Chapter 2
1385 Words
Ava's POV
"Sir, your meeting starts in five minutes."
A man in a black suit appeared beside us, breaking the spell. The stranger holding my wrist finally looked away from me, and I could breathe again.
"Cancel it," he said simply.
"But sir, the Koreans flew in specifically—"
"I said cancel it." His voice carried an authority that made everyone in earshot tense up. This wasn't just some random businessman. This was someone powerful. Someone dangerous.
He turned back to me, and that intensity was there again, making my stomach flip. "Have a drink with me."
"I don't even know your name," I said, finally finding my voice.
"Michael," he said, and my blood turned to ice. "Michael Blackstone."
Rachel gasped beside me. Everyone knew that name. The Blackstone pack controlled half the territory in the country. They were the only pack stronger than ours, and Michael Blackstone was their Alpha. The youngest Alpha in history at twenty-five, and the most feared.
But that wasn't what made my heart stop. It was his first name. Michael. The same as my rejected mate.
"You're... you're an Alpha," I whispered.
"Yes." He still hadn't let go of my wrist. "And you're coming with me."
"She's not going anywhere with you," Rachel said, stepping between us. Brave, stupid Rachel.
Michael's eyes flashed gold for just a second—wolf eyes. "Little pup, I admire your loyalty to your friend, but if you don't move, I'll have security escort you out."
"It's okay, Rachel," I said quietly. Something in me knew he wouldn't hurt me. My wolf was practically purring, which made no sense. "I'll be fine."
"Ava—"
"Please. Just... give me a few minutes."
Rachel looked between us, clearly torn. Finally, she stepped back. "I'll be right over there," she said, pointing to a corner of the lobby. "Scream if you need me."
Michael's lips twitched like he was fighting a smile. Then he was leading me toward a private elevator, his hand now on the small of my back. The touch burned through the thin fabric of my dress.
"I can't go with you," I said as the elevator doors opened. "I don't know you."
"You do," he said simply, guiding me inside. "Your wolf knows mine."
"That's impossible. I already have a mate." The words hurt to say. "Had. He rejected me."
The elevator doors closed, and suddenly the small space felt even smaller. Michael turned to face me fully, and I had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes.
"Michael Winters," he said, and I flinched at the name. "The Beta's son from your pack. He rejected you three months ago for your sister."
"How do you know that?"
"I make it my business to know everything." He stepped closer, and I backed up until I hit the wall. "Especially when it concerns what's mine."
"I'm not yours," I whispered, but even as I said it, my wolf was singing. Wrong, she seemed to say. We are his.
"Aren't you?" He placed his hands on either side of me, caging me in. "Tell me you don't feel it. This pull between us."
"I can't have another mate. That's not how it works."
"Unless," he said, leaning down so his breath fanned across my face, "you were never his true mate to begin with."
The elevator dinged, and the doors opened to reveal a luxurious penthouse suite. Michael stepped back, giving me space to breathe, but his eyes never left mine.
"That's impossible," I said, not moving from the elevator. "I felt the mate bond with him."
"You felt a bond," Michael corrected. "But was it the true mate bond? Or was it something else?"
My mind was spinning. The bond with Michael—my Michael, not this one—had always felt... wrong somehow. Forced. Like trying to wear shoes that were almost the right size but not quite.
"Come," Michael Blackstone said, holding out his hand. "Let me explain."
Against every logical thought in my head, I took his hand. The moment our skin touched, warmth spread through my entire body. Not the painful pull I'd felt with my first Michael, but something else. Something that felt like coming home.
The penthouse was incredible—floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city, expensive furniture, art that probably cost more than my father's house. But I barely noticed any of it because Michael was pouring two drinks at a bar, and I couldn't stop staring at the way he moved. Controlled. Powerful. Dangerous.
"Sit," he said, handing me a glass of something amber.
I sat on the leather couch, tucking my legs under me. "You said you'd explain."
He sat across from me, not on the same couch, and I was both grateful and disappointed.
"What do you know about forced bonds?" he asked.
"They're not real. Bonds can't be forced."
"Can't they?" He took a sip of his drink. "What if I told you that certain wolves, particularly powerful ones, can create artificial bonds? Bonds that feel real but aren't blessed by the Moon Goddess?"
"That's... that's dark magic. It's forbidden."
"Many things are forbidden. That doesn't stop wolves from doing them." His eyes darkened. "Michael Winters isn't just a Beta's son, Ava. His mother was a witch before she mated into your pack."
My glass slipped from my hand, shattering on the marble floor. "What?"
Michael was on his feet instantly, pulling me up and away from the broken glass. "Careful."
"His mother died when he was young," I said, my mind racing. "In a rogue attack."
"That's the story your pack was told." Michael's hands were on my arms, steadying me. "The truth is much darker. She was banished for practicing forbidden magic. But not before she taught her son a few tricks."
"No." I shook my head. "Michael wouldn't... he loved me."
"Did he?" Michael Blackstone's voice was gentle now. "Or did he love the power he could gain through you?"
"I don't have any power. I can barely shift."
Something flashed in his eyes. "Can't you? Or have you been suppressed?"
Before I could ask what he meant, the suite door burst open. Three men rushed in, all in suits, all moving with the fluid grace of wolves.
"Sir," one of them said urgently. "We have a problem."
Michael's entire demeanor changed. Gone was the man who'd been gentle with me. In his place stood an Alpha radiating power that made everyone in the room submit without thinking.
"What kind of problem?"
"The Winters pack is here. The Beta's son and his... fiancée. They're demanding to know if you have one of their pack members."
My blood ran cold. Michael. My Michael was here. With Luna.
"They can demand all they want," Michael Blackstone said coldly. "She's under my protection now."
"Sir, they're threatening to involve the Council if you don't release her."
"The Council has no power here. This is my territory."
"Actually," a familiar voice said from the doorway, "when it concerns an unmarked omega who belongs to another pack, the Council has every right to get involved."
Michael Winters stood there, looking exactly as I remembered. Tall, blonde, classically handsome. But for the first time, I noticed the coldness in his green eyes. Luna was beside him, her arm linked through his, smirking at me.
"Hello, Ava," my former mate said. "Time to come home."
"She's not going anywhere," Michael Blackstone said, stepping in front of me.
"She's my pack member," Michael Winters said. "You have no claim on her."
"Don't I?" Blackstone smiled, and it was all predator. "Would you like to test that theory?"
The tension in the room ratcheted up to unbearable levels. Every wolf present was on edge, ready for violence.
"Ava," Luna said sweetly, "stop causing problems and come home. You're embarrassing our pack."
"I'm not going back," I heard myself say.
Everyone turned to look at me. I stepped out from behind Michael Blackstone, my legs shaking but my voice steady.
"I'm not pack anymore," I said. "You made that clear tonight, Luna. You told me to leave."
"I told you to leave the house, not the pack," Luna said quickly. "Don't be dramatic."
"Sir," one of Blackstone's men said urgently. "More wolves. They're surrounding the building."
- Writer
