The Alpha's Claimed Mate

I mindlinked Daniel, since he was the only one lounging around with no responsibilities. I tried to test it again, but I really couldn’t smell her scent any more.

Every year on the first day of winter, the unique scent of every shifter multiplies tenfold. We also give off a sweet, seductive lure scent on this day. That’s why the Choosing Ceremony was a must for all. It could only be held once a year and ended in a single day.

This was the only time of the year when shifters could choose a suitable mate for themselves, depending on the compatibility based on the lure scent. 

At twenty-two, I had participated in four Choosing Ceremonies before, and hers was the only lure that caught my attention. Now I couldn’t even catch a whiff of it! Scent masking potions were indeed common and could be used to mask their unique scent for a short period.

But it couldn’t mask the lure scent. Those things weren’t available on the market.

It was already weird that I couldn’t smell anything but her lure scent. Now I couldn’t even smell that. 

What did this lupine shifter do to herself?

“You called, Alpha?” Daniel asked, his eyes took in the two of us.

‘Two of us?’

I immediately let go of Ash and stepped back. She scowled at me and brushed off her shoulders, which barely reached my chest. She was pretty short for a shifter.

"Alpha, are you finally taking a mate?" Daniel asked through the mindlink. That was enough to wake me out of whatever trance I was in. I said nothing and glared at him.

“Well, I’ve never seen you so close to a female be-” I cut off his mindlink, not wanting to hear anymore. His lips formed a pout, and I noticed that they were slightly swollen. I held back an eye roll.

‘Disgusting.’

“And here I thought you were an innocent ball of fluff,” Ash said, snickering. Daniel blushed furiously and looked at me, ignoring her.

"Answer my questions properly if your mind is still not addled in whatever you just came back from," I ordered.

"Yes, Alpha!"

"Does this female smell weird to you?" Daniel stared at me blankly.

"You said it was an emergency…"

"I did, now answer me."

He looked like he wanted to say something, but decided against it. Wise choice. He turned around, leaned towards Ash, and sniffed her hair. I held back the urge to ask what was wrong with him. 

“What the hell, man?” She yelled and jumped away from him.

"Alpha, I can’t smell anything! Her unique scent, lure scent, pack scent, nothing."

I nodded at him, gesturing to him to keep quiet. I looked at Ash, who looked very peeved by us. Her stance showed that she was ready to run away. Truth be told, I was also very peeved by her. She was definitely not normal. 

“How did you make the scent masking potion?” I asked Ash.

“How did you know I made it?” She asked back, startled.

“So you did make it.” 

“I just tweaked a recipe I found,” She admitted. 

To make a scent masking potion that could even hide the lure scent. It was pure genius, considering the fact she made it on her own.

"Daniel, what do you think of adding Miss Diamante to the Sovereign Spies Division?"

He gaped at me in disbelief before glancing at Ash.

"Alpha, don’t you think she is a bit too weak for that? Her tolerance for auras aside, she’s still an omega."

"And she is different. Quite smart too. Nobody would suspect her. We could just arrange a physically powerful partner for her," I said through the mindlink, listing out the advantages for hiring her. 

I had been thinking about it since the moment I learnt about her tolerance for auras. Ryker and Darren agreed, too. Now all I had to do was to convince Daniel to sweet talk her into taking the job in case she refused.

"She’s a kid." He said.

"She’s nineteen. Barely a year younger than you." Daniel frowned.

"You want me to convince her to take the job because she likes me better than you guys, don’t you?"

I didn’t even bother hiding it.

"Yes."

He shrugged.

"Okay, but only because she’s nice."

…I sometimes felt like I gave this kid a little too much freedom. Ash, who was looking at us boredly the whole time, finally snapped.

“Can you guys make it any less obvious that you are mindlinking? And did no one tell you that speaking ill of someone right in front of them is bad manners?”

I scoffed at that.

“You are talking about manners?” Daniel asked. 

She went silent. Daniel furrowed his eyebrows. I didn’t want to lose my composure in front of these two idiots. I ignored him and turned to Ash.

“Lead the way to where you live. I need those notes, and we only have fifty minutes until the ceremony starts.” 

“Yeah, sure,” she said and started to walk. I followed her while Daniel stood there in confusion.

“You can go back to the girl you were sucking faces with earlier,” I informed without turning to look at him. It was not a pleasant vision for me, so I was still salty about it. I could feel his embarrassment as Ash turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

“I- I’m just gonna go,” He said and walked away quickly.

We both walked towards the gate, a comfortable silence between us. I did not want to start an active conversation with her, since she was too perceptive.

“Alpha Zak, you need to learn to be less blunt,” Ash said as we reached the gates. I gave her a tiny shrug.

The guards were nowhere to be found. Alpha Wilbur really needed to tighten his security. I couldn’t believe he was so careless, even when his pack was at the brink of war. Ash noticed it too and took out something black the size of her palm, which was in the shape of a stick 

She stuck it right into the gate, where the magic signature identifier was. The gates clicked open immediately. My eyebrows rose at this.

“Impressive. Did you make it too?” I asked curiously. Ash looked at me with suspicion in her eyes. 

“Are you really an Alpha Superior? You do know what I just did is a crime, right? And that’s all you have to say? Impressive?” She asked in disbelief. 

Ash was partly right in her observations. I was definitely not supposed to be reacting like this, but since I was planning on hiring her to spy on other packs, all the skills she was exhibiting were just a part of her future job. She just needed a bit of training as she was already a natural.

Perfect to spy on the Royal Family of Lycans.