I could feel my heart beating incessantly inside my chest. I was so nervous that I thought I was going to throw up in front of everyone. I could feel sweat beading on my forehead as I stood in a field surrounded by my mate's pack. I began to wonder if that was how an animal felt when humans went to see them at the zoo.

I was brought up as a princess, so I was not new to public meetings. When I came here, I was prepared to see quite a few hostile faces, but I wasn't prepared for them to look at me as if I was an angel or their moon goddess herself. I could feel their awe and wonder- it practically shone in their eyes. I knew that not everyone was present there as it wasn't advisable for any pack to leave their boundaries unguarded, but among the people who were standing around me, I could not feel any hostility radiating off them. It was truly a moment of amazement for me.

Conrad stood beside me with his hand around my waist, and instinctively I pressed closer to him, his touch igniting comfort and warmth within me. He bent down to kiss my forehead gently while I took a deep breath to calm myself. My nerves began to unravel, a feeling of serenity washing over me at his gentle touch. My lips inconspicuously turned upwards to form a little smile, a happy sigh unconsciously leaving my mouth. After I felt that my nerves were in control and I wasn't going to vomit on my mate's pack, I turned around to face them.

"As all of you already know, I went to visit the witch-kingdom. I am extremely happy to inform you all that I found my mate there," he said and looked at me with affection brimming in his eyes. "She is the crown princess of the witch kingdom, Evanora Magnus, future Luna of the Wild Creek pack and future Luna queen of werewolves. I expect all of you to treat her with respect," his eyes turned hard all of a sudden and his voice became more gravelly when he continued, "failure of which will result in your death."

When he completed his speech, every pack member bowed to us, their happiness literally making them glow. Their pride and admiration were palpable in the air around us. They loved their alpha with their heart and soul. It was visible in their aura. If people around him loved him so much even after him killing their previous leader, then there had to be something more to the story. Werewolves were always known to be loyal creatures, so there had to be some hidden secrets about the Wild Creek pack if they were able to accept Conrad as their alpha with such ease. I knew that I had to find them out to understand the true nature of my mate.

Conrad took me away from the crowd after a few minutes. He was worried about me and wanted us to rest today even though our journey hadn’t been that long. Selene and Cassandra were taken to a house which was the largest among a group of other houses. And I was dragged by my mate to a house which was fairly deserted, only two small cabins beside it. A sturdy, two-story residence, his house looked good from outside. It looked good from inside too, but it had a cold feeling to it. It almost reminded me of my father's castle after my mother died. It used to feel like someone had sucked the life out of that place, making it lose all its homey appeal. As I looked around my mate's house, bare white walls with white ceilings, I almost got the same feeling. It appeared like this house lost something and was still grieving about it.

Conrad gave me a few minutes to look around his house, after which he dragged me to a room that was as cold as the rest of his home. I did not see any photographs, neither in this room nor in his house. A king sized bed sat in the middle of the room and two doors were visible. I assumed one was the bathroom, and the other likely lead to a closet.

"I need to attend a meeting," said Conrad, snapping me out my slightly judgemental thoughts. "You must be tired, so sleep. I will come and wake you up to eat after this meeting is over." I closed my eyes and let out a dreamy sigh when he bent to kiss my forehead. This mate bond was really getting stronger, which was making it harder for me to resist. Every time he would get close to me, the force with which my magic would sparkle was intensely zealous. It always took my breath away and also made me feel extremely tired as I had to exert more energy in controlling my magic.

I decided to sleep for a bit—my magic was really tiring me out. I did not think about anything as I laid on my bed. The mattress was soft and fluffy, and I fell asleep within a few minutes.

After some time, I felt a tingling that started behind my ear and gradually traversed along my chin, finally reaching my nose, which slightly tickled. I waved my hand to shoo away whatever was bothering my sleep.

"Nora, wake up," a low, deep voice said.

"Shoo," I mumbled and sunk deeper into my fluffy pillows.

"Wake up, Nora. It's time for dinner."

In addition to my magic being chaotic, I couldn't get any sleep last night, so I was completely exhausted. I couldn't even open my eyes when I felt tingles on my back. Warmth and calm filled my entire being, which made my toes curl, and I snuggled closer to the source of that heartwarming feeling.

I decided that I would never let that feeling leave my life.

It was less exhausting for me when he wasn't far from me. I sighed happily and went back to sleep.

Fluffy pillows are the best! *dreamy sigh*

Thoughts so far?