Moon Bound

Unexpected Mate

Blood rushed in my ears. My heart rate skyrocketed, not just shooting through the roof- more like exploding through it at lightspeed, and the ache I had felt between my legs last night was back with a vengeance.

He wanted me?

"You.. but.. you don't even know me," the whisper slipped out of me jaggedly as if it too was stumbling through the fog of confusion I found myself lost in.

"I'm your-"

"No!" I bolted past him. The rubber tip of my converse caught against the floor, nearly tripping me in the mad dash to get away from the man attempting to uproot my life. "No, no, no. You aren't my anything."

Hurt spread across his beautiful, angular face. He looked like I might as well have stabbed him. It made my heart burn.

I glanced out the window to check if Pete or Finn had showed up yet, but the parking lot was completely empty.

In less than twenty four hours, being stuck alone with delusional wolves had become my new norm.

Even when Aiden hunched in on himself he still towered over everything around him. Despite appearing uncomfortable, he was still glowy and powerful, and he stood out against the backdrop of the weathered 50's theme decor surrounding us like a large, muscular beacon.

I pressed myself into the far wall of the room, dwarfed by the records and black and white photos of vintage hot rod cars nailed above my head.

Just because he wasn't being aggressive like Garret didn't mean I was anymore safe. He sounded convinced that I was his m-word and that didn't leave much room for me to just walk away.

Territorial wolves were unpredictable and my dad had taught me to never turn my back on an unpredictable wolf.

"I'm a human."

"I'm a rogue."

Our confessions came spilling out at the same time. I felt my mouth drop into an 'o' as I gawked up at Aiden. He looked just as surprised as I felt.

"You're a shifter."

"You're an Alpha."

We spoke at the same time again. I waved my hands, my too long sleeves flapping around me frantically. "I can't shift. I'm a human. That equals no mate. And you can't be a rogue, you practically ooze Alpha."

Pain and confusion flickered across his face before it went neutral. "Do you mean to tell me that you don't feel the mate bond? How can you be human? Your parents are shifters. I could smell it."

Irritation flashed through me. He was avoiding my questions but expected me to answer his?

"I'm attracted to you," I admitted, heat burning my cheeks,"But look at you! Anyone would be. Other than that, no I don't feel a mate bond. I'm not sure what that is even supposed to feel like."

His brows twisted in agony. I dropped my head, feeling oddly guilty for upsetting him.

"And yes, my parents are shifters, but they didn't carry that on to me. Sometimes I can just barely feel my wolf. But I have never shifted. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I am a human."

Aiden's boots were in front of me in an instant. A gulp bopped up my throat as I stared down at the scuffed leather. He waited quietly. I eventually lifted my head to look at him. He appeared thoughtful, curiosity warming his eyes.

"I wouldn't exactly say you are human if you can feel your wolf," I opened my mouth to protest but he pressed a calloused finger to my lips. "I am an Alpha's son. But I went rogue. I eventually came across a group of other rogues that had made a pack amongst themselves."

A pack of rogues? What on earth?

Rogues were just that. Lone wolves. They didn't form packs. They were the exiled, the wicked, or just plain defiant. And they didn't mesh well in group settings.

A pack of rogues.

I rolled the thought around in my head, trying to wrap my brain around it.

"They are led by a man named Elias. He is strong. Unstable. Yet the other rogues hang on his every word. They are so desperate to belong that they don't care who or what they belong to."

I took in the information quietly. He used my silence as a cue to continue, "One night Elias started talking about revenge, about how badly he wanted to show the pack that banished him that they made a mistake. I was content to go on my way, but when I realized he was serious I felt that I needed to stay and see what he was going to do. I may be a rogue, but I still care for my pack and I needed to let them know what was happening in case he intended to target them."

"And what did Elias have up his sleeve for this little revenge plan of his?"

"Not little at all sweetheart," Aiden murmured. My eyelids fluttered when he reached out to stroke the side of my face.

"It's all of them. Every pack in the upper US. He wants to bring them to their knees. I thought he had gone off the deep end; his ideas were half baked at best. But then he started talking about his secret weapon. Elias loves to talk. Whatever gets him the attention he feels he deserves. So it didn't take much to get what I needed out of him."

Aiden sucked in a short, shaky breath. He pulled me into him, and I let him stroke my hair. I could feel his heart pounding beneath my cheek. The guy was freaking out.

"His secret weapon… is you."

I wrenched myself out of his arms, "Excuse me?"

This was too bizarre. This was too sudden. One minute I was going about business as usual doing what I did every day, and the next I'm being told that a power hungry wolf was out to get me.

I didn't get it.

Maybe Aiden was on something? Nothing he was saying made any sense.

I was Lyra James. A little human from a little town, working at a little diner living my little mundane life. Unexpected mates and revenge missions weren't in the cards for me.

"Elias wouldn't shut up about a girl with immense power. He had never met her, he said, but he knew stories and the stories led straight to this girl. Lyra James."

"I'm nobody," I argued weakly.

Aiden shrugged, "Apparently not. I high tailed it out of there. I didn't even know where to begin looking for you, but I knew I needed to get to you before Elias. You didn't hear him Lyra. This man is certain that you are somehow able to overpower all these packs. I don't know how he intends to make you do it, by force I would assume, but I couldn't let him harm an innocent girl."

"How heroic of you," I snapped. I didn't mean to be rude. But I couldn't help being on edge. This was f*****g weird.

"So I started searching," He ignored my jab and went back to running his long fingers through my hair, "I found you. Imagine my surprise when I also found out that you are my mate. The bond… it's so strong it hurts."

Aiden cupped my face, his amber eyes full of unspoken emotion, "How can you not feel it?" The question came out in a tiny croak.

This dude was really, really intense.

I shut my eyes, wishing I could shake off the overwhelm engulfing me. I was being pulled down in a sea of panic faster than I could comprehend and I was unable to resurface. The room felt smaller, warmer, and it was getting hard to think.

Run.

I wanted to escape, truly. I wanted to break through the door and never look back. Everything inside of me was screaming to get away.

Then I thought about Aiden's warm hands on my skin, and how even though it was unsettling, there was still a bit of comfort to it. It made it hard to just sprint out of the building without another word.

"Aiden, I'm sorry, but I'm not a powerful shifter. I'm not even an average shifter. For all intents and purposes, I am a human. At least by wolf standards. You went searching for no reason. Elias is crazy."

I moved to step around him, but he caught me by my arm. I cried out at the bone crushing intensity of his grasp.

"I know what I feel Lyra. This is real. You may not feel it yet, but I assure you it's there. I was going to protect you anyway, but now that I know you are mine, I would sooner die than let that man come anywhere near you. I don't fully understand his plan myself, but I know him well enough to not underestimate him." Urgency was radiating from him. His fingers dug into my skin, surely leaving bruises behind.

There was no way that a random rogue I had never even met knew who I was. It left me wondering if Aiden was unstable. Or a liar. He obviously had been stalking me, maybe he made up this shoddy story thinking he could use it to easily whisk me away from Crescent Valley.

Aside from the fact that he was trying to break my arm, he so far hadn't been overly threatening. Meaning he was most likely just out of his mind and not a lying serial killer trying to talk me into going along with him so he could chop me into tiny pieces.

"Let go," I whispered but he only tightened his hold. "Aiden… let go. You are hurting me."

That snapped him out of it. He released me and I rubbed at the sore spot. He started to lift his hand towards me but paused and dropped it back at his side. His fingers fidgeted around the seam of his jean's front pocket.

I smiled gently and turned to head towards the door. It was time for him to leave. I had other things to do, things that were real. He needed to take his delusions elsewhere.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not what you are looking for. Now if you don't mind, I seriously need to get things ready for opening." I pushed the door open for him. He stalked towards me, his long, thick legs putting him in front of me in a few mere steps.

"You need to come with me," He said gruffly, a muscle in his jaw jumping as he pinned me down with a stare. His eyes widened in desperation but he blinked it away before I could think about it too hard. Part of me wanted to comfort him. Part of me wanted to tell him to kick rocks.

Aiden Sullivan was strange. And I didn't have time for strange.

"I need to open the diner," I spoke slowly, trying to emphasize that I was done with this whole situation.

He raked his hands through his blonde hair. He appeared to be contemplating something and then his model worthy face hardened with resolve.

"You aren't going to come with me are you?"

"Respectfully- f**k no. I'm not going anywhere with you."

He nodded, not looking too pleased. "I was worried that would be the case."

I offered him a small smile and tilted my head in the direction of the parking lot. He sighed but dragged his feet past me.

The worry that was nestled in my chest lifted. I knew wolves could be stubborn, Alphas more so. It was surprising that he surrendered so easily.

He paused for a moment then turned. I c****d my head at his expression. He looked… guilty.

"I'm sorry."

Confused by the apology, it took me a second to realize that we were back inside the diner, with me pinned against the wall. I opened my mouth to scream but a rag was pressed into my face.

Aiden's garbled words were the last thing I heard as the room went dark around me.