CHAPTER ONE
942 Words
I didn't sleep that night.
I tried, but every time I closed my eyes, I kept hearing Ronan's voice.
She is forbidden.
I still didn't understand what that was supposed to mean.
I was sitting on the edge of my bed when my mother came in with a small bag in her hand. She had changed into a long dress, but she hadn't bothered doing her hair. She looked tired, and there was something about the way she was moving around my room that made me nervous.
She opened my wardrobe and started taking out clothes.
“Mom, what are you doing?”
“Pack a few things.”
I stared at her.
“For what?”
She didn't answer.
“Where are we going?”
“Just pack, Aria.”
“That's not an answer.”
She stopped and looked at me. For a second, I thought she was going to tell me everything. I really did. She looked like she was finally tired of hiding whatever it was she'd been hiding from me.
Then she looked away.
“You'll understand later.”
I let out a small laugh.
“That's what you always say.”
“I know.”
That surprised me.
My mother sat down beside me and rubbed her forehead.
“I know I've kept things from you, Aria. I know you have questions. But right now, I need you to trust me.”
“Trust you?”
I looked at the bag on the floor.
“After tonight, you're telling me to trust you?”
She didn't say anything.
I couldn't blame her completely. I knew something was wrong. I'd known for years, actually. There had always been things about my life that my mother refused to talk about.
My father was one of them.
Whenever I asked about him, she'd change the subject.
Whenever I asked why I had never shifted, she'd tell me that everyone was different.
And whenever I asked why people in the pack looked at me strangely, she'd tell me not to worry about what other people thought.
I'd believed her when I was younger.
I wasn't a child anymore.
A knock came from downstairs.
My mother immediately stood up.
I noticed the change in her face.
“Who is it?”
She didn't answer.
The knock came again.
This time, someone called from outside.
“Open the door.”
I knew that voice.
Ronan.
My mother grabbed my arm.
“Stay here.”
“Why?”
“Just do what I'm saying for once.”
She left before I could argue.
Of course, I followed her.
I stayed on the stairs, though, because I didn't want her to see me.
Ronan was standing outside our house with two men behind him. They looked like members of his personal guard.
My mother opened the door only halfway.
“What do you want?”
“I need to speak to Aria.”
“No.”
Ronan's face tightened.
“She is my mate.”
I felt like someone had pushed me.
I had heard the word mate before. Everyone had. I'd spent years wondering what it would feel like to finally meet mine.
I just never imagined finding out this way.
My mother turned around and saw me on the stairs.
“Aria.”
I came down anyway.
Ronan looked at me.
Neither of us said anything for a moment.
I didn't know what I was supposed to do. Smile? Say hello? Pretend I hadn't just heard that the most powerful Alpha in the territory was my mate?
So I asked the only thing that made sense.
“Are you really my mate?”
His eyes stayed on mine.
“Yes.”
My heart started beating faster.
I don't know why. Maybe because I'd waited so long to hear those words.
Then I remembered what he'd said earlier.
“If I'm your mate, why did you say I'm forbidden?”
His expression changed.
“I shouldn't have said that.”
“But you did.”
He looked away.
That was when I realized he was scared.
Ronan Blackwood was scared.
I didn't know what could possibly frighten a man like him, but whatever it was, it had something to do with me.
“What am I?” I asked.
He didn't answer.
I looked at my mother.
She was staring at the floor.
That hurt more than anything.
“You both know something about me.”
“Aria,” my mother whispered.
“No. I'm serious.”
I looked between them.
“Everybody keeps telling me I'm different. Nobody will tell me why. I don't have a wolf, I don't know anything about my father, and now my mate is standing in my house telling me I'm forbidden. What exactly am I supposed to think?”
Nobody answered.
Ronan finally looked at me again.
“You need to leave this place.”
“Why?”
“Because you're not safe here.”
“From who?”
He hesitated.
“From people who know what you are.”
I felt a cold shiver go through me.
“What am I?”
This time, he didn't even try to answer.
He simply turned around and walked away.
I stood there watching him disappear into the darkness.
My mother closed the door.
Then she locked it.
I looked at her.
“Mom.”
She didn't turn around.
“Please,” I said. “Just tell me the truth.”
Her hand remained on the door.
For a long time, she said nothing.
Then she whispered,
“I was hoping you'd never have to find out.”
- Writer
