Mated In The Shadows

Chapter Two

Ana.

He combed the dark curly hair with his fingers. His sand-brown skin now looked pale, and I could tell he was choosing his next words.

"I can explain to Ana, if you would let me," he pleaded, but nothing he had to say would mean anything or change a damn thing.

"You have nothing to say. You forget that you promised. We promised to be Us." My vision became blurred, but I couldn't let the tears fall anymore. He didn't deserve to see me cry.

But something in me wanted to hear him out. Maybe it's the mate bond. No. I was still a wofless girl who was yet to shift. It must have been my feelings betraying me for another round.

"Look, Ana," he sighed, "things are not the way you think. I'm obliged to marry her. That's the only way I can earn my father's respect and prove myself worthy," he explained.

Worthy, he did say. But to feel worthy meant he needed to make me worthless in a crowd.

Yes. Vincent had mentioned how he felt neglected by his dad. The Blue-Cresent park thought him unworthy to be their Alpha after the mystery surrounding the murder of fifteen park members. And his aged father was a proponent of this thought. The old man once threatened to pass the crown to Josephine, his younger sister, and Vincent would not let that happen. But what I couldn't understand was why my sister.

Of all the ladies in the park, did he have to go to my sister to prove himself worthy?

Hell no. There was something else, something he was not ready to spill.

"But why her. Did you have to marry her? Did you have to humiliate me in the crowd? Why set me up?" I demanded. "You have nothing to say, so get out of the way," I barked, jabbing a finger at my ear.

But Vincent, ever so determined, would not give up easily. In fact, he couldn't have given up knowing fully well that I knew everything about him, including what he had told me after his father threatened to make Josephine the Alpha.

"What! Are you kidding me? Hell no. I knew nothing about that." He sighed. "Look, I know you won't believe anything I have to say, but trust me, I never wanted any of this," he explained. His face, looking more pale this time, could not but scream out an apology.

It still didn't make sense. Did he have to set me up?

"Why did you set me up?" I demanded; for in spite of my rage, all I wanted was some explanation.

"I got a text message from an anonymous number threatening to expose me for my deeds. And you know I can't let that happen."

Like I said earlier, there were things he wasn't ready to spill, and this was one of those.

Vincent had so many things up his sleeves. Nobody knew that the coffee which saw his father lying on the bed for the past couple of months wasn't just any coffee. Vincent had slipped Ancha, the most deadly poison, into the coffee when he couldn't stand the thought of having his sister as the Alpha.

He took a few steps towards me and spoke in such a low tone that I could not have heard but guessed that he said, "I think your sister knows, and I would not be surprised if she had anything to do with the anonymous text I received."

I bet he saw how relaxed I was. He once let me in on his precarious situation and I could only feel sorry for him, sorry for the fact that he took extreme measures. If he was insinuating that my sister had set me up, well, it leaves no room to doubt her jealous nature.

He strolled a few steps and attempted to give a hug. That was a trick of his. One that worked whenever I was angry. And I can say that my nerves betrayed me because I wanted to be held in his arms, to feel his warmth at least.

But no.

I shoved him with all the strength I could muster. He staggered a few steps backward and dropped to the floor.

Not anymore.

I stared at him for a few seconds, adjusted my backpack and soon, I found myself running through the woods with no destination in mind. All I wanted was to get away from the park, and I succeeded because I flagged down a car as soon as I got to the highway.

Some guy with some Caucasian eyes who would not stop talking was magnanimous enough to give me a ride, but his accent, which seemed like that of a guy who had just started the first grade, pissed me off, and I dropped to catch my breath.

"Have a nice day!" He practically yelled as he drove off.

8:pm registered on my wristwatch, the only thing I had to keep track of time. I did a quick calculation and realized that I had run for hours, and my aching bones confirmed it.

"Care to join us! It's going to be fun!" a high-pitched voice came forth. A guy with a ring on his nose registered. He looked like a tout. His arms circled a lady with some pink legs and pink lips and every other thing pink.

Some other blonde-haired ladies with high heels came strolling by. They giggled but there was something similar in the direction they were all headed. A neon sign that read: Lousy Lou hung above the door. Its green light trickled down to two huge stern-looking men. Even though I couldn't hear a single song, I figured it must be a bar.

"Hey miss, this is a restricted area,-one of the stern-looking men cautioned. A bar, or whatever the hell was going inside, was the last place I wanted to be, but since I couldn't get a motel, I had no choice.

The door swung open just as I turned to leave.

"Hey, is there some trouble here?"

A guy with some hair that dropped just below his shoulder came into sight. Wrapped in some blue pair of jeans and a navy blue shirt, he couldn't be more casual, and yet, he carried some power in his voice. And I confirmed it when the two men bowed their heads slightly.

"No sir," they replied simultaneously.

You must be the boss, I thought.

The lights dimmed and glowed as the music blared from the speakers.

"Care for some drinks?" the guy I figured to be the boss asked. I couldn't understand why he was so nice. I almost walked away a few minutes earlier and yet, he seemed concerned about me.

"Yeah, sure. Of course!" I couldn't say no. I had been rejected, and I needed to forget him. I mean Vincent.

A dunked down a few rounds, and he couldn't be amazed when he saw a lady drinking. Since I was tired and had to keep going wherever fate would take me, I dragged my feet, my arms hanging around his neck as we found our way out.

"Taxi!" he said, waving his hands at some cars that wouldn't stop.

Was he trying to send me away?

I could only guess, but I refused to hop into the car, which screeched to a halt. The driver had no choice but to leave the crazy lady who stood by the roadside kissing a guy whom he must have thought was also crazy.

I couldn't explain how I got there. Did I walk? Maybe. Or maybe he had carried me on his shoulder?

Not a single idea did I have about how I got into a room with him, and I found myself in pleasure each time he thrust deeper.

Damn. It was great. Far greater than Vincent. The way he moved his body, the way he thrust and sucked my lips, it could be said that the mysterious guy had been doing this thing for a thousand years.

Did I moan?

Moan would not capture the indistinct sounds I made. I could not but be vulnerable beneath him.

"Shhh!" he exclaimed. My arms grabbed the sheet in an attempt to prevent the indistinct sounds. I couldn't stop. The sound of skin slapping against each other filled my ears as he continued to thrust faster. My entire body stiffened, and he groaned and emptied himself into me before slumping to the side of the bed.

Morning.

Mr, nobody left a note calling my most pleasurable night a mistake.

A complete turn-off.

Yes. He had addressed himself as Mr nobody in the note, and had called the entire thing a mistake.

Fuck! Men could be crazy.

But how crazy could they be? I couldn't say.

Was I Bothered?

Not at all. Great would best describe how I felt.

I tossed the brown paper onto the bed, scrambled the pants that could not but be moist into the back pack. He called it a mistake but could not avoid cumming multiple times.

Idiot.

I made my way out.

A thick palm fell on my mouth as I approached the roadside.

Did I scream?

Oh yes. I screamed, but it was all in vain. And where I was being hurled to, I had no idea.