Chapter 2

Present day...

“Dodge.”

“Fuck no. If she wants to fight she should come straight at me.”

“Goddess sake, Yara!” Ian curses exasperatedly “Dodge!”

“Don't pull that shit again, you dumb-“

I dropped to the ground with a curse of my own when my wolf alerted me of the incoming bullet at the last possible moment.

“Shit! What the hell was that?” Tanya sniffed sheepishly which I shrugged off. Our inept senses were not exactly something new.

“Are you okay?” Ian asked, his words coming out in short puffs. I looked behind him to see that he had propped up his practice gun hurriedly against the protective screen before running over to me.

“Yeah, sure. I'm good.” I wanted to ask about the bullet but Ian cupped my face and gave me a once-over for any injuries.

In times like this, I was glad I ventured into the human world. Glad I met Ian.

As he was now in human form, Ian was stunning. There was no other word for it. His eyes were beautiful and the exact shade of amber that brought smooth rich whiskey to mind. Eyes which contrasted gorgeously with his smooth dark skin. He always looked at me like I was his world.

Somehow against his 6”4 form I never felt small. With his actions, he always managed to tell me he would love me if I gave him the chance.

I hated myself because I couldn't give him that chance and he knew it too. So we stayed best friends, he was the best thing in my life.

My thoughts were halted as the witch herself came into view.

“Ian honey, are you okay? My aim got a little lose back there.”

A little? I would have had a plastic bullet in my left ear right now if I hadn't gotten out of the way.

“Ah, lose...of course.” I taunted with as much sarcasm as I could muster.

“Yara, hey. I didn’t see you over there.” Tate’s sickly sweet voice felt like grease over my skin and if I were my old cowardly self, her current glare would have shut me up in two seconds.

“And I wish I wasn't seeing you right now, Tate darling. Hasn't Ian over here told you that we aren’t romantically involved?”

At my words, Tate's fair skin turned an ugly shade of red and I almost laughed but decided to keep going.

“So honey, if he keeps turning down your advances that's really all you. Don't take off my poor ear with your bitterness.” From the corner of my eyes, I spotted Ian trying not to laugh.

“You bitch! You think you're all that?” Tate screamed and I was glad that the practice arena never filled up on Sundays.

“Funny, people like you tend to remind me that I'm nothing.”

I felt Ian tense up beside me because he knew I am referring to my past as an Omega in our pack.

“Then you should get that into your head, don't you think?” She took a step closer with each word and excitement stirs through me.

I was itching for a fight.

My inner wolf let out a low growl as Ian stepped between us, subtly telling me to quit it with a shake of his a head. Lucky bitch.

“The point of you learning to fight isn't for petty things like that.” Ian said with a sigh.

“I know.”

He continued, “She isn’t even worth it.”

“I know.” I said, scoffing in agreement and continued packing my luggage.

There was a brief pause from Ian as he watched me shove another boot into my box.

“You don’t have to do this.”

“Now, that is where we’ll have a problem.“ Came my immediate response.

We were back at my apartment and I was trying hard to keep my emotions in check. Not about Tate, that was a usual event. This line of conversation with Ian always made me so sad which in turn made me angry.

Ian pressed despite my abrupt reply “But why? Why do you have to go back there?”

My shoulder slumped in defeat at his persistence “Ian...”

“You're doing so well now. It’s been four Yara. Four years.”

His emphasis on the past years did nothing to make me feel better.

“The bond, Ian. He never even gave me a chance to reject it.” My reply sounded almost pitiful even to me.

“I know, but you can move on.“

My eyes felt heavy with unshed tears. “The bond is still there. I still feel it every second, every day. Tanya feels it more.”

In times like this, I wish he had found his mate, maybe he would understand this better. The deep anguish remained as long as I could feel that link between us.

I wondered if Kaiden felt this pain too. Hopefully, he felt it even more.

A tear rolled down my cheek and I wiped it off roughly, angry that all this still got under my skin.

Forcing myself to continue. “Now she only feels alive when I think of this. I want this, Ian. He hurt me so much and deserves this payback. I need to get my revenge. Sorry, but you won't convince me otherwise today or any other day.”

Ian stayed silent for a moment and I knew he was contemplating his next words.

“You know, you never told me what you planned to do. I never wanted to ask because I thought you would move on...”

His words trailed off and I knew he still hoped I would drop all of this but that was not going to happen.

With a sad sigh, he asked “What are you going to do cupcake?”

I shrugged. “An eye for an eye, right? I'll just return the favour.”

“By that you mean?” A well arched brow rose in question.

I wish I didn’t have to tell him this.

“Make him fall in love with me.” I answered sheepishly.

Ian’s expression darkened at my words but I pressed on. “Then break the bastard to pieces.”

He was confused, head cocked to the side. “You want him to fall in love with a woman he already rejected?”

I nodded. “He wouldn’t know that I'm the one. He doesn’t exactly know what I look like, now does he?”

Yeah, my so-called mate didn’t even know what I looked like. That night had been a masquerade ball with the halls dimly lit and with my mask on, my so called mate hardly saw my features.

Ian already knew this. I told him everything that happened.

“Oh, goddess. Whenever I remember that he rejected you without even seeing this face. Such an idiot.” He face-palmed in disbelief.

I was blessed to have such a good person beside me now. I always told Ian that he was a gift to me from the moon goddess but he would laugh it off.

He always understood me.

“Well if you have to do this, I’m coming with.” Ian said resolutely.

Scratch that, this man is ridiculous.

“You can't be serious!” I exclaimed, mouth agape in shock.

He was dead serious and his expression left no room for arguments. “I am. That's my pack too anyways, so why not. Those wolves are sadists.”

I shook my head vigorously in disagreement. “Ian, no.”

“Look, you want to get your revenge, fine. But I'm not about to let you go back there on your own.”

“Nothing is going to happen! I'm perfectly capable of protecting and taking care of myself.” I cried out indignantly.

Ian sighed then reached out to take my palm in his “Sweetie, I know you are. This is more for me and my peace of mind, I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing you are in that den all alone, Yara.”

At that moment, I could feel my heart getting swayed by his earnestness. The sincerity on his face made me want to end this conversation as quickly as possible.

“Ugh. I hate you so much. What's with the puppy dog eyes?” I groaned jokingly.

I stifled a giggle as he chucked a pillow at me.

“So?” he asked, wanting me to agree.

“We'll talk about it later, Ian. I'm exhausted.“ was the best reply I could give to escape the conversation.

“Alright.” Ian agreed finally and stood up to leave.

I followed him downstairs and waved him goodbye.

He called out with a wave “See you tomorrow cupcake.”

“Bye. See ya.”

Leaning on the stairway I watched my best friend walk off. I couldn't let him come with me for this but the thought of never seeing him again made my eyes water.

So with the moon high in the sky, I prayed.

I prayed with all my heart that he forgot about me.