#Chapter 2: Bold Offer

 

Ella

“It’s him,” my wolf, Ema, hissed inside my head. “Our mate.”

“It can’t be,” I responded. “This stranger? You must be wrong.”

And yet, as I stared up at the man, his piercing eyes bore into mine with an intensity I had never experienced. He was breathtakingly handsome.

 

“My wolf senses you must be my mate,” he murmured, voice a husky whisper.

 

So my wolf was right. His wolf sensed it, too.

 

For a moment, everything around us faded. Our lips met, and the world seemed to catch fire.

 

This wasn't any ordinary kiss—it was fueled by the blessing of the mate bond, a once-in-a-lifetime connection in today's overpopulated werewolf world.

 

My parents, being fated mates themselves, had always told me about the overwhelming pull of the bond. I had never truly believed it until now.

 

As our lips locked, electricity surged between us. Each touch sparked a fire that threatened to consume us both.

 

It wasn’t just a melding of mouths. It was a collision of two souls recognizing each other across lifetimes.

 

The sensation was overwhelming, intoxicating. The warmth of his lips, the slight catch of breath, and the gentle tug of desire left me reeling. Every fiber of my being focused on that one connection, the bond sealing with a fervor that whispered promises of forever.

 

At the same time, I felt a sudden connection between us.

 

It was his voice, his emotions, flooding into me.

 

“My mate,” I heard his velvety voice echo in my ears. “How nice to finally meet you.”

I had heard before that a first kiss with a fated mate established a Mindlink, a way for the mates to communicate and sense each other without uttering a single word. It was a strange feeling, to be suddenly connected like this. But at the same time, it felt euphoric.

 

Breaking away, breathless, I took a moment to really look at him. He gazed down at me with a pair of cool blue eyes, like the ocean on a clear day. He sported a head of jet black hair, which stood in stark contrast to that blue.

 

But the way he was dressed was equally intriguing.

 

His sharp suit screamed luxury, distinct from the others around him dressed in black. The glint of an expensive watch caught my attention, something that my eye had been trained well to recognize having grown up with generational wealth.

 

But what puzzled me more were the men surrounding us, dressed uniformly.

 

Each of them pretended not to see us, but their very presence raised so many questions. Who was this man, and why did he have so many bodyguards?

 

“Why are you out alone this late?” His low, almost husky voice pulled me back from my thoughts.

 

“Overtime,” I responded, my voice a little shaky from the aftermath of our kiss.

 

“New to the city?” he inquired, raising an eyebrow.

 

“How’d you guess?” I smirked, but there was genuine curiosity in my tone.

 

“No resident in their right mind would be out alone at this time,” he said, a shadow crossing his face. “Let me drive you home. We can get to know each other a bit more on the way.”

 

Despite the strangeness of hopping into a car with a man I had only just met, something told me to trust him, even if only for the drive home. He was my fated mate, after all.

 

As we settled into the plush leather seats, he glanced over. “Are you an Omega or a Beta?” he asked abruptly.

 

I frowned, taken aback. “Why isn’t Alpha an option?”

 

He pointed to the tear in my sleeve, to the plainness of my clothing. “Even if you were, I could tell what you truly are.”

 

“And what would that be?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.

 

He scoffed. “A peasant, clearly.”

 

His presumptuousness irked me. “Who are you to judge?” I retorted.

 

Suddenly, he leaned toward me. He took hold of my chin, not roughly, but still forcing me to look at him.

 

“Apart from my parents, no one speaks to me this way,” he said coldly. “Now answer. Omega or Beta?”

 

I swatted his hand away, the heat of anger replacing the earlier warmth. “Why does it matter?”

 

His eyes darkened. “If you’re an Omega, it’s worse than I thought.”

 

“Worse?” My voice trembled with indignation. “Everyone, regardless of their rank, has value. Are you suggesting otherwise?”

 

He leaned in. “You must know I’m an Alpha. If you were a Beta, it would be one thing, but not the end of the world. But an Alpha like me, if he chooses an Omega as a mate, it’s... complicated.”

 

“But why?” My mind raced. “Everyone dreams of finding their fated mate regardless of rank unless they’ve already mated with someone else. Are you already engaged?”

 

He laughed bitterly. “No,” he said, his voice dripping with condescension, “but I know who I’ll marry. She’s an Alpha, new here, like you.”

 

I gaped at him. “And she’s just going to fall into your arms?”

 

He shot me a confident smirk. “I always get what I want.”

 

The audacity! My initial attraction to this man quickly turned to disgust. I averted my gaze, staring blankly out the window, the neon lights of the city blurring past.

 

The silence in the car was palpable, a dense fog of tension that seemed to thicken as we passed by streetlamps and neon signs. The soft hum of the engine and the occasional distant honk outside were the only things to fill the silence.

 

I could feel this man’s heavy gaze on me occasionally, but I kept my eyes fixed on the window. I only just met him, and he was my fated mate, but I already disliked him.

 

It was possible to reject a fated mate. I could reject him, and it would break our bond so I would be free to find someone else. Whoever else I found wouldn’t be fated to me, but it would be better than… whatever this was. Hell, I would rather be alone than be with some arrogant jerk.

 

“By the way,” he said, breaking both the silence and my train of thought. “What’s your name?”

 

I huffed and folded my arms across my chest. “I’m not telling you. Since it’s apparently so important and crushing that I’m just an Omega, then my name shouldn’t matter, should it?”

 

“Come on now…” He leaned closer to me, his scent filling my mind once more. It was intoxicating, dizzying. “Don’t be like that.”

 

I huffed again and leaned away, keeping my gaze fixed on the window.

 

“Fine.” The man let out a low growl and leaned back in his seat. “Have it your way.”

 

The rest of the ride was silent.

 

When the car halted, I was in front of my apartment building. It was a small building within walking distance of the law firm, and I had chosen it precisely for that reason.

 

There was nothing special about it, it was just a brick building, a few storeys tall, with an iron gate across the front door. When my parents saw it for the first time, I thought that my dad would have a heart attack.

 

Moana, however, just laughed and took me out shopping for protective supplies: a big bat flashlight that could easily bash someone’s skull in (as well as provide light), a can of pepper spray, and a special mechanism that could go inside my door between the wall and the lock so that someone couldn’t open it from the outside, even if they had a key.

 

I always appreciated her openness to my freedom to experience the city on my own, and I cherished those items that she bought for me in case they really would come in handy someday.

 

“Well… Here you are, I guess.” The man leaned forward, peering out the window with an obvious look of disgust on his face. “This is the right place, right?”

 

I nodded, swinging the door open. “Yep. Thanks.”

 

Without another word, I got out, desperate to put distance between us. But a hand on my arm stopped me.

 

“Wait.”

 

His voice caught my attention. I froze, not turning just yet, but curious nonetheless to hear what he had to say.

 

“I recognize that you’re my fated mate, and there’s no denying that. I can’t just let you walk away, so let me make you an offer that you can’t refuse.”

 

I turned, ready to snap, but his next words caught me off guard.

 

“I’ll give you a million dollars a year. To be with me. In private.”

 

I stared at him in shock. The audacity! Did he just propose...? “Are you offering to make me your mistress?”

 

He hesitated, then nodded. His cool blue eyes slowly looked up at my apartment building, which he viewed with an obvious look of disgust on his face.

 

“With that kind of money, you could change your peasant life.”

 

My blood instantly began to boil.