A Moment to Breathe

The voice took me away from my thoughts, and I blinked to see if it was really him talking. Niall, the Alpha’s son, standing in front of me with his constantly fake friendliness, that was trying to hide badly his enormous ego and arrogance. His presence brought me immediately on edge.

"Mind if I sit?" he asked, but he didn’t even wait for my answer and started pulling out the chair across from me.

"Yes," I said sharply, with my voice purposely cold. "That seat’s only for my real mate and my real friends. You are none of them"

Niall's smile faltered and I clearly noticed a flash of irritation crossing his face before he quickly went back his usual fake smile. "Lya, it’s been over six months. You need to move on. Romer’s not coming back."

My jaw tightened and the familiar ache in my chest growing stronger. "That’s absolutely none of your business. As I said before that seat is only for my real mate and my real friends. You belong to none of them.”

Niall leaned forward slightly, and his voice became soft and mellifluous. "Look, Lya, we kissed. There's chemistry between us and it has been going on for a while now. It’s time to stop pretending. We should be together, you know that. Our families like each other and you know better than me how much your parents would love me as their son in law"

My anger level was reaching a very dangerous point. How dare he bring that up? That kiss had been a mistake, he tricked me into his room and now he was acting like it was something I've done willingly.

"I will never be with you, Niall, even if I have to spend the rest of my life alone, I will never be with you. You manipulated me, tricked me into thinking that you needed my help and I even believed you. You’re the reason everything fell apart with Romer and stop pretending like you didn't do it on purpose."

His eyes darkened, and his tone changed becoming harder. He was not used to people not accommodating his wishes, and he didn't take it well "I didn’t trick you, Lya. You kissed me. You led me on, and now you’re acting like none of it happened? You owe it to me."

I was very close to a rage explosion, and I could feel my cheeks burning in anger "I owe you nothing. That kiss was a mistake, and whatever you think we had is over, as It never even began."

Niall’ s expression twisted with anger, his voice now wasn't able to be friendly as usual and caught the attention of nearby students. "Romer’s gone, Lya! Even if he came back, I’d never let the two of you be together. You’re mine, and you know it."

The cafeteria had fallen silent, all eyes were on us now and somehow I managed to take out a sarcastic smile and said "Go find your real mate, Niall. Leave me alone."

For a moment, Niall looked as he wasgoing to reply something, but he quickly changed his mind. And with a hard face on he stood up and hissed "This isn’t over," before turning and getting out of the cafeteria, leaving a trail of whispers and curious glances.

My hands were shaking as I watched him leave, the adrenaline still pumping in my body, and with my mind feeling like fumes would come out of it.

"Lya, are you okay?" asked Cara

"Lya, don’t let him get to you," Tara said gently. "You know he’s just trying to provoke you now”

Cara nodded, concern etched across her face. "Come on, let’s get out of here. You don’t need to be around all this right now."

I let out a shaky breath, and with Tara's help I got up and the 3 of us went out of the cafeteria. Outside the air was fresh and the garden was quiet, and I felt immediately a sense of relief from the inside murmurs of those who saw the scene between me and Niall. We sat down on one of the benches beneath the oak trees and I slowly felt the tension leaving my body, but the weight on my chest remained.

Tara sat beside me, watching me carefully and said "You don’t owe him anything, Lya. Niall’s just being his usual entitled self. He doesn’t get to control your life."

I nodded but my thoughts were far away. "I know. But it’s hard. His comments always remind me of what happened, and he makes it sound like I was willingly kissing him. Romer kept saying that I shouldn't be so close to him, that he would try to trick me…and now he keeps spreading his lies"