Chapter 7

LEON ADLER

The next morning, we immediately let the Great Alpha about Ethan's situation. They have gone home already, and the Great Alpha wanted to make extra measures to keep our pack safe. He knows the demon wolf Ethan was talking about, and that demon wolf has been nuisance to them ever since. Ethan is required to contact them every once in a while, especially Nigel. Both packs need to be in a serious coordination if we want to help Ethan on this fight.

Speaking of Ethan, my mate is being smothered by my mom who has been so excited to see him back after running away. While she didn't approve that my mate is a guy in the first place, she eventually decided that she could do nothing about it and just accepted that fact.

Ethan looks at me with misery in his eyes as my mom continues to pester him, and I chuckle as I stride forward to save my mate.

"Leon Adler!" My mom yells as I grab my mate away from her.

"Mom, stop torturing Ethan, please." My mom huffs as dad grabs her by the waist and pulls him close. Ethan looks at me thankfully. "I'm sorry about my mom. She can be a huge pain in the ass sometimes, but I have a feeling you already know it."

"I do," Ethan smiles. "She's nice, though."

In the afternoon, I train with the pack warriors in the open field while my mate is watching us. There's a new batch of newcomers; these werewolves have been wandering for how long, and they were pack-less. With the help of the Elders and my dad, we were able to distinguish they aren't a threat.

They are quite skinny, which means we have to put a little extra care for them so they'd be able to regain their strength. They've also been observed by the medical team to ensure they don't carry any diseases that could affect werewolves – mainly silver component stuff. It already happened before but in a different pack. The newcomers that were accepted were like a living weapon. Only a few died, though.

Since that news broke out to every pack near us, they took extra measures when letting in people into their packs. Besides the rogues and hunters, there's plenty of enemies that we're not aware of.

My mate is looking at some random warrior practicing, and I frown. My mate should be looking at me and only me, no one else. I watch him for a few moments, and when he's not looking at my direction, I take off my shirt and begin practicing with the warriors. As expected, that catches my mate's attention and he blushes when my eyes meet his. I smirk when his eyes roam around my body, and there's a glint in his eyes that I know too well.

When my mate looks away, my wolf whines inside me, clawing, wanting to get the attention back. I internally scold my wolf, Apollo, for being such a whiny bastard. Apollo growls when my mate looks at another man, and I glare at the man for no reason at all.

A kid runs up to my mate, and my mate immediately beams at him. I remember seeing my mate with lots of pups around him. For some reason, he's a favorite of the kids and they look up to him. I wonder why I didn't see that before. He has always been cooperative and has contributed a lot of things in the pack. He may not be part of the warriors, but he's always been an asset according to my dad.

"Why are you looking pissed?" Shane asks me as he rests his hands on his hips, tilting his head as he looks at me with a huge grin on his face. The bastard knows I'm jealous.

"Fuck off, Shane."

"Come on, don't be like that," My idiot of a beta chuckles. He looks at my mate before switching back to me. "I can't believe that your mate is a direct descendant of a Goddess. Man, you're lucky. Wait... I just have a question. It just popped inside my head. Do you think the Goddess had a mate? It's not mentioned in our history books. How did it happen?"

Shane has a valid point. It's not mentioned in our history that the Good Goddess had a mate, or if she ever conceived a child. I look at my mate, thinking about why he's a descendant of a Goddess. There's something missing in the picture, and no one has figured it out. I'm not questioning the heritage of my mate here, but have the previous generations looked at the history the wrong way? Have they decoded a different message and somehow, that message is being passed to generations after generations?

Nigel said that we share the same abilities due to the fact that we're mates, but how do I unlock these abilities? Is there some sort of manual that I need to check or read so I can use those?

"To be honest, I really don't know, Shane." I whisper, still looking at my mate.

"This is just a hypothetical question, but do you think someone altered our history?" asks Shane. I look at him and frown. Someone altered the history? That's unlikely. But it's possible. "Come to think of it, this is the first time we've heard that the Goddess has a direct descendant. The news is starting to spread around to other packs, and they would like to see it first-hand to confirm if your mate is really connected to the moon Goddess."

"They're not going to see my mate," I let out a growl.

"Calm your titties," Shane laughs as he raises his hand in surrender. "No one's going to touch your mate, and I doubt the pack members, even your parents, would let anyone see the second Alpha without your permission. Additionally, Ethan is not some sort of art in a museum that has to be looked at."

We leave the conversation at that. It irks me to know the other packs are reaching out to get a glimpse of my mate, and since he was a lost pup when he was a kid, some packs are claiming that Ethan really belongs to them. The audacity of those bitches. Ethan is not a thing, and Ethan is my mate. It's going to be our word against them.

Apparently, some packs want a higher status and recognition by having Ethan as a member – as if I'm going to let that happen. Their hunger for power is sometimes baffling, and they want to appear like the Great Alpha's blessed pack. Who wouldn't be envy of them? They've got two Guardian of the Werewolves, the Great Alpha, the Great Beta and their mates.

But my mate is enough, though, for me.

I don't care about other things. I only want my mate, and I feel like if my mate is around me, I can do almost everything. It's funny to think that a week ago, I was contemplating whether to reject him or not, and then I got a taste of my own medicine when he left and I became scared. I'm so lucky that my mate has given me another chance to be with him, to be my mate.

---

After the practice, I join my mate in the table with several kids who are playing with him. Everyone has been calling him an Alpha, but my mate insists that they should only call him Ethan and nothing else. He hates the attention he's receiving.

My mate looks adorably cute; one kid has his arms wrap around my mate's neck, and the other kid is sitting on his lap as he touches my mate's face. I pick up the kid, pretending to bite him and the kid yelps, and the other kids laugh. Ethan beams at me. My heart races when I see him smile. He looks so fucking beautiful.

"All right, kids, that's enough," I tell them and the kids groan.

I'm sure that all eyes are on us now. They haven't really seen me acting so sweet and carefree around Ethan before, and I think it's just weird for them to see me act this way. They are not used to it.

"How are you feeling?" I ask Ethan.

Ethan touches his body where the silver bullet embedded itself, and just shrugs. Since this is silver, it affects the recovery rate. The bullet prevents the tissue from building in again, and this is why the silver can be so lethal against us.

"I'm okay, I guess," Ethan smiles at me, grabbing my hand. He looks at it as I take a seat beside him. "The wound is healing, and I don't feel much pain anymore. But if I move excessively, it hurts like hell."

"I never really got to say thank you for taking that bullet for me," I clasp our hands together. My mate beams at me, and my heart swells at the sight. He's such a fucking precious bean. "But next time, please don't do that. I can handle myself. I don't want you getting hurt, all right? But really, thank you."

"I would do it again and again,"

"Ethan."

"Leon."

"My mate is a fucking idiot," I chuckle, shaking my head. My mate grins. "But you're my idiot. Do you want to eat? I'm starving. We haven't had breakfast yet and it's about noon."

We eat in the cafeteria with my parents and other pack members. As usual, the place is quite crowded and noisy, but you can see how happy each member is. A few people are sending congratulatory messages our way, and they are still happy to know that Ethan is my mate.

In an instance, Ethan has become a celebrity – he is highly respected, and some people would even think of worshipping him considering he's a descendant of a Goddess. Though my mate feels uncomfortable whenever someone mentions it, he just nods and gives them awkward smiles.

Ethan eats like a kid. He has a few stains of the steak all around his lips, and I want to wipe it off with my mouth. I could do that, but I doubt Ethan would like it as we're in public. I ask one of the warriors to fetch Ethan's things in his old room and place it in front of my door so I can put his things in my room.

I'm not going to let him sleep alone in his room anymore.

When the night comes, and as Ethan and I prepare to settle in our bed, he looks at the moon through the window of my room. I watch him, and my heart flutters at the sight. His face is illuminated, and his eyes are reflecting the moon. I can see how pointed his nose is, and how full his lips are.

Ethan lies down on the bed as he stares at the moon. I wonder what's going on in his head right now. I put my arm around him and kiss the back of his neck. My mate turns around to face me, and lets out a sigh as he buries his face in my chest. I plant a kiss on his forehead and pull him closer.

"Leon..."

"Yes, baby?" Ethan blushes. He trails his fingers across my chest, and looks up at me through his lashes. My breath hitches as he leans forward and kisses me on the lips, then pulls back almost immediately.

"I can hear the moon calling me,"

"What do you mean?" I prop my elbow as I run my fingers through his hair.

"It's calling me," Ethan sits cross-legged on the bed, looking at the moon again. He has a conflicted expression on his face. "I don't know why, but I can hear its voice carried by the wind. Leon, I want to know what's going on. I want to know the answers, and I can't... I can't stay here and just wait for the Great Alpha to take actions."

My heart races when he mentions that he can't stay. I panic, holding onto him for dear life. Ethan touches my cheek, looking straight into my eyes.

"You're leaving?"

"Leon, I have to."

"If that's the case, I'll join you." Ethan shakes his head, and when he opens his mouth, I glare at him. "No, Ethan. It's either you stay here with me, or I join you on your little quest. I'm not going to leave you. And if I have to travel all over the world, as long as I'm with you, I don't care about the journey."

"You're really going with me, whenever I go?"

"Yes," I breathe.

Ethan presses his mouth against mine, sitting on my lap as he attacks my lips, his fingers getting lost in my hair as he grips it tight. My hands end up on his waist, gripping it as I keep him in a steady position. I nibble on his lower lip and my mate lets out a gasp.

I let out a low growl when Ethan begins to grind on me, and my wolf Apollo wants to take over as my mate practically molests me. Ethan looks at me with half-lidded eyes, his eyes glinting with lust, darkening, as he captures my lips once again. Ethan takes off his shirt, and my palms start touching his exposed skin.

My mate is fumbling with my pants when I grab his wrist. Ethan looks at me, his eyes still dark and lust swimming in his eyes. I lightly shake my head, breathless from the kiss we've shared. I feel so hot right now that I'm already sweating. I rest my forehead against his and shut my eyes, composing myself until I'm calm.

"I want our first to be special," I tell my mate.

Ethan chuckles, burying his face in the crook of my neck as he wraps my arms around me. "Me, too."

"Just let me know when we're leaving, all right?"

Nodding, Ethan leans and plants a gentle kiss on my lips, then he gets off me and lies down. I turn around to face my mate, the moon casting light on his face that already looks heavenly. I caress his face affectionately, and he leans into my touch.

Our skin making contact is enough to send me on fire again, and the fact that my mate is giving me those puppy eyes is enough to send me over to the edge. My wolf still wants to take over so we could mark our mate, and trust me, I've been wanting that. But Ethan needs time, and he doesn't need it at the moment, and I'm going to respect that. When we're both fully ready, then that's the time we're going to do it, not because we are caught up in the heat of the moment.

"Let's sleep, baby, yeah?"

My mate nods, resting his head on my chest. "Yeah."