2. MATE

Twenty Eight Years Later...

KAISER

"Damn! That was some crazy workout session bro." 

My friend Paul chirped as we walked out of the community gym.

"It was. I love working out," I replied.

As we walked, a girl stood in front of us, blocking our way. I looked at her. She had brown hairs, blue eyes and a sultry smirk on her lips. I checked out her outfit and that was the time when I immediately understood what she wanted. I rolled my eyes.

"But why do you guys need to work out? You're strong and sexy," she muttered as she checked me out.

"Why do you need to pass comments?" I mocked and then walked out from there.

"I don't like these girls," I scoffed and Paul laughed.

After a few minutes' walk, I reached my house.

"Mom! Dad! I'm home," I shouted out as I walked towards my room.

I flung my bag on the bed and went directly to the washroom to take a shower.

As I got out of the shower, my anger knew no bounds. That girl was sitting on the bed, half-naked. 

"What are you doing here?" I roared.

"Maybe, I'm your mate, darling Alpha. You should try to have it with me," she muttered as she walked towards me.

I stood there still as I had no mood to listen to her bullshit but I couldn't throw her away as I knew who she was. And then, she slowly started rolling her fingers all over my body. That made me feel disgusted.

"She isn't our mate. She isn't. She is a wretch!" 

I could hear my wolf, Ash, basically shouting.

"Thank you, Ash. I needed to hear this from you because I can't tolerate her anymore." I grunted.

And then, the other second, she was pinned to the wall as I held her by her throat.

"Ahh! Leave!" She choked.

"You aren't my mate! Remember that Rhea. Don't try to fool around me or flirt with me. Because that wouldn't attract me to you, it would just degrade your character," I groaned.

She was struggling, trying to escape from my grip. But she doesn't know what kind of a monster I am and how lethal I can be to her.  

The next minute, I pushed her to the floor.

She managed to get up and looked at me. Her eyes spurred anger and I couldn't care less.

"Kaiser Goreaxe! You're going to pay for this. I am the daughter of one of the most powerful Alpha's present. And the way you treated me, you won't be spared," she shouted at me.

"Oh! Piss off," I rolled my eyes.

And then, I heard her footsteps as she walked away. I had a serious talk to do with Mom and Dad.

"Mom! Dad!" I reached the hall, shouting their name.

They entered the hall, looking at each other and then they looked at me.

"Kais! What happened?" Mom asked in her usual extra sweet tone.

"What was Rhea doing in my room?" I questioned them.

"She is your mate, Kaiser. You should mate with her and form a bond now. You're the Alpha and you do need a Luna," my father argued.

"How many times will I have to tell you guys that Rhea isn't my mate? I don't even feel a bit attracted to her," I shouted at the top of my voice.

"Kaiser! Listen to us. You're twenty eight now, and most of the wolves find their mates before they're twenty. If you haven't found your mate till now, there might be only one reason," my mother spoke in a worried tone.

"What?" 

Even though I had no time for their bullshit, I had to hear whatever they had to say because they were my parents.

"What if the moon Goddess hasn't given a mate to you. What if you don't have a mate. You will have to mate with someone at least. Like your father did with me. You will have to mate so that, you have a Luna and your heir," she argued.

I sneered at her words. I couldn't believe she was asking to do the same mistake that my father did.

"Yeah! I snatch away someone else's mate and then, lose my respect in the pack as my dad did?" I questioned.

"Kaiser," my father shouted.

"What? Dad! No one respected you and you knew that. They just obeyed your orders because you were strong and their Alpha. But I won't be the kind of Alpha you're. I want respect from my pack. I don't want a murder spree of wolves just because I snatched it away from someone's mate. We wolves are already facing a lot from Humans, I can't let our kind die for petty reasons," I retreated.

My parents continued to look at me as I made my arguments crystal clear.

"If the moon Goddess has chosen me to survive without a mate, then I would happily do that. But I won't be mating with someone I am not bound by the moon and that's a clear decision," I announced and retreated to my room.

As I reached my room, I sat on my bed in frustration. The way my parents were behaving lately was pissing me off. I knew they were worried because I couldn't find my mate, but little did they know what I was going through due to this.

I wanted a mate for myself, but I didn't want someone I wasn't destined to. Even though it sucked to remain alone and lonely when everyone I knew had a great time with their mates, I couldn't snatch away someone else's love. Because love for me was the strongest reason to survive and I can't snatch anyone else's survival.

MAYA

"Dad! I'm leaving for work," I chirped as I walked towards the door of my house.

"Bye Darling!" I heard my dad's voice and it made me smile.

As I opened the door, I flinched.

"Samuel? What are you doing here?" I spoke.

I was not at all happy to see him here. I didn't know why, but I didn't feel comfortable around him anymore for a couple of months. He was my best friend, but now, I wanted to run away from him. And after the terrible night, I had, I didn't want to see him this morning.

"I have a surprise for you, M," he replied with a never-ending smile on his face.

"What surprise?" I curiously asked.

"For that, you will have to come with me," he teased.

"No! Samuel. Not today. I have to go to my lab. I have a lot of work over there, please," I requested him.

I don't know why, but I felt like avoiding him at that moment. He didn't seem like good news to me.

"Come na, M. You will love it," he argued as he pulled me towards his car while I tried to move him away and failed miserably.

I don't know why, I felt extremely weak to fight anyone.

He forcefully made me sit in his car, and then drove at a crazy speed while I argued with him to let me go, but he didn't listen. 

After twenty minutes, he finally stopped the car and I looked at him.

"What was this Samuel?" I shouted at him, "can't you understand I don't like this shit."

"I'm sorry Maya, but this is necessary for me," he spoke as he blindfolded me with a piece of cloth.

The moment my vision was snatched away, I started to feel nauseous and panic as I couldn't figure out what was happening around me. I tried to remove the blindfold, but before I could do that, Samuel picked me up in his arms and walked.

I was struggling to breathe in this condition, but I felt like Samuel didn't even care. And then, after some time, he put me down.

"Samuel! Are you nuts?" I shouted.

"I'm sorry, M," he replied as he slowly removed the blindfold.

The moment the cloth was off my eyes, I looked around and it was a shocker for me. We were by the lake, and the entire place was beautifully decorated with flowers and ribbons for the sake of a proposal. I immediately understood what was happening, and before I could react, Samuel went on his knees.

"Samuel!" I panicked.

He was holding a ring and was smiling as he continued looking at me.

"Maya Whitmore! We have been friends since we were kids, and I had the best time of my life with you. You have no idea how much you mean to me, and with that, I have started falling in love with you."  He continued with his proposal speech but I couldn't hear him anymore.

I looked around as I started to struggle with my breathing and my head started throbbing badly. It was hurting a lot like it did last night. I held my head tightly but the pain didn't seem to go away. It increased more and more with passing time. It was like someone inside my head was screaming something to me, and the more loud the scream was the more it hurt.

"I love you, Maya and I want to marry you!"

That was the last I could hear in that throbbing pain when I felt him sliding the ring on my finger.