7. THE REJECTED MATE

Fiama

I felt the earth beneath me sliding away. My gaze iced on him as he walked towards me with a bunch of staff after him.

"There's Aren Stuart", Beta President whispered near my ears. "And you won't believe that he is too a werewolf, Alpha king of Blue moon pack"

Unaware of my past, the beta president kept telling me about Aren. However, my nervousness vanished in seconds. My wolf didn't react to him anymore. His existence, his appearance, nothing could affect me. I brought a casual smile on my face as he finally reached me, putting off his goggles.

A big smirk appears on his face, giving rise to his eyebrows. He was still the same, arrogance filled in his eyes and appearance. I didn't bother to see how he was looking.

"Welcome, Mr Stuart", I passed the bouquet to him, looking straight into his eyes as if I was meeting him for the first time.

"Thank you, Miss Case. Good to see you", he playfully smiled at me. I approached my hand for a quick shake. He paused looking at me for while then held my hand. I sensed his reactions changing.

Fuck! This asshole hadn't rejected me yet. That was why it was affecting him. Using a little force I pulled my hand away.

"Same here. Thanks for coming all the way to London. This means a lot to me", I smiled.

"Well....", he sighed, rolling his eyes around the place. "I had to come......to get what is mine"

My face dropped, delivering cold shivers all around my body. I didn't want him to create a scene on the inauguration of my company, also when a bunch of paparazzi were there.

"I mean the deal", he smirked. "I was waiting for a deal like this to come. You know the intense, killer and the sexiest", he uttered, moving his hands irrespectively as I shot him a glare. I was burning in anger inside but it was my misfortune to get him as my first client.

"Haha! You're a funny man", Beta President cracked up. "Sexiest deal? Only you can find a deal sexy"

"Of course", his gaze shifted to me as he licked his lips. I felt disgusted with his gaze and also with myself that once upon a time he happened to be my mate. "This deal is absolutely sexy"

What could I expect from a man who compared me to a deal?

"I hope now you understand why I rejected this jerk", I shrugged at Zendaya. "He is still the same. I recognised him so well"

"Yeah! Yeah! Got it. Now don't talk about him. I'm much interested in our current and mate forever mate now", she spoke.

Forever! I muttered to myself.

"Come, let's get inside and begin the conference", Beta President approached.

We walked along with the lobby, reaching the conference room. Aren's eyes were lurking around me the whole time which was discomforting me

We had all the business tycoons of the city invited for this inauguration. Besides, the deal wasn't finalized yet. Aren's company was about to choose a fresher company to invest his money in. Beta President made sure I got the deal. He had already spoken to Aren and told me that Aren had made up his mind to invest in our projects after analysing the potential. So this presentation was just a formality before signing it.

Everyone took their respective places- after that Beta President did a little intro discussion.

I stood up from my seat after his speech. "Good afternoon, gentlemen. I'm glad to have you here today. Especially Mr Stuart to attend this inauguration", I said, glancing at him for once. He was chewing the edge of the pen while gazing at me. I drove my eyes away. "So as I mentioned that I'll be presenting a short review of our first project, allow me to start it"

"Go on, Miss Case. We are eagerly looking forward to you", Aren spoke, leaning towards the table. He was sitting exactly on the opposite side of me around the long table.

"Thank you", I said in a cold tone and settled the monitor well.

It took me more than thirty minutes to present my whole plan on the spot. In my first presentation when Aren was present there wasn't supposed to be the best. But it was better than I thought.

Everyone clapped except Aren until I glared at him. It felt like he was forced to clap, wearing a sarcastic smile on his face.

"That's......", he folded his bottom lip when the environment calmed down. A line of stress appeared on his forehead. "That's not bad.... I mean good", even his words sounded forced. Still, I had to wait for his feedback.

"Is there anything that didn't satisfy you, Mr Stuart?", I raised my eyebrow.

"Well, there are many things that didn't satisfy me yet", his lips widened into a smirk again. "But if we talk about this project then don't you think that a school can hardly bring profit to the project", he husked. "I mean it's just a high school"

"I know Mr Stuart", I tried to be polite. "But this is the opening project for this company. I can't take up a project that worth millions right now nor any landowner will let me work on a big project right now. And if we talk about the school, it's not a tiny contract. It'll be one of the most expensive schools in London. The owner is specifically building it for the kids of celebrities and businessmen"

He glanced at me for a while and tossed the paperweight on the table. "Miss Case, this project doesn't look that much beneficial the way it sounded", he said.

"You're still yet to see our work, Mr Stuart. At least take a chance on it", I said, my voice filled with nervousness and anger. I didn't want him to spoil company just because we had a past.

"I don't take chance, Miss Case. I take actions, beneficial actions where I'm assured to get back ten times more profit", he shrugged. "And sorry for giving you the reality check, this project is not less than shit", he slid the file towards me as I iced on the spot by his words.

He stood up, buttoning his suit, his eyes clearly warning me about something terrible.

"You have great potential Miss Case. But this project is not for me to spend my money on. It literally failed to my expectations. And I'll be willing to work on a big project with one of these gentlemen", he announced.

I couldn't utter a single word to him. It felt like all my hard work of last year just faded away with the single contract. I stood there like a corpse while the other business tycoons began to talk about their projects to Aren and he was listening to them with full interest.

"Fiama!", Beta President came to me. "Are you alright, my child?"

I released a big sigh, rolling my eyes to control tears.

"Alpha!", David spoke from behind. "We can make a better presentation"

"Leave it, David. We are not going to get this", I whispered and walked towards the door, leaving everyone behind.

"Miss Case?", Aren's voice pinched my ears when I halted by the door. Forced enough, I turned around and found him standing in front of me, settling his hands into his pockets.

"How are you, Fiama?", he asked me, there was no one around us.

I didn't reply to him and strived to again while he grabbed my wrist abruptly. I stammered right there and looked around.

"Aahh.... You feel good to touch. In fact, you're my mate. Why won't I feel good?", he grinned.

"Shut the fuck up. I'm not your mate anymore. I had rejected you three years back. Stop daydreaming", I released my hand, giving him a jerk.

"And today I rejected you and your so-called project", he smirked. "How does it feel to get rejected?"

"It was expected from you. You can stoop so low to take revenge from me", I shrugged.

"Aha!", he shook his head. "How can I take revenge on my sweet little mate?"

I glared at him. I wished we were alone here. I would show him what I could do to him.

"I'm just.....making you worthy to become my mate again", he husked as my eyes shot up. "You know this arrogance that you have, for what you rejected me. I'm here to break this arrogance and pride, show you where you stand. And make you my luna happily"

He laughed like a psychopath as I shook my head in disbelief and disgust. "You're still the same, Aren. Still an asshole. But you won't be able to succeed", I spat. "I'm not losing my actual self for you. Keep daydreaming"

As I turned to leave, he grabbed my arm and leaned down near my neck. "You're mine, Fiama. And I'm here to get you. If there's any hurdle between me and you, I'll cut the hurdle off just like I cut off your pride today", he shrieked.