CHAPTER FOUR

ZANDER

I was fuming when I realized someone overheard our conversation. When we turned and saw who it was, my Jaws clenched as I turned to Lance, my beta who facepalmed.

“What the fuck is wrong with Derek?” I growled.

“Don’t you know when to stop making jokes?” I turned to Derek, my gamma, and glared at him.

Derek laughed, not even trying to hide the amusement on his face. “I know I got you guys there.”

I shot him a glare, and he finally stopped laughing, his eyes darting to Vivian.

“Wait, you’re the CEO lady, right? Zander’s second chance…” Derek’s words were cut off before he could finish because I raised my hand, gesturing for Lance to shut him up.

"No. Not now, Derek," I barked.

There was no way in hell I was letting Derek blurt out to Vivian that she was my mate. Hell, I was still trying to wrap my own head around it.

I felt the mate pull when she bumped into me that day I went to her company for a meeting. Ever since that day I had been trying to get her off my mind but couldn’t. My wolf wanted her and was restless.

And now as fate would have it, we met like this again.

I’d rejected my first mate, Ava after she tried to poison me. So how the hell was Vivian my second chance mate? And why hadn't she realized it yet?

"Second chance, what?" Vivian asked, looking confused.

She looked at me, that beautiful face of hers scrunching up in curiosity.

The woman was a fucking perfection.

Her long white hair made her look like she stepped out of a fantasy world, and those green eyes? I'd drown in them if I had the chance.

Don't even get me started on those lips—perfect, pink, soft lips that I could already imagine pressing against mine.

But no. I wasn’t going to fall for her. I couldn’t. Not after what Ava did.

The pull I felt toward her was what was messing with my head. Every time I saw her, every time I heard her voice, I felt sparks of pleasure.

When I first saw her at the company, Maddox, my wolf, went wild when we found out that she was our mate. He was furious over how Vivian had been treated, and honestly, so was I.

I had Derek and Lance dig into her background after that, and what I found only made me want to protect her more.

I had no idea what was happening. Maybe it was the mate bond playing tricks on me, or maybe this was some cruel joke from the Moon Goddess.

But I wasn’t ready to let her in. Not yet.

“Forget about him,” Lance interjected, cutting into my thoughts. "The only thing Derek’s good for is fighting and security. But talking? Nah, he’s hopeless."

Vivian didn’t seem convinced, but she didn’t press the matter further. Instead, she turned to me and extended her hand.

“So, what do you say? Do we have a deal?” She sounded nervous, but the determination in her eyes was impossible to ignore.

I glanced at her hand and then her face, fighting the impulse to smile. “Deal,” I replied flatly.

We shook hands. Just like that.

She signed the contract, and Lance took her to the dressing room. Derek and I made our way to the event hall.

When I walked in, the place was buzzing. It had been a long time since I’d been in a public space, and the room filled with shocked faces as people realized who I was.

Everyone knew me in the business world, but no one knew I was the Alpha of ScarletMoon Pack. Nobody knew why I kept it a secret.

They started clapping, giving me a round of applause as I walked toward the altar, and the priestess waited to join us.

The tension in the air became so thick when Vivian was taking too long to come in, and I couldn’t help but feel a little anxious. Was Vivian having second thoughts?

I scanned the room, looking for her, but she wasn’t with her family.

Lance was about to go check when the doors opened wide. She walked in, wearing a white body-con dress that hugged her curves in all the right places. Her hips swayed, and her boobs were more pronounced than I ever imagined.

My thoughts went naughty. How would she look in bed? Naked and riding me? My wolf purred at the thought, and I quickly shoved the fantasy aside.

Vivian’s parents were shocked when they saw her, but they didn’t stop her. And of course, there was Alpha Ronald, her ex-husband. The bastard’s eyes literally popped out of his skull when he saw her.

I couldn’t help but grin. This was perfect. Let the game begin.

Vivian walked up to me, and when she finally reached the altar, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling.

“Cute,” Lance whispered in my ear, and I couldn’t agree less.

The ceremony went off without a hitch. Everyone was cheering, and the moment we were officially married, Alpha Ronald was the first to storm up to us.

“So, you cheated on me while we were married and you were acting like the victim during our divorce?” he demanded, his voice loud enough for everyone to hear.

I drew Vivian closer to me, my arm wrapping around her waist as she rested her hand on me. I wanted to smack him, but I held back.

“Does it hurt?” I asked him, laughing, enjoying how pissed off he was getting.

Vivian smirked at him. “Two can play,” she quipped, and that sent Alpha Ronald into a rage.

“You’re just a slut. You don’t deserve to be Luna of such a big pack. You disgust me,” he yelled, drawing even more attention from everyone.

That was it. The bastard was testing my patience, and I had finally lost the tiny bit remaining so I punched him.

God, it felt good. I’d been waiting for that moment since I found out he had ripped this woman’s company from her.

“Never speak to my wife like that again, you scheming bastard,” I growled.

Vivian was surprised, and honestly, so was I. But I didn’t regret it. Not for a second.

“Let it go, Zander,” Vivian said, her voice a little shocked but calm.

I couldn’t help but love how my name sounded coming from her lips. It sent a shiver down my spine. I bet it would sound even better when she moaned it.

Focus, Zander, my wolf warned me, and I snapped out of it.

“Why won’t you leave my daughter alone? She left you just as you wanted, so stay away from her,” Vivian’s mom said, standing strong.

Alpha Ronald scoffed and stormed off.

“Vivian?” Her dad spoke up. “How come you’re now married to Alpha Zander? Were you really cheating on Alpha Ronald while you two were together?”

Before Vivian could respond, I stepped in. “We don’t know how it happened. But after the day I went to her company, we found out we were mates.”

Vivian nodded in agreement, playing along.

“The Moon goddess made you both second-chance mates? That hasn’t happened for centuries!” Vivian’s sister gasped in excitement.

“I wanted to surprise you guys. Surprise!” Vivian said, spreading her arms wide.

Her parents seemed relieved. “Please take care of our daughter,” her mom said. “Promise us you won’t hurt her like Ronald did.”

“I promise,” I said firmly.

Vivian wanted to go home with her parents to pick up her things, but they insisted she stay with me for the night. They’d bring her belongings the next day.

We all parted ways, and when Vivian and I got home, I could see that she was impressed by the house. But I didn’t have much to say to her. My mind was occupied by everything else going on.

When we stepped inside, my uncle and his family were already there, waiting for us.

“Congratulations on your wedding to a girl we’ve never seen until today,” Tyler, my cousin, said with a smirk.

“Thanks,” I said, not in the mood to start a fight.

“You’re welcome to the family, Vivian,” Vanessa, my uncle’s mate, said with a mocking smile. “But I’d be careful if I were you.”

I could see what they were trying to do. They were trying to rile me up, but I wasn’t going to react.

I turned to them. “That’ll be all. We need to be alone.”

I led Vivian upstairs, my hand gripping hers tightly.

She looked at me, her eyes wide. “What was all that downstairs? The tension in the air was intense. And wait, are we sleeping in the same room?”

“Of course,” I said. “To make the whole thing look real. As for the insemination, we’ll do it the day after tomorrow. Your parents will bring your things tomorrow, so we’ll have to wait.”

She wanted to protest, but before she could speak, there was a knock at the door.

When I went to open the door halfway to check who it was, Lance stood there, his face serious and full of concern.

“We have a big and serious problem,” he said, his tone enough to set me on edge.

“What is it?” I asked, already knowing it was bad.

“It’s about Vivian,” Lance said.