(Caspien)
My rage felt finite. I guessed at some of her past, but nothing that I imagined was even close to this. I knew something wasn’t right when Nolan made it seem like a mutual rejection. He didn’t even deserve the title Alpha, even in my f.ucking mind.
But this?
Rejected in public a few months before taking the title, as soon as he found out about her being pregnant? Then publicly claiming another who he was obviously cheating with? You rarely hear of that happening; I didn’t know anyone that rejected their mate or cheated personally.
The only thing that was keeping me from slipping into that place that I hated, the place that everyone thought was me but didn’t feel like it, was the fact that her hand was in mine.
That small gesture felt like a tether to the world and pulled me back just enough.
Now who is the soft one? - Atlas asked.
Picked up a thing or two from you; you d.ick.
Ah, there he is.
“What about you?” she asked.
“What about me?”
“You haven’t had a mate before?” She looked a bit wary.
“No. I have to admit that I did feel something when I first met you, but nothing like I felt when I saw you again. I was intrigued, and I did go back to see if what I felt meant anything.”
Her eyes snapped to mine. “When?”
“The Alpha and Luna ceremony, I thought that-”
“That I was going to become the Luna,” she replied dryly, and it hurt me that she still had such strong feelings about it.
I had to admit that it also hurt because part of me hoped that it would all just wash away when she met me, but I knew well enough that the betrayal that she went through wasn’t fixed by meeting someone else.
“Yes,” I admitted.
She looked at me, her green eyes searching mine, but I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Some of her hair slipped over her shoulder in soft waves, momentarily distracting me.
“And, what happened?” She asked, looking at where my hand held hers, bringing her other to draw patterns over our intertwined hands.
It felt so nice, not just the sparks that her touch elicited, but the way that it felt so natural. She seemed comfortable, not thinking about bonds or second chances and just settling into us. It was a motion that I could see her frequently doing, for what Goddess willing, would be the rest of our lives.
She paused her fingers, fixing her stare on me and I swallowed.
“I showed up and waited for you. I wanted to see if the feelings that I felt were real. I knew that you were fated to another, but I hadn’t felt anything like that, and I just had to put it behind me. I thought by going there, then I would realize it was a fluke, and I could get those thoughts of you out of my mind.” She smiled and resumed her drawing on my hand.
“When you weren’t there, I immediately confronted Nolan, Alpha Nolan, I guess. I asked where you were, and he said that you rejected each other, and then that blonde came up, and I left. He didn’t know where you were, and I didn't need to waste any more time with him. I wanted to find you, but no one knew where you went, and then I had so much else going on, and I didn’t even think you were really my mate. What I felt was different, but it wasn’t like what I feel now.” It all came out a bit rushed.
“There's no need to explain or what I'm assuming is a sort of apology from you.” Willa looked at me frowning. “You’re acting as if you should have come and rescued me. You didn’t even know that I was your mate, and I didn’t need anyone to rescue me,” she said matter-of-factly.
“I know, I know that. I was just saying if I knew for certain that you were my mate, I would have combed the entire planet myself looking for you,” I admitted. I hoped she heard the truth in my voice.
A smile spread across her face even though she bit her lip, trying to hide it. “Maybe it was better this way. I’m not sure if I really believe in fate or destiny, not anymore. But maybe we were supposed to meet later.” She shrugged. “I had a beautiful few years with my parents and Emmett, something I wouldn’t have gotten if you would have waltzed in and locked me in your penthouse apartment.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, and she looked startled for a second before gifting me one of the biggest smiles I’d seen from her. It made my stomach flip.
“I’ve never heard you laugh like that, not really,” she admitted, her face flushed slightly pink. Something I doubt others would notice; it was so subtle.
“I like you, Willa.” I let that hang in the air. between us “F.uck the mate bond, I like you.” Even after I said it, I didn’t wish I could take it back.
Her eyes slowly met mine, her fingers still brushing my hand.
“I think, no, I know, I like you,” she admitted.