

The tears are blinding, but I keep running into the woods. It's dangerous, I don't know which kind of animals that will find me.

I finally get to a huge tree and fall on my butt. I pull my knees and cry as hard as I can. I cry for my parents who died and left me alone, I cry for being fated to be mated to Rowan, just to be embarrassed at the end. I hate my life....

****

I have managed to recover from the embarrassment of the rejection from Rowan. I waited for Alpha Dante and Luna Denise to punish me, but they don't. No one even speaks to me about it.

I go about my duties around the house, and it's almost as if what happened has been forgotten. I haven't seen Rowan since the day it happened.

I am in the kitchen, mopping the ground so hard that my hands hurt. It's midnight and it's not a hunting day, so everyone has gone to bed.

I'm the only one here. Stella didn't show up to wash the dishes, so I have to do everything by myself, that's why I am here so late.

I stop mopping for a second, trying to clean sweat from my forehead, that's when I see Rowan coming out of the woods. He is not wearing a shirt, his body is glistening with sweat.

His hair is wet, his pants are hanging so lowly on his waist and his chest is heaving.

I grab the mop tighter, I feel my wolf growling inside of me. She wants him, even after the embarrassment and the rejection.

"Stop it, Draka. Please, stop it," I mutter as I continue to mop.

I should hide. If he confronts me about what happened, I have nothing to say to defend myself. I'm going to ogle at him the whole time.

I keep on cleaning, trying to get my mind off him. I try to tell myself that he is just going to head to his bedroom and leave me alone, but he pushes the kitchen door and barges in, frightening me to the extent that the mop slips out of my hand.

He doesn't even look at me, he walks to the refrigerator and grabs the biggest bottle of water. He starts to chug it down like he is a maniac.

I swallow a gulp as I move away from him. Whatever I am feeling, whatever my wolf is telling me, it's getting stronger. I don't know if I am going to be able to resist it.

I have never shifted to my wolf form, she has been dormant for years, she has never come to save me when I'm in trouble, she only reacts when Rowan is close. She is such a.... whore.

He looks at me with the darkest eyes and my throat immediately goes dry. He looks like he can hurt me, I'm crazy, but I want him to.

"What do you have to eat in here?!" He hits his hand against the refrigerator. His voice is different, it's hoarse, it's new.

I don't say a word, I walk over to the cooker and starts to dish out some food for him. My hands are shaking, sweat is gathering on my forehead.

I gasps as he suddenly grabs my hand and uses his other hand to grab my chin, forcing me to look at him.

His hands are so hot, it's like he is running a fever, I want to ask if he is okay.

His face comes closer to mine, I can see his teeth are bigger and pointier, I can hear the little growls coming from within him.

"What are you doing here?" He grunts.

"I don't know..." I sound so close to tears.

He growls with anguish as he pulls away from me, cursing himself. He was fighting it too, I could tell.

"Get out. Now!" He orders.

My wolf protests, but I run to the door as fast as I can. He is faster, he blocks the exit before I get to it.

I take a step back, he looks scary, his muscles are showing through, like he can crush me if he wants to.

He grabs my neck and I hear my wolf purr from excitement. His warm hands are all I want on me.

His eyes are completely dark this time around. I know exactly what's going on, I have heard the other park girls talk about it.

My wolf is in heat. She has been releasing scents to attract her mate and she has got me caught up in a tight spot.

"Strip..." he orders me....

******

For days I keek getting random flashbacks of me and Rowan in the kitchen. I have never experienced anything like that before.

He tore my clothes and took me right there on the counter. I felt my soul leaving my body, I was moaning like a sex addict, even though it was my first time of ever being with a man...

He left afterwards without a word and I went to shower and clean myself up. I didn't tell anyone about it, I haven't seen Rowan since then too.

Luna Denise walks into the kitchen and I immediately bow my head and greet her.

It's so early in the morning, she is not what to inspect my cooking, so my heart immediately starts to thump.

"Come into my room, Draka. Now." She walks out.

Gosh, I am in trouble. She would have sent someone to call me, but she has come herself.

I wordlessly follow her to her bedroom and my jaw falls to the ground as I see Alpha Dante and Rowan in the room.

She shuts the door as I bow to greet Rowan and his father.

"Good morning, Alpha Dante. Good morning, sir." I say, without looking at anyone of them.

"What happened between you and Rowan?" Alpha Dante asks with his hands folded.

"I, uh... I don't understand..." I stammer. What's going on?

Rowan sighs and looks away, that's when I know that I'm really in trouble.

"Don't you dare lie to us, Draka. Remember that I can punish you," Luna Denise warns.

I clasp my hands in front of me. It doesn't stop them from shaking too much.

"Did you and Rowan have sex?"

I can't lie, it could cost me my life. I might be living a very miserable life, but I don't want to die.

"Yes, Luna." I answer in truth.

I hear Luna and Alpha sigh with disappointment.

"Rowan, did you forget that you never broke the mate bond with her? She didn't reject you!" His father says angrily. "You are mates now."

"What?" My heart drops.

"You can't reject her now. She is now your mate!"

Rowan's POV

Are my parents saying that I will have to take the kitchen girl as my mate?! What are they even thinking?!

My mate is supposed to be the daughter of an Alpha, a woman who would contribute something to society.

Draka is seventeen years old and has never shifted to her wolf form. How can a broken girl be my mate?

I try to reason with my parents, but they are not even willing to hear what I have to say. I don't know what glitch got me mated to this girl, but she is not my mate!

But I had sex with her and that sealed it since she never accepted my rejection. I still remember having sex with her in the kitchen.

I have had sex with many woman, all kinds of women, but she is the most memorable of all of them. I can't even say that I regret having sex with her– if I could turn back the hands of time, I know that I would definitely fuck her all over again.

My parents are going to leave the park as soon as they step down as Luna and Alpha. They will go away and I will take charge of running the park. I need a Luna, but Draka is not the right girl for that job. She might be my mate (by some kind of mistake) but she is not Luna material....

*****

The whole pack, amounting to a hundred strong men and women, are bowing on one knee with their hand against their chest.

"All hail Alpha Rowan ! Alpha of the red moon pack!"

"All hail Alpha Rowan !"

I stand before all of them, I have a calm face on, but my heart is all over the place. My parents are gone, I will never see them again and at the age of twenty four, I have become the alpha of one of the strongest packs in the area.

Apart from my pack members, behind them is another five hundred people. They are dressed in different colour codes to visually represent the packs they are from. Their Alphas and Lunas stands in front of them.

They have all come to show their support for me, I am the youngest Alpha in the history of all the packs, but they all know that I am the strongest.

I have my father's fighting spirit and I have my mother's toughness, none of them would dare to go against me.

As I walk down the steps to go over to them, they bow slightly to me. Showing their submission to the supremacy of my pack and my leadership.

"Welcome to the red moon pack," I say. "As far as you don't start any trouble with us, you can keep your heads on your necks."

"We brought gifts, Alpha Rowan ," Alpha Silas says. He runs the white moon pack. "We have come to tell you that we will be loyal to you, as we were loyal to your father. May your rule be great."

The other packs shows me there gifts too. Bags filled with dollars, gold, silver, diamonds, human slaves, and beautiful concubines.

I stood in front of the three stars pack, they have brought a very interesting gift with them. It's one of them, tied with chains like he is a slave.

"Alpha Erus, this gift of yours is interesting." I gesture. "Why do you have one of your werewolves tied up like a present?"

The three stars pack has been at loggerheads with my father for a long time and just before he stepped down from being alpha, he had beaten them into submission.

He told me about them and their dubious ways, how they thought they could outsmart him many times. Just before he left, he told me to be wary of them. That was the last advice he gave to me.

"Alpha Rowan , you are right, this is a very unconventional gift." Alpha Erus agrees. "This is Gregory. He was caught talking shit about the red moon pack and was trying to form a little group to ambush your pack, without our knowledge, of course. He was found and I have brought him today so that you could do anything you want with him."

I look at the frightened boy and a smile curls up the side of my lips. He can't be more than twenty two.

I look around the hundreds of werewolves around, this is a time for me to show them who I truly am. This is a time for me to make them fear and respect me even more.

"Speak up, boy. You thought you could attack the red moon pack?" I ask.

"It was just a stupid joke." He shakes. "There's no way that I was going to do it. You people are the most feared in all of the lands."

I know that he is lying, he is just trying to get himself to escape death.

I turn around to make sure that everyone is watching what's happening.

"This should serve as a warning to all of you. No one who goes against the red moon pack will ever live long enough to tell the story."

I raise my hand and my nails starts to elongate into claws. I watch the boy's eyes turn white with fear and before he can open his mouth to plead for his life one last time, I slice his throat open and the blood splashes on his pack members.

The force cuts his head off and his body crashes to its knees before he falls on the ground. Dead.

Everyone has their jaws slacked. I can see the fear in their eyes and I like it very much.

I take out a handkerchief and clean my hands. "The after-party will start immediately. Please, there is enough food for everyone."

The music starts to play, as if it's melodious tones is supposed to help them forget that I have just killed someone in front of them.

I walk past them and go into the house. It's empty and quiet, except for my footsteps on the wood flooring.

I look at my wrist, it's getting covered with hair, killing that boy has triggered my wolf's hunger for blood. It has been a while since I killed anyone.

I walk up to my bedroom and push the door open. Draka is on the ground, crying and holding her arms around herself.

As soon as she sees me, she stands up and rushes towards me with tears in her eyes.

"Please, Alpha Rowan , I didn't do anything wrong," she begs. "please, don't lock me up here again."

Seeing her like this makes my wolf growl in lustful hunger. She is the only thing that can cure my hunger for blood.

I unbuckle my belt and takes a step closer to her, my eyes taking off her clothes as the hot breath of lust leaves my nostrils.

"Strip." I order her.