Chapter 8

• Neil’s POV
• Well, honestly, I was bluffing when I said I would mark her against her will. I might be a werewolf, but some things were simply against my believes and marking your mate was one of them. I do have to admit though that when I was only inches away from the spot where my mark would be placed one day, that is if I manage to convince her we belong together, it was hard to keep Zane from taking what the Moon Goddess meant to be his.
• But the thing that surprised me the most was the fact how heavily I reacted to her words, especially when she was mocking me or making assumptions. Even insults to which I was usually immune it seemed got to me when they were coming from her kissable lips.
• As I was rounding the corner I almost bumped into my Beta, “Hey man, I was looking all over this huge mansion for you. Where have you been and why do you look like you ran a marathon?” you could say that nothing escaped Ryan. One thing was for sure because we grew up together and he knew me like the back of his hand. “You could say that my mate is a blessing and a curse at the same time.” I mumbled under my breath, somewhat hoping he would not hear my words, I know, wishful thinking since we were werewolves but hey, a man can dream. And of course, my best friend was an idiot sometimes, so instead of being my emotional support, he burst out laughing and all I could do was look at him and wait for him to get back to being serious. Oh wait. He never was serious. Ah, I was fucked. “Do tell, Alpha almighty, did you by any chance finally found someone as stubborn as you are?”
• Yup. Like I said. An idiot. “Hardy, har, har. You can laugh all you want, but if you were in my shoes, you would not be laughing anymore. She wanted to reject our bond the moment she saw me before she even knew my name. and now she knows exactly who I am so what is stopping her from rejecting me? Let me spell it out for you, N-O-T-H-I-N-G, nothing! Oh, and as it looks like, we have the same obsession, so I have no idea who in their right mind would be willing to work for the two of us together.” At my words he finally became serious and for a moment he just looked like he was thinking really deeply about my words, “So, she also has an obsession with vanilla cupcakes?” I only gave him a nod because the question did not need any more explanation. Everyone in my pack knew I had a sweet tooth and vanilla cupcakes were like my kryptonite. When my mother was still alive, she joked that when I become an Alpha and someone would want to make an alliance with me, all they would have to do was bring me vanilla cupcakes and I would give them anything they wanted. But as I looked at Ryan, I could see there was something else on the tip of his tongue, so I raised my eyebrow at him, letting him know to get out whatever was bugging him. Under my stare he only managed to keep quiet for a moment before he blurted out, “Since you received the information that your father had your mother killed, you always said you would reject your mate, and now here you are worrying because your mate knows your name and can reject you, so I am sorry, but I am confused.”
• Yeah, that was the problem that was also nagging me. Because Ryan was right. Since I received the information about who was responsible for my mother’s death, I promised to reject my mate on sight alone. But here I was, wanting more than anything for her to accept me as her mate. A deep sigh escaped me, “I have no idea man, all I know is that I do want her to accept me. Just the thought of her rejecting me is tearing my heart in half. And Zane would not even allow me to think about rejecting her.”
• “Damn right I will not you stupid human. Moon Goddess made her especially for us. I just wish I could see her wolf.” Zane butted in as always in the middle of the conversation. Of course, Ryan realized he was nagging me while I was speaking to him and chuckled as the realization hit him, “Did he threaten you again?” I had to smirk at his words, because truth be told, Zane’s favorite pass time was threatening me if I did not accept my mate, he would make sure to find a way to leave me, to castrate me, and so much more. And as awful as it might sound all those threats and everything, I knew deep down he just wanted what was best for him and for me.
• “Nah. At the moment I am just being called stupid. Surprisingly, since we met our mate, he did not threaten me even once.” I knew I just provoked the lion or to be more specific, the wolf and my thoughts were confirmed a moment later when he growled inside my head, “Do not tempt me to start threatening you again. After all you intentionally provoked our mate more than once and you know I do not approve of that. We were supposed to make her happy, not angry!” if I liked it or not, I had to agree with my wolf. But even though all I wanted to do was make her happy, I still could not help it when she stepped on my toes and pushed all the right buttons to piss me off. And at those thoughts it was his turn to agree with me, but since I had one of the more stubborn wolves, who did not want to be proved wrong, he wisely retreated into the back of my mind, leaving me alone for a few moments.
• “So, Alpha. Do you have any plan on how to convince her to accept you? You know that tonight there will be many Alpha males present and everyone will want to woe her. Everyone can barely wait to see her and let’s be honest it is not hard to look at her. She really is a pretty female and considering her reputation, power and wealth, I would say she is a true jackpot in our world” at his last words I could not help the growl that escaped me. Just the thought about any other male being around my mate was making my claws and teeth itch to tear something or someone apart. As soon as Ryan realized his mistake, he raised his hands in surrender motion and I did not want him to think that he is in any kind of danger, but he did call my mate pretty and that was not really acceptable.
• “Relax, Neil. I did not mean anything by it, I can be a man whore, but you know I am waiting for my mate, and even if I was not, I would never go after your mate. But what I am trying to tell you is that other Alphas would not see it that way. If she does not have a man next to her or a mark on her neck, she is fair play, and you know I am telling the truth.” As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. She was fair play and every Alpha that would attend the ball tonight would have their eyes on my mate. I had to come up with something and I had to do it fast.