Chapter 1

AARON

"Why me? Can't the Beta do it? I'm not in the mood to drive." I groaned in my seat before throwing my head back on the headrest of the couch at the Alpha's office.

I know it was a lousy excuse and seemed disrespectful, but my Alpha knew me better. I just talked like this, but I would never defy his order.

"Aaron, stop asking why. You know the answer already." Clair answered annoyingly. She was sitting comfortably on the Alpha's lap, while the Alpha just looked at me, his lips pursing.

"I don't have a choice, right?" I closed my eyes. I knew the answer already. "Fine. But just so you know, I'm already starting to lose my patience with Janna. She fucking knew how to push my buttons. It's not my fault if I end up abandoning her somewhere if she continues to irritate me."

"Of course, you're not going to do that. If you leave her, you'll come back to pick her up, right?" My sister, the always goody-good Clair, would always make it a point to turn my words back on me.

"You know, my father only trusted Janna with you, Aaron. And he won't allow her to come here if it's not me or you picking her up." Alpha Jake said in a firm voice, his face void of emotions.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I shouldn't have saved her back then. Then maybe I'm free from this task." I snickered.

The Alpha didn't say anything back. He knew I didn't mean those words. I was just fucking pissed off at how big of a brat Janna has become.

But of course, my sister wouldn't let it slide and ended up throwing a pen in my way.

"Fuck! What the hell, Clair?" I jolted from my position and glared at her while rubbing the side of my forehead that was hit by the pen. I didn't see it coming since my eyes were closed.

"Take it back! Janna is family, and I don't like the way you talk about her!" She snapped at me, her eyes throwing daggers my way.

"Baby, calm down. He's just playing around. We both know he would never leave Janna alone to die or abandon her. Janna is safer with him than with anyone else." The Alpha's arms wrapped around Clair and pulled her closer to his chest.

"Thanks, Jake." I let out a deep sigh before standing up, placing my hands in my pocket.

As much as I hated this task, I felt proud to be trusted by the Alpha and his father when it came to their little brat. "I think I should prepare for the long drive. I want to go as soon as possible."

"You don't need to go now. It's late by the time you get there. You can pick her up tomorrow morning..." Alpha Jake was looking at me while his hands were still holding on to his mate.

"Nah, better to drive at midnight. Besides, I have things to do tomorrow with the Elite warriors. Your father won't mind, right?" I asked, my brow arched up.

"No. I told him you'd come either tonight or early tomorrow."

"Then I'll go now. We'll be back here by dawn."

"Thanks, man."

"No problem..." I turned around and was almost at the door when Clair called for me.

"Aaron..." Clair's voice was soft this time and made me turn around to face her. She was already on her feet and was walking towards me.

My forehead creased as I watched her open her arms, wrapping them around my body. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be that rude to you. And thank you..."

I chuckled and returned her hug before placing a soft kiss on the crown of her head, ruffling her hair as she pulled away from me. "You know, I could never be angry with you."

She smiled warmly at me before going on the tip of her toes to kiss my cheek. "I can't wait for you to find your mate, Aaron. I'm sure she'll love you."

"Yeah, right," I replied with a bored tone. "You're making it sound like I'm in a bad place without a mate." I chuckled without enthusiasm and turned on my heels, heading for the door. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

I didn't wait for them to answer as I went out of the office and out of the pack house.

The words Clair said were still ringing in my head as I slipped inside my car and drove off.

Maybe I was in a bad place.

I broke it off with Jenny this morning.

I didn't know how many times we broke up in the duration of one year, and all the time she would come crawling back in and I would let her. And the cycle just continues. But I knew the breakup today would be final. It has to be.

She's not my mate.

And no matter how many times I denied it, that I wasn't bothered by the absence of my mate, I knew deep inside I was longing to find her.

Seeing my Alpha and his Beta with their fated mates always left a pang of envy in my chest.

We all grew up together.

As Alpha Jake would always say, 'No one gets left behind,' but then, here I was, all alone without my mate.

I wondered if I would ever meet her.

I hope the Goddess wasn't punishing me for playing around.

The females I've been with knew what they were getting into. No promises, no strings attached. So it shouldn't be taken against me.

I only made one grave mistake.

I took advantage of Jenny and her feelings for me.

It was so supposed to be just messing around, to fuck up the Alpha's head because he was messing around with my sister. 

But I got sucked in along the way.

And the next thing I knew, we were together.

I don't do relationships. But then I thought, why not give it a try? I knew it was wrong.

But I really did feel something for her, although it wasn't strong enough to make me want to give up my own mate.

Jenny is an amazing female. Beautiful and brave in every sense.

And I tried to return her feelings. I swear I did. I tried.

I never fucked or slept around while we were together.

In fact, I never fucked anyone for a fucking one whole year except her, even on those days that we broke up. 

It must make up for all the floundering around I did, right? I hope the Goddess will agree.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I saw Jenny at the side of the road, waving at me as I was about to approach the end of the border.

How did I forget that she was one of the patrollers manning the border tonight? And would definitely use it to her advantage to talk to me if she saw me passing by. 

"What's up?" I asked nonchalantly as my car stopped where she stood.

I tried to act as if I didn´t care about how she felt right now. The more of an asshole I became, the more it would be easier for her to let me go.

She took a deep breath before speaking, "Where are you going?"

"Picking up the brat. Alpha's order."

"Why do you always have to pick her up? There are others who can do it." Her forehead creased as her arms folded over her chest. She didn't like the idea of me picking up and driving Janna back and forth, which I've been doing for almost a year now.

I knew that even if she didn't say anything, she was jealous of the time I got to spend with Janna. If she only knew how impossible it was to deal with the Alpha's sister.

I just shrugged my shoulder and said, "I don't know. Ask the Alpha."

"Aaron, can we talk again after you come back?"

"Yeah sure, I'll see you around at the training ground." I started the engine and was about to maneuver the steering wheel when her hand held onto my arm.

"Aaron, I want to talk about us." She swallowed hard, and I could see tears welling in her eyes.

This was it. She would try to win me back again, and I would be a total man whore because I would fucking let her in again.

"Jenny, it's over. Let's not waste each other's time." 

"No. You don't understand. We'll talk when you come back."

I didn't have any chance to rebuff her because she had already stepped back, turned on her heels, and ran towards the post where the other warriors were stationed.

I pressed the gas pedal and drove off, reminding myself that she's not my mate.

She needed to move on and find her mate, and not waste any more time on me.