The first meeting
1097 Words
Seraphina's POV
I can't sleep again
It's barely midnight, but my body refuses to rest. I've tossed and turned so much that the sheets are now tangled around my legs and worse is I can't stop thinking of Max. Ever since I met him, everything else feels worthless, like the love I have burning for him is all that keeps me alive.
Sadly, he is my mate. I wonder if he feels the same way I do. That's why I always tried to avoid love, it makes weak and takes away your power, your control. No matter how strong you think you are, there's always one person you love to death, for me it's Maximilian Blackwood.
My wolf shimmer is also restless, I need some fresh air, maybe the wind would take away his thoughts from my head as it passes by, I thought.
I sit up and drag the hoodie off my face, blinking into the dim light of my room. The fan creaks slightly above me, and the thin curtains flap against the cracked window frame.
Mom's faint breathing fills the air like a melody I've memorized all my life. She's all I have now after......
She's curled up in the cot beside me, wrapped in two thick blankets I dug up from the box in the storage shed.
She whimpered in her sleep earlier.
The pain is coming back.
I push off the mattress and move carefully across the room, kneeling beside her. Her forehead glistens with sweat, so I dab it gently with a cold cloth, the way the village healer taught me before we had to run. Her breathing eases, and I run my fingers through her brown curls.
“Hang in there, Mom,” I whisper, brushing a kiss to her temple. “Just a little longer.”
I pull on a pair of black joggers, a snug grey hoodie, and my worn out Converse. I need air, and more than that, I need space from the walls closing in, from the lies, from the guilt, and definitely from the damn Alpha I can’t stop thinking about.
I step outside into the cool night. The moon is low, hidden behind shifting clouds. My breath fogs the air, and I tug the hood over my head, shoving my hands into the front pocket.
The street is quiet, few people were still hovering around but they were few, the street lights were bright enough luckily . No one pays attention to me slipping out through the back and walking down the gravel path that leads to the garden. It’s a hidden nook behind the park, where tall hedges surround a space with a cracked bench and scattered rose bushes. No one comes here at night. Perfect.
My sneakers crunch over fallen leaves as I settle on the bench. The silence is deafening, but my thoughts are louder.
Why can’t I stop thinking about him?
I shouldn’t even like him. He’s an Alpha. He hates rogues. He could destroy me without knowing who I am. And if he ever found out about my real identity… or that I have my own pack hidden in the outskirts of the territory?
He wouldn’t just hate me he’d see me as a threat.
“Mate bond,” my wolf growls inside me.
“Shut up,” I mutter, rubbing my temples. “I didn’t ask for this.”
But the pull is strong. My chest tightens every time I remember the look in his eyes like he recognized me, even though he didn’t know why. And when his voice dropped low, like he was holding back from doing something reckless?
My insides flipped.
“You always show up when I least expect you,” a deep voice cuts through the night.
I freeze.
I know that voice. Damn it.
I look up, and there he is. Max. Leaning against the tree with his hands shoved in his jeans, dark jacket zipped halfway, hair tousled like he ran his fingers through it a hundred times.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I ask, pulling my hood tighter. My heart’s already sprinting.
“Needed a break,” he says casually, but his eyes don’t match his tone. They’re searching me. “Didn’t think I’d run into you.”
“Right,” I scoff. “Because you just happened to wander into the garden where no one comes.”
He smirks, but it’s tired. Like he hasn’t slept either.
“I was heading to the training field,” he lies, and I roll my eyes.
We sit in silence for a beat. Just our breathing, the rustle of trees, and the fact that the Moon Goddess clearly has a messed up sense of humor.
"Can I ask you a question?", I say looking into his eyes.
"Spill it",
"Why do hate rogues so much?"
"Does it matter"
"Yes, it does, if it hurts you so bad then I would want to know because it is affecting me also", I say
"fine, when I was ten we were attacked in the middle of the night by Rogues, I watched them tear apart my mom to pieces without mercy", he said and took a deep breath.
"Sorry",
"You don't have to Sera, despite the fact you are a rogue you are different and special", he added.
What did he mean by that, I thought he hated me a hundred percent.
I hoped so. There was a long stretch of silence.
Then he says quietly, “You ever feel like… something’s chasing you, even when you stop running?”
I blink.
He’s not looking at me now just staring out at the stars like he’s haunted.
“Yeah,” I whisper, hugging myself. “Every damn day.”
The pull between us is alive. It's in the air, in the silence, in the way my fingers itch to reach for his. I stand up too fast.
“I need to go.”
But the moment I turn, he grabs my wrist not hard, just enough to send sparks shooting up my arm.
“I shouldn’t like you,” he says, voice raw.
“Good. Because I don’t like you either,” I lie through my teeth.
But we both know it’s bullshit.
And that’s when a sudden roar echoes from the far distance one that doesn’t sound human.
We whip around, senses alert.
Rogues.
Max’s jaw tightens. “Stay behind me.”
But my wolf’s already on edge, growling.
Whatever attack this was, it won't be easy for those bastards.
- Writer
