3. Denying This

Lily

He didn’t even care…

Dismissing me with a final order instead of asking me who my mate is, if I am certain I want to leave or if I will be safe where I am headed to. Not that I had an answer to any of those questions anyway.

I tested Konstantin to see if he cared about me, and by his answers, I know now that he doesn’t. He never did in the first place, and now he’s letting me go.

Just like that.

I breathe out a sigh and make my way towards the bar, intending to drown my sorrows with a few glasses of vodka.

How could I have been so stupid? I didn’t think Konstantin would believe my lie, but he did. Of course, I haven’t found my mate; trash half-breeds like me aren’t that lucky. But he readily believed the lie. Has he been waiting to throw me aside all this time?

Four neat vodkas deep, and the anger is just surging inside of me. I fell in love with an idiot and expected him to return my feelings when he obviously couldn't care less. I’m glad I’m leaving; I’ve saved up enough to last me at least a year by myself.

Lone wolf or not, it will be better than living here knowing he would never feel the same way about me.

As if to rub salt in my wounds, I turn towards his office and notice the blonde bombshell from earlier walking inside. Knowing the reason hurt so much that it felt like my heart was being torn out of my chest.

My wolf lowers its head, letting out a pitiful howl at the knowledge of what he will be doing with that woman. I’ve made the right decision; I know I have.

---

Konstantin

I look over at Lily in the passenger seat, then at the person in the rearview mirror; my newest assistant.

He is two years younger than her, almost my height, with tanned skin, piercing blue eyes, blonde hair shaved into a mohawk and piercings lining his lips and ears. It looks like he works out daily and could match me in a fist fight. It irks me to no end that she managed to find a replacement so quickly and makes me feel as if she has been training someone all along.

“You’re certain he will be adept enough to take your place, Lily?” I say, looking at the young face in the back seat, and Lily smiles while turning to him.

“I trust Zephyr more than anyone else; he’s strong and more than capable,” she says with an air of pride to her. I nod, knowing how strong this wolf is as he lives on the estate and has trained with Nikolai.

“This Alpha we’re going to, is there a reason he’s called for us?” Zephyr goes and asks the question I wanted Lily to ask.

“Yes, he wants to have a celebration in honour of our accords,” I answered with my eyes on the road. Zephyr chuckles.

“Oh, so we’re going to a party, then? Cool,” he says.

I don’t know why this wolf irks me so much - I honestly just want to reach over and strangle him.

But then Lily laughs and shakes her head, her raven curls bouncing, and it calms my nerves to watch her.

“Leave it to you to think of this as only a party. This Alpha will want to gauge Konstantin and see what he is made of; this is definitely not just a party.” She says, looking over her shoulder at him. This is precisely why she is my second in command; she can read people so much better than I can.

“Exactly, so watch and learn tonight,” I say, looking at him in the rearview over the top of my sunglasses. He nods and swallows hard, knowing that he messed up.

I grin, and we continue for the next 30 minutes in silence.

When we arrive at Stefan Russo’s mansion, I notice a line of luxury cars as we get ushered inside. The Infernal Prowlers Pack is known for lavish parties and living it up in decadence. But I was under the impression it would only be his pack and ours. Was he planning something big tonight, or am I just being paranoid?

“Ah, Mr Volkov, great to have you with us,” came the voice of the Alpha, Stefan. He is as tall and imposing as Kai, with dark hair and crimson eyes. He’s powerful, and his swagger doesn’t belie that, so I wouldn’t readily look for shit with him.

I can tell by his scent that he’s a cunning one. I better keep my guard up around him; just one look at him, and I can tell that he’s not to be trusted.

“Stefan, a pleasure to finally meet you. I hope our accords will be one for the books,” I say as I shake his hand, and he chuckles heartily. When he looks over at Lily, I see his eyes widen, and he licks his lips as he greets her. This is the type of effect she has on most men, but she brushes it off as if she does not notice it.

Stefan claps his hands together. “Now that all the introductions are completed, let’s party then, shall we?” he says and leads us out into a different section of his mansion.

Three different wolf packs have gathered here. The Blood Crest Pack is friendly with at least two of them, The DarkMoon and Dawnguard, But the last one, a biker pack named Hellfire Horsemen, we’ve had slight disagreements with but nothing that would lead to bloodshed right now.

Lily and Zephyr have walked off and started to mingle with the other packs; I suppose that I have to do the same.

But right now, I am not in the mood to mingle and be friendly. I hated the fact that Lily looked so happy to be leaving my side after all this time. She should have been mine; she should have stayed at my side no matter what.

I know it’s wishful thinking; one day, I will meet my mate as well, then I can’t still expect her to stick around for me.

Grabbing a neat vodka, I will myself to put her out of my head; there’s no point in dwelling on a woman whom the Gods never meant to be mine anyway.