Chapter One.

“What do you mean by 'do you love her? ' I don't like her the way you think I do. I can never love her. I mean, have you seen the women my parents are matchmaking me with? Lyra and I? That’s like incest. We grew up together, remember?”

My heart ached. It was eight years ago, but those words still hurt me because a day before, we had kissed and he swore that he loved me. Nineteen year old me was head over heels in love with him too. The next day, I was to travel to the human world to start college but I was ready to stop myself from going just so I could be with him and then I heard him tell another that he didn’t like me that way.

Well, news flash, nobody should kiss anyone who they ‘do not like that way’. Grateful for finding out that the one I thought I loved was a lying snake before rearranging my life for him, I ran back to my father’s house, packed for college and deleted his number.

I was back to the pack after spending eight years in the human world to get a Bachelor's degree and a Masters degree. Sadly, there was no way I could avoid him. I was curious though. I wanted to see the women he considered better than me.

I shook my head in a bid to shake whatever insecure thoughts were coming in. I was the beautiful daughter of the Beta of this pack. He was the one who fumbled big time, so this feeling of hurt should not be here.

My phone rang out, distracting me from the thoughts I was having. I beamed as the name ‘babe’ with three hearts was displayed on the screen. I looked at the ring finger of my left hand. There was nothing to be sad about. Because of my break up with him, I got a chance to fall in love with Conan, my fiancé. Conan was an Alpha I had met during my Masters program at college. He was one of the few werewolves I met in the human world and we clicked immediately. Now, we were engaged and he was coming to see my parents tomorrow. Grinning, I picked up his call but I could hear nothing. I groaned, angry at how bad the network here was.

My anger washed away at the thought of how my separation from Conan was only for a while. Soon, he would come to my pack and we would be mated.

I smiled.

I won and he lost greatly.

“Lyra.”

I suddenly forgot how to breathe when I heard the voice that came with my name.

It was him.

Alpha Kade.

At that moment, I understood the saying ‘butterflies in my stomach’, because I did feel butterflies in my stomach. My stomach twisted so badly that I lost balance and staggered backward. 

Damn it, I almost forgot how much that deep, rough voice of his affected me.

No, I shook my head. I should not be feeling this way. He had no right to make me feel this way. He lost that right eight years ago. I recalled the last words I heard him say eight years ago and I felt my heart harden.

I should hate him.

I hated him.

I looked up at him, frowning but when our eyes met, my expression froze in my face.

Alpha Kade was always good-looking. Since I could remember, I loved his face. But, in the space of eight years, he had gone from good-looking to god-like.

He was taller, his shoulder broader and his jaw sharper. The wind tossed his dark hair which framed a face too sharp and brutally handsome. The frown he had on disappeared immediately when he saw me. I watched as his impossible silver and cold as a storm cloud eyes softened.

 His features were all angles and shadows. A strong jaw, high cheekbones and lips that looked like they had not curled up in a smile for a very long time now. 

Alpha Kade was perfect and that was no news. Dude had crazy potential from a very young age. His throwback was something most people’s glow up could never match. As expected, his glow up was unreal.

It was sad. Nobody could have a glow down just because you hated them and it annoyed me. It should not even matter. A pretty face can never erase betrayal. “What are you doing here?” The resentment and anger was clearly shown in my voice.

“I’m here to pick you up.”

I scoffed at his answer, turned and began to walk away from him. Over my dead body would I get into his car with him.

“Lyra,” Alpha Kade called out. I could hear him walking behind me.

That very moment, my phone rang out. Conan was calling again and this time, he was able to get through.

“Babe, can you believe it? After eight years of not seeing me, my parents sent Alpha Kade to pick me up. The same Alpha Kade I told you about.”

“Well, go with him. Isn’t the airport far from where you stay?” I frowned at Conan’s reply. This might sound crazy, but I expected him to be a little jealous. I liked the idea of my man being possessive.

“I don’t want a ride from him.”

“What should I do, babe? I’m not anywhere near your pack.”

“You know what? You’re right. It’s just a ride.” I ended the call and heaved a sigh of frustration.

Conan was kind of right. It’s been eight years and I was only a teenager when what happened happened. Alpha Kade or not. It should not matter. He should have no effect on me.

I turned back to see that he was only a few feet away. His eyes immediately went down to the ring on my finger.

“You’re engaged?” He looked horrified.

“Yes,” I answered.

“You told him about us? And that I was here to pick you up?”

“Us?” I scoffed. “Isn’t eight years a long time to grow up?”

I rolled my eyes at him, walked to the car, pulled the door of the back seat and got into the car.

He joined me in the car. “Well, if I found out that my fiancée was getting a ride from her ex, I would hop into a helicopter, bring an entourage with me and pick my fiancée up. I would show him the right way to pick up the love of my life.”

I smirked. “I know you well enough to know that you’ll only say this to your fiancée and then tell someone else how much you will never waste your precious time to pick up a fiancée.”

“Wow, Lyra. You know how to hold a grudge.”

“You’re right. What happened was too insignificant to hold a grudge. Do your job and drive me home.”

“Are you seriously treating your Alpha like your driver?”

I raised an eyebrow. “How do you want me to treat you?”

I watched him freeze. He slowly turned back to look at me and with a strained voice, he asked, “Do you really want to know? Warning, if you do, there’s no going back.”