The Mate That Wasn't Mine novel Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

TESSA POV

Shrugging a new uniform on, I noticed he’d grabbed his leather jacket before running out, Maybe that’s all he came back for.

A farmhouse does not yield many mirrors for self–examination. So sitting in front of the large

wooden framed one in this room is a humbling experience.

It’s important that I do this properly.

I need to remember what the hell is going on. Ground myself in reality.

Parting my hair I slowly brush through the damp, coppery tendrils. “Time to get real,” I whisper to my reflection.

My hair is way too long. It’s childlike. Straight and simple down past my shoulder. The colour is so vivid it makes everything else about me plainer. Washed out. My heart shaped face is as normal as it comes. Brown eyes. Nothing special.

Nothing dazzling like Allette’s natural flair and seductive smiles. I don’t have the pure beauty of Princess Hazel and her stunning aqua blue eyes either. Even Irene is unique. Her freckles and button note are so cute and endearing. Her pale green eyes drawing you in.

My frame is soft too. I’m not defined, toned with wiry strength. I’m not sumptuously curvaceous either. Average is the only word that suits the image staring back at me.

Then there is Maxim. The opposite of average. His devious, rarely–given true smile lights everything up. His short brown hair catches the light in rippling waves. A beard so soft, it stupidly conjures up images of heroes and legends when he strides towards me.

Kai and Silas admire him. That is obvious. Yes he invites trouble but he makes life spark. Then his eyes…amber trouble, deviance and softness all rolled into a golden shade that makes my heart leap.

I am so fucked. Goddess this is bad.

The intention of this mirror gazing was not to put my hands down my panties.

With ferocious intent, I brushed my ragged locks. Each tangled yank a sharp, wincing dose of reality. Reminding myself why I was alone at home.

Plain. Boring. Mute. Useless. Tessa from the Farming District. Even Pawsome prefers Irene, but at least that thought makes me grin a little.

Luca would say something like, “Chin up Feisty. I’ve got you.”

Actually, no. Before he went away he was more likely to say, “Why the fuck don’t you just stand up for yourself?” But at the time his critiques felt better than nothing.

Luca isn’t here. I don’t want him here either. I need to do this on my own.

Maxim and I have a transaction to maintain. His choosing to leave today was a good thing really. Had he opened the door, I don’t think my grip on the

towel would have lasted more than a few seconds.

But Maxim left.

I slam the hairbrush down. Scent–tracing soon. No fuck–ups. I can rescue Archery if I perform well in this.

The door knocks, “Tessa? Almost time to go?”

Irene. Keeping her promise about fetching me. I really should have slept instead of sabotaging my own self–worth.

“I’m here!” flipping the mirror around on its hinges so the non–reflective back panel faced out instead. “My ankle works again! What did you do in

between classes then?”

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Chapter 21

“Oh. Nothing really. You know me,” she sing songs through the other side of the door. But I do know my friend. And Irena re lying.

Maybe she’s finally acted on her crush over Silas. I’ll get it out of her, When I open the door ready to head out to the training area a blush is fading

“Okay?” I check.

“Oh, totally. Yep. Let’s see your working ankle then,” and laughs as I give it an extravagant rolling twirl out in the air, my black boots still a little stained with blue paint.

We both act like we aren’t keeping secrets. It’s all natural and fun, on the surface at least.

It doesn’t stop the thoughts intruding. Maxim will need biting soon. It’s been a week since I last did it. A furious, random grab at his chest in the eaves of our doorway where nobody could see. I don’t know why, I didn’t want to do it in the room itself. That felt too intimate.

To place my hands on his bare chest in that private space would just make me blush. Reveal all the thoughts I secretly have about him.

So I should do the same tonight. Keep everything separate.

Even as Warden Brock goes over the rules, my mind wanders.

Maybe I should suggest we don’t have to eat together every night. Can I not just brag to my friends instead? Mention how my mate had me seeing stars until dawn, that’s why I’m on my own?

Then I can have an evening where I don’t gaze at him like a deluded idiot, willing time away so we can walk back to Block E. Waiting, praying for his hand to squeeze mine. Setting off the starting pistol to grab his jacket and meet his searching lips with my own. Inhale nothing but oak and berries, willingly kid myself for another evening.

“Get shifted and get back out in two minutes!” Warden Brock barks. Oh hell, I really wasn’t listening.

“Tessa, you get any of that?”

“Erm…”

Irene has paled, heading quickly into the changing unit next to mine. Her voice goes quiet and low, barely audible over the sound of everyone else’s excited chatter. “It’s a straight sprint up the mountain. Something will smell like the enemy. Grab that and head back.”

“There’s just one thing to find?”

“Were you not listening at all?” Briggs snaps, already stripped of his upper half.

“I was…sorry. This isn’t my best day.”

He’s so tall his bare shoulders are visible to the rest of the stable–style changing area. “It’s a winner takes all. One top, everyone else bottom.”

don’t say it out loud but I know it doesn’t matter if we’re not the first up there. Some desperate poachers will just wait at the bottom and steal it. The Wardens only care who comes home with the prize. Not how they got it.

“We need to stick together. If one of us gets it, the other two stick on, help defend. We’ll cross the line together?”

“Defend?” Irene squeaks. Maybe my tiredness is affecting my mood but I want to grab her shoulders. Roughly. Remind her that scent–tracers are the front line. She’s going to end up fighting at some point.

Instead, Irene and Briggs look across at each other nervously whilst I keep my mouth shut. Have they truly not considered the fact that predatory wolves like Vigo will just rip a prize from their mouths, maybe even fight them for it?

My pulse is racing as I quickly strip, fold my clothes up neatly and allow my wolf to take over. This is going to be brutal. My proud rusty–furred wolf opens its wide, lethal jaws at full stretch, every long lethal tooth on display to the rest of the group.

Irene and Briggs linger behind me whilst the pack of thirty gather. The mountainside ahead isn’t exactly small. When the bell rings we all sprint out,

Chapter 21

through the training fields, Info the forest, towards the ominously steep, gray obstacle. It gives me time to work on a plan,

My paws are light, springing across the ground with ease, keeping up with the bulkier, stronger wolves like the silvery Vign. He has nobody following he’d probably snap their heels off if they tried.

What smells am I looking out for? It has to be something useful to the future. So the enemy?

Elves give off metallic, burning hues. Humans smell of meat. Fatty, cooked meats.

Right now the air reeks of every other wolf. I slow down and study the horizon.

The direction the wind is blowing. I head to the far east of the mountainside.

Within minutes every wolf is scrabbling up the flint, scrappy rock face. Paws slip and slide but I have a plan. There are a few rocky ledges on the far east where a scent would be almost impossible to pick up.

They aren’t going to make it easy for us so why not try the hardest places first?

Looking across the mountainside is busier to the west. All sniffing, yelping and pushing each other around across the slippery shale.

Behind me I hear Irene’s ashy little wolf. She is excelling on this surface. Meanwhile Briggs‘ huge black beast is further behind, struggling to keep his massive beast on four paws.

Ham.

I smell ham. It’s a human scent. I let out a low, quiet howl, hoping Irene and Briggs keep their eyes peeled as I climb further upwards. Wrapped around a dead tree branch is a small brown bag.

I’ve found it!