Kael’s room still smelled like her.
It was laced with the faintest hint of that sweet scent that had been haunting me ever since she’d shifted.
I stood leaning against the door frame of Kael’s room, watching Rhett and Kael argue.
After we’d successfully smuggled Charis back to the dormitories, both boys had immediately launched into a heated debate about who was "more" of a mate to her.
"I’ve been drawn to her from the very first day," Rhett insisted, "Even when I thought she was a boy, there was something about her that called to my wolf. That has to count for something."
"It’s the same thing for me and even better. I’ve always liked Ea-Charis," he chuckled. "I mean, what was there not to like, but looking back, I think my wolf was trying to tell me that she was special because everything was conflicting. I thought she was a boy."
"That’s why I think your bond with her is a mistake," Rhett smirked. "You were constantly stressing about her gender. If she were a boy, would you have worked up the courage to like her regardless?"
"That’s a different situation..." Kael tried to explain.
"It’s the same thing," Rhett countered, "If you didn’t want to love, Eamon, do you think you would love Charis now?"
"Oh please, I liked her more than both of you combined," Kael argued, and I couldn’t help but notice how different he seemed tonight.
He looked animated and vibrant compared to the sulking expression he always had on. Then again, he was still going through the initial stage of the mate bond. It leaves you in a happy mood.
Like, the sheer joy of finding your mate and knowing they were near was out of this world, but the feeling, this particular exhilarating feeling, never lasts. Give it a few days, and the initial joy will fade, and reality will come.
"I’ve been taking care of her, protecting her and honestly, my wolf has been going crazy every time she’s near. Charis comes to me first in any emergency, which shows I am more compatible than either you or Slater."
I almost rolled my eyes. This was precisely why I’d remained at the door, watching instead of participating. It had taken multiple rounds of begging both boys to behave so we could sneak Charis past Marcus and the thinning crowd of students before they’d both agreed to cooperate.
"That doesn’t make you more of a mate than me," Rhett shot back. "If anything, it proves you didn’t even recognise what you were feeling."
Charis was in the bath, trying to freshen up while these two were still acting like the Moon Goddess had sent her down with a checklist they needed to fill out.
But my mind wasn’t on their bickering. It was on her and the contradiction I’d seen earlier.
For the years I’d known Charis, I’d been certain Charis was a Shadewolf. She’d told me the first day my wolf recognised her as our mate. Apart from that, I’d seen her markings back when we were still fated and had felt the uniqueness of her wolf through our bond.
Shadewolves were rare to find, and since she couldn’t communicate with her wolf back then, I knew it was the truth.
But tonight, in that garden, that wasn’t a Shadewolf I saw.
Shadewolves, according to the text and all the research I’ve made so far, were leaner and built for speed and stealth. Their markings were either silver or black, sometimes with a streak of faint moonlit blue, which was precisely what I’d been expecting.
What I’d seen instead was a large wolf with a deep, rich brown fur streaked with red patches across her hooves. Yes, Direwolves had them. It was faint and small, just above the paw, and it was an ancient trait from the first wolves the Moon Goddess blessed.
And that white stripe that ran from the inner corners of her eyes down her chest wasn’t just a marking. It was the marking. The Direwolf line’s signature that showed dominance and purity.
Direwolves weren’t just rare like Shadewolves; they were supposed to be extinct. The first and most primal children of the Moon Goddess and her chosen Lycan champion, their bloodline had been lost to time and war.
They were different from ordinary wolves or Lycans. They had larger paws and thicker fur around the neck and shoulders, resembling a mane. They had longer fangs, and the intensity in their eyes could make even the strongest of Lycans lower his gaze.
However, it was their mate bonds that truly set them apart.
They could bond equally to more than one mate. Not a primary and a secondary bond like a Shadewolf, but equal bonds, each as strong as the next.
If Charis were a Direwolf, first, it was a huge relief to me, and then we’re all in trouble.
"Slater!" Kael’s voice cut through my thoughts.
I looked up and realised both Rhett and Kael were staring at me.
Kael tilted his head. "You’ve been standing there like a statue. We were asking if you feel the same pull toward her."
I pushed off the door and crossed the room to where they were. The conversation was bound to happen anyway, so there was no point trying to avoid it any longer.
"This isn’t the first time I’ve been her mate."
Kael’s eyes widened in disbelief. "What? You’ve been mates before?"
"Of course," Rhett snorted, leaning back on the sofa. "They were mates before Charis came to Ravenshore, that’s why he had to cover up for her from the first day and passed her like his step-sibling."
"So, all those times, she was spending with you..." Kael trailed off.
"Yup!" Rhett nodded. "Now you understand why I was fussing about them sleeping in the same room that day. Slater was pretending so well."
"I wasn’t pretending," I cut him off. "There was a reason why I had to pass her as my step-sibling, even now, this doesn’t change anything. Charis would need to keep being Eamon."
"May I know why she came to Ravenshore instead of Ebonvale. There’s a particular reason, right?" Kael asked. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs ɴovᴇl_Firᴇ.ɴet
"Yes," I nodded. "She was running away from her father. You must have heard that Alpha Silas Greye is looking for his daughter, no?"
"Oh, I have!" Kael nodded. "It’s all that’s in the news these days, and the radio, even on the billboards. There’s a huge picture of her at the capital, and I remember wondering why the face looked familiar."
"Yeah," I nodded. "For now, we have to help her maintain his cover as Eamon until there’s a better solution. Her father wanted to give her in marriage to the Alpha King’s son, Darian Blackmoor, but they weren’t even married, and he was already being abusive..."
Kael’s eyes flashed with anger. "That prick," he scoffed, "And yet he has never worn any spurs with his fellow man to date."
"Yeah," I nodded impatiently. "But that’s not the point right now."
I looked between them and saw they were confused.
"Just to make things clear, yes, Charis is my second-chance mate. Back then, my wolf was clear about it, and now? He’s still saying the same thing. It’s impossible to have your first mate and second chance mate as one person, but I guess, this is a sign that it’s divine."
"So what now?" Rhett arched a brow. "We’re all mates now? Is that even possible?"