Chapter Four

Marilyn POV,

I just got out of a relationship I thought would last, that one last hope you have in the person you feel it in your bones you're going all in forever with.

"A mate outside the pack, Marilyn seriously." My sister scowled, my eyes snapped to the window and horror shot through me as I set my eyes on the mysterious man.

"I have no idea where this is coming from." I clung my hand onto my skirt. "My brain is fried."

We have been brainstorming ways to get out of this mess, I can't reject him, not now and I know for sure this was more pressing than it can be.

"Reject him." My sister Lori chimed in. "What is with the look, if you don't like him don't keep him, I have had a series of people rejecting their mate, and he is no exception." She rolls her eyes.

Lori was the youngest and got no patience for drama, but I always remind her to grow up which she definitely won't.

"You have no idea, this is Adrian Troccelli we're talking about here. Not Roland. That reminds me. What are you going to do with him?" Isabella asks.

"Butting in? No one in this family values my opinion." Lori mutters before leaving her seat in a fit of anger.

"They are no longer together." Isabella licked her lower lips glancing away.

"Oh," my mother blinked, I never wanted this to seem pathetic before my family. The embarrassment was overwhelming, she looked at me carefully, her eyes wandering up and down my body in more than a professional assessment. "You know the Bratva wolves are defiant. Marilyn can't reject him, it would wretch his heart." Mother was always hiding in hard times, and Father, well he isn't around no one has known his whereabouts after he got separated from his job ten years ago, so it was parallel to not having a father.

I turn to my sisters. "I shouldn't have been stubborn last year to make you come to look after me, I'm sorry Marilyn." Lori apologised.

I scowled at her, I found myself embarrassed around this asshole, he kept looking after me through the window in a flirtatious way, I turned to my mother.

My hand wrapped around my mother's arm with a familiar look. "Was grandma cursed?'' I ask.

Everyone gave themselves a knowing look, yes I'm insane, even a rebound should be kinder and nicer but this man, my mate, not only was he a rogue but from the Raven Pack. It's driving me insane.

"Why did you ask?" My mother managed to let out.

"Because," I stutter. "Nothing works out smoothly for me like any of you. And if in terms of inheritance, I got her hair. I feel deprived and unmatched in the gravel in my path." I scan their faces. Lori shrugged, Isabella was almost crooked and mother, her face was expressionless. "Guess I should let you guys be."

"Marilyn." Mother calls after me but I slam the door behind me as soon as I got inside my room.

Nights haven't been my muse lately and the day wasn't as warm and friendly either. I squeeze my hand through my cinnamon hair, my skin crawls, and I feel sick to my stomach as I climb out of bed.

Needing to get out of the confined space of my room, I strip out of my shorts and camisole, I tug on a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt, along with my comfy sneakers, the ones I managed to leave behind last summer. After pulling a brush through my hair, I leave my private suite in a hurry. The house is quiet and I keep my pace as thin as possible as I was quick to the main door.

The incident with Roland breaking up with me and having found my mate, Alpha Adrian of the Raven Pack keeps ripping me out.

Once I’m outside, I don’t slow down, and I begin to jog, just needing to get to the fountains.

Reaching the bank I sink down to my knees beside the marbles, my eyes locked on the stream, normally I would run but today everything comes to a standstill. "I can't bear this. I have to figure something out. Probably kill me, Roland will be eating in a five-star hotel and don't give a damn about me. Do I suck so bad to be treated like a piece of shit?" My voice grows strained as I recall how I was seeing the red flag and yet tag it as green.

Desperation mixes with the all-consuming shame Roland has imprinted on my soul over the past three years, from courting me to having me as his only to ruin what I thought was real.

It’s just running water, Marilyn. There’s no Goddess to listen to your prayer.

Feeling trapped in this never-ending nightmare, I lower my eyes, and then all the blood drains from my face when I see Alpha Adrian standing to the left of me with a pebble stone in his hand.

Our eyes locked knowing he's heard my prayer made my heart wish I would just vanish into thin air. After yesterday's incident, I did not wish to see him again. And I thought he would be fine but why would he? I'm practically his mate. The grim expression on his face makes emotion sweep through me. After we had almost a heart-to-heart discussion I found he would lower his coldness, but it suits me just right because he taught me how to manage my emotions and doesn't make him any less of a threat.

I should get up and leave, but I’m unable to make myself move.

Alpha Adrian takes a deep breath before he says, "I can help you master your emotion, become a Bentley, and show him what he's lost but that will mean you have to be my mate for the time being." Slowly, he rises to his feet, and then he

walks toward me.

Alpha Adrian stops next to me, and I have to tilt my head far back to meet his eyes. When he holds his hand out to me, I hesitate for a moment, not sure what to make of him, could he be the answer to my problem?

I was angry at him, he was negligent of the fact that I'm his mate and doesn't give a shit about it. "That isn't helping."

"Bet you want to get back at him for everything don't you? That little monster inside of you screaming for vengeance. Here I am trying to reveal what a beguiling muse you are."

I blinked, he spoke my heart. Clearing my throat I ask. "What is your gain in everything?"

"That is left for me alone." He turns and I tuck him by the shoulder.

The corner of Alpha Adrian's mouth lifts slightly and it makes him even more attractive. "I don't wish to use it, take it as a favour, I want to be left alone," I have spent the night thinking of how he could be this cold.

"Las Vegas. I have been there a few times and I almost can't remember."

My eyes lit up and I stared into his eyes. "So you do leave San Diego? Alpha Roland says nothing of you."

"On vacation, I hate meddling business with my peace."

We fall into step next to each other, and as the night swallows us, I become overly conscious of the powerful man next to me. Power radiates in every step he takes. My hearing focuses on the rustle of his suit and the side of my body is hyper-aware of Lucian’s muscled mould.

Who is Adrian really? An Alpha, one of the Bratva. The dangerous man we’ve been warned to avoid at all costs or…

“When you return, you will take me with you and take over your father, right?” I ask softly, filled with a weird need to get to know him.

“Yes.” I feel betrayed, something hit me about him being exiled because he couldn't get a mate.

"Yet you think you're offering to help me?" I looked into his eyes, I wasn't ready to be his slave or for him to think of me as an object.

With everything being said he just kept nodding his answers to me.

"The friends of my father is my enemy." He mutters and it has my eyes darting up to look at him.

"You must have done something really bad to be exiled." I quirk my brow. "Who is your enemy?" I'm sure he has many but I still ask.

"You pack fears me, I'm sure you know the answer." Alpha Adrian's gaze drops to mine.

"I sure do," I murmur looking down. I glance up at him again and something begins to snuggle at the back of my head, a frown form on my forehead trying to figure out what it is.

"Alpha Linux is benevolent, if you choose to lay low he won't mind selling up his alliance for his friend."

"I don't want his benevolence, he owes me that much."

There is no more conversation until we reach the pack house. When I turn to the side, I say. "So you're staying in our pack?"

"That is not happening."

Our eyes lock for a moment, and a foreign sensation flutters in my stomach. I close the door to the changing room quickly and make sure to lock it. Staring at the dark wood, hope and attraction stir in my chest.

Careful, Marilyn. Don’t fall for his charm just because he’s shown you kindness, he’s only helping here in exchange for your loyalty and himself, to get back what is his.

My heartbeat begins to speed up when everything sinks in. He's taking me with him far away from my pack.