Introspect [The Mating Games #3]

ORION KALLIS

Orion was never much of a time waster. And for that reason, he handed out his first two ribbons within the first minute that he had stepped into the grand hall.

The first woman he recognised to be from his pack. As all wolves here were, she was a considerable amount younger than him. However, he had seen her around the pack a few times as her mother also worked in the pack kitchen. And for that reason, he felt comfortable handing her a ribbon. It helped that he briefly mentioned that he just needed to offload a ribbon.

He was sure that she had a lot of questions however, he didn’t have time to stop and explain further. How could he when he still had one extra ribbon left and a mate yet to find?

The second she-wolf that he handed a ribbon to wasn’t as accepting. She had been stood next to the first, and he had all but thrust white and blue striped ribbon into her hands. However, she had seen him coming and instead of curling her fingers around it, she let it drop to the floor.

In the moment, Orion was forced to grit his teeth and not say anything. While he understood that his behaviour was bizarre, he didn’t appreciate the fact that she looked so disgusted about it. No doubt something to do with his age.

Watching the whole situation play out in front of her, another she-wolf stood in the circle accepted the ribbon when he rose up from the ground. When she nodded at him in understanding – no doubt having watched him to do the same with the first female that was also in the Amarok pack – he offered her a barely-there smile before swivelling around on the balls of his feet; finally in search of his mate.

As if he hadn’t been trying to sense her out the moment that he stepped foot into the grand hall. Unfortunately, with the scent masking spray in full effect which considerably numbed his wolf, almost to the point where it felt like he didn’t even have a wolf, Orion had nothing but his sight to aid him in the search.

Walking over to the centre of the room, uncaring of all the curious glances that he was receiving simply due to the fact that he looked like he was in his forties – which he was – he stopped and began turning around. His actions were slow as he glanced all over the hall, looking for the beautiful, angelic face of his mate that he had all but crashed into yesterday.

Except, then, she had screamed at the sight of him. Or rather, she had screamed because he had all but grabbed her and declared her to be his mate – something which didn’t exist among wiccans.

Regardless, he was hopeful that they would get off on a better foot today.

It was only when he had completed a full semi-circle that his eyes fell upon a full head of blonde hair, wavy just like yesterday and only stopping around the middle of her back. It was a beautiful contrast against the deep copper of the dress that she was wearing; almost exactly the colour of his hair.

Not looking to waste another moment, Orion began weaving his way through the crowd once again. However, with every step closer that he got to her, he had to remind himself to breathe.

Orion Kallis had spent a long twenty-five years without a mate and as painful as the journey was, laying eyes on her yesterday made him forget it all. His mother was completely correct in saying that he would understand and appreciate the value of a soulmate when he was older. What neither of them had expected was that he would come to this grand age and still pining after one.

But with his mate now stood in front of him, even if it was with her back to him while she spoke to a few wolves that he didn’t recognise, none of that mattered anymore.

How could it when he had finally been granted the one thing that he wanted?

Standing so close to her now without the guards restraining him and separating them, and not under the watchful gaze of the Alpha king and queen, Orion suddenly didn’t know what to do. His throat suddenly went dry and his hands started to feel clammy as he raised his hand in the air only to drop it even quicker.

He quickly realised that it didn’t matter what he did or said because at the end of it all, she was his mate. Just as he was hers.

And that was all that mattered.

Almost as if she could sense him stood behind her, Phoenix turned her head to glance over her shoulder. When her deep blues clashed against the dark grey of his, he once again found himself short of breath.

But this time, the feeling was very welcoming.

Orion could hardly believe his eyes when her lips curled up slightly at the corners just at the sight of him. However, when she turned away from him, his mood completely dropped.

Now he couldn’t breathe for a completely different reason.

However, Phoenix quickly put a cap on those rushing thoughts and emotions by excusing herself from the group that she had previously surrounded herself.

“I was wondering when you were going to get here,” Phoenix smiled up at him, having now turned to face him completely.

He had thought she was beautiful yesterday but today, the mere sight of her was enough to send this old man into a cardiac arrest.

“Sorry I’m late,” he apologised in a small voice. When she continued smiling at him, he attempted the same but was sure it came out as more of a grimace.

“I would say you’re just on time.”

At her polite words – they were definitely polite because he knew that the meeting with the Alpha king had made him the last person to walk through the doors today, at least more than ten minutes late – the grimace dimmed and the smile was no longer so forced.

“You look beautiful,” Orion complimented her, allowing himself to say whatever was on his mind. He was never one to keep his thoughts to himself, though he usually only shared them with his wolf as he didn’t have anyone much else. There was also the fact that not many people spoke to him.

“Thank you,” her lips tipped higher at the corners, her eyes all but sparkling as she stared up at him. “You look very handsome yourself.”

“Oh, I look alright.”

“No, you really do look handsome,” Phoenix continued to insist. And this time when he didn’t deny it, she reached out to hold his hand in hers. When he didn’t move his hand away, she grazed her fingers against his before interlocking their hands, pressing their palms together. “Don’t put yourself down like that.”

“I’ll try,” he murmured back honestly, his response surprising even himself.

While he gazed up at her and she gazed down at him – more than just a couple of notable inches between them, mainly because he was at a staggering height of six-foot-five while she was more modest at five-foot-seven – he couldn’t help but note the evident nerves washing through her eyes.

In that moment, to say that he could feel her nerves rolling off her in waves would be an understatement. Even though there was still a little distance between them, Orion almost felt overwhelmed with all the feelings and emotions that she was emitting.

As bad as it sounded, he quite like the fact that she felt nervous around him. As witches and wizards weren’t destined mates like werewolves – or they usually weren’t but it appeared that Phoenix was a special case – it made him feel subconscious that his mate didn’t quite feel the mate bond. It was completely selfish of him to say but the fact that she felt nervous around him assured him that whatever was between them wasn’t just one-sided.

He felt sick for feeling that way, but Orion was man enough to admit that he was subconscious like that.

“You don’t have to be nervous around me,” he murmured in a quiet voice, smiling lightly. When she returned the sweet sentiment tenfold, he chuckled lightly.

“I know,” she whispered back in a quiet voice. For his ears only.

Reaching a hand up, he brushed a blonde lock behind her ear. As beautiful as her hair was, it was nothing compared to the masterpiece that was her face.

The way she leaned into his touch, lightly grazing her cheek against the palm of his hand, tempted him very much to close his eyes and bask in the moment; to savour the beautiful moment that this was. He knew that this would be a moment that years from now, he would look back on, that he would remember fondly and smile about. Phoenix would look at him and ask what had him smiling like that, and he would recount to her this beautiful moment, the first moment when it was just him and just her.

“And you know don’t have to look so nervous around me either,” Phoenix countered.

“I know,” he chuckled in response, staring down at her with so much love and warmth in his eyes.

“I never thought that I would have a mate.”

“Me neither,” he admitted aloud; this being the first moment that he had suggested such a thing to his mate. This was the first time that he had minutely informed her of what his life had been like all the way up to this moment. The fact that they were out in the open like this with so many wolves surrounding them, not a sliver of privacy for them to actually talk about anything even remotely genuine or serious, came as a relief to him.

His past before her was not something that he could get into right now. Her, on the other hand, was a completely different case.

He craved to know absolutely anything and everything about her. All the small stuff, and all the big stuff. All the stuff that she didn’t spare a second thought about and all the stuff that she deemed important. What he most looked forward to was all the stuff that she didn’t notice. That no one noticed.

He couldn’t wait to be the one person in the entire world that did notice those things.

There was a lot of things that Orion wanted to ask Phoenix. Mostly, he wanted to know more about her. Her true self, and not just the version of her that was present at the surface for everyone to see and make assumptions about.

Orion wanted to get to know the real her. The part of her that was a witch among werewolves, hiding her true identity from anyone that did not belong to the island.

However, he knew he couldn’t do that here. Not when there were so many ears around them; most of them not belonging to wolves that lived on the island and already knew about the existence of witches and warlocks.

As desperate as he was to get to know his mate, he wasn’t willing to put her in danger like that.

Not now. Not ever.

So, instead, he asked, “What did you have for breakfast?”

“Cake.”

“Cake?” he quirked a questioning brow at her, surprised by her response. Especially since he didn’t deem cake to be a food that was to be consumed at breakfast time.

“Yes,” she beamed up at him, the excitement and joy evident in her eyes. “I had a big slice of chocolate cake for breakfast.”

“Is that healthy?”

“Are you judging me?”

“No, no,” he chuckled and denied, shaking his head gently. “I’ve just never met anyone who has cake for breakfast.”

“I didn’t say that I have cake for breakfast every day. Just on special occasions.”

“And today is a special occasion?”

“Yes. Now stop making fun of me,” she grinned at him, quickly following it up by narrowing her eyes at him playfully. “What did you have for breakfast?”

“Pancakes and a bowl of cereal.”

“You were judging me for having cake for breakfast when you had pancakes?”

“Yes,” he nodded, surprised by her question. “Why do you say it like that?”

“There’s not much difference between pancakes and cake. Pancake literally has the word cake in it. It’s literally a cake which you make in a pan.”

“There’s a lot of difference between pancakes and cake, and your argument is weak,” Orion snorted and chuckled, enjoying this mundane back and forth between them more than anything else that he had ever enjoyed before. “People eat pancakes for breakfast all of the time. No one eats cake for breakfast.”

“I told you already,” she whined, her lips tugging down at the edges into a pout. “I only have cake for breakfast on special occasions.”

While he couldn’t fault her logic, especially because he thought of this moment to be the most special of all, cake for breakfast still sounded strange to him. However, he now had plans to make a fresh cake for breakfast every morning they had something special planned.

The playful conversation continued between them continued – a back and forth far easier than he could have ever imagined – until they neared the end of today’s task. Then, to avoid losing today’s task, they exchanged their ribbons.

However, Phoenix still had two that she needed to dispose of and since her mate was standing right in front of her, she didn’t exactly care who they went to.

With that reasoning in mind, she turned around and handed her ribbons to the two males standing closest to her. While one seemed to find it a little strange and gave her a funny look, the other’s lips curled up at the corners until a full-blown grin had taken over his face. Before he could open his mouth and start up a conversation, Orion curled his hand around her waist and pulled her into his side.

When she didn’t object and instead leaned into him, he couldn’t keep the smug grin off his face. Not even when the wolf made an excuse before leaving.

“You don’t have anything to be jealous about,” Phoenix reassured him, her eyes fluttering closed as she leaned in to rest her head on his shoulder – allowing her emotions to lead her despite how unconventional that must feel for her.

“I’m glad to know,” he squeezed her hip.

Even with the scent masking spray in full effect, there was no denying or ignoring the magnetic connection between them.

The only thought that bothered him was the simple fact that she had newly turned twenty-one. That made her half his age.

And while Phoenix didn’t seem the least bit concerned regarding the significant age difference between them, he couldn’t help but let it bother him a little. How could he not when he knew for a fact that a lot of people would disapprove of their relationship based on this one simple factor?

There was also the fact that he knew that all of this was new for her.

Orion had spent a significant portion of his life waiting for Phoenix; for his mate. He had waited a long time for have someone to love, and for someone to love him back. Now that she was standing in front of him, he knew that he was willing to wait a whole another lifetime if time was something that she needed.

He was a very patient man, after all. He had to be as the requirement of patience was something that came along with the territory.

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Layla Knight

05.06.2021