6

Maverick gave a subtle mental nod when Layla pointed out that Aurora had been using a scent-masking spell since entering the room. It finally made sense. That was why he couldn’t smell her when she walked in or even now. But when Aurora muttered something under her breath, her scent broke through the spell, overwhelming his senses.

The scent hit him all at once—too much, too fast. She smelled like the ocean breeze, the kind that brushed against your skin while standing by the sea with a seashell in hand. It was a scent he had always liked.

For a werewolf like him, who spent most of his time in the woods, forests, and small towns, her scent was a welcome change. It calmed him. But as it teased his heightened senses, it awakened something deeper. His wolf stirred, thrilled by the possibility of finding another mate. Yet that joy dimmed almost instantly, replaced by anguish.

His wolf recognized her. This was the same soul that had once hurt them, the same one they had broken the bond with. A low, pained howl escaped his wolf, but Maverick kept his face impassive, his emotions hidden.

The flood of memories he had buried for years resurfaced. He saw a younger Aurora—her smile bright, her laugh loud and infectious—standing by his side, her hand in his as they ran through the woods. They had been inseparable back then, a relationship of passion and promise. The memory shifted, darkening, to the moment she left the pack with Easton, and the pain of their broken bond came rushing back.

His fists clenched at his sides and he wrestled with his wolf to get his emotions under control but his face remained blank.

“I don’t want to have anything to do with you, Alpha Maverick,” Aurora said, her voice firm and steady.

Maverick nodded slowly. “This mate bond is not going to change anything.”

Her words caused his wolf to grunt in discomfort, but it was the reaction of the room that truly broke the tense silence.

“What? They’re mates?” Sadie asked, her eyes wide with shock.

“Again? I’ve never heard of two former mates becoming second chances!” Hilda exclaimed.

“Are they going to reject each other like last time?” Floyd asked, but no one answered.

“That has to be the weirdest mate realization I’ve ever seen,” Jared muttered.

“Me too,” Owen agreed.

“Me three,” Layla added, shaking her head. “Normally, it’s all enthusiastic acceptance, dramatic rejections, or awkward stares. But these two? They’re just blank canvases, standing there like voodoo dolls.”

Her voice wasn’t hushed like the others, and the casual bluntness of her comment stood out in the tense atmosphere.

The representative of the rogue pack, still reeling from the revelation, finally spoke. “That’s… understandable. Let’s hope this doesn’t affect our dealings.”

Aurora scoffed at his suggestion, her expression sharp. “If you think it will, you’re already overthinking. We’ll remain diplomatic. You review your file, and I’ll review mine. We’ll meet tomorrow morning. Now, my delta will show you to your rooms for the night. Goodnight, Alpha Maverick.”

She rose from her seat, dismissing him with a curt nod, and walked out. The rest of her pack followed, save for Hilton and the gamma. Layla’s voice trailed behind, chatting Aurora’s ears off about her boldness in addressing her mate like that.

As Aurora stepped out of the room, Maverick caught a faint shimmer in the air behind her. A wisp of blue energy trailed her like a shadow. His wolf growled low in his mind.

Magic.

Aurora’s witch blood wasn’t just strong; it seemed untamed.

Alec leaned closer to Maverick and whispered, “Did you see that? Her magic’s slipping. Whatever she’s hiding, it’s bigger than just a broken mate bond.”

Maverick nodded, his mind racing. Aurora had always been powerful, and there had always been a dangerous edge to it, he knew that more than anyone else.

Meanwhile, inside the room, one of the rogue representatives approached Hilton. “Do you think she’ll last?” they asked quietly, glancing toward the door.

Hilton’s jaw tightened. “She’s stronger than she looks. You’d do well to remember that.”

---

“You need to convince her to become your Luna, Alpha,” Dan said the moment the room emptied.

Maverick turned to glare at him, his voice cold and cutting. “Who the hell do you think you are to tell me what to do?”

Dan flinched but stood his ground. Gary cleared his throat nervously, stepping in to speak. “We were already against coming here. Finding out their Alpha and witch are ex-members of our pack—rogues, no less—doesn’t help. How do people respect her now? I don’t understand it.”

He paused, glancing at Maverick and Alec, but neither of them responded. Their silence made him shift uncomfortably.

He continued, “If she becomes Luna, she’ll be under your control. That might stop her from planning against us. There is pressure from the rival pack already, we can't have them getting a whiff of this, you are already lucky enough that your mate just happen to be the woman no one can just up and go and kidnap, that's a big bad bonus Alpha~” 

His dad was the one of the former elder when her father was still the Alpha and the man still had a lot against Aurora, he was also the one that ranted on and on about how unfit Aurora was to be the Luna and joined hands with Phoebe to find witches who broke their bonds too.

He and ‘his friends’ might have passed the position of the pack councils to their sons and daughters but these people were just puppets who got news back to them.

Fuck it if he would allow them to make the decision of what he do with his mate this time too, they did a lot of trampling around the last time.

Maverick had been trying to eradicate them but they were such a pain in the ass and he couldn't get rid of them all at once.

They were a huge apart of the pack too, so him, Alec, Floyd, Sadie and Hilda were drafting some plans, it was just supposed to be him and Alec but the rest found out, Floyd wanted some excitement and excuse to investigate the ‘wrinkling things’ and everyone knee how much Sadie hated them.

“And you think making her Luna would erase the grudge she holds against the pack that drove her out?” Alec scoffed, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “Hilarious.”

“Get out,” Maverick said sharply, his patience wearing thin.

“You can order us out all you want,” Dan retorted, “but I’ve already informed my father about tonight. He’ll consult with the elders, and this will become a pack matter. If you don’t handle it, the pack will.”

He didn’t wait for a response, grabbing Gary by the arm and leaving the room.

---

“What are you going to do now, Maverick?” Alec asked softly once they were alone.

Maverick ran a hand over his face, his expression finally crumbling. Behind the safety of closed doors and his best friend’s understanding, he let his emotions show—confusion, anger, hurt, and exhaustion.

“I don’t know, Alec,” he admitted. “I don’t know.”

“Why don’t you just reject her and get it over with?” Alec suggested, his voice tinged with frustration. “I can see it in your eyes, Maverick. It’s the same look you had that night you ran through the woods after her betrayal. You’re hurting.”

It wasn't mate bond that was making him act this way, it barely had anything to do with that thing, they were even able to feel less since Aurora wolf was still barely at the surface.

It was weak naturally and the broken bond must have done nothing to help it.

His complex feelings had to do with all the buried tingles and strangles he buried deep, the complicated decisions and well thought brutal actions that came with no choices.

Were they going to go through that endless spin all over again?

Aurora clearly announced that they shouldn't deal with each other but unless they addressed the big elephant in the room, nothing would get easier.

It would only be a matter of months after he is back in his pack before he would start feeling post mate-withdrawal symptoms.

“I can’t do it again,” Maverick said quietly, leaning against the wall and pressing his head against his forearm.

“What can’t you do?”

“I can’t hurt her again. Another rejection will destroy her. I… I can’t.” His voice broke slightly, but he steadied himself.

“But she won’t even know what you’re sparing her from,” Alec argued, exasperated.

“It doesn’t matter,” Maverick said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I’m used to it now.”