4

Alec’s POV

I was staring at my mate coldly as I laid on the ground, trying to breathe through the pain she put me through with her own hands.

She tried to kill me, and I still wasn’t able to register it nor accept it.

I might never be able to.

How the hell could she do this? I’d go ahead and assume it was because she was a heartless rogue but that’s not true. She looked nothing like a rogue, she doesn’t even act like one. Yet, she came here with them. Who the hell is this girl? She knew me by name. I’d go further and say she targeted me specifically out of everyone in this battle. She wanted me dead, I could practically feel the hatred in her heart for me.

“She saved us Alec. She stabbed us before she found out we were mates and when she figured it out she tried to save us. You can’t deny that” my wolf Maddox said to me firmly, defending her and trying to make me less angry with her for what she almost did to us.

It barely changed my feelings about what she had done.

Even now, when I stopped my brother from tearing her apart, there was no ounce of relief in her eyes even though I just practically saved her life. The look she was giving me was full of anger and immense hatred.

How could she feel like this towards me when we don’t even know each other.

“We don’t know her but she obviously knows you. This wasn’t a random attempt” my wolf supplied.

I’ve never seen her before in my life. I’d know her if I did. She was very…. memorable. You could never forget a face like hers.

Underneath the mask of loathing she’s putting on, there is an extremely beautiful girl. Beautiful in every way and I can’t even deny that despite my immense anger towards her.

She was naked, completely due to the fact that she shifted and was forced to shift back against her will once she crossed the territory.

She was completely bare for everyone to see and a deep part of me felt so fucking mad and possessive over her public nakedness but I tried as hell to fight it because it was obviously not my main concern right now. And neither was admiring her beauty too, but my eyes were not in my control right now as they moved up and down, checking her out so openly.

Short, very slim body that was the opposite of mine. She looked so fragile and breakable, so vulnerable, but I knew how tough she can be. I had a first hand experience in her hidden stealth despite not having her wolf’s powers. Honey blonde hair that reaches all the way to her waist. Straight and thick, covering her chest and hiding her breasts completely. Fierce, burning, and large turquoise blue eyes that resemble gems in their brightness and intensity. Small nose, hollowed cheeks, and a defined jaw line, she is the world’s most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my entire life and it had nothing to do with her being my mate. She is pretty and a sight for sore eyes that can leave any man weak and on his knees just to please her.

I blinked and tried to look past her alluring beauty.

It only burned me deeper, how looks can be so fucking deceiving. She looked innocent, kind, and fragile but she is the exact opposite of that.

I don’t know what the hell to make of her.

I don’t even know what the hell to do with her now.

“You need to figure out who she is and how she knows you. Maybe there is a misunderstanding in her head. Maybe the rogues tricked her to kill you” Maddox advised me tightly.

“Come back to the portal!” someone shouted in the far distance behind her and a millisecond later, she took off running in the portal’s direction without any hesitation.

Adrian ran after her in full speed trying to capture her before she escapes.

I closed my eyes against the stings of pain that hit me heavily. I hated it. Because it wasn’t mine. It was hers. It was her emotions I was feeling so strongly over my own because they were more intense than mine. She knows the full story behind her weird behavior while I’m just confused as hell. And that’s why her emotions were overwhelming mine.

And the reason I hated feeling her pain was that despite my newly formed hatred towards her over what she had done to me, her pain was hurting me. It didn’t make me feel better that she was suffering over her actions. Even though it should. She deserved it. But my heart wasn’t reveling in her agony, it was tugging at me as if urging me to go and make her pain go away.

And that’s the tragedy of the mate bond. It would never make you hate the person you’re mated to. No matter how much she or he hurts you, you could never hurt them back without hurting yourself in the process and feeling their own pain as well.

“And that’s why she saved our lives. Because she felt how painful it was to hurt us. No matter how much she shows you that she hates you, she could never really feel that way because we’re connected now. She could never act on her hate” Maddox whimpered.

“That doesn’t really make it okay, Maddox. Look what she did! Instead of standing up for her actions, she chose to run away from her damn mistake like a coward! She chose to run away from the mate she tried to kill!” I screamed at him angrily.

“Because she knows she screwed things up! She’s most probably afraid of you! For whatever reason she hates you so deeply, she is certain you won’t forgive her and might even hurt her back to get even! If you think about doing that, then she is right to act this way, I don’t blame her” Maddox said strongly.

“Stop defending her for goddess’s sake. You don’t even know a damn thing about her” I snapped at him.

Adrian’s mate’s wolf was whimpering softly and licking me on the side of my neck, trying to ease my pain. It was probably written all over my face and body language.

“Alec! Are you okay? Talk to me!” Adrian shook me slightly with a panicked tone.

I opened my eyes and looked at him in pain, already guessing she got away from him. The intensity of my pain must have been very evident as he staggered back a bit when our eyes locked on each other.

“What’s the matter?” he asked me in confusion.

“The girl… ” I whispered in agony, unable to complete my sentence as I felt the pain inside me double and stab at me harder, causing two tears to slide down the sides of my face. She was suffering emotionally and I was drowning in her misery unable to do a damn thing to end my connection to her emotions.

“I tried to catch her but the damn thing was so fucking fast for a little girl! Do you have any idea who the hell she is? Because she seemed to know exactly who you are when she tried kill you” Adrian said tightly.

I hissed and put my hands over my chest when I felt like my heart was catching on fire.

I shook my head and whispered “I don’t know who she is”

“Why are you hurting Alec?” he asked in dread, already picking up on my pain not being physical and not even belonging fully to me.

I confirmed his suspicions by speaking through gritted teeth “She’s my mate”

My eyes hardened in anger instead of pain when I said that sentence. It didn’t last for very long though as I started to groan again in agony, clutching my chest harder and started writhing in my place.

Maddox howled in my head and said desperately “We need to find her, Alec! We need to ease her pain, please! She’s miserable”

“Let her! I don’t mind being in pain as long as she feels it too! She obviously wants nothing to do with us or she would have stuck around regardless of the consequences. If I’m going to search for her and find her it will be to reject her or kill her, we’re better off without someone like her in our lives” I told him darkly.

“That will never happen! You hear me? Not before we listen to her story, or I promise you the second you open your mouth to reject her I will take control and never give it back” Maddox vowed coldly.

I didn’t doubt his words as I felt the sincerity behind them.

Maddox and I never had a conflict over anything before. But this was our mate and we were standing on different sides regarding her.

I want to reject her and end my connection to her. And he wants to accept her and ease her pain away.

Whose side will win over? I have no idea. But what I do know is, that’s not the way I wanted to meet my mate…at all.

I always dreamt about the moment I get to meet her. I imagined saying the sweetest words to her when we recognize each other. I envisioned how fascinating it will be to get to hold her hand, cup her face, and kiss her lips.

But none of my imaginations came true to the reality that hit me today like a knife to the back.

She literally stabbed me in the back and broke my heart into a million pieces.

Pieces I’m not sure are worth collecting back and fixing my scattered heart with for her sake.