THE ALPHA’S HUMAN BRIDE

CHAPTER TWO:ENGAGED

NEVAEH'S POV

I blinked. Once. Twice.

Definitely misheard him.

Mate?

Why do hot guys always end up being weird?

I don’t know what kind of pickup line that was, but if I had a dollar for every man who uttered absolute nonsense in confined spaces, I’d have enough saved to escape this hellhole town and retire somewhere that doesn’t smell like overzealousness and wet socks.

The elevator hummed softly.

The tension? Not the best.

He didn’t look away. Just kept those impossible gray eyes on me like he was watching something ancient unravel.

Like he knew something I didn’t.

“I’m sorry—what?” I said, my voice cracked with less confidence than I intended.

“Mate,” he repeated, slower this time.

As if that would make the word less creepy. Or more sensible.

I took a half-step back—not because I was scared.

But because something about him made the air around me feel… thin. Like I was walking through fog that only he could see clearly.

“I think you’ve got the wrong person,” I whispered, my confidence slipping away. I took another step back while adjusting my bag over my shoulder and staring straight ahead at the elevator doors.

He c****d his head to the right and stared at me, hands shoved into his pants pocket.

His arrogant and completely expensive looking posture irritated me.

“Or maybe the wrong building. Do I look like someone who’d be into whatever cult-y thing you’re selling?” I continued, gaining my confidence back.

He let out a low chuckle, and dear god, it shouldn’t have sounded that good.

“I’m not selling anything,” he said, stepping closer.

Not too close—but close enough that I smell his cologne, not the strong smell from Mayor Colton. The kind of smell that made you feel right at home.

“I’m just telling you the truth.” He said his voice thick with something I couldn’t quite grasp.

I kept my gaze forward. The numbers on the elevator panel were crawling like they knew I was suffering.

“Look,” I said, silently begging my heart to stop racing. “I don’t know you. You don’t know me. Let’s keep it that way.”

“My name is Carter. Carter Tegelli. I know your name is Nevaeh,” he said, voice like low thunder.

“I know you smell like vanilla and trouble. I know I’ve been waiting for you”

Okay. That was… disturbing on so many levels. You would think that to pick up a girl, one would try to be less creepy.

“Do you practice that in the mirror?” I muttered, shifting my foot from one foot to another.

He didn’t smile. His expression was intense.

The elevator dinged. The relief I felt.

I practically lunged out of the metal box and into the hallway, my heels clicking like gunshots against the tile floor.

I didn’t want to look back. I couldn’t. Not when my heart was beating like it wanted to step out of my chest.

When I stepped outside, the cold air slapped me like a warning. The sun was still up, but it felt… dimmer somehow. Like something had shifted in Whistlecreek.

I climbed into my minivan with shaking hands. And for the first time in my twenty two years, I didn’t want dessert.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kiera was wiping down the bakery counter when I walked in twenty minutes later. Her short blonde bob bounced as she turned to face me, all sunshine and cinnamon rolls.

“Hello pumpkin,” she sang. “I saved you a brownie and made extra hot chocolate. I figured today would be brutal.”

I dropped into the stool and exhaled hard. “Brutal isn’t even the word. I met a man who called me mate in an elevator.”

Kiera’s eyes went wide. “Like… mate mate?”

“Like the animal kingdom version. Or possibly the cult version. I can’t tell.”

She leaned in like this was the best gossip she’d heard all month. “Was he like… cute?”

“Kiera.” I said as I rubbed my face.

“I’m just asking! Cult or not, a girl deserves details.”

I sighed, reluctantly pulling the memory of his face to the front of my mind. “He was… intense. He had really white hair, looked around our age, tall and really f*****g hot. And he had really pretty eyes”

She blinked. “So, you’d tap that.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

I dropped my head onto the counter and slowly realized something.

“He knew my name, Kiera. Said I smelled like vanilla and trouble. Who says that?”

“Someone who reads romance novels?” she offered. “Or maybe a stalker werewolf.”

I froze.

She grinned. “Kidding. Mostly.”

“Kiera—”

“What if,” she said, holding up a flour-dusted finger, “he really does like you. Maybe he’s just awkward when talking to girls”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m engaged”

Still, I couldn’t shake the way he looked at me. Like he knew every version of me I’d tried to bury. Like he saw me.

“Yeah…….. to a butthead”. Kiera mumbled under her breath as she placed a cup of hot chocolate in front of me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, I stood in the shower, letting the water scald away the lingering tension.

My apartment was silent except for the occasional groan of the pipes and the echo of mate replaying in my skull. I don’t know why the word bothered me so much.

I don’t believe in any of this paranormal nonsense, I don’t even believe in luck. But Carter Tegelli felt like something unreal. Dangerous.

And somehow… familiar in a way that made my heart go wild.

Wrapped in a towel, I stood by the bathroom mirror and stared at myself. Blue eyes. Pin-straight black hair. Same face I’d worn for 22 years.

So why did I feel different?

My phone buzzed on the counter. A message from an unknown number.

“You can fight it all you want, Nevaeh. But you are mine. — C.”

My stomach twisted. My fingers trembled.

I hadn’t given him my number.

But somehow, I wasn’t surprised that he had it.