Chapter 3

Leila could see the outline of a man standing in front of her house, seemingly waiting for her. Leila approached him with caution.

"Who is it?", she asked cautiously as she neared where he stood.

"It's me", a deep masculine voice answered.

Leila moved closer and was surprised to see Hendrik standing there. Seeing him standing there, Leila suddenly remembered the rejection he had given her not long ago and she felt a sharp pain in her chest.

"What do you want?", Leila asked in a tone that she realized a little late, after she had said it, was a bit too harsh.

"I just wanted to check in on you and make sure you were ok", Hendrik answered gently as he moved closer to her.

From where he stood, Leila could see the gentleness and kindness in his eyes and she suddenly felt very guilty for being harsh with him.

"Can I come in?", Hendrik asked her gently.

"Yeah, sure", Leila answered and sidestepped him in a bid to open the door.

She opened the door and let Hendrik walk in before following behind him.

"I came earlier on but you weren't home, I was worried so I decided to wait for you to return", Hendrik explained as he turned to look at her.

"Yeah, I had to stop somewhere", Leila told him.

"Are you ok?", Hendrik asked her again.

"Yeah, yes I'm fine. There was no need for you to be worried or to check up on me. I'm fine", Leila answered him.

Hendrik stared at her for a long time and Leila began to feel a little bit uncomfortable.

"You understand right?", he asked her all of a sudden, breaking the silence that had descended over them.

Leila blinked at him, confused.

"Why I had to do that? Why I had to reject you, I mean", he explained and again Leila felt a dull pain in her heart but she tried her best to ignore it.

"Yeah, yeah, I guess I do and I don't blame you", Leila told him.

Leila wasn't lying, she in fact really didn't blame him. She understood where he was coming from. He was the most eligible bachelor in the pack and she was just a wolfless girl, hated and picked on by the rest of the pack. Why should he allow himself to be mated to her when he could have his pick of any of the girls in the pack?

"Really?", Hendrik asked and Leila nodded, looking up at him to show him that she meant what she said.

"Oh good, I was thinking you would blame me for not wanting to be mated to someone like you", Hendrik muttered under his breath but Leila heard him and she looked up at him sharply.

'Someone like her?', Leila got her first warning sign as she stared curiously at Hendrik.

"When I came earlier and I didn't see you, I worried, I thought maybe something bad had happened to you and then it would be my fault", Hendrik said in his usual gentle and soft tone but Leila wasn't having it anymore, she began to get warning signals at the back of her head.

"Well there was no need for you to worry, I'm completely fine", Leila said.

"You can go now", she added, eager to get away from him.

Hendrik looked gently at her.

"Are you angry at me?", he asked her softly, gentleness in his eyes, but the gentleness did nothing to calm the warning signals that were ringing in the back of Leila's mind.

"No, I already told you, I understand why you did it. You can leave now", Leila told him.

"Are you sure?", he asked, moving closer to her but Leila shifted backwards.

"Yes. I just want to be alone", she added and with all the strength she could muster, she added a small smile.

"Alright, I'm glad", Hendrik said and reached forward and pulled her into his embrace.

It all happened too fast for Leila to avoid it. Before she realized what was happening she was already in Hendrik's arms. She stood completely still in his arms.

"I'm so glad to know you are not angry at me", Hendrik said as he held her in his arms.

Leila began to struggle in his arms but Hendrik held her firmly in place. His hands roamed all over her until he squeezed at her butt cheeks. Leila was suddenly alert and pushed Hendrik away with all the force she could muster. Hendrik staggered back, surprised by the amount of force she had used.

"What do you think you are doing?", Leila asked him, staring at him incredulously.

The surprise had gone out of Hendrik's eyes, it was now replaced by a wolf-like grin that was unusual to him.

"You know I've noticed you around Leila", he began to speak as he stared at Leila, his eyes moving all over her..

"You are a very beautiful girl", he added.

"And I am saddened by the fact that I can't have you as my mate because the truth is your status as wolfless girl, won't be good for my reputation so I cannot accept you as my mate publicly", he told in a matter of factly tone.

"But...", he continued.

"That doesn't mean we can't be together", 

Leila blinked. She couldn't understand what he meant. She couldn't understand what was happening.

"I don't understand. You rejected me. So how can we be together?", Leila asked him with an incredulous expression.

"Oh Leila, just because I can't accept you as my mate publicly doesn't mean you can't carry out your mate duties to me when we are alone", he explained, a wolfish grin on his face.

Leila shuddered. 'Her mate duties?'

"No one has to know, the two of us can get along fine with each other, can't we?", Hendrik asked her as he advanced towards her with that wolfish grin and predator-like expression. All traces of the gentleness and kindness he usually carried in his eyes were gone. It was as if he was someone else.