Rejected By My Mate, Claimed By His Rival

Chapter 6

Aurelia’s POV

I shouldn’t be nervous. It’s just an act. A performance. A means to an end.

So why does the look that Julian gives my heart stutter? Why does the warmth of his hand around mine feel… real?

I should pull away. I have to remind him — and myself — that this is all for appearances. That he’s merely a pawn in my revenge game.

But then I look up to see Drake stalking us from across the café, his jaw tight, his eyes stormy with something he won’t say. And suddenly that fire in my chest rekindles.

You don’t get to be mad, Drake. You made your choice. You threw me away.

Rather than pulling away, I let Julian hold my hand. I grip his fingers even harder, angle in just enough to make it feel like something intimate.

“Oh, really,” I say, sweet and mocking. “What other things do you love about me?”

Julian doesn’t miss a beat. He smirks, but there’s something else in his eyes — something considered, as if he’s genuinely pondering the question.

You know I love how your voice gets sharp when you’re mad, he camps, tilting his head. “The way you don’t back down, even though you’re terrified. And I love how you do not allow anyone to break you, even when you are hurting.’

I blink. My throat constricts without warning.

I forget, for a moment, that he’s playing along. That he is changing course on the fly. Because … it doesn’t sound fictional.

It feels like he’s really kind of witnessed me.

I swallow and smile, pushing down my discomfort. “I see you’ve been watching me closely.

Julian laughs lightly, rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb with a lazy little movement. Must be hard not to when you’re the most exciting thing in this town full of dullness.”

I glare up at him, but then the air is violated by a voice more pointed than our claws could ever be.

“Well, isn’t this absolutely disgusting?

Sierra.

I suppress a sigh and turn my head just in time to catch a glimpse of her strutting toward us, manicured claws digging into Drake’s arm as she leads him along.

“It didn’t take you long to throw yourself at another man, did it, Aurelia?” she scoffs, a malignant gleam in her eye. “I shouldn’t be surprised, I guess. Once an omega, always an omega.

I brace for the insult to land hard. But strangely, it doesn’t. Maybe it’s because Julian’s hand squeezes mine, anchors me.

Or perhaps because for the first time, I am not weak.

I smile. “And yet, here I am, an omega male, and I’m sitting here having a lovely date, and you’re wasting your time on me.” I c**k my head. “Don’t you have a future Luna, or something, to put together?”

Sierra loses her smile for half a second, then quickly recovers, throwing her hair over her shoulder. “Drake wanted to come here, so I thought I’d come with him,” she says, tightening her grip around his arm more possessively.

I arch a brow. "Oh? Drake wanted to come here?" I look at him now, letting my eyes slowly shift across his tight shoulders, his shaping fists, the fact he’s not taken his eyes off Julian and me for one second.

Interesting.

“Yeah,” Sierra goes on, her voice biting. “And since we are technically meant to be together, it just makes the most sense to —”

"You sure about that?" Julian interrupts smoothly.

Sierra applies her stink eye to him. "Excuse me?"

Julian flies back in his seat, smirking like he’s totally unbothered. But I know better. I can feel the slight tension in his body, the tight way his fingers flex against mine as if he’s controlling himself.

“I think it’s just funny,” he says, eyes shining with something dangerous. “Okay, you keep saying you and Drake are meant to be, but he has not looked at you once since you came over here.

Sierra stiffens.

This makes me bite my lip to keep from laughing.

And Julian, infuriating man that he is, makes it worse by releasing my hand—just to put his arm on around my waist instead.

All at once, Drake’s body stiffens.

“Weren’t you supposed to be worried about your own mate’s attention, sweetheart?” Julian purring at Sierra, his fingers drawing lazy circles on my hip. “Because from what I see from my perch, he looks… distracted.”

I swear I can hear Sierra’s teeth grind.

Finally Drake snaps and grabs Sierra’s wrist, pulling her back. "Enough," he mutters.

Enough of what? Her attitude? Or his jealousy?

“You’re right,” I tell him, leaning a little farther into Julian. "This is sickening." I glance at Sierra. "Not because of me, though. You’re the one who’s pitching a fit in public.” It’s kind of pathetic."

Sierra looks like she’s about to rip my head off. But just before she can do anything, Julian sighs dramatically and stretches.

“Well, as much fun as this has been,” he says languorously, “Aurelia and I have more important things to do. Babe, you ready to go?"

Babe?

I bite back my protest and go along. "Absolutely."

Julian smiles and, in one fluid motion, he’s up on his feet — and extending his hand to me.

I take it.

Drake appears to want to tear Julian’s arm from its socket.

Sierra has killing-me eyes.

And I?

I feel powerful.

For once, I am not the one being humiliated. I’m not the one who’s leaving crying.

This time it’s me leaving them behind.

Julian guides me out of the café, our fingers threaded together, and I can feel the stares of the entire room lingering on us.

But when we walk out the door, I finally exhale a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

"That was… intense," I admit.

Julian snorts. "That was fun."

I give him a look. “Are you always having fun pissing people off?”

"Only when they deserve it." He winks. “And when that gets under Drake’s skin? Even better."

I shake my head, sighing. “Oh, you and Drake really don’t like each other, do ya?”

Julian’s smirk flickers, only for a split second, but I see something unreadable in his expression.

“It’s complicated,” he says, pausing slightly.

It’s the way that he says it that makes me want to ask more. But I don’t. Because then you would actually have to care. And there is no plan to care about Julian Adams.

Instead, I steer the conversation away.

“Well,” I say, folding my arms. “Having established our public debut, what now for this ridiculous deal of ours?

Julian grins.

"Now?" he says, stepping closer. "Now we make it real."

My stomach flips. Oh, moon goddess. What the hell have I gotten myself into?