Chapter 2

Kylan’s lips crashed into mine and I let out a sigh of pleasure. I was going to regret this later but I did not care.

His hands traced up my body and heat coursed through me as he fisted my hair to deepen our kiss. A small moan escaped my lips causing a smile to form on his.

“You taste so good, Aya.” He whispered when he pressed firmly into me. Desire spiked in me and I tugged roughly on his hair. I needed more.

“Kyl—”

“YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!” I ripped my hands away from Kylan as though he burned.

The blonde from earlier in the club stood seething before us. He was my mate, I could not bring myself to regret my actions but I felt somewhat dirty as Kylan had technically just cheated on her with me. The sight of her doused the desire that Kylan's touch had lit.

“Lily, honey, let me explain.” Kylan sounded so soothing like he was trying to calm a wild animal. His tone sounded eerily similar to all the times he had tried to explain himself after I had caught him cheating.

A sad smile blossomed on my lips “You haven’t changed at all, have you Kylan?” I almost felt sorry for his girlfriend.

I straightened my clothes, stepped away from him and turned to go.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Lily spat out vehemently. She was the second person asking me that tonight and it made me realise how long and extremely tiring this night had been so far. It somehow just kept getting worse.

She stomped towards me, red in the face with anger. I waited for Kylan to stop her, to tell her that I was his mate, to tell her that they needed to sort things out and break up but he stayed silent. Then again, what had I expected from such a cowardly Alpha?

“Look Lily,” I started “You and Kylan need to talk things out a—”

For the second time tonight, a slap landed on my cheek so hard my head swivelled. Again I waited for Kylan to say something. Again he remained silent..

Numb, I turned to Kylan. “The least you could do is be a half-decent Alpha because you certainly can’t be my mate.” I had enough shit going on at home, I did not need a mate like him. Memories and feelings from the past be damned.

Kylan moved towards me. “Maya wait.”

“I, Maya Renshaw, reject—” My conclusive words were cut off by a panicked-looking Kylan. Lily on the other hand, looked like she could not believe what she was hearing.

“Maya, please don’t do this.” He pleaded. “Just give me a day.”

I turned my throbbing left cheek for him to see, I was sure Lily’s palm print would show and from Kylan’s wince at the sight I knew I was right.

“You see this?” I said. “You didn’t say a word but now you want me to wait? I do not need you back in my life, Kylan, fated mates be damned. My life is hard as it is, I don’t need you in it if you still haven’t changed.”

“You can’t be serious right now, Aya. You can’t just throw us away.” Kylan said in a quiet voice.

To the side, Lily stood incredulously speechless. I wondered how she felt in this unfortunate situation.

“But you could? Am I suddenly enough now, Kylan? Or will you get bored of me again?” I hated that I wanted him so bad, needed him so bad. How could the Goddess curse me this way?

My voice cracked as I continued. “If you want a chance with me, come find me when you’re serious. The second I figure out that this bond is a joke to you, I will reject it, I don’t fucking care.” I hated that I was going to wait for a man who lit me up from within but didn’t realise my worth.

Shoving down my resentment, I returned to the club and worked the night away before returning home. Every interaction felt like a blur because my mind kept wandering to a certain Alpha with blue eyes.

The next day, Sunday, passed by uneventfully. I stayed cooped up in my room to avoid my dreadful family while my mind replayed yesterday’s encounter over and over.

I had mixed feelings about my mate. Partly, I was glad to have met Kylan again despite our past and I held on to a tiny bit of hope that this time it would be different between us. On the other hand, I felt pathetic for even telling him to come find me instead of immediately rejecting him. Deep down, I doubted Kylan would change or if I could even bring myself to trust him again.

That day was like the calm before the storm because the day after that brought with it absolute chaos.

I woke up to a loud banging on the front door and dragged myself away from my warm bed to check who it could be this early in the morning. When I got there, Selena had already beat me to it and yanked open the door irritably.

“What? Why on earth are you banging our door at six on a Monday morning? You want to tear it down?!” Selena was not a morning person. It was satisfying to see her get worked up, I wish it happened more often.

“Are you Maya Renshaw?” A deep voice asked loudly.

I had been too focused on Selena to notice the towering he-wolf who now stood before her. Selena fell silent.

His face remained blank as he sized up Selena then he looked past her to gaze at me. What was going on?

“Maya Renshaw?” His question was directed at me this time.

“I’m she.” I stuttered. “She’s me—sorry—I’m Maya Renshaw. What is this about?” This man looked scary and last I checked, I did not go around making enemies– that was Selena’s thing.

“Great. I was sent by the Alpha to collect his mate.” He stated monotonously then added, “I'm Delta Ron.” Although I had never seen him before, I recognized the name. Ron was the pack's third in command.

I was still stuck on the word “collect”. I was not a freaking object for Goddess's sake!

Selena spoke up before I could. “The Alpha's mate?” She scoffed with her arms crossed. “You've got the wrong Maya, I can tell you that for sure. This bitch over here doesn't have a mate.”

My cheeks burned with embarrassment at her words and I was thankful Freya was such a deep sleeper to avoid making the situation worse.

“I would advise that you refrain from using such derogatory terms around me. I do not take it kindly with people like you.” At Delta Ron's near-threatening words, Selena angrily walked back to her room and slammed the door shut.

There was no need to ask Ron questions. I was simply going to follow him and see for myself what Kylan was up to this time.

“I'll come with you, just give me a minute to change.” I said.

“You don't have to, everything will be provided for you at the pack house. Just come.” He replied gruffly.

I looked down at the faded tee I had on over my minuscule booty shorts. Nope, not happening.

“It will only take a minute. Make yourself comfortable.”

I dashed back to my room before he could protest, and hurriedly put on the closest decent clothing I could find. I pulled my hair into a bun and grabbed my phone before returning to the living room

The Delta of our pack still stood stoically where I had left him beside the door. Without a word, he led me out and into a sleek black car. The ride to the pack house was a silent yet oddly comfortable one.

At the pack house, I had little time to admire the lavish mansion from which most of the pack affairs were run because I struggled to keep up with Ron's wide strides. Few people loitered the hallway and the domestic staff zoomed back and forth between rooms but no one paid attention to us.

Finally, we stopped at a door which Ron opened for me.

“You are to wait here.” He gestured into the opulent room. “The Alpha will be with you shortly.”

I walked into the room slowly while Ron closed the door and left. My attention ricocheted from the high ceiling that had a painting of a garden to the huge luxurious bed with multiple pillows and snow-white bedding.

I ran my hand over the soft fabric. Sleeping on it would be an absolute dream, unlike my bed back at home which constantly creaked and gave me back pains.

I sat on the edge of the bed and waited for Kylan to show up and tell me what this was all about. An hour passed by then two hours passed by without a word from him or anyone for that matter.

At that point, I was boiling with rage. He had no right to waste my time like this. If he wanted to say something, I could have simply found a way to get my number or come to my house himself.

The thought that I was going to work a night shift today with little sleep made me livid.

Another hour went by and I had had enough. I was finally fed up and stood up to leave when the door swung open.

Lily walked in first followed by the man I had been waiting hours for. Kylan looked oddly grim while Lily was positively beaming.

She had a wicked gleam in her eyes that reminded me of Selena and Freya and a bad feeling settled in my gut.

“Kylan, what is this about?” I started.

“Hi, Maya. Sorry for keeping you waiting, I hope your ride here was good.”

“Quit the small talk, Kylan. What am I doing here?”

My question was left unanswered by Kylan whose gaze stayed fixed somewhere above my head. Lily stepped up and hooped her arm in Kylan's.

The grin on her face was like that of a Cheshire cat.

“Well, Maya” she drawled, “since Kylan here has a hard time telling you what the situation is, I will.”

She dropped Kylan's arm and sauntered over to me.

“I understand how you must feel to have finally found your mate. Yes, yes, he’s fated for you and all that jazz.” She rolled her eyes sarcastically. “However exceptions can always be made, and your case, Maya Renshaw, will be an unfortunate exception.”

“What are you talking about? Kylan, what on earth is she talking about?”

“I’m talking about Alpha Kylan and I's engagement.” Lily announced theatrically with a satisfied smirk.