Chapter 8

“You’re hurting me,” I said to the man.

As if considering it for a moment, his eyes narrowed and he soon asked. “If I let you go, are you going to run again?”

“No. Just get off,” I said, and he finally let go of my hands as he rolled over and stood, offering me his hand to help me get up.

Stubbornly, I picked myself up from the floor without his help. “This was a big mistake. I’m not your mate. Maybe the Moon Goddess is having some sort of…bad night. I mean, it’s the night of a festival. She has to be tired.”

He folded his arms as he examined me. “I don’t think there’s ever been a mistake of that kind ever recorded. Are you a member of this pack? You don’t have the same scent they do.”

From his words, I quickly understood that this man was not a member of the pack. Perhaps he was there to celebrate with the hosting pack.

“You don’t have to know any of that. I’ll just be on my way,” I told him, turning around in my attempt to escape. This was going to put a whole dent on my plan to escape, and I didn’t want that to happen.

“Not so fast,” he said as he grabbed a hold of my hand and stopped me from going any further. “I recognize that scent now. You’re a rogue, aren’t you?”

I didn’t reply, and that was enough for him to realize that he was right with his guess.

“Mated to a rogue. The Moon Goddess must really be out to get me. Why are you in this pack if you’re a rogue?” He asked, his brows raised.

He no longer had the playful look on his face that he had since he shifted. I knew now that one wrong move would put me in a place I didn’t want to be. If this man had ties to Alpha Darius, which I was sure he did, I didn’t want to step on his toes.

“It was a mistake. I took the wrong route. Before I could figure it out, I was already here.” I shrugged even when I knew that lie was not believable, even to a toddler.

“Really? Because if I think about how I found you, I would think you were running away from the pack instead of someone who figured out that they were in the wrong place.”

“Of course I was running away for my dear life. I know how people who live in packs hate rogues. I was not ready to be a victim of that much hatred.” That part was not a lie.

“And why do you think being mated to me was a mistake? Do you not want to have a mate?” He asked, reminding me of the fact that I was mated to him.

“You have to reject me. That’s the only way. You’ll find better people than a rogue. You just have to reject me and go back to the festival as if nothing happened, and I’ll be on my way.”

“That sounds very tempting, but I do believe that a lot of things happen for a reason. I’ll return to the festival, but not without you. You’re coming with me.”

“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t want to go back there—”

“Is there something you’d like to tell me before we get back to the festival? You should be assured that I won’t let anyone hurt you, but I have to know that they don’t have a reason to. If you did something unforgivable, I won’t have any other choice but to leave you to the wolves.”

I stood in silence, contemplating. There was no escape. One step away from him and he would catch me in a heartbeat. I had to trust that this man wouldn’t let Darius hurt me, and that was hard.

“I was here to assassinate the alpha of the pack, but I got caught.”

He stood there with his arms crossed. I watched in surprise as the smirk made its way back to his face.

“That’s something I can get behind. If I could kill the alpha of this pack too, I would.”

With that, he took my hand and led me towards the festival. With each step we took back, my heart raced faster than it did when I figured out that I was mated to two different men.

Throughout the walk, I wondered if I should tell this man that I was also mated to Darius. I didn’t know why I kept quiet about it.

“My name is Aeron, by the way. Alpha Aeron,” he introduced when we were close enough to hear the chatter and laughter of the pack members.

“I’m Zara,” I muttered, wondering what it meant to be mated to two alphas.

“My brother’s pack is the last place I expected to find my mate,” he said as soon as we stepped into the huge gathering of pack wolves.

My feet stayed glued to the ground as I stared at a clueless Aeron. “What…what do you mean by your brother’s pack?”

“Unfortunately, Darius is my brother. How utterly disappointed I was to hear you say you were sent here to kill him but you failed,” he said.

Before I could turn around and make my way out of there, I felt someone grab my hand. From the tiny sparks that shot through my hand, I knew exactly who it was.

“What in the world are you doing out here?” Darius seethed, rage sitting on his face as he led me under a tree where no eyes were wandering. “How did you make it out?”

“Quite the rusty work you did trying to trap her, brother. She was halfway to your border when I found her,” Aeron said. I could tell he was trying to get a rise out of Darius, but that anger was now directed at me.

“You know what? Maybe it’s better for everyone to witness your death right this night. It would make the festival even better for the whole lot of us. I’m tired of having you slip through—”

“Not to put an end to your party here, but I have to stop you right here,” Aeron interrupted. “You will not be killing her or harming her in any way.”

Finally, Darius’s attention went from me to his brother for more than a second. “You have no say over what I do with my prisoners.”

“Maybe, but I do have a say over what you do with my mate. And you’ve been holding her hand for far too long. Let her go.”

I could feel the exact moment when the air shifted between them both. They were now staring at each other with deadly glares.

“You might think you’re smart, Aeron, but you’re not that smart. She’s my mate, not yours.”

The moment of realization kicked in for both of them before I could say a word.