Chapter1

“Look at me when I talk to you, girl!” Freya screamed and I flinched as the knife in her hand came closer to my face. My stepmother, Freya, had never used a knife on me but she was just cruel enough to try and I was not about to take any chances.

“Let her look at the ground, Mom” Selena scoffed, “Mateless bitches like Maya here shouldn't look us in the face.”

Risking a strike from Freya, I shot Selena a menacing glare as my anger rose with my current helpless situation. She was the reason why I was in this mess.

Freya raged on. “How long have you been stealing in this house?”

“I didn’t steal any–“

The resounding slap that landed on my cheek was expected but like every other one, it still hurt like a bitch.

From the kitchen island, my stepsister cackled. That evil she-wolf was the one who had stolen the pearl necklace Freya was so fervently searching for. However, I could not dare tell Freya that her precious daughter was a lowlife who pawned off her pricey jewellery to buy drugs, she would never believe me, and what she would do to me then would be far worse than this.

She seethed “Don't you dare lie to me.”

This had become a common scene in this house since my dad four years ago and I was so sick and tired of it. I could not wait to leave this wretched hellhole.

Resisting the urge to transform into my wolf and tear this whole place down, I grabbed my bag and made my way to the door.

“Where do you think you are going?” Freya demanded.

I did not pause my steps “To work.”

My hand landed on the doorknob and escape was so close when an object smashed into the back of my head.

A sharp pain pulsed through my skull and a feel of the area showed I was bleeding. A human would have been knocked out by that.

I turned to see Selena's hand in the air.

“Oops!” She exclaimed mockingly. “Sorry sis, my hand slipped.”

At my feet, the plate she had thrown rolled idly. My eyes welled up with angry tears but there was nothing I could do that would not earn me a beating from the both of them so I left.

By the time I arrived at the club, my anger had mostly dissipated. Time had taught me that there was no point keeping my anger pent up. I worked as a bartender at the club and mixing drinks for customers worked perfectly for taking my mind away from my sad reality.

I made my way to the bar after dropping my things off in the backroom but saw a server already in my spot mixing drinks.

“Yo Maya!” he greeted me when he saw me. “No hard feelings, boss wants you to serve tonight. You came in late.”

Another reason to hate my stupid family. My boss hated tardiness and I hated serving drinks to people who had nothing better to do than guzzle down alcohol till the early hours of the morning. Unfortunately, we werewolves had high alcohol tolerance so my feet were going to suffer tonight.

I took a deep breath, pasted a fake smile and began making my rounds.

“Over here! What the fuck is taking so long?” A voice called from a table at the back after about an hour of me serving.

“Be right there!” Impatient, rude brat I thought as I hurriedly loaded some shots, martinis and Bloody Marys onto my tray before I made my way to the back of the dimly lit club.

The closer I got to the table, the stronger a certain scent became and I took a whiff of the air trying to place what the unknown yet pleasant smell was. It gave off a lovely blend of cinnamon and pine trees.

“Here are your drinks.” I distributed them around the table of he-wolves and she-wolves.

Someone scoffed “Took your sweet time, didn’t you, princess?”

My patience for the evening was running very thin but just when I straightened to snap back at the idiot, I caught that delightful scent again and the intensity of it made me look round the table to find its source.

The second my eyes landed on him, I immediately knew.

In that moment he spoke up. “Quit it Chris. If you want it quicker, go to straight bar next time.”

“Mate.” The unintentional word left my lips in a whisper but of course everyone on the table heard. Conversations seized immediately and my mate’s head whipped in my direction.

Skin as pale as the moon, jet black hair and stormy blue eyes. He looked gorgeous...and awfully familiar.

“Maya?” He asked as he stood up. Beside him, a girl asked a question but I was too focused on him to think of anything else.

This could not be happening. There was no way ex-boyfriend was my mate. The Moon Goddess could not be this cruel to me.

“Damn.” He smiled. “Maya, it’s really you.”

My mouth stayed glued shut but Kylan just went on.

Alpha Kylan to be exact. He was now the Alpha of our pack the Lunagrove pack. No longer was he the boy I had once loved so deeply.

“Wow! How unexpected! You look lovely.” He said, like he had not broken my heart to a million pieces four years ago. Still, as his eyes scanned me from head to toe, I could not help but love the spark of desire in his eyes and I hated myself for it.

I was finally made aware of our surroundings as an angry blonde stood up abruptly beside Kylan.

“What the actual fuck is going on right now?” Her words dripped with venom and she glared daggers at me.

She splayed her hands on Kylan’s arm possessively. Within me, my wolf growled as another woman so boldly claimed our mate but all I could do was stare as Kylan wrapped an arm around her and placed a reassuring peck on her lips.

“Nothing babe, just an old friend.” At Kylan’s words, I scoffed.

That was why we had broken up. He was such a beautiful liar. He had cheated repeatedly and then finally broke up with me the day after my dad died. According to him, I just wasn’t enough.

“Excuse me for a second.” He said to the occupants of the table, all of whom had been watching our interaction curiously. “Maya can we talk outside?”

Four years after our breakup, I was now twenty-two years old and still a fool for Kylan Greene because instead of rejecting him right there as my mate, I silently followed him out of the building to the quiet alley behind.

Away from the curious eyes, we stood facing each other. If only we had dated till my eighteenth birthday then I would have at least known that the man who stood in front of me now was my mate.

“Maya...” He said, finally breaking the tense silence. Kylan took a step towards me and one look into his eyes made me take one back. We continued that way until my back hit the bare wall of the club, halting my steps.

Kylan stood right before me and I felt intoxicated. My heart leapt as his hand settled on my hips.

“You look gorgeous, Aya.” He whispered huskily in my ears. “And your scent– like sun-kissed strawberries, mouth-watering.”

All the reasons why we should not have been in that position escaped from my mind at the sound of the nickname he gave me in the past. Still, I forced myself to talk.

“Kylan you have a girlfriend for Goddess’s sake! And it's been four fucking years!” I placed my palms on his chest to shove him off but they stayed there.

“You’re my mate. Maya, she doesn’t matter. You are my mate.” He said earnestly as his face drew closer to mine. “And I am so sorry about four years ago, I was an absolute fool. I missed you. I missed us.”

“Kylan...” I didn’t know if the breathy plea was me begging him to kiss me or begging him to let go but my hands moved up from his chest and laced behind his neck.

I was not oblivious. I knew Kylan would lie to get whatever he wanted and in that moment, he wanted me. His hooded eyes stayed fixed on mine and his thumb traced slow sensual circles on the thin strip of exposed skin above my jeans.

His kisses had always been like a drug and right then I craved it.

My fingers pulled gently on his hair at the nape of his neck and he growled lowly.

“You’re killing me, Maya. I need a taste.”

My tongue darted out to wet my bottom lip and Kylan’s eyes darkened as they followed the movement.

“Kiss me.” I pleaded finally.