Mate (II)

Elena's POV:

I was on my way to one of the cabins, a place where my father had taken in a group of refugees after a rogue attack. Visiting them had become part of my daily routine, and today, I welcomed the distraction. Anything to take my mind off the fact that Derick, the boy I'd thought would be my mate, was not. He wasn't my destined mate, and worse, he'd rejected his true mate in a desperate attempt to convince me to become his chosen mate. He hadn't loved me for who I was—he wanted to be Alpha, and to him, I was the key to that power. The thought made me sick. All this time, I had believed he truly cared for me.

As I approached the cabin, lost in the swirl of my emotions, I almost walked right into him.

A stranger. A god.

My breath caught in my throat as my eyes locked onto him. This man… he looked like something out of a dream. His presence was commanding, magnetic, and I could feel the power rolling off him in waves. His short, dark hair was perfectly tousled, and his jawline—smooth, freshly shaven—only served to heighten the intensity of his deep, brown eyes. Eyes that seemed to see straight through me. My gaze was drawn to the way his muscles moved under his fitted shirt, his broad shoulders and strong arms making my pulse race.

And then there was his scent. Goddess, his scent. It was like the earth after rain, the rich smell of soil mingled with the fresh air and the green essence of nature itself. My favorite scent. It wrapped around me, and suddenly, I couldn't breathe properly. It felt like everything in the world had shifted around me and narrowed down to this moment—just him and me.

Mate. Zena's voice echoed in my mind, her tone full of awe and desire, confirming what I already suspected. 

I stumbled, my knees weak, as an overwhelming need surged through me. The connection between us was instant, raw, primal. I'd heard of this feeling, this undeniable pull toward one's mate, but nothing could have prepared me for the reality of it. It was like my whole body, my whole being, was suddenly attuned to him. I wanted nothing more than to run to him, to throw myself into his arms, and let him carry me away to wherever he pleased.

But I froze, rooted to the spot. My heart was hammering in my chest, my breath shallow, my wolf pushing against the edges of my control. I had no idea who this man was, yet everything inside me screamed that he was mine. My mate.

"Mine," he growled, his voice hoarse and raw with possessiveness. The single word sent a shiver down my spine, igniting feelings I had never allowed myself to feel. My heart pounded in my chest, my body betraying me with a heat I couldn't ignore. Every inch of me responded to his declaration, and my wolf, Zena, was practically purring in my mind. It was as if the world had fallen away, leaving just the two of us standing there, tethered by some invisible, undeniable force. 

But before I could get lost in the moment, the atmosphere was abruptly disrupted by the sound of my mom calling out to me. Her voice sliced through the haze that had taken over my mind, pulling me back to reality. I turned just in time to see her walking toward us, her eyes widening slightly as she took in the sight of the stranger—my mate. For a split second, she looked genuinely shocked, but then, like a true Alpha's Luna, she composed herself, her expression smoothing into a polite smile. It was a smile most people wouldn't see through, but I knew my mother well. That smile was a mask, concealing the whirlwind of thoughts that were no doubt racing through her mind.

"Alpha Kane," she said, her voice steady but strained, those two words ripping me out of my fantasy like a cruel slap. 

Alpha Kane? My heart stopped. No, this couldn't be happening. There was no way. He's the Alpha Kane? The one I had grown up hating, the one who controlled my father's every move, the one who treated him as if he were lesser. The ruthless, cold, arrogant Alpha Kane? No, this had to be a joke—a sick, twisted joke.

I blinked, my mind racing to process the sudden, brutal shift in reality. Everything inside me that had been screaming "mate" just moments ago suddenly collided with the knowledge of who he was. Alpha Kane, the same man I had spent years resenting, was my mate? My mate? 

My subconscious was still doing a crazy dance, elated that we had found him, that he was a hunk of a man and more than just the mate I had dreamed of. But now, that dream felt like it was being shattered into a million pieces. This wasn't supposed to happen. I wasn't supposed to be mated to someone like him. The tension between our packs, the cold way he treated my father—everything about him was wrong for me. 

I looked up at him, searching for any hint of the warm, possessive man I had just glimpsed moments ago. But his eyes had hardened, the softness from before disappearing as soon as my mother had addressed him. The raw, feral attraction between us was still there, humming beneath the surface, but now it felt…complicated. 

"Alpha Kane," I repeated his name in disbelief, my voice barely a whisper. 

He watched me, his gaze intense, but I could feel the shift in him, too. His face was unreadable, a mask of control slipping over his features, though his body was still taut, as if he was fighting the same war inside that I was.

My mother, ever the composed Luna, stepped forward, breaking the thick tension that clung to the air between us. "What brings you to this particular place, Alpha?" she asked, her tone polite but cautious. 

He tore his eyes away from mine and addressed her, his voice now measured and cool. "Someone. I came to look around." His words were clipped, devoid of any emotion. It was like the man who had growled "mine" just moments ago had been replaced by someone completely different. 

My heart sank even further. This wasn't happening. I had finally found my mate, only for him to be the one man I couldn't stand—the one man who didn't belong in my world. I wanted to scream, to run, to do anything but stand there and accept this fate. But I couldn't move. I was trapped between the pull of destiny and the crushing weight of reality.

I barely heard what my mom and Alpha Kane discussed. My mind was spinning, my chest tight with a mix of emotions I didn't know how to handle. Zena, on the other hand, was practically howling in my head, demanding that I claim him, that I accept him, that I take what was ours. But how could I? How could I possibly reconcile this man—this Alpha—with the idea of being my mate? My father's pack had suffered under his dominance, and I had resented him for it for so long. Could I really just…forget all of that? 

Suddenly, he glanced back at me, and for a brief moment, I saw something flicker in his eyes. It was there, barely perceptible—hesitation, perhaps? A struggle? But just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, replaced by the cold, authoritative Alpha Kane I had grown to despise from a distance.

My mom finished speaking and turned to me, her face unreadable as she said, "Ella, why don't you go back inside? We'll talk later."

I nodded numbly, my legs carrying me away from them even though every part of me wanted to stay, wanted to demand answers from the universe about how this had happened. As I walked back toward the house, I could still feel his eyes on me, that same possessive gaze from before. It made my skin tingle, made my wolf restless with desire. But I couldn't let myself go there—not yet.

This was all too much. Too soon.