{Asheron}I thought it would be easy, but I was wrong. Seeing Georgie for the first time after our breakup is brutal. Everything inside me begs to go to her and fix everything once and for all. I can clearly see she’s mad at me, which has never happened before. Not like this. She refuses to even look at me and that one time our eyes accidentally met, her lip curled up as if she was disgusted.I’ve never felt this way before, like… like I’m in trouble with her. And this doesn’t seem to be just because I left the palace, she was sad that day. Now it’s something else. She’s furious. And it only becomes more evident when she passes by me and literally throws the folder in front of me, even though she has delicately placed it in front of everyone. Even Cain.So, what the fuck did I do? Why is she more mad at me than at him? I mean, I guess it doesn’t really matter and it doesn’t change anything, but it feels horrible.“What is this?” Cain’s mother asks as I start reading too. My eye
“Ash, come here,” Cain mumbles, walking up to me while I’m close to having a breakdown, looking at Georgie walking out of the boardroom next to her dad. I ignore Cain, trying to compose myself, “I said come here.”He grabs my arm and moves me forcefully until we’re standing in a corner of the boardroom.“What, Cain?” I snap, snatching my arm out of his hold.“I think I know why she’s so angry,” he says, fast and nervously. I frown and focus on him, my eyes narrowing, “She didn’t even look at me. Not once. She’s… furious, I can tell.”What a genius. “She was definitely more angry at me, though,” I mutter, trying not to compare us, but I can’t pretend I didn’t notice the way she threw that folder at me but not him, “What did you do?” “Well, uhm… you know, I was drunk on Saturday, when we had our fight. That’s bad because I’m on medication, so…” he looks worried and lowers his gaze to his phone as if searching for something, “I sent her this.”It’s a photo of me at the party, with thos
“Are you going to stay home with us for a while?” My mom asks as I drive straight to the palace. She’s sitting next to me while I drive, hugging my arm like she’s been doing since I came back. “Yes, I need to pick up some things. I can stay to eat lunch,” I say because even though my mom is being incredibly annoying and clingy and my dad is still not one hundred percent recovered emotionally, they’re still my parents and I love them. I think almost dying made me appreciate them ever more than before. I arrive at the palace and I stay with my parents in the main living room, drinking tea while we wait for lunch to be ready. And while I’m fighting the biggest urge to call Georgie and explain I did not kiss that girl willingly.Also, I’m starting to ask myself: why did I fuss over Cain’s nose instead of getting mad at him for doing that shit in the first place? I should’ve… I don’t know. Maybe start another fight. Why didn’t I?My wolf was quiet in my mind during the whole ordeal, ju
{ Cain }“I’m ready to stay,” Justin says, sitting in the chair next to me as we have breakfast together. I can’t help but think that we haven’t had breakfast together in five years, “I had my freedom and I got bored of it, now I want to be here. You’re free to go back to your own life.”I spent a month at the Colucci palace, focused solely on Georgie. I didn’t even have time to learn how to be a good Alpha, I just had some bits and pieces of advice that Asheron gave me.“Brother… I’ve come to the horrible realization that I don’t want to be free,” I murmur, playing with the coffee cup in my hands. I’m not completely sure of what I’m saying and I’m very nervous, but the idea of going back to the Cain I was before is honestly unthinkable, “Both positions are yours and I know that. Prince and Alpha, they both belong to you by birthright, but… maybe we can share some of the responsibilities? I don’t know.”I just know I don’t want to leave. Not again.After the council meeting where Geor
My life has been crazy these past couple of weeks. After my plan was approved by the council, I got my ass to work and that has helped tremendously with my broken heart.Burying myself in work means I don’t have enough time to think about Asheron kissing other girls or Cain most definitely doing the same thing in Amsterdam. All I can think about is work, work, work. I want to make this project perfect so my people can find their mates… or just fall in love with someone. Whoever. We always need more marriages and more babies at the end of the day.But today is finally the day of the ceremony.If it goes perfect, that means the council will approve the Interpack Mating Ceremony as something we do every year. I have a good feeling about it, so I get out of bed with enthusiasm and when I go down to have breakfast with my dad, I hug him from behind. He’s the ONLY man worthy of my love and devotion, the only man who could never disappoint me. “Good morning, baby, are you excited?” he a
I’m incredibly nervous, and it only gets worse when the guests start arriving. It finally becomes real and I know anything could happen. Both good or bad.By the time the clock hits eight pm, three hundred and eighty-three people from the five packs in the country are gathered in my front yard. These are the singles interested in finding their fated mate. It’s not as many as I expected, but it’s more than enough for this first ceremony. I wait for all the council members to arrive… which means the two people I least want to see are right here, standing behind me as I approach the microphone to start this.I wish I hadn’t noticed, but Asheron looks incredibly handsome today. He’s wearing one of the suits that I gifted him. It’s a dark blue one, because I love how his light eyes pop with that color. Wearing that specific suit ls a low blow, to be honest. He could have worn anything else today I also noticed that Cain’s head is no longer in a buzz-cut (thank god) his shiny light brow
The couple finally stops kissing and they both hug me. The girl is crying and her face feels wet when she presses it against my neck, but I don’t mind. I’m very happy.I ask them where they’re from. The guy is from the Manelik pack and the girl is from the Kallistar pack. See? This beautiful union wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for me! Now the council won’t have any choice but to accept this as something we do constantly. They have to.I chat with the lucky couple for a few more seconds, but then I return to my own table. And as I’m walking there, I look at every single man like a hawk, waiting for my own third mate, since the two I used to have are sons of bitches. Literally, in Asheron’s case.And speaking of him, I make eye contact with him by accident and the way my heart pounds almost makes me trip, but I manage to save myself and look forward again, as if I don’t care about his existence. But I totally notice that he’s sitting around two men, and honestly, I like that.{
I try my fucking hardest to engage in conversation with Justin’s friends, but my stupid brain is not wired correctly. I can’t put my attention to things I don’t care about, like their conversation about which girl around here they want to fuck the most. My treacherous eyes move back to Georgie just five minutes later… and I see she’s not here anymore. That sets off all my alarms and forces me to stop pretending I don’t care. My heart starts beating hard against my chest and my wolf perks up, feeling like something isn’t right. She could be in danger. “Cain, where the fuck are you going?” my brother asks, but I ignore him and I walk, pushing bodies out of my way while I search for Georgie near the last place I saw her, but she’s not here. I look around for a while, starting to lose my patience… and then I finally see her.Walking next to the guy with the happy hands, one of which is still placed in her lower back. Her bare lower back. They’re walking away from the party, towards
"I don't like you, what are you doing in my palace? I thought I told you, your family is banned from my territory," she says that directly to me. "He showed up unannounced, babe." "I come here in peace," Cain says and takes something out of his pocket. It's a card. Nina frowns, but she can't fight her curiosity so she walks closer to grab it, "It's a 'shut the fuck up' coupon to use on my mom. You can give it to me at any point if you ever need to tell my mom to shut the fuck up. I will do it for you and I will be aggressive about it. She deserves worse for being such a bitch that day. I'll take the fallout for you." "To be honest, I'm not that scared to do it myself," Nina murmurs, but a smile starts to grow on her face, "However, this is appreciated." "Can we start over?" He asks, taking a step closer, "I am actually very, very cool. I swear." "Mhm, I’ll be the judge of that," Nina says, punching his arm like she usually does when she's play-fighting with her brothers. Cain tu
"I can't fucking believe I said that," he says, covering his face in shame, "It was extremely disrespectful, I'm truly sorry. And I guess you're right, this isn't new, I just haven't fully gotten over it. Of course I will one day, this is still new. But you're my girl, I do desire you a lot, you are very pretty in my eyes. I just can't wait for you to grow up some more." I nod with a sigh. "I'm not angry, not like last time," I assure him, Justin takes a deep breath in relief, "But I don't love to know I make you feel guilty or bad. It's good that we haven't had real sex yet, I don't want it to be a bad experience for either one of us. I want to feel wanted and loved. So, I think what we should do is... put a pause in the sexual aspect of our relationship." "What?" He gets tense and looks at me like I'm crazy, "That's not what I want." "Yeah, but it's what I want," I say, clenching a fist. It's not what I want at all, but fuck him for making me feel like wanting me is wrong, "Not
"I'm sorry you had to hear all that, I really am sorry," the King says, looking down in embarrassment, "My wife..." "Don't worry, I get it. Justin shouldn't have surprised any of us with this news, it's not something easy," I say, eyes set on my mate's. He's totally freaking out, "I think I've caused enough damage, can we just go now?" "Yes," he almost whispers and just gives one last look to his dad before grabbing a suitcase so we can leave, but he stays silent as we walk out, all the way to the car. And even when he starts driving, "I'm sorry, Nina." "You should be. This was 'that bad' and then some," I mutter, looking out the window, "About everything else you said… don't even say sorry. It's simply what you feel and I understand, let's leave it at that." "No, no, I don't want us to be at odds again," he says, his hands tightening on the steering wheel, "I want to clarify, I didn't mean I'm not attracted to your or that I don't like you, that's the opposite of the truth." "I
"Let's go," Justin wraps an arm around my waist and he leads me outside. "Wait, son, I'm sorry I haven't said anything. I was just processing and..." the King finally speaks and I try to stop and hear him out, but Justin keeps me moving. He doesn't even give his dad a look, he takes me all the way to the foyer. "Wait for me here, I'll go pick some stuff, then we're going back to Fox," he says and leaves, almost as fast as he brought me here. I sigh and look for a chair so I can get comfortable, but when a couple minutes pass and I realize Justin is probably going to take a long time, I start wandering a bit. It's so weird that this place has so many corridors and different living rooms. Like this one. It's exactly the same as the last one I entered. I don't know what specific purpose it serves but... I stand very still when I hear footsteps coming closer and then two different voices. I gasp and look around for a place to hide. I find a little closet and run to hide in there.
"Cain!" Justin roars and a couple of seconds later I feel some relief and I can breath again as the huge man gets lifted and my fated mate comes to my rescue. He grabs my arms and picks me up, "Are you okay, Nina?" "No," I complain, my whole body hurts, especially my ass and my chest. The guy crashed against me like he had a personal vendetta against me, "What the hell? Who is that hippopotamus?" "Nina," Justin sighs, still not happy with me. He moves away to let me see the guy and points at him. I know who he is as soon as I look at his face, "This is my brother, Cain." He looks like a younger, less manly version of Justin. "I'm so sorry, kid, I totally didn't see you," he says with a grimace, he's still trying to recover too. He looks at me deeply and frowns, "Since when do we hire minors, dad? Isn't child labor illegal here?" Great. Amazing. So, Cain is an asshole. I sigh and look at Justin, he looks even angrier now. I don't know how this is going to play out if my ma
During the drive to his pack, Justin tries his best to make me feel less nervous. I'm sure he can smell my stress, fear and nerves all mixed up in my scent. Thankfully, he assures me over and over everything is going to be fine and he asks me so many questions to get me rambling that I actually start to get distracted. Until we get to Kallistar and I enter the pack for the first time in all my life. I swear it's like a new filter is unlocked to my eyes. So much color, everywhere. There's even a big welcoming mural, as if a lot of people travel from Fox to Kallistar. The grass is really greener over here, the sky is bluer, the roads are so perfect and clean. This is a whole different world for me. I'm almost scared. Because I know this is basically my pack now. But I kind of like my ugly, old, messed up pack. It has character. It's full of working people who are always willing to help one another. No one thinks they're better than other people in Fox but I'm sure over here everyon
"So, that means... I have to be the one to do something about it?" I ask, swallowing in nerves. Justin lies down next to me. "Not necessarily if you don't want to. All I'm saying is... I need to relieve some pressure," he says, "I've been so stressed about the conquest and scared about my brother possibly being in danger. And you being mad at me. I was so fucking tired and stressed." Oops. I guess that's my fault. Or his, for pissing me off to begin with. "Well... if you tell me what you like, I could help you," I offer, excited again. To touch him, make him feel good. It's my right, after all. But again, Boring Justin gives me a look that says he's not that sure, "Do I really have to beg a man to let me make him come? That's not fun, Fated Mate." "No, no, it's not like that. It's not like I don't want you," he rushes to say. I squint at him. He keeps saying that but not showing me, "I just... don't feel... okay. Tell you what. If you really want to touch me, you can do it."
I wish we could do it again (and again, and again) but I have a feeling Justin will get in his own head again. He just can't accept me for some reason. This past few days I've been doing research in fated mates. It's always what I thought it should be... instant love. Instant passion. Instant love-making. Obviously, because what else is it going to be when you find the literal love of your life? People never fight it... except for him. And why? Because apparently he doesn't like the way I look. Or, he does, but then he feels guilty about it. I sigh and roll in bed. My nose catches his scent in the sheets and I moan, feeling all tingly again. I gulp and my hand moves down south to relieve the pressure, but then I gasp when I remember why I woke up so early today. I jump up and run to put on my clothes on go to work. ➿➿➿➿ Justin and his brother were successful. When I get his text in my new super fancy phone, I almost pass out with relief. He told me a few times that it wasn'
That makes her look up at me again, confused. "We're going to get the territory today. I could technically die out there," I say, even though I know the chances are slim to none. I guess I just want a little kiss. For me, but for her, too. { Nina } One little kiss. This man who has been practically ignoring me even though he invaded MY home is asking me for a little kiss? After grinding his dick against me last night? He has some nerve. "Okay," I say, because... what am I to do? I've been waiting for this opportunity the whole fucking time. I’m not the one who hates this bond. I know I shouldn’t be so easy, but I am. I want that kiss so bad. Justin licks his lips and ends the distance between us, but not too fast. He takes his time, looking into my eyes for a few seconds. "I'm really sorry I made you mad," he whispers, melting my insides, "We've only been mates a few days and I already fucked up, I can't even begin to explain how shitty I feel. I'm just trying to do t