Alphas of Raven: The Forbidden Triplets

Chapter 4

I had read about it a thousand times, heard hundreds of stories, and saw the magic play out in front of my eyes a couple of times as well.

But nothing, and I mean nothing, could have prepared me for this. For meeting my other half, my mate.

The drinking comment had me seething, and I wanted to give Mr. Rude a piece of mind, but that only lasted a second.

Everything changed the instant that intoxicating smoke and oak scent hit my nose, submerging my senses. And I gazed unwaveringly into those raven pearls.

And then it happened; every fibre of my body could feel the bond snap in place.

It was intense and made everything intense, be it the emotion, the connection, and above all, the insane attraction.

From his soul-sucking midnight eyes that screamed danger, the chiselled jawline that was adorned with those thick lips, or his tousled mess of black locks, everything made my mouth water.

I could believe that, at one point in time, I thought that Sole was handsome. Sure, Sole was suave and charming, but he had nothing on the six-foot-five-inch biker boy, who was nothing like Sole.

He was not pampered and primed to perfection, nor was he dressed to impress, or groomed for public life. Instead, he was the guy mothers warned their daughters about, the ultimate bad boy.

The stubbled, unkempt beard, the tattoo that ran across his spine, the black leather jacket, and that not-so-subtle tongue piercing, they were all part of the bad boy charm. He was handsome in a rough-cut way, or I could say that he was what my wet dreams were made of.

My raw, rugged Alpha.

He must have been the Alpha of one of the smaller packs, because clearly, I had not seen him before, but his aura was oh so powerful, almost as strong as my father's or Sole’s.

I was so busy drooling at the delicious sight that I did not even realise when he looked away. It was only when he spoke in that deep, cold voice that I realised that he had broken away from the spell of the bond.

"I can read this as tomorrow’s headline: ‘Aria White drinks away her sorrows!', How does this sound, Sam?"

What?

It took me a couple of seconds to gather my bond-infected thoughts and process what was happening. He was still talking about the drinking comment. But why?

Did he not know that we were mates? Or did my wolf get this wrong?

It was in the middle of another snide comment, which I had not picked up but knew was targeted at me, that our eyes met again. Something flashed in his eyes as his face softened there for a second.

Was it guilt, concern, or something else? Before I could appreciate the emotion or figure out what it was, it was gone, and the bad boy mask was back on.

One thing was clear, he too felt the mate bond, but then why was he more focused on ruining my reputation than taking me in his arms?

From what I knew, once the bond was in place, the mates in question could not keep their hands off in the first moments.

The Goddess knew it was taking every ounce of my self-control not to jump him right here, right now. He, on the other hand, seemed unaffected, while I could not tear my eyes away from his raw masculine form.

Was he not attracted to me?

I was not not good-looking, and I was aware of that. Since childhood, I had been told that I was a pretty face, a compliment that I never enjoyed.

The papers often called me a timeless beauty owing to my large blue eyes, pointed nose, and pouty lips that were framed by blond waves.

The roots of my self-doubt were seeded in my body. I never had one of those model-type bodies to start with. Despite my narrow waist, my ample curves never got me tagged as thin.

Even our friends at the print referred to me as overly voluptuous. It was not that I did not exercise or eat healthy, it was just my body shape, I guess.

As insecurities seeped in, I wondered if he too preferred the model-type girls. I knew Sole did, and he had told me that as well.

"Are you done staring?" he said aloud.

His cold and disinterested voice had the opposite impact on me, making my cheeks all flushed and hot.

"Huh! And here I thought the White princess had seen her fair share of pieces of flesh."

His unnecessary arrogance left me speechless and unsure of how to respond.

I was not sure what bothered me more, the crude flesh comment or the entitled title that he had awarded me.

He was not the first one to judge me for my birth. I had faced those allegations for as long as I could remember. As if it were my fault that I was born to the Whites.

Contrary to what people believed, I worked day and night to justify the silver spoon that I was born with. Be it academics, alpha, and luna duties, or pack politics, I ensured that I excelled at it all to justify my position.

Not that it was easy being the female heir to the White Pack in a world where there were only male alphas.

"Or at least I had hoped she would be a tougher game. I guess she’s just one of the loose ones."

That is when I saw red.

I might have dismissed his earlier comments as mere male cockiness, which I had seen most of them suffer from, Sole included. This, on the other hand, was disrespectful to me and the bond.

He was kind of a jerk.

"I am not..." My voice was shaky from emotion, but also loud enough that it rang through the bar, attracting more attention than necessary.

"I am not a slut." I declared as sternly as I could, trying to keep the pain of his accusation away from my voice.

For a second, I saw something cross his face, something that looked like guilt, but it was gone sooner than it appeared, and his jerk face was back on.

"Huh, like I care," he then turned to the reporter who was still standing there, "I hope you got enough for your article, Mike."

And with that, he walked off to the bathroom.

See, didn’t I tell you that I had become a magnet for bad luck?

I was just wondering yesterday what could be worse than not finding your mate.

Now, I knew the answer to that, it was finding out that your mate was a douche and that he did not want you.

Tears threatened to stream down my face, not caring about the reporter or the other audience in the bar.

Don’t cry. Don’t cry. No, I was not going to cry for that jerk, no way in hell.

And I didn’t. I didn’t cry. Instead, I did something worse. I followed him to the bathroom.

As much as I wanted to blame this desperate attempt at confrontation on the mate bond, I knew I wanted some answers too.

After all, it was not every day that you simply walked away from your mate.

I wasn’t even thinking when I entered the men’s bathroom, following his smoky scent.

I called out to the hot jerk who was washing his hands, "Wait!"

"God, you are clingy." He rolled his eyes as he saw me coming, unaffected by the bond. "I told you fair and square I am not interested, stop following me."

Before I could even form a response to that, he opened that filthy mouth again.

"Oh, wait, are you one of those stalker types? Will I need to get a restraining order?" He chuckled, mocking me yet again.

He just went on spewing nonsense; he had not even cared to mention the mate bond even once.

"I just came here to warn you to stay out of my business." I was not going to mention the mate bond either, nor was I going to let him walk all over me.

"Really?"

He closed the gap between us and started walking towards me, his alpha aura rolling off him like crashing waves, making me step back towards the bathroom door.

"You walk in here to the men’s room while I am doing my business, and you want me to butt out of yours?"

Damn it! He was a cocky d**k, who could think on his feet.

He continued to take measured steps toward me and just stopped a foot’s distance away from me. One more step, and he would have had me squeezed between him and the door.

Not that this was any better, even now I was being suffocated by that alluring scent of his. He might be a cocky dickhead, but there was no denying that he was hot as hell, and all this closeness had me more bothered than I would have liked to admit.

"Also, when you choose to be plastered on paper day and night, you kind of become the world’s business."

His eyes bore into mine, challenging me, on the other hand, his scent clouded my senses.

Goddess, this traitor mate bond, I needed to get a grip on myself and not be swayed by the mate bond. He was not.

Mate, or note that he did not get to speak to me like that. If he had a problem with me, he might as well just say it straight to my face.

"What the hell is your problem?" I shouted at him.

"It is you who can’t keep away from me, and you want to know what my problem is." Isn’t that interesting, now?" He barked back at my question.

"Maybe my problem is that I am not interested in you or in being seduced by you." He taunted me like it was a bad thing that I was seducing my mate.

"Seducing you? You can wish all you like," I bit back at him, "and this does nothing for me." I said as I eyed him from top to bottom, knowing very well that was a lie.

His eyes widened as he felt the blow to his frail ego, and in a flash of a second, he had me slammed against the door with both my hands pinned above my head.

The alpha aura rolled in the form of bashing waves. I was wrong to think that it was equivalent to that of my father’s or Sole’s, this was something entirely different. Something darker and stronger.

Who was he?

My heart hammered in my chest, mostly due to our proximity. He was even more handsome up close.

I gulped down the urge that was building in my chest and belly, controlling the swirling that had started in my stomach, tainting the air with the scent of my arousal.

"So, what was it that you were saying? I do nothing for you?"

His voice was barely a whisper, but as he spoke those words, I got another sight of his tongue piercing.

Oh, Goddess! Just thinking about what that piercing could do had me risking a moan, which I did my best to contain.

This was pure torture. Which he only intended to prologue as he pushed his knee between my thighs, opening them wide enough to give him access to my panties which were soaking wet.

He moved his knee further up until the rough bridge of his knee was grazing the soaking wetness, making me gulp another moan.

"Guess I do plenty for you, since you're all wet and turned on for me."

Those words accentuated all the rubbing and dry humping that his knee was doing against my wet panties, creating a rather welcome fiction between my legs.

The second I looked up into his eyes, I knew he was as dazed as I was by our arousals.

His eyes trailed my lips for a second longer, like he was going to kiss them senseless, his knee continuing the torment on my p***y, building my pleasure further and further.

The whole thing was hot as hell!

Getting knee f****d in the bathroom, by my stranger mate, whose name I didn’t even know.

Goddess, wasn’t this the ultimate bad boy fantasy?

I was a panting mess, readying myself to ride out the o****m that threatened to make its way to my core.

And this was when he had not even touched me, skin to skin, or used his hands or lips. Oh, how I would like to kiss those luscious lips.

My body automatically leaned closer to him in response to that thought, hoping he would gauge my intention and kiss me silly.

I closed my eyes as I waited for his lips, as well as the lurking release that wanted to course through my body.

My expectations were met with disappointment when he let go of me, letting my body fall to the floor, just seconds away from my o****m.

"Keep dreaming, princess."

I was still fuzzy from my arousal and the rude interruption of my o****m when his words hit me like a truckload, numbing my body and mind.

"Just know that none of these dreams ought to come true because I do not want you as my mate."