15 minutes late
That is how long my mate had kept me waiting in front of the pack's court house.
Relief rushed through me as I heard the sound of my phone running in my bag.
"Where are you?" I asked, sounding panicked.
"Oh Vivian" he said slightly laughing, " I was going to let you hear it from the pack registrar instead"
"Hear what" I said, my chest tightening
" I already mated with someone else this morning"
The world around me tilted
"With who?" I whispered
"My true mate. The one I never told you about"
My chest tighter, I couldn't breath
"You stood in line" he continued "you pursued me knowing fully well that you were never the woman i intended to mate with. You knew you were never my type, your family background can never match mine. You are just a low level wolf in this big city and you really thought I would be with someone like you?"
"But you loved me" I said, tears streaming from my eyes
"That was a lie" he said, screaming into the phone.
"Don't embarrass yourself by crying in public. You were never my chosen mate. Now please leave me alone"
I felt it before I saw it, the stares, the whispers. Pack members pretending not to listen. Their gazes cut into me, one after another. They heard my mage reject me. To them, I was the social climber, the low life omega that refused to know her place in the pack.
The room seemed to darken, I felt trapped in my own body.
My chest tighter as if an invisible weight was pressing down on me. No matter how deeply I breathed, it wasn't enough:
I could not escape. My mate left me.
The man that promised he will stand by me left me and mated with someone else.
Turning sideways, I saw a small chair leaned against the wall, I quickly sat down on it to steady myself.
That was when I felt it, an aura.
Maybe that of an alpha.
Heavy and suffocating.
I didn't need to lift up my head just to know that someone powerful was nearby.
The air around felt thin.
Across the hall, a man say in a wheelchair.
Dark eyes, sharp jaws, dark long hair, falling off his shoulders.
He watched me with a calm look that didn't belong in a place like this. His fingers tapped away slowly against the arm rest, each movement deliberate, steady, as if nothing in this world could rush him.
"Mr. Norton" a man hurried to his side. He bent down to whisper " Ms. Lopez says that she is stuck in traffic on the highway, she said you should give her an hour to get here"
Mr. Norton looked up "tell her I don't need her to come anymore" his voice was cold and flat.you can call her and tell her to go back home."
The assistant hesitated. "But your grandfather is insisting you mate soon…"
Mr. Norton didn't respond, instead he rolled his chair forward, smooth and straight towards me.
I barely noticed it until he stopped right in front of me.
"Excuse me" he said. Looking straight at me
"Would you marry me"
I lifted my head slowly, dragged my my sorrows into sheer disbelief.
I looked at him closely, he was… so unreal.
Sharp brows, clean lies. His face was so precise that he looked like a supermodel.
He was very striking. The white shirt he wore was plain and clean. Yet it cling to his frame that made his strength very impossible to miss.
Lean shoulders, controlled posture. The chair beneath him didn't weaken his presence, if anything, it sharpened it.
He sat there like someone born to command, his pride visible intact. It made him feel untouchable.
"Well…"
I quickly realized I had been staring only when he spoke again.
"W-what?" I asked, my voice smaller than I meant it to be.
"I overheard your call earlier," he said calmly. You seem to be in a hurry to register your mateship."
The worlds hit harder then it should have.
My chest tightened as head crawled up my neck. Shame and panic mixed together , leaving me speechless.
I opened my mouth to respond but he didn't wait.
"Thay is such a coincidence, he continued. " so am I, since we both got ditched my our mates, why don't we help each other out"
The way he said it was so unsettling.
Like this was something casual and not a life changing decision. Like a common contract or transaction.
He was still looking at me, waiting for an answer.
That was when it truly sank in my mind.
He was not joking.
He meant every word he said.
"What… wait a minute- this is ridiculous. We just met!! " I said quickly " you can't be seriously suggest I get matted with a stranger"
"You didn't know the man you wanted to mate with today either"
The calm certainty of his response left me stunned.
I had no response.
A flicker of something crossed his eyes before his expression turned cold again d
"Oh I see!" He said lightly " I see that you think less of me because I cannot walk?"
"NO!!!" I replied instantly the word came out too fast.
And that was when I noticed it, a faint sight of amusement in his dark gaze. I realized too late that I had walked straight into his little trap.
"Miss," he said folding his hands meet my over his lap. His eyes locked into mine. It was heavy and intense.
"You need this bond. Desperately. If you walk away today, what makes you believe another chance will appear?"
My throat tightened, because he was right.
Painfully right.
I didn't need romance. I didn't need affection. I needed security. I needed to be recognized under a local pack registry here in Sunshine City. Only then could I access protection, resources... medical coverage.
It was only then I could afford my mother's treatments.
"Are you officially registered here… in sunshine pack?" I finally asked
A slow smirk curved his lips
"Yes" he said and silence followed
I swallowed hard.
He was restrained, yes. Bound to that chair. But the air around him was steady and commanding.
Compared to the men I had been forced to meet these past few months, this man stood leagues above them.
Haven't you been chasing this exact thing for three months?
A local. A clean registry. A way forward.
And now it was standing right in front of me.
So why was my heart still hesitating?
Fear and instinct pulled at me from opposite ends.
In the end, instinct won
I bit my lip.
Then I nodded.
"Alright," I said softly. "I agree."