2

“I have something to tell you,” Tanya said as she barged into Kiara’s room without even knocking and Kiara immediately sat up on the bed, looking apprehensive with her sleep coated face.

She had stayed up later than expected with Kristen talking about everything and nothing all the same. When she was finally ready to retire for bed in hopes that she’ll spill everything to her parents, she found out they were already asleep, and she already planned how today was going to go and it did not involve Tanya running into her room like a scared cat first thing in the morning.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay? Did anything happen?”

Tanya bit her bottom lip and rubbed her hands nervously. “Well, it’s about…Kristen.”

Kiara’s heart dropped to her stomach and her eyes widened. “What happened to him? Is he okay?”

“Kristen is fine,” Tanya said forcefully and Kiara drew back with a raised brow, “it’s about me and him.”

“What?”

“What I have to tell you is about Kristen and I.”

Kiara’s eyes narrowed suspiciously and she shifted a bit from Tanya, and stared at her with narrowed eyes and suspicion all over face. “What about you and Kristen?”

“We’ve been dating, for over a year now, and what’s worse? I have already had sex with him.”

“What?”

“Yes,” she nodded, this time tears were streaming down her face, “we were both convinced it was me and him because he felt a connection to our group.” She grabbed Kiara’s hands, “you can’t be with him, Kiara, I love him and I already gave myself up for him.”

Kiara who was stunned into silence just gazed at her tear-stricken face for a while before she snatched her hand away from her, and stood to her feet. “How could you both make such a mistake, Tanya? Dating is strictly forbidden for this very reason, how could you?”

“I like him, a lot, and I just couldn’t help myself. When he said he felt a connection to the group, I thought this was…”

“Just stop,” Kiara cut her off, and pinched the spot between her brows as she paced around her room. Of all the scenarios she had in her head about meeting her mate and potential problems they might encounter; this was not even in her wildest imagination.

“What does Kristen have to say about this?”

Surprise flickered through Tanya’s eyes and her face hardened for a brief moment before she broke down in tears again, “I’m your friend, Kiara, do…”

“And he is my mate!” she gritted through clenched teeth and Tanya flinched. When she recovered, she buried her face in her hands and began sobbing violently.

“He only apologized and said he’ll try to make it up to me, but there’s nothing he can do given that you are his mate.”

Kiara palmed her face and exhaled loudly. “You can go,”

“Kiara,” Tanya whispered as she brought out her face from her palms, “You can’t be with him. You can’t be with the man that your friend lo…”

“I said you should go, Tanya. I’ll speak to you later.”

She didn’t wait for Tanya to leave or respond, she just walked into her bathroom and locked the door behind her, leaving Tanya to glare hard at the door before she stood up and marched out of the room angrily.

Kiara washed up and immediately dressed up, refusing to give any thoughts to what she heard until she consulted with her parents. They were the only ones she trusted to give her proper advice and make proper decisions.

Luckily for her, when she got downstairs, they were already at the dining table, but before the happiness could kick in properly, Kristen walked in smiling at them, and from the fond smiles on her parents’ faces she could tell that he already let them in on the news.

“Princess, you are here,” her father said, pulling her into a side hug. Her mum smiled and she returned the smile, but she did everything possible to avoid Kristen’s gaze.

“I see you already got the news,” she said taking a seat beside her mum instead of beside Kristen like everyone expected, but they waved it off by deeming her as shy.

“Yes,” her mum was the one to respond, “he came in the early hours of the morning to tell us. This union is blessed.”

“Indeed, I was nervous to see who she’s been fated to, but seeing her with him has calmed all my nerves.”

Kiara smiled a bit forcefully, and Kristen was quick to pick up on it. He extended his hand towards her to hold hers but she immediately retracted her hand and he arched a brow at the sudden change from the girl who was excited to speak to him just last night.

“I’m sorry to ask, but can  I please steal Kiara away for 10 minutes?”

Luna Camilia who thought her daughter was being shy and needed some time with her mate nodded eagerly. “Of course, young mates need all the alone time they can get.”

“And while you guys are away, I’ll send for your father, so we can start the necessary arrangements.”

Kiara broke into a fitful cough, and her parents laughed it off as her being embarrassed but Kristen sensed better so he grabbed her and took her to a secluded part of the house. Once they were in a private area, she forcefully dragged her hand away from Kristen’s grip and his brows shot up.

“What’s wrong?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know.”

His face fell and he looked around, looking lost, and Kiara scoffed at what she deemed an act. “I don’t …”

“You and Tanya. She told me about the two of you. The dating, and the sex? Two of you went against the pack rules and now I am stuck in the mess with the both of you? What the hell were you thinking? You should have known better!”

“Kiara, look I…”

“I think you should go home first, Kristen,” the both of them turned to see Luna Camilia glaring at them with her face hardened, “what you have done is a big offence, and a bigger mess than you think and I am not sure I want my daughter to be dragged into this.”