Till Forever

"Alpha?" I said as I walked behind him to the very spot where I had seen him get his heart broken brutally. Where all of this had started.

He turned to me. "Yes?"

His hair had somehow fallen in front of his eyes, shielding half of his face from view.

"Well...the grand alpha said to come be with you. To get to know you..."

He nodded. "Give it up."

"Give what up?" I asked, confusion in my voice.

"Give up trying to know me. I know you are in love with that omega, Simon. I am sure you know who I am in love with too. So It's best we just keep this act at the surface."

He was brutal as he turned away to face the full moon.

"I am not..." I stopped. Did it even matter? I did know who he was in love with. "Up until when? Up until when am I going to fill the shoes of your mate?"

"Till forever." He answered simply.

"What if my mate comes?"

I saw his fingers that had been scraping along his palm stop, as he slowly turned to me. His eyes were dark, and when he spoke, his voice was just as dark too.

"Think of this as me intertwining the threads of bonds."

"Why me?" It was becoming increasingly clear just what I was in his life. The substitute. The girl who was there to prevent the real person from being there.

"It was easy. It was so damn easy taking you. Maybe because you wanted it that way"

He turned to me, and this time, our eyes met. Yes. I had wanted it to be this way. I had wanted to be the one with him. Every rising morning, every waning moon. It just hurt that he saw that easy as a different kind of easy.

"Austin!"

We broke the eye contact as he looked behind me. I already knew who it was, so I didn't bother.

"How could you choose an omega over me?"

He took a deep breath. "She is my mate. Accept it."

"You and I both know you are doing this because you are such a sore loser. Because I broke up with you. She is not the one who should have been blessed with you, and you know it!"

There was silence after her outburst, as alpha Austin put his hair away, then bundled it into a man bun.

"You are right. She is not my mate and I asked her to be." He chuckled, and not even the dimples in his face could hide the sheer evil in his eyes.

He walked closer to me, then stood by my side, and tucked his hands into his pockets.

"Kind of weird having you beg to be by my side again. I am so not used to it."

"Austin." Catherine said, her fists clenching. "You are so sick."

"Hell I am. And guess what is sicker? How I have absolutely no plan of rejecting you, Catherine. I am not going to reject you as my mate."

Then what was I? I thought, but wisely kept mute. He turned me to face her, his smile dangerous.

"You are not going to reject me?" She looked like she was being hopeful. I wouldn't feel that way if I were in her shoes.

"No. Why would I do that? You are going to stay mated to me till I get tired of it. I am going to have you seeking me out in places where I get intimate with her, I am going to have you feeling every kiss I leave on her body like a searing fire on your skin. Every time I touch her, you are going to wish I let you endure the pain of the natural bond severing. Every time I look at her, I will make sure you beg me to look at you the same way....and the marks I will leave? The touch? The hugs? None of it will be half as enjoyable for you as I assure you it will be for me. I swear on our mate bond, Catherine, I will make you regret every single thing you did to me."

My heart was pounding like crazy by the time he finished, and I looked up at him. His one sided smile was still there, humorless, cold and icy, and I swallowed. I hated how happy this was making me.

Catherine raised a hand and slapped his right cheek, causing his face to swerve to me. He broke into a bigger laugh. A bigger, more beautiful laugh.

Before I knew it, my legs were moving, and I had no control over my hand as it lifted too, and slapped Catherine on the cheek. Even Austin gasped, his surprise was short lived however.

"Hazel."

"Don't you dare, raise a hand against my Alpha again." I don't know where I was getting the confidence, but what she had done before was more than enough. She didn't have the right to hurt him anymore. Not while I am here.

"You think you are any better because he has told you to take my place? You think you are not an omega anymore?"

Austin pulled me back to him, so my back was on his chest.

"She is now my wife, and mate. I do hope you learn to respect that."

I couldn't concentrate anymore. I could feel the warmth of his chest on my back, and the rapid beating of his heart. He wasn't happy about this, but it was a vow he had made for himself.

"I promise..." Catherine said, her eyes filling up with angry, hurt tears. "I will get back what is mine. I will not let you take my position away from me because of your childishness."

"It is because of the position, isn't it? Then why did you not just stick with me? Why exactly did you break up with me when I could have made you Luna? So easily at that?" He sounded sad now, almost like he was pleading.

She said nothing, but walked away. However, I knew what I saw in her eyes. Regret. It was regret.