Introspect [The Mating Games #3]

WENDELL ZERONE

I think you should apologise for what happened yesterday, his wolf told him, the both of them watching as Troy made his way toward him.

What happened yesterday? his eyebrows furrowed together in question, needing to be reminded what he had done wrong this time around.

He wanted to see our parents. Was that really too much to ask for?

No, but I’d like to speak to them first. Prepare them before they meet Troy. The last thing that I want is for them to react negatively and hurt his feelings.

More than you’ve already hurt him? his wolf countered, calling his human out on his bullshit.

Denial really doesn’t suit me, Wendell sighed, unable to fight off the melancholy feelings that consumed him. If he had been more open-minded off the bat, then maybe there wouldn’t be this gap between him and Troy that the both of them were tip-toeing around, neither of them confident enough yet to cross that space.

It doesn’t, but neither does feeling sorry for yourself, his wolf sighed. Forgive yourself and fix things between the both of you. After that, you can start thinking about him meeting mum and dad.

“You look lost in your thoughts. What are you thinking so hard about?” Troy asked as soon as he dropped himself into a sitting position on the ground next to Wendell.

“Nothing,” Wendell was quick to deny with a simple shake of his head, not wanting to give Troy anything more to worry about. “How was your night?” he asked, hoping to take the limelight off him.

“It was quite pleasant,” Troy smiled softly at him. “We all had dinner together and then watched a movie which was pretty nice.”

“That does sound nice,” he hummed back in response, happy for his mate but also feeling a pang of jealousy for not being able to spend time with his mate like he wanted to. The Moon Goddess knew that the both of them needed to spend more time together.

“What about you? How are your night?” Troy asked, seemingly wanting to learn more about him, too.

“To be honest, I went to bed early,” Wendell shrugged.

“Let me guess, you were saving up your energy for today’s task?”

“Something like that,” he chuckled. “How do you feel about today’s task? Do you think you’ll be able to take on ten opponents?”

“Is that how many it is?” Troy asked with wide, almost fearful eyes. “Ten?”

“Don’t worry,” Wendell said quickly, trying to assure him. “It’s ten between us.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” his lips twisted up into a nervous smile.

Before either of them could say anything further, the group around them began with a set of stretches led by one of the royal warriors. At that, both Wendell and Troy rose to their feet to join in; wanting to be as ready as possible before the fights began.

Wendell couldn’t help but grin as he noted the royal warrior who he knew to be Joel, one of the warriors that currently trained under Wendell, smirk knowingly at him. They were quick to share a nod of respect before getting back to work.

“Do you know him?” Troy asked curiously, having picked up on the silent exchange between Wendell and Joel.

“He’s one of the warriors I train.”

“You also train warriors?”

Wendell nodded and said, “It’s a good way to establish authority on the island before I take over from my father.”

“That’s really impressive,” Troy whistled lowly before he turned his head to face the front again, returning his attention to the warrior that was leading this stretching session. “What else do I not know about you?”

“A lot,” Wendell chuckled and shot his mate a grin. “But don’t worry, we have the rest of our lives to learn more about each other.”

That is if you don’t fuck thing up, his wolf snorted at him.

Thanks for the confidence, he replied dryly but his wolf refused to respond, clearly having piped up in the first place just to take a jab at him for the sake of it.

“That we do,” Troy hummed in agreement.

The both of them fell into a comfortable silence as they followed the actions of the royal warrior, properly stretching and preparing themselves for the long, gruesome task that they had ahead of them today.

“How do you reckon that we do this?” Troy asked from beside him, now finished with his stretches before today’s task.

“There’s ten rounds but only two of us. How do you feel about fighting five of those rounds? We could alternate between each of those rounds.” Wendell murmured in question, casually glancing around the large field that they were sat in. As there were so many wolves invited to the Mating Games this year, all of them had been split into large groups. With the lack of Alpha’s and Beta’s that he counted in their near vicinity, Wendell couldn’t help but believe that this would be a rather easy task for him and his mate.

Rightfully so as they were already down one badge; a fact which bothered him greatly. Not only did it mean that they had lost one of the tasks of the Mating Games, but it also meant that they weren’t quite as in tune as he would have wished.

“While, rationally, that sounds like a good idea, I must admit that I most definitely wouldn’t be able to fight as well as you. Especially in my human form,” Troy sighed, stretching his legs out in front of him. “I’m far better skilled in my wolf form but as that’s against the rules of today’s task, I’m afraid I won’t be much use to you.”

“Don’t say that,” Wendell was quick to catch the words of his mate, not wanting him to feel bad about anything. Especially since Wendell had already given him enough to feel bad about these past several days. “Having to fight even half of the rounds, five, is going to be difficult on everyone here. Even me,” he said, referring to the fact that he was of Royal descent; no doubt a fact which gave him and his mate an advantage over everyone else here. “We’ve both been destined as mates because the Moon Goddess has designed us to be perfectly compatible. What you lack, I make up for and what I lack, you make up for. You may not be the best at fighting in your human form but let me tell you, you’ll discover that there’s a lot of things that I’m not good at, something which you’re just going to have to live with, unfortunately.” Wendell paused to chuckle, feeling much better now that Troy didn’t look nearly as defeated and worried as he had been before. “Anyway, as long as we come in the top eighty-eight, we get a badge. And honestly, that’s all I care about today.”

“I wasn’t expecting that,” Troy chuckled, the sound rather airy and surprised. “If being the Royal Beta doesn’t work out for you, you could always go into motivational speaking.”

Even though Wendell knew that Troy was only joking and had absolutely no idea all the fears that he harboured right now, he couldn’t help but feel a pang in his chest at his words. Especially since he worried that the position that he had been destined for would be taken away due to his sudden change of sexual orientation.

“Now, I’ve got an idea,” Wendell grinned as he turned to face his mate, forcing such negative thoughts out of his mind. “How about you start off, fighting as many rounds as you can and then, I take over.”

“That sounds pretty reasonable to me,” Troy murmured, the nerves apparent in his voice. “I don’t know how hard this is going to be but I’m sure that I’ll be good for at least the first three.”

“It doesn’t matter to me if we lose on the first round,” Wendell shrugged nonchalantly from beside him. “It doesn’t matter if we lose. As long as we try our best and do it together, that’s all that matters.”

“Thank you. That means a lot,” his mate cleared his throat, almost as if moved with emotion.

However, when Wendell turned his head to face him, he noted a rather neutral expression on his face. As if he had imagined the emotions that Wendell had believed to have heard in Troy’s voice.

Casual conversation continued between them both as they waited for the task to start. When the gong sounded, the stewards stepped into the centre of the very large clearing and began calling out numbers for the first round. Together, Wendell and Troy were number one-hundred and two.

“Wish me luck,” Troy grinned at him as he rose to his feet, getting ready to head toward the steward that had called out their number.

“You don’t need luck, Troy. You’re going to kill this!” Wendell called after his mate, cheering loudly just as everyone around him did for their mates.

Wendell cheered on Troy as he got into his fighting stance, spreading his legs and squaring his shoulders as he stared back at the she-wolf stood in front of him. While she was a little thing, Wendell knew not to underestimate anyone for even the unsuspecting of people could really surprise you, and he hoped that his mate followed the same manner of thinking.

When the sound of the next gong filled the air, the first round of today’s task had officially begun.

He’s a Beta wolf, just like us, his wolf said, watching their mate just as attentively as Wendell was doing right now. We don’t have anything to worry about.

Oh, I’m certain of that, Wendell chuckled as he watched Troy and his opponent, a rather dainty looking she-wolf who looked as if she was several weight classes below Troy. I think he’s far better a warrior than he gives himself a credit for.

It appears that we’re about to find that.

At that, both Wendell and his wolf turned their utmost attention to Troy but it appeared that the fun was already over. With the she-wolf on the ground, restrained with her arms clasped tightly behind her back and Troy’s knee pressing into the middle of her back, he had officially won the first round of today’s spar.

With one win already under their belt and Troy having not so much as broken a sweat, Wendell now knew that the man was far too harsh on himself. While the she-wolf had been a worthy opponent, she truly did not stand a chance against Troy who had knocked her onto her feet quicker than someone could count to eight.

And to him, that was mighty impressive.

To think that his mate was so strong and talented, Wendell couldn’t have asked for a better mate. What he could have asked for, however, was this bomb to not have been dropped on him so suddenly.

If only the Moon Goddess had dropped some hints to him over the years, maybe all of this wouldn’t be so difficult now but alas, that would be far too simple.

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Layla Knight

19.06.2021