Chapter 45: 46: Fated but Not Mated

ARIEL

Are my ears deceiving me, or is Xavier saying what I think he’s saying?

Is he telling me that he wants to be with me?

Not just flirt with me or kiss me, but ~choose~ me?

This is the moment every girl dreams of: when their destined mate asks to become their future.

But this isn’t a dream.

It’s a fucked-up nightmare.

“Xavier,” I say desperately, backing away as he takes a step toward me. “Stop. What are you—you chose Natalia. I’m with Alex.”

“I was foolish,” he says, “I should have known better than to fight with Fate. I was destined to lose everything when I turned you away. And it came true. I have nothing left.”

Despite my horror at his words, my body is nodding in agreement, longing to move into his touch.

The moment when Xavier rejected me as his mate was one of the most painful I’ve ever endured.

This is the opposite. It feels like the wound he inflicted on that day is getting healed by these words.

And it feels like my wolf is as confused as I am. She’s drawn to Xavier’s wolf and is having a hard time fighting it.

“Xavier, you chose Natalia,” I repeat, my brain skipping like a broken record. “You chose Natalia.”

“I know!” he cries out. “I’m sorry I did, I really am!”

“I don’t need an apology,” I say. “I don’t need ~anything~ from you. I just…need you to leave now. Go back to her.”

“Go back to who?” he asks. “Natalia is no longer the strong, self-possessed woman I mated with. I haven’t seen her in days. She just stays in her room with all the lights off, crying endlessly. It’s pathetic.”

~Excuse me?~

I feel the butterflies that Xavier had let loose in my stomach all die in unison.

How can he have so little sympathy for his chosen mate?

The mother of his child?

Granted, I don’t have the best relationship with Natalia. But I can still empathize with the immensity of her pain.

“She will mourn Xavi until he’s back in her arms. And so should you,” I say incredulously.

“And what if that day never comes?”

“Xavier, you need to believe—”

“No, Ariel. What I ~need~ is an heir. I can keep wasting my time looking for my lost pup, or I could make another one. With you. You’re so strong, Ariel. So beautiful. Of ~course~ Fate chose you for me. We can bring to life the heir that destiny intended me to have.”

~My sister doesn’t deserve this bullshit.~

He moves toward me again.

In a flash, my open palm makes contact with Xavier’s cheek as I slap him as hard as I can.

It sends ripples through his skin, and there’s a red handprint already forming.

He stares at me, eyes wide, taken off guard by my explosion.

“What the—” He grabs my wrist and clutches it.

I fight against his grasp but can’t release his hold on me.

He grabs my other arm, forcibly pinning it to my side.

“Ariel, it doesn’t have to be like this.”

He moves his face toward mine, lips readied for a kiss.

I moisten my tongue in preparation.

As he nears closer to me, I spit into his face.

Xavier recoils, releasing his hold on me as he wipes away the saliva.

“Fuck you,” he sneers, pupils dilating, lips curling.

“Right back at you,” I growl. “Leave my house and my pack ~now~. I am going to continue ~wasting my time~ trying to find your child. But not for you. For my sister.”

“Good luck finding him without me,” he snarls.

“If I wasn’t clear, let me just say it one more time for good measure. I reject you as my mate.” I confidently repeat the words he uttered to me on that terrible night.

By the look on his face, I can see that hearing his own words thrown back at him is tearing him apart inside.

I normally would hate seeing someone in agony, but for just a moment, I allow myself to relish in it.

~Suffer like I did.~

~Suffer like my sister.~

~Suffer like your son.~

~Suffer.~

And then I slam the front door shut, leaving him to endure that suffering alone.

As soon as the door clicks shut, I release a sharp, excited scream.

It feels like a giant weight has been lifted off of me.

I have finally let Xavier go, releasing the baggage of my broken matehood—casting off his shadow. My future, my destiny, is completely in my own hands.

And there’s only one person I want to share it with.

I peer out the window and watch as Xavier shuffles away.

Smiling to myself, I skip up the stairs to my room.

I can’t wait to tell Alex that no one will ever come between us again.

ALEX

I have come to dread unexpected knocks on the door.

Walking cautiously toward the sound, I mentally prepare myself for the worst.

~Maybe my father is…~

But when I open it to find Ariel standing there, beaming at me, my anxiety melts away.

“I have something to tell you,” she says, leaping into my arms.

From the glow radiating through her cheeks, for a second I think she’s about to tell me that I’m going to be a father.

Instead she says, “Xavier’s gone for good.”

~Huh?~

“I told him to leave yesterday.”

“Well, he came back.”

“That son of a bitch—”

“He asked me to be his mate.”

~THAT SON OF A BITCH!~

If Ariel hadn’t spoiled the ending of this story for me, I might be tearing this room apart, breaking everything in sight.

Instead, I just take Ariel by the hands.

She looks so fucking beautiful.

I’m torn between hearing about what happened next and kissing her into oblivion.

I give her a peck and urge her to continue.

“Xavier was standing in front of me saying everything that, months ago, I would have wanted to hear. But I chose you and will continue to choose you every day for the rest of my life,” she says.

“I’m ~not~ saying I’m ready to have a mating ceremony yet,” she adds quickly, “but I rejected Xavier once and for all. It’s over, and he knows it.”

A smile washes over my face as I feel her lips on my cheeks, my eyelids, and finally, pressing against my mouth.

I consume her lips with mine, the warmth from her kisses spreading through my entire body.

My father was right. I just need to be patient. To respect her journey. To give Ariel a chance to heal.

And the wait is paying off. She is more radiant and irresistible than ever.

I lead her toward my bed, ready to greet every part of her body with equal enthusiasm.

But to my surprise, she pulls away from my touch.

“What’s wrong?” I ask her breathlessly.

“There’s actually something I need to do,” she says.

“What?”

“I need to go to the Crescent Moon Pack.”

“What!?”

“For Natalia,” she continues. “Xavier has betrayed and disrespected her. She has to know that she deserves better than him.”

“Ariel, Natalia has been nothing but terrible to you—”

“I know,” she replies, yellow eyes gazing up at me. “But she’s my sister. And she’s in pain. I have to go to her now.”

“Like ~now~ now?” I ask, pressing my hardness into her pelvis.

She nods but leans into me further. “We’ll finish what we started when I get back.”

After giving me one more long, warm kiss, she moves back toward the door.

My eyes fix on her tempting ass as I try again to remember the rewards of patience.

Ariel

Dad. I need your help.

Dad

Everything okay?

Ariel

It will be…

Ariel

I need to talk to Natalia without Xavier knowing.

Ariel

Invite her to come to your house for dinner, but don’t tell her why.

Ariel

She won’t come if she knows I’m going to be there.

Dad

What’s going on?

Ariel

I’ll explain everything later. Please do it dad. It’s important. I’ll be there soon.

Dad

Okay. See you.

Hopping on my bike, I speed along the road between the Royal Pack and the Crescent Moon Pack.

Despite the fact that I’m carrying bad news, I can’t help but feel a little excited. With Xavier as a common enemy, maybe my sister and I will finally be able to see eye to eye.

Maybe we can mend fences instead of building walls.

***

Parking my bike in the driveway of my childhood home, I feel the sharp pangs of nostalgia strike me in the throat. Or maybe that’s just the tears that I’m already choking down.

My dad is waiting for me on the front step as he always used to when I missed my curfew as a teenager.

He pulls me in for a hug and whispers in my ear, “She’s up in her old room. Good luck.”

I nod, grateful that he doesn’t ask any more questions that I’m not ready to answer. “And Mom?”

“She’s in the kitchen. I didn’t tell her that you were coming either.”

“Thanks,” I say with a soft smile.

I enter the house and tiptoe past the sounds of my mother cooking dinner.

And then I reach it: the door to Natalia’s childhood bedroom.

When I was a kid, I stood outside this door on countless occasions, inviting Natalia to hang out with me, slipping note after note through the sliver of light—all of which went unanswered.

And as I knock now, I receive the same silent treatment.

But I’m not a child anymore.

The silence doesn’t hurt me... Though, that doesn’t mean Natalia won’t.