The mate i was never meant to Have

Forbidden

Sophia's POV

There was no resistance from his part as he kissed me back, fervently and deeply, like he’d been waiting for that moment all his life. His lips moved against mine with raw hunger, and for once, I didn’t feel unwanted. For once, someone wanted to kiss me back.

No, it wasn’t my first kiss. But it was the first one that actually meant something. Reid had never liked kissing me. He always made it feel like a chore, a favor, like affection was something I had to earn from him.

And now, as this stranger’s lips pressed harder against mine, I couldn’t help thinking of all the time I’d wasted loving Reid, trusting him, believing that he was what I’d been waiting for. I had poured everything into him, every dream, every ounce of emotion, hoping he’d fill the space Alexander had once occupied in my heart.

Maybe I’d only fallen for Reid because I needed someone to be by my side. Maybe I’d only held onto him because I didn’t want to face the emptiness of losing again. And yet, he had turned out just like everyone else, heartless.

I kissed the stranger harder. I poured all the sadness, betrayal and loneliness I’d bottled up into that kiss, as if pressing my lips against his could erase it all. As if I could drown out the pain and replace it with something and anything else.

He stood and I followed. Our bodies moved without thought, drawn together by some reckless gravity neither of us fought. His hands found my waist, my back met the wall and the world around us blurred into the haze of alcohol and want.

A door opened behind me. I didn’t even realize we’d stumbled into a room until he pushed me gently inside. The door clicked shut behind us, sealing us in the dark.

After that, everything turned into fragments.The sound of our hearts pounding against the silence.

And then him.

When he entered me, a shock of pleasure tore through me so raw and foreign that my breath hitched. I felt stretched, filled and undone in ways I never had before. He moved inside me, deeper and harder, reaching places Reid never could.

For once, I wasn’t invisible. For once, I wasn’t unwanted.

And then everything faded.

***

The morning light bled into the room through the cracked curtains, stabbing my eyes awake. My head throbbed like it was being split open and my body felt heavy, aching in places that reminded me too vividly of last night.

“Come on, there’s no way I’ll ever accept her as my sibling. I told my father not to remarry, but he didn’t listen. No one can replace my mother.”

The words floated hazily into my ears as I turned slightly. My vision was still foggy, my mind sluggish from the alcohol. His tone was casual but irritated, like he was venting to someone on the other end of a call.

“I had a good time with this chick I found last night,” he added and that sentence alone jolted something deep in me.

My eyes snapped open.

The memories slammed into me all at once, the hallway, the kiss, the door, the heat. My breath caught as flashes of his hands, his body, his voice all crashed into focus.

We’d slept together.

I turned my head, heart hammering in my chest, just as he ended the call and glanced down at me. His hand reached out instinctively to touch mine, maybe to finish the teasing retelling of last night but when our eyes met, the world stopped.

The air thickened instantly.

“You?!” I shouted, my voice breaking through the silence.

“You?!” he echoed, eyes wide with disbelief.

We spoke in unison, both frozen and stunned.

My body went rigid as I scrambled upright, dragging the sheets to cover myself. My pulse thundered in my ears as realization sank its claws deep into me.

The face staring back at me wasn’t a stranger. It was Alexander.

The arrogant, cocky heir of Silverstone Pack.The Alpha’s son and my new stepbrother!

My breath caught in my throat, horror washing over me as the truth hit like a silver bullet.

It was only then that the flashes of that night began to play again in my head, hazy images of what happened, the touches, the heat, the wild rush that had overtaken us. No wonder Kattie and her minions had run off immediately when they saw him in the hallway, she wasn’t drunk like I was. She had recognized him. She must have feared he’d punish them for trying to cause a scene with me.

“You gold digger! Did you plan this to happen?” Alexander’s voice snapped me back to the present, laced with anger and disgust.

I froze, staring at him, unable to process the venom dripping from his words. My mistake. How did everything go so wrong so fast?

“I—what?” I stammered, still clutching the blanket to my chest, my heart pounding. “I didn’t plan anything. I didn’t even know—”

He cut me off, his tone cruel. “Don’t play dumb with me. I bet you came here hoping this would happen. Just like your gold-digging mother seducing men to climb higher.”

I blinked back the tears that stung my eyes, staring at him in disbelief. How dare he?

“I didn’t do anything!” I fired back, my voice trembling with anger and humiliation. “I was drunk just like you! It wasn’t planned!”

But he wasn’t listening. He was too busy spitting venom to hear the truth. “Don’t lie to me, Sophia! Did you think sleeping with me would somehow tie me to you? Or did you hope to trap me so you could stay in this pack? I will never accept you nor your gold digging mother!”

That was it. That was enough. I could take his hatred, his disgust but dragging my mother into this again? No.

I stood up abruptly, clutching the blanket tighter as I moved toward the door.

He reached out suddenly, grabbing at the blanket to stop me. The fabric slipped from his grasp, but his hand caught my wrist instead. The moment his skin met mine, something snapped.

His eyes widened. Mine did too.

A warmth spread through my chest, wild and uncontrollable, the air around us humming like it was alive. I could feel a bond awakening.

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head violently. “No, no, no, no, no—”

But even as I denied it, I could feel it taking hold, the invisible silver thread connecting our souls tightening between us, glowing faintly, shimmering like moonlight.

Alexander’s expression shifted from fury to disbelief, then to something that looked like fear. He knew. He knew what this was.

And I did too.

The mate bond.

The one thing I had prayed for all my life. The one thing I had dreamed would happen with someone who truly loved me.

And now… it had formed between me and Alexander, the arrogant, heartless heir of Silverstone Pack.

My stepbrother.

Tears welled in my eyes as the reality sank in.

I had spent years hoping for a mate to be given to me.

But not like this. Not now. Not when it was forbidden.

Why, Moon Goddess? Why now?