Chapter 2

RILEY.

What would you do if the only female you’ve ever cared about chose someone else over you? How would you react if you saw her being marked and claimed right in front of you?

Nothing. There was nothing I could do but swallow the pain. 

I averted my gaze away from them the moment Caspian, the Alpha of the neighboring pack, dipped his mouth into Andrea’s neck. 

I didn’t need to see more. I knew he was about to mark her.

Her.

Andrea.

She was the only female I had ever taken notice of. And for a period in my life, I thought we would end up together.

But she chose him. 

And yet here I was, doing my best to fight off my own men, blocking and shoving them away from Andrea. I am still protecting her with all my heart. 

She went into heat the moment her eyes locked with Caspian and the mate bond between them bound them together. Her heat smell affected every unmated male around her, including me.

But I’m Alpha. I could control my urges. And the pain in my chest was enough to keep me in my senses to fight off my own desire to take her away from Caspian. 

So I tried to block off any emotions as I kept doing what I needed to do: steer away the unmated males around us so that Caspian could fully mark and claim her.

I thought I was okay with letting her go. I didn’t know it would still hurt. A part of me was dying. 

Andrea being marked was a reminder that I no longer had a hold on her, that I would be treading this world on my own. Alone. Without a mate.

I watched as my men slowly woke up from their trance and ended up in a bewildered state. I took a whiff of the air and no longer smelled Andrea’s alluring heat scent. She's marked. The air was now swirling with the mixed scent of Andrea and Caspian, the fated mate scent.

I didn’t need to look back at them or anyone else. My work here was done.

I gathered myself and turned on my heels while holding my breath, not making a single noise. And then I shifted into my wolf, Hunter, as I blocked off everyone from my mind.

Hunter ran off in the opposite direction while howling at the full moon, letting the Goddess know of the agony we felt inside. And instead of running back to our territory, he headed off to the wilderness of the neutral forest.

I didn’t stop him. 

I always let myself take control of us, but tonight, I didn’t have any power to take over. So I let my wolf lead me to where he wanted to be. 

Hunter just kept running, and I didn’t care where he was going. And I wasn’t scared either. Meeting rogues or hunters was nothing new. If I should meet any of them tonight, they should be the ones scared, because I don’t think I would let them die without torturing them. 

So I just let my wolf take charge while I wallowed in my own pain.

I knew that the love I felt for Andrea wasn’t as strong as before. Even the desire or passion. I know this for sure because I tried, but even after seeing her with almost nothing on her, I didn’t find myself having any desire to touch her or even kiss her. Nothing. It felt like, in an instant, everything I felt for her had just vanished into the air. All because of one scent. 

My mate’s scent. 

I scented my mate almost three weeks ago, and everything changed. Andrea didn’t seem interesting anymore to me. If anything, she felt just like a piece of a trophy that I was willing to have to prove to everyone that I had someone with me. 

But I was willing to let her go, I just needed time. I just wanted to be sure I was handing her to the right person. That Caspian was a good man. 

But now that she has, why do I feel pain? Was it because I was never good enough for her? Or for anyone?

Because despite being a strong Alpha, I was never anyone’s first choice? 

My pack was the only one who wanted me. And maybe, it was supposed to be like that. Damn everyone else, just focus on being an Alpha. 

It should work that way from now on.

Focus. I’m an Alpha.

I snapped myself back to the present as Hunter continued to pad his way through the forest. We were too far from our territory.

I made up my mind.

Leave Andrea and everything I felt for her in the past. She was in good hands. But if Caspian betrayed her trust in him, I would be the first one to tear off his limbs. And I mean that.

But for now, my pack comes first.

'Enough, let’s head back!' I told Hunter, but it seemed like he wasn’t listening. 

I tried to take over, but he wasn’t letting me.

'What the heck?' I growled at him.

He just growled back and sped up his pace. This has never happened before. 

My wolf, Hunter, has a wild side and I let him get away with it once in a while, but he never defied me. He would always give the reins back to me whenever I wanted to.

But he wasn’t doing it this time. Something was off.

I tried to connect once more with my wolf, but he was blocking off his mind from me. 

I struggled as I fought hard to take control of our body but before I could do more, an intoxicating scent reached my nose.

Mate.

She’s here. 

Her scent was more potent than the first and second times I smelled her.

My mind went into a full daze as her scent smacked me in full force. She smelled of freshly baked pastries and vanilla. I just wanted to fucking eat her! 

My wolf finally connected his mind to mine. He could sense her and wanted to claim her, by hook or by crook.

'Give me back control!' I snapped at him but my wolf was too strong to be controlled unless he wanted to.

And then I saw her, and I forgot all about my wolf as my eyes drowned in the beauty in front of me.

She had her back on us, and amidst the darkness, I could see her body perfectly. And even without seeing her face, I knew I wanted her.

Finally. I found her.

'I found her!' Hunter snarled at me, but I ignored him.

I continued to watch her through my wolf's eyes in full awe. I held my breath the moment she slowly turned around to face us.

My heart leaped from my chest as I took in all of her and watched as a smile slowly curled into her lips.

Beautiful.

She was f*cking beautiful.

The way her black wavy hair cascaded over her small face, her perfect little nose, and her plump lips parted like she was summoning me to kiss her.

I couldn’t help myself from smiling. I was so focused on her face that it was too late when I realized something was happening. 

She was running away from us.

What on earth just happened?

And everything came flashing in my head. Hunter was mad at her because he thought she was avoiding us. That she didn't want us. And he wanted to stake his claim on her right now.

'Hunter!' I bellowed at my wolf as I watched our mate run away from us. 

And before I could stop my crazy wolf, he leaped in the air and landed exactly where our mate was, and it was too late for me to take control.

Hunter was marking her in his own way, sinking his fangs into her hip bone.

The fear of her being hurt was enough to let me let out all the energy that I needed to finally take the control away from my wolf. 

I shifted into my human form. My body was shaking.

Fear. My body was shaking in fear.

For the first time, I was afraid - she was squirming in pain, and even though I wanted to f*cking kill my wolf right now, I couldn’t focus on him.

I needed to save her.

And I did what I needed to do. I licked the wound created by my wolf. And I would not deny that I was enjoying this moment as my tongue lapped around her soft skin. 

Her body stopped trembling as she started moaning under my touch. 

Slowly, fear slipped away from me as my arousal took over.

She’s in heat. Her smell filled my nostrils and my shaft hardened.

Her heat scent mixed with her own scent was more potent and intoxicating. I found myself panting as I gripped her body tighter, pulling her closer to mine.

"Mate…" She moaned sexily as she arched her chest with her eyes closed, and the fucking sight of her face was making me lose all my control. She was a seductress in her own way.

Yes. Mate. Mine.

A low growl rumbled on my chest and it made her open her eyes.

Her lips parted as she stared at me, lust swirling in her dark hazel brown eyes, and before I could make my move, she leaned forward abruptly and crushed her lips against mine, wrapping her arms around my neck. 

Her soft chest collided with mine in full force, knocking us backward, and I instinctively wrapped my arms around her body as I let us fall to the forest ground.

Sparks.

Sparks and tingles shot all over my body. This was something new.

Sebastian, my Gamma, had told me about this, but I always laughed it off. I thought it was funny that a tough man like him could describe the connection between mates with sparks and tingles. But I’m going to take it back now because this spark was explosive and I wanted more of it.

She whimpered as her lips parted, and I took advantage of it. I plunged my tongue into her mouth and kissed her bruisingly hard, pouring out all the desire I had kept hidden for her all these weeks since I first scented her.

And the kiss wasn’t enough. I wanted all of her.

My mate was laying on top of me, moaning in between our kisses, and she was driving me wild with the way she was grinding her front into mine.

I tightened my hold on her and got us up on our feet, yanking her legs up and wrapping them around my hips as I moved towards the small cave that I knew existed in this area.

I wanted her and I wanted her tonight. But not out in the open. Wolves could be roaming around on a full moon and her body was only for me to see.

She pulled away from the kissing and her eyes wandered around us.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked in a soft voice, and my heart did a somersault in my chest. She sounded like a siren. I wanted her to talk more, but my lips were aching from being away from hers.

I cupped her nape and pushed her head back into mine, capturing her lips once more as we entered the cave. She didn't struggle away from my grip but instead began kissing me back passionately. 

I laid her down on the ground inside the small cave after taking off her bag from her back. I let my eyes feast on her, raking her body up and down. She had a mischievous grin on her face as she moved her hands down to the buttons of her jeans, slowly unbuttoning them without taking her gaze away from me.

"F*ck me, Mate..."