So the first thing that I noted when we entered the pack house was the amount of eyes that were pointedly staring at us, following our every move as we walked through.

Although the adamant staring didn't last very long, I could tell that they were all trying to sneak looks at us as we walked through halls, analyzing me with curiosity and something else I couldn't name.

It was almost like they were searching for something only to note that they couldn't find it because I could see the excitement die out as quickly as it had begun on their faces.

Odd.

My scent is probably all smothered by Eros' scent because of our activities the nights previous.

For all I know, they probably all saw me as a walking ball of semen!

That sounds kind of gross but it might be true in their eyes.

"I'll be back in a little bit, Emira," Eros murmurs, breath fluttering past my warm cheeks when he leans down and chastely presses his lips against my temple, sending tingles across the surface of my face.

And his warmth lingered against the surface of my skin until I was thoroughly distracted by his entire presence.

Although we have officially mated now, the sparks have not dimmed or faded like I had thought.

In fact, it has become almost two times stronger to the point that I find it hard to keep myself from magically attaching myself to him, like a bee to honey.

It is beyond difficult to stop myself from touching him in one way or another.

Through my lashes, I could see Eros smirk down at my dazed expression when he walked off with his Beta towards what I assumed would be his office.

Since Eros has been away from the pack for a while, I am sure that there's a lot of things he has to do because he is Alpha and all.

I bet he probably has a gigantic stack of paperwork on his desk waiting for him to fill out and complete.

I should feel bad for him but I don't right now.

How can I when my back feels like it might snap in half and my legs feel like jello with every single step I take?

Nope.

Not feeling any bit sorry for the work he will have to do. But I do hope that it will wear him out enough so that he won't have the energy to continue tonight because the last previous two nights have worn me out.

I know it's petty of me but I can't help it.

Of all the things to have restorative healing in it just had to be my womb.

"Emi!" A familiar voice chirped from behind me and nearly startled the insides out of me when I noted that it was the bubbly and energetic Rora.

"Rora! Don't sneak up on me like that!" I yelped, hand pressed to my heart to calm the rapidly beating organ from the sudden jolt.

"I didn't sneak up on you. I've been standing here for over 5 minutes already," she said with a wide smile, waving me to walk with her.

"I didn't notice." I absently scratched my neck. Nowadays, it's extremely hard for me to remove my gaze away from Eros to even notice where I was.

The whole entire world seems to dull until I'm completely captivated by him to the point that he could lead me to hell and I probably wouldn't even care.

That's bad, isn't it?

"Alpha Eros seems to keep you distracted. It happens to a lot of newly mated pairs," Rora explained, pretty eyes openly staring at the mark on my neck with a look on approval on her face.

My hand unconsciously moved to the mark, fingertips brushing against the sensitive skin.

I had inspected the mark already this morning at the hotel and noted that it looked like a rather impressive tattoo of some sorts.

Some type of ancient writing was centered on the mark with swirls and tribal designs circling around it.

I was kind of scared that it was going to look freaky but it didn't in the least.

It looked like a beautiful tattoo that I don't really mind on my skin.

I wonder if I am able to do the same to Eros if I ever bite him.

Then again, with his superior healing, it might not even scar.

"Anything interesting happen while I was gone?" I asked out of curiosity, noting that she was leading me in a different direction than Eros' room.

"Not too many things.." She trailed off and paused, glancing at me before saying, "...Zanthos is now pack again."

"What do you mean Zanthos is part of the pack again?" I was sincerely confused at this point while this sort of bad feeling settled in my stomach.

I wonder how he managed to become pack again. Especially since he was the mastermind behind my kidnapping and all.

It didn't make too much sense that Eros would let him become a pack member again.

"He submitted to Alpha Eros' beast and pledged loyalty to the pack as a member now. He cannot go against Alpha Eros' orders without dying," she explained, leading us down a winding hallway.

But does this mean I still have to put up with his crap?

What if he decides to send me off to some other foreign country again? I don't think I would have any money left to get myself back to the states.

I don't know what to think anymore at this 'good' news.

"Although he is a member now, it does not mean that he has not been punished," she said. "Alpha Eros has changed his rank in the pack to Omega."

Omega?

I couldn't help the slight evil chuckle that bubbled up my throat at the thought of proud and creepy Zanthos becoming an Omega in the pack!

An Omega!

Ha!

Take that Zanthos!

I wonder how he feels to be moved from Alpha clear down to Omega.

That must really be a big blow to his oversized ego.

Why wasn't I there to see it?

Bummer.

"He is in charge of maintenance of the pack house, lawn care, plumbing and cafeteria service for the next 100 years." I could see the corner of her mouth twitch when she said this because it was obvious that even Rora found Zanthos' situation rather hilarious and suitable for his deeds.

Yet I couldn't help the widening of my eyes at her last statement.

100 years of plumbing and maintenance?

I would never wish that on anyone.

Because that sounds terrible if you ask me.

I would kill myself first if I would ever have to be in his situation, especially with pack members who are probably extremely happy over his current predicament and are taking advantage of being able to boss him around.

I'm sure there are a handful of people who want to make trouble for him now by messing with the toilets or destroying things just to see him struggle to fix it.

I wouldn't doubt it at all.

I think I would have been one of those people.

"Has his work been busy?" I asked although I already knew the answer.

"Extremely," she replied with several fierce nods.

I cackled a bit on the inside, thriving on the fact that he was suffering.

Although, I shouldn't.

"He deserves it," I say with a shrug of my shoulders. "Where are we going exactly?"

"There's been someone waiting to see you since you left." Rora led me into a darkened hallway and unlocked a door before opening it for my view.

I hesitated slightly before entering the room and the person sitting on the couch nearly startled my heart out of my body.

Anira?

What was my younger sister doing here of all places?

"You guys locked her up?" I was incredulous about the fact that they had kept her captive for who knows how long now.

How in the world did they manage to get their hands on her?

She should have been back in her lab creating things like the higher up scientist that she was, not sitting here in this locked up room looking like a Queen without a throne.

Ani is also a scientist that works for the government like me.

The only difference is that I worked in the research department while she was in charge of developing hunters and advancing them into the genetically altered form that they are now.

We both have done a lot of 'good' for the world.

"She was running around picking fights with everyone and trying to escape," Rora said.

Yup.

That's Ani for you.

She's a lot more hot headed than me, usually doing things based off of emotions instead of actual thought.

But I can't blame her for trying to escape, I did the same thing several times too.

"Ani? What are you doing here?" Of all the people I thought that I would see, I would never think it would be Ani.

"Emi! Thank God you're here!" Her pretty face looked quite ecstatic to see me, unlike the last time that we had talked.

We fought a lot and tended to avoid each other more than loving each other like we should.

It's sad.

I know.

Although I was talking to Ani, I wasn't entirely looking at her face.

My eyes were glued to the juncture of her neck and shoulder where the skin was red, swollen and painful looking as if it was rotting away.

So this is what a forced mating mark looked like.

Inspecting it for another couple seconds or so, I started having this sick feeling in my stomach at just seeing that forced mating mark on her neck.

"Who did that?" I asked, pointing at her neck with a shaking hand.

Don't let it be a name that starts with a 'Z'.

"Zanthos." Ani's voice was low, eyes narrowed when she spat out the single word that seemed to cause all of our moods to dampen.

"He's your mate?" I asked incredulously and plopped down into the seat across from her.

I'm not quite sure how to process this information.

She didn't reply but the ugly frowning snarl on her face said enough.

"He's not my mate!" Ani seethed, brows pinched together in disgust at the thought of being mate's with Zanthos. It's as if she was trying to make the words a reality; even though, we both know it isn't.

I would have probably reacted the same or even worse if Zanthos was my mate. Like sobbing pitifully and beating the ground while cussing the Gods out for putting me together with someone like him.

I'm over-exaggerating.

I know.

But I can't help but be extremely glad that it wasn't the case.

Poor Ani.

She really received the short end of the stick on this one.

Then again, she doesn't have to jump into the fire pit known as Zanthos if she doesn't want to.

Hopefully she'll have as much of a choice as I did.

"I'm getting married in 6 months, Emi. This mate bullshit is not on my to-do list," she hissed out, flashing me her expensive diamond ring currently perched on her ring finger that looked like it cost more than my life did.

From what I know, Ani is in a serious relationship with her fiance, Wyatt Collins, for over 10 years now. They have known each other practically Anira's whole life, probably when they were in diapers even.

In my eyes, they were the perfect couple.

To say that they loved each other a lot was an understatement.

Zanthos trying to butt into the relationship is going to be like Lucifer trying to enter heaven.

Impossibly hard.

I know for a fact that separating the Ani and Wyatt is going to make the idiot cross through heaven and hell.

Good luck to him because he is definitely going to need it.

"Have you tried rejecting him?" I joked, not really knowing what to say to make the situation any better than it already was.

That sounds kind of bad but I can't help but want to be a road block for Zanthos.

I had the upper hand now because if he wanted Ani's affections than he had to walk past me first.

I'm not going to let him step all over Ani just to have his way without respecting her wishes. She has the right to decide whom she wants to be with the rest of her life.

He should have the decency to accept her wishes.

For all the trouble he gave me, I can't just let him walk right past the first obstacle right?

Right.

"I've tried. Each time I try to get the words out in his presence, he flashes in front of me and knocks me unconscious. And then next thing I know, this is on my neck," Ani was beyond irritated because I can see the vein on her forehead throb as she talked. "Can you believe the nerve of that asshole?"

She pointed her perfectly manicured finger at the ugly swollen mark on her neck with such anger I am sure that Zanthos could feel it from wherever he is.

Knocking a girl unconscious is definitely a good way to woo them, note my sarcasm.

Way to go, Zanthos.

"Well, you're stuck with it until you either mate with him or reject him," I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Does killing him count in making this disappear?" She asked me quite seriously because it was obvious that she lacked knowledge in the werewolf field unlike me.

"Probably," I replied rather ambiguously.

If she does manage to get rid of Zanthos, it would be one less headache for Eros and I.

But I highly doubt that she would succeed.

The only thing I can do is support her and her choices.

"Do you guys keep silver in the pack house, Rora?" I joked again, turning my head to look at Rora who was silently trying to hold in her laughter as we plotted Zanthos 'death'.

"Very little of it," she replied with a wide smile on her lips.

"That settles it then. I am going to kill him with my bare hands," Ani said through the cracks of her teeth as if killing a werewolf like Zanthos was going to be that easy.

We're not really going to try to kill him.

I just want to see him struggle to get what he wants.

That doesn't make me evil does it?

"Good luck," I replied.

Hopefully it doesn't backfire on her.

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A/N : To anyone who guessed that Zanthos second chance mate is Emira's sister, you are correct! :) You smart people you!

Also thank you guys for the 1million+ reads! It means a lot to me to reach this milestone!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! :D

What did you think of Zanthos punishment? Like it or hate it?