HIS FATHER, MY MATE

Mate???

Aria didn’t wait to see more. Her body moved before her mind could catch up. The sounds, the betrayal, it all rushed at her like a storm, tearing through every wall she’d carefully built.

She ran, like the wind, she ran.

Down the hall, out into the cold. The moon bore witness to her agony, casting pale light across the cobbled courtyard as her feet pounded the earth. Kael was right behind her, fighting with the ropes of his shorts. She would not be surprised if Lyra were right behind him.

Perhaps they were going to tell her we didnt mean to hurt you, it all just kind of happened and Aria was in no mood to hear it.

But Kael still chased her, determined to catch up with her.

“Aria!” Kael’s voice thundered behind her. “Aria, wait!”

But she didn’t stop, she couldn’t.

When his hand finally caught her wrist, she spun around with a fury she didn’t know she had. Her chest heaved, and her eyes glistened with unshed tears. Kael looked startled, but just for a moment, even regretful; however, it was the smugness under his concern that set her off.

“What is wrong with you?!” he screamed at her.

“What is wrong with me? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!” Aria screamed back. “You were… I caught you f*****g my sister in the house that was supposed to be ours. How long has that been going on, huh? How long, alpha?” she mocked him.

“Just this night, I swear. It was just this night. I told you your sister has always been around me and my guys, but nothing has ever happened between us. Come on,”

“You do know she is seventeen, right? She can’t be your mate. She will be getting her mate next year, and then what will you do?” she asked angrily.

“What do you mean, what will I do? What I will do is none of your business. We are mates, and you cannot do anything about it. The moon chose you for me; you are mine. I am your Alpha!” he said in his arrogant voice.

Aria stepped back with a scoff. She looked at him and all the smugness on his face. My alpha, he said.

“I, Aria Damaris, daughter of the Nightfang Pack, reject you, Kael Thorne, as my mate.”

The silence after her words was deafening. Kael’s expression morphed from shock to rage.

“What do you think you are doing?” he asked, “You dare reject me? Do you know what it means to sever a bond like ours? I’m the future Alpha!”

“And I’m not your second choice,” she said bitterly, yanking her arm free.

Kael’s lips curled. “Fine,” his voice a resolution to her terms, “I accept your rejection. Let’s see how long you last, Aria. I hope you don’t come crawling back to me.”

He turned and stormed off, his pride more wounded than his heart. Aria waited until he was gone before her legs gave out beneath her. The pain, the ache, it all came down on her like a heavy downpour. It wasn’t just emotional, it was physical too, draining even. The broken bond felt like claws ripping through her soul.

She crawled into the tall grass of the meadow that bordered the pack house, the moonflowers brushing her skin like ghosts of comfort. She sobbed there, hidden by the night, cradled by the wildflowers that had once seemed so beautiful to her.

Time passed, though she didn’t know how long. Long enough for the earth beneath her to feel like a cradle. She cried her heart out; she hoped it felt bloody.

Her chest twisted and turned, and churned with pain. She wondered how she could overcome the betrayal. She suspected it, but to think Lyra, her only sister, thought the best way to get a mate was to sleep with hers.

Just as she was lying there on the ground in her tears, wallowing in self-pity, a shadow fell across her, and a familiar scent caught her attention. Not Kael.

"What are you doing out here all alone?" the voice asked, all gruff.

Aria immediately wiped away her tears; she knew who it was.

"Nothing, Alpha. I just came here for some fresh air, that's all," she replied, the lie flowing through her teeth.

There was a grunt, and before she knew it, his hands were lifting her chin, and something crazy happened.

Sparks flew all over her. She felt her body come alive with his touch, from her hair to her toes.

She gasped and almost took a step back, but the Alpha gripped her arms and held her in place.

"My son is a foolish boy, foolish," he said, his voice thick as he stared at her face.

Aria could not see his face fully; she could only make out his silhouette under the moonlight, but she could not mistake the way he breathed her in, or the stare she felt on her face.

Not wanting to make things awkward, she stepped back and cleared her throat.

"Alpha..." her voice a sweet whisper filled with emotion. She could hear the want in her voice, so she cleared her throat and tried again.

"Alpha, what are you doing here?" she asked, not daring to look at his face.

"What do you think I am doing here?" he asked her softly.

Aria obviously could not answer that question. How was she supposed to know what he was doing out here?

But instead of saying what she thought, she shrugged and looked away.

"I heard your wolf whimper, I heard her in pain, and I came. What did my foolish son do this time?" he asked with a sigh.

She was sure he felt everything she had felt, but somehow he wasn't talking about and it made her wonder why.

"I caught him cheating on me... with my sister, so I rejected him," she replied to him, her voice filled with emotion.

Aria could not see the Alpha's face as she was not looking at him, but he smiled, and his wolf almost took over.

"Don't stay out too long," he said and disappeared into the woods.

Aria could only stand and wonder what that was all about, but then she heard her wolf moan at the back of her mind,

Mate