Chapter Two - Too Late

Klaus's POV

"Why the hell did you do that?"

The voice of my wolf Donovan continues to echo in my head, his indignation strong. For the past hour, I've tried to ignore him and drown out his voice, but he just won't let me.

He can't accept the fact that I patted Astrid on the head like a puppy and sent her on her merry way.

He wanted me to do much more.

And the worst thing is, I wanted to do so much more too.

The moment I saw Astrid in that dress, I knew it was over for me.

She's beautiful, and I can no longer deny the connection I feel for her.

I've tried my best to avoid her all night. When Lexi told me that she would be hosting a party, I was determined to keep myself locked in my study so I don't have to see her. And for a while, I thought I was doing a good job. I thought I would get to call this night a success. Hell, I was relieved when I thought she wouldn't come here.

But I was wrong.

Because even when I heard from Lexi that she would be coming to the party, it was all I could think about.

Now, after what happened, combined with Donovan screaming in my head, I for sure would never think about anything else but her.

"You fucked it up again," Donovan continues as I try to keep myself locked in my study. "She was right there. And did you see the way she looked at you? Did you not feel anything, or are you just dumb?"

"I'm not dumb, and I felt it," I hiss at him. "Now please, let's just let it go."

"I will not let it go!" Donovan yells. "She is our second-chance mate."

That hits me like a punch in the gut, because it's the truth that I can never shake off.

Yes, Astrid is my second-chance mate.

She's the one destined for me after my first mate left me out of the blue.

I found out two years ago, when Lexi brought Astrid home for the first time to work on a project. The moment she stepped inside the house, I knew that she was my mate.

And I know that she felt it too, even though I know that she's human. I know that the mate bond was strong enough for her to know.

But at that time, she was sixteen, and I can't get over the fact that she's the same age as my daughter.

It's embarrassing for me. It's almost shameful. Sometimes I end up thinking that it's some sort of curse from the Moon Goddess, giving me a mate that young. It all just feels so wrong.

Even now that she's a grown woman, it still feels so sinful.

That's why I'm doing my best to step away from every point of temptation. That's why I'm locked up in my study now, trying to drown out every detail about her from tonight. From the way she looked to the way she smelled and the way she smiled at me.

No. I just can't do it.

"You're an Alpha, for the love of the moon goddess," Donovan curses. "Not only that, you are the Alpha of the Red Moon Pack. You're the most powerful out there, the strongest. Why are you backing down from destiny?"

"Because I'm living a new life," I tell him shortly. "This is not the pack anymore, I have no real power here. And I don't want it."

"All because your first mate disappeared and left you high and dry?"

"Don't go there," I warn him.

My hands are clenched, my nails digging into my palm even though they're trimmed close. The thought of my first mate never fails to make me tense up.

I don't even speak her name anymore, and I don't want to.

I just told Lexi that her mother died giving birth to her, and that's the story I would go with for the rest of my life. Because the reality is, I don't know where she is. I don't know where she went. She just vanished one day, leaving our daughter on my doorstep like a baggage she didn't want to carry anymore.

It has taken me years to get over that pain. That's why I left the world of Werewolves. I wanted to forget.

Eventually, I did. I raised Lexi on my own and we are happy together. I didn't think anything would get even better than that, even though I had to live with the pain of not having a mate. I was prepared to live with that big hole in my life, but then I met Astrid.

That's why I'm almost convinced that having her as my second chance mate is a farce from the Moon Goddess, because she's dangling love right in front of me, a love that I can't have.

"You know this is not enough," Donovan tells me as though reading my mind. "She's missing from your life, and it's killing you."

My body tenses. "I know. Now please, just stop--"

"No," he says stubbornly. "You cannot evade fate forever, Klaus. Someday, you will break."

And I did break. Not the way he wants to, but with him. My patience has snapped and now I'm annoyed. I want to get his voice out of my head, and the only way to do that is to get drunk enough to pass out.

With him still yapping in my head, I head out of my study and go down to the kitchen to get the strong liquors hidden at the top drawer. I don't drink, not really, unless Donovan is being a big pain in the ass and I just want to forget that he exists.

So now, I grab my trusty emergency bottle of rum and pour myself a glass. I drink it straight up. My throat burns from it, but I will do what it takes to stop Donovan from making me cross a line.

I pour myself another glass. Then another, then another. Until the bottle is almost halfway gone.

Usually, Werewolves take a pretty long time to get affected by alcohol, but since I've drank too much for a short amount of time, I can already feel the buzz.

I'm about to head upstairs and finish the bottle, but then someone comes into the kitchen.

My first thought is that it's Astrid. Long blonde hair, kind brown eyes. I have to blink a couple of times before realizing that it's her sister Anastasia.

"Hey, Klaus," she says, and there's a strange lilt in her voice. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting a drink," I tell her curtly. "Excuse me--"

The rest of my words get drowned when she grabs my arm.

My gaze falls from her hand to her eyes. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," she answers, walking closer to me until we're face to face. "You know, my sister likes you."

Like a teenage boy, my face goes hot. But I decide to play it off. "Well, I like her too. She's a good friend to my daughter."

Anastasia laughs. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Right," I mutter. "Now if you'll excuse me--"

"You wanna know something else?"

I sigh. "What?"

"I like you too."

My heart sinks. The urge to get away from her is eating at me. Now this feels more and more like a joke. My mate's sister likes me. Great.

"What's the punchline?" I ask her dryly.

"There's no punchline," she whispers.

And with that, she seizes my collar and kisses me hard.

Every single cell of my body freezes before flaring up with protest, not feeling the kiss at all. My mind is a mess, but it's forming one single thought, and that is: I don't like this kiss at all.

I raise my hands to push her off, but she just grabs my face and deepens the kiss, her hands going up to my chest and feeling me all over. A growl of protest escapes my lips, and I finally manage to push her.

Anastasia tries to kiss me again, but I wipe my lips and exit the kitchen as fast as I can.

I go to my bedroom, drinking the rest of the alcohol. Part of me denies what happened. Part of me wants to think it's a drunken dream. But the biggest part of me just wants to forget about it, so I drink the rest of the rum until I pass out....

"DAD!"

The sound of Lexi's voice snaps me out of it. I gasp, and suddenly I feel a splitting headache imploding in my head. I hear the bedroom door opening, but the light coming in from the windows is making my eyes hurt.

"It's morning already?" I mumble, out of focus. "Can you please close the blinds, sweetheart? I need to sleep--"

"Dad," Lexi cries out, shaking my body. "We need to go to Astrid's house, now."

I suddenly become alert when I realize she's crying.

"What?" I ask, sitting up. "What's wrong?"

Her eyes are red with tears. "Astrid... she's going away. She's leaving."

My hands go numb. "Where is she going? What happened?"

She shakes her head. "I don't know. She didn't tell me. I just got a letter from her. We need to stop her."

She doesn't need to say anything more. I forget everything else. I get up despite feeling like death, getting into my car with her and driving as fast as I legally can to the apartment complex where Astrid lives alone, sometimes with her sister when she comes over to visit.

I ring the bell over and over. Lexi is crying beside me. My heart is being torn into pieces. Anxiety is eating at me. I knock on the door instead, pounding on it and resisting the urge to kick it open. I knock until knuckles are red.

But no one opens the door.

Astrid is gone.

And I think it's because of me.