2

XADEN

I stormed down the hallway, my teeth gritted, clenching and unclenching my hands as I put as much distance between myself and my office as much and as fast as I could.

I'd had it up to my eyebrows with Celeste!

My entire body was vibrating and I was almost seeing red at that point. What angered me the most was the sheer – almost – hopelessness of the situation.

I headed for the stairs, people hardly used them.

I wanted a child, but I didn't want her child. I didn't want a child with Celeste.

I practically jumped down one flight of stairs and then,

“Arghhh!”

I punched the wall next to me. Hard. My chest heaved up and down as I stared at the serious dent I'd made.

The woman I called my Luna acted like she had me backed into a corner, I was pretty sure she believed that because we were already married I had no choice but to count on her to get pregnant and birth an heir.

But the war inside me was so much more twisted than that.

I leaned against the wall in the stairwell, trying to steady my breathing,

I'd gone so long without my mate I'd had almost no choice in the matter of marrying Celeste and hoping for her to birth the pack an heir and get the elders off my back. But oddly enough each day that came with her obvious ‘lack of child', brought me satisfaction, brought me hope, because it meant another day where I could meet my mate and not have a child tying me to another woman.

But because it also meant that the amount of times council meetings were called every month increased and the frowns on the faces of the elders deepened more with each meeting, it was like there were two vices, strangling me and pulling me viciously in opposite directions.

I didn't know what to think anymore..

What to feel…

A deep sigh emanated from my lungs and I shut my eyes, rubbing hard into them with my thumb and forefinger.

Celeste wasn't making things easier in any way. Storming into my office nearly everyday and demanding we keep going at it like bunnies, what the hell?

I found her appealing, there was no question in that, but a male could only take so much!

We'd probably had sex somewhere north of ten thousand times in the one year we'd been married. Every possible calculation and timing done, advice from diviners and healers taken, yet there was no heir to show for it.

It really was beginning to get obvious to everyone that she might never get pregnant.

And somewhere inside me I understood that it was why she was bordering on desperate right now. I sort of sympathised with her but the fact remained that I really didn't want to have a child with her! I don't know why I yearned so much for my mate, a good number of wolves led perfectly happy lives with chosen partners instead of their mates. But I didn't want that life…

Unfortunately, I didn't know how long I'd have to wait before the life I wanted would come. Or if it would ever come…

And the pressure just kept mounting.

My chest tightened and my Adam's apple bobbed up and down as I swallowed with emotion.

I pushed myself off the wall and ran my hand over my face, taking a deep breath.

I didn't have anyone to contend with tonight anymore – I'd nearly cleared my desk before Celeste came in, I'd put an end to the fight with her, there was no council meeting, so I could do whatever I wanted.

Calmed, I slowly made my way down the stairs. What was probably most pathetic was that I had no one to not ‘answer to’. That is no one to share all my frustrations with, no one to ask for advice without bias… I was alone.

I got into my car and as though I was on autopilot, I found myself heading to the bar.

This bar appealed to me because it was basically like an establishment for people like me. And everyone kept to themselves. No questions asked, no restrictions given. And I could subtly get campus info without the students knowing.

I arrived at the bar and tried to slip inside as unnoticeably as possible but the moment I stepped into it I was floored. All of my senses became more heightened and the most delightfully intoxicating scent tormented me.

I stood frozen to the spot for a moment, my heart beating wildly.

My subconscious had latched on to a realisation and something like excitement had immediately begun lapping at the edges of my sanity. A realisation I couldn't quite place my hand on.

Like a shark that had perceived blood, every other part of my thinking faculty receded and my brain honed in on the scent and began tracking.

I weaved expertly and obliviously between people, and in less than ten seconds I was at the far end of the bar counter, where the scent was most concentrated. Where I saw, sitting three feet away was a young, petite woman, drinking her senses away.

I was rooted to the spot for a moment, the thickness of her scent enthralling me and almost driving me insane. I wanted to groan in pleasure. How could someone smell so good? Who was she?

Clearly someone who wanted to OD on alcohol, the cautious part of my brain noted as it slowly came awake, noticing how much vodka she'd downed in the few seconds I'd been standing there.

I stepped forward and, glaring at the bartender, I stopped her hand as it moved to pour another shot into her mouth. A good number of my students frequented this bar and I saw it as my responsibility to ensure they didn't overdo anything. I definitely didn't know her but–

“What? You don't know how to have a little fun?”

MATE!

My body trembled. I immediately became slack jawed and in that moment I was lost.

Her eyes… her smile… the way her scent wrapped around me even more thickly as though attempting to gently suffocate me as she leaned into me… my body spasmed.

I'd found my mate.

I'd found my mate.

Woodenly, I pulled the glass out of her hand and set it on the counter.

“You've had enough of these.” I heard myself say.

I don't know how I managed to say anything, my throat was as dry as sandpaper and all I wanted to do was claim her, possess her, utterly lose myself in her–

“You… you have… no idea what–”

I couldn't take it anymore, I pulled her to myself and as though she'd been waiting for me to, her lips immediately found mine and I couldn't help the guttural moan that escaped me and the way I tightened my grip on her.

MINE!

MINE!

I almost couldn't believe it. Life was possible again and soon, very soon, I wouldn't have to deal with Celeste anymore… Oh goddess!

The way our lips moved over each other in such sweet synchrony – I was very unable to taste the alcohol on her breath – the feelings her tongue on mine stirred within me– she was worth it, yes, she was so worth the wait.

I wanted to take her right there–

She pulled away, blinking up at me, her full lips parted as they pulled into a smile and she whispered,

“You'll do for tonight.”

Shocking, but I didn't need a seer to tell me what my next move would be. I snatched the glass of whiskey the bartender had placed on the counter for me as per my usual and downed it in one gulp.

“Let's go.” I stated, my voice commanding, laced with barely restrained need.

She giggled like a puppy the entire way to the car and my chest continued to find new ways to twist into. I was basically panting for her at this point and it took everything in me to be able to place both hands on the steering wheel and drive.

I didn't want to ever not have my hands on her. I wanted to touch her. I wanted my hands on every part  of her body, caressing, sliding over, probing, cupping –

I sucked in a breath and my body spasmed again. I cursed the road for being longer than usual and I drove as fast as I could.

We arrived at my apartment. The one I holed myself in when the world was becoming unbearable. Almost no one knew of it.

I was still struggling with my keycard to open the door when she grabbed me by my collar and pulled my lips down to meet hers.

I groaned as her tiny moans fueled my hunger. The door gave way and I pushed her inside, lifting her up and wrapping her legs around me.

Her shirt was gone the next second. I couldn't help myself.

The way she grinded her core against me, virtually undid me.

I growled and took both her hands and, pushing her onto the bed – when did we get to the bedroom?–, I pinned them above her head.

“Who the fuck are you?” I gasped, my chest heaving as I stared down at her bare chest.

She flashed that  intoxicated and oh-so-maddening smile again and whispered against my lips,

“Raya… Soraya.”

They were the only words I let her utter that night.

I made her mine. In the way that she moaned, in the way that she screamed for me, I made her mine.

Every time I came in contact with her neck, I so badly wanted to sink my teeth into her soft delicate flesh and officially have her be mine. 

But she had a right to be completely aware when she was being marked by her mate. And I wanted it to be something we both did. Tonight was for losing ourselves. We had more than enough time to have a proper marking.

Or so I'd thought…

*********

I woke up the next morning, the smile I'd slept off with still very well plastered on my face, and I turned to her, ready for that otherworldly feeling looking at her gave me.

But she wasn't there.

I blinked, then in a twinkle of an eye I was pushing the bathroom door open to see if she was there. She wasn't.

I swept through the entire house in a minute, confirming with growing dread in my stomach that she wasn't here anymore.

Had I dreamed of her?

No… no. My sheets still smelled of her. Of her.

My chest tightened and my stomach twisted.

I'd finally found my mate… and she was gone.

And the only thing I knew about her was her name.