Chapter 5

AMELIA

The atmosphere in the room tensed as the golden-eyed man approached us. Zayn released his grip on me, his eyes narrowing with a mix of surprise and displeasure at the sight of the man.

The man’s gaze locked onto Zayn, his golden eyes gleaming with intensity. It was as if the air itself recognized the authority exuding from the golden-eyed man, and now as I met his gaze I noticed how handsome he looked.

I could not help but stare at him with my lips parted. The light in the corridor made his face, hair, and eyes look even more attractive by casting flattering shadows.

Damn! Moon Goddess, why didn’t you make him my mate? Why did you have to give me such a vile man as a mate? I groaned inwardly.

“I said, let go of my mate,” the golden-eyed man repeated, his voice echoing with a power that needed no argument.

Zayn, torn between anger and curiosity, finally released me. I stumbled back a few steps, my eyes never leaving the man. Zayn couldn’t help but feel a surge of frustration at being interrupted.

“Who the hell are you? Do you think being my father’s favorite bodyguard gives you any right to speak to me that way?” Zayn demanded, trying to regain control of the situation.

Bodyguard? He was Alpha Hector’s bodyguard? That couldn’t be possible, here I was thinking he was a guest who would get me out of this situation but it seemed he was only out to get both of us killed.

The man smirked, a confident expression playing on his lips. “Do your father really have favorites? I never noticed. What matters now is that you’re messing with something that doesn’t belong to you.”

“Belong?” Zayn ran his finger through his hair chuckling. “You will do well to report back to your position and stay away from my business.”

“Not when this business of yours concerns my mate.” the man's jaw clenched as he took a step closer to Zayn.

“Mate? She is mine, she is my mate,” Zayn yelled pointing a warning finger at the man to back off.

His mate? He must be crazy. He just said I could never be his mate and now he was claiming me, was this supposed to make me feel better? Because it wasn’t working.

“Prove it,” the man demanded.

“What?” Zayn furrowed his brow taking a step closer, his eyes suddenly changing color as his fangs began to reveal themselves.

Zayn is going to kill him, I can’t let this happen.

“H-He is just bluffing,” I stuttered rushing to stand between them, my back facing to Zayn as I placed my hand on the man’s chest trying to stop him from adding to Zayn’s anger.

I could feel his heartbeat as my hand fell on his chest, it was racing normally. Wasn’t he terrified? What kind of bodyguard was he? Bodyguards in the mansion were always scared of Zayn but not this man standing before me.

He had spoken to Zayn rudely, not once, but more than I could account for.

I knew he was trying to protect me, but claiming I was his mate was too much, especially since I had just rejected Zayn and he hadn't accepted it yet.

Mate bonds weren’t something to joke about.

“You are joking right?” I looked at him hoping he could understand. “You didn’t mean to disrespect the Alpha’s Heir, right?” I said trying to boost Zayn’s ego and stop this from escalating into something bad.

“I am not bluffing,” He muttered grabbing my hand on his chest, he pulled me closer to him as I came crashing into his chest. “You are my mate, didn’t you feel it when we kissed.”

My eyes widened at his words as I stared at him, I didn’t need to turn my head to know that Zayn was currently boiling with anger at what he had just said.

“You kissed her?” Zayn questioned in a low voice.

“Didn’t you feel it?” The man asked not paying attention to Zayn, his eyes remained on me, it was like he was trying to read my answer on my face.

Did I feel it? I mean, there was something I felt. It even convinced me for a second that he was probably my mate, but all that was just a feeling.

It wasn’t known for one to have two mates at the same time.

“I...” I tried to find the right words to answer him, but I couldn’t.

“Let go of her, before I break those hands of yours,” Zayn ordered as it dawned on me that the man had been holding on to me so close, his hand on my waist.

Suddenly, Zayn forcefully pushed me from behind, causing me to crash into the wall and fall to the ground.

Groaning in pain from the impact, my eyes widened in shock as Zayn's body began to contort and shift into the powerful form of a huge white wolf.

He growled at the golden eyes man ready to pounce on him.

The man’s body also contorted swiftly into his wolf form, a black wolf taking his human form, but he wasn’t as huge as Zayn’s wolf. He growled at Zayn as they both growled at each other, pacing back and forth.

The air crackled with intense energy as they raced towards each other, Zayn’s wolf attacking viciously by digging his nails deep into the man’s chest and towering over him growling in his face.

Was that it? He clearly couldn’t beat Zayn, so why? Why had he decided to challenge him? Anger began to course through my body as I sat on the bare floor, trying to regain my composure.

“I challenge you to a duel for her hand,” the man groaned in pain, contorting back to his human side laying helplessly on the floor, blood oozing out of his nose and chest where Zayn had attacked him but it soon started to heal.

What? No! No! I don’t want this, Zayn is going to kill him. What was wrong with him? I stared at him to reconsider what he was saying, but his gaze was on Zayn. I opened my mouth to protest, but Zayn beat me to it.

“A duel to the death for her hand,” Zayn said, taking a step back as he transformed back to his human form.

Maybe if the situation was different, Zayn's tone and muscular body would be attractive, but the sight of him naked disgusted me.

With the sounds of footsteps approaching, my attention was immediately pulled to the passage leading to the dining hall and I feared the worst was yet to come.