005

~~ ARIA ~~

“So how did hearing me moan your name sound?” Thorne smirks.

My heart stops.

Because his words… they send a shiver down my spine, and gosh, those beautiful eyes of his — I can’t take my eyes off them.

I can literally hear the sound of my own heartbeat. And it's embarrassing that even after all these years, Thorne Xandros still has this effect on me.

But I can't let him see that. I won’t give him that satisfaction.

So I say something. Anything at all. Rather than keeping quiet and obviously ogling the beautiful man.

“What?” I want to sound confident and unaffected by his ridiculous question, but my voice betrays me.

I mean, how can I keep calm when he is naked and his big cock is on full display?

And Hard—If I might add.

“You heard me, Aria. I don’t like to repeat anything I say,” he answers and begins wearing his boxers.

I see myself beginning to feel displeased that he is covering up such a great view.

‘Get your shit together, Aria, and stop acting like a horny teenager.’

I give myself a pep that I know will be difficult to adhere to.

“I… I don’t… care if you moaned my name, Thorne. It doesn’t matter,” I swallow, trying hard to get a grip on myself.

His lips tip upwards as he begins taking slow but deliberate steps towards me.

He isn’t putting on a shirt. This gives me a full view of his arms and V-line.

Why is he such a walking piece of perfection?

And why am I supposed to be backing away from him, but I am unable to?

I just stand there, painfully aware of how close he is getting to me until he closes the gap between us.

My pulse spikes.

His scent is so intoxicating to the extent that I close my eyes and inhale, savoring the moment.

He looks at me like I am a prized jewel he longs to have, and this makes me feel seen and wanted.

Then I feel something stir inside.

My wolf, which has been dormant, stirs within me, making my eyes snap open.

Thorne reaches his hand up and uses his thumb to brush my lips.

I close my eyes, instantly feeling an electrifying tingle spread throughout my body that makes me shudder.

Fuck… Thorne Xandros is going to be the end of me.

Our eyes lock, and my breath hitches.

Because it is at this moment that I feel the magnetic pull.

My eyes snap open instantly, and so do his.

“Mate?” We chant in unison.

I am astounded, not even knowing what else to say or how to react.

Thorne is my mate?

Why are we just finding out now?

To think I’d given up on ever finding a mate since I am not 26.

Thorne’s face suddenly hardens. And every trace of his flirtatiousness from earlier vanishes.

I frown, wondering why his countenance changed after we just found out that we are mates.

A lot of questions run wild in my head, but Thorne’s cold words bring me back to reality.

“Aria Stone, what do you want?” Thorne asks coldly, while putting on a luxury robe that still gives me a good view of his manly chest. “Aren’t you supposed to be preparing for your wedding with Magnus?”

I frown. “You know about my marriage?” I ask him.

“Our packs are rivals, Aria,” he says simply. “I make it a necessity to know everything that’s going on in my rival’s pack,”

I thought now that we are mates, he would claim me and ask me not to marry Alpha Magnus.

Instead, he goes cold on me and says nothing concerning it, as if it never happened.

And that is all the answer I need.

My heart sinks in realization, but I force myself to straighten my shoulders.

This shows that he doesn’t want me.

Or else, his expression wouldn’t have turned cold when he realized we are mates.

Suck it up, Aria. Deal with that fact, I say inwardly, and take a deep breath.

“What do you want, Aria?” Thorne asks again, firmly this time around.

“I want you to stop fighting my brother, please,” I tell him. “This war has gone on long enough.”

He huffs, his gaze lingering on my boobs a little longer than it should, and I can swear that I see his eyes darken.

But then he looks away, focusing his eyes on something else.

“My council of elders are the ones who spearhead all the retaliation attacks,” he curtly responds. “I have nothing to do with it.”

“But you are the alpha. You can command them to stop the attacks,” I reply.

“Aria, this is more than you think.” Thorne snaps impatiently. “There is nothing I can do. Your brother caused it. He started the attacks,”

I don’t get it. The whole issue makes me dizzy just thinking about it.

“Then tell me what started all this. Can’t you see I’m trying to make things right?” I retort in frustration.

Thorne scoffs and chuckles dryly.

“Make things right? You’re just trying to do that now because you don’t want to get married to Magnus.” He twirls the glass of whiskey he is holding and takes a big gulp of it.

“That’s not true,” I say firmly, even though I know he is half right.

“Really?” he cocks a brow at me.

But I can't bring myself to answer him, so I just nod.

“Then why didn’t you try to make things right since this war started five years ago?” Thorne yells, pain and anger flashing in his eyes.

“Aria, you left without saying goodbye. You didn’t even try to contact me all these years,” he adds. “You were busy partying with human men and posting it online.”

I crease my brows. The sadness, pain, and anger I see in his eyes make my heart ache.

Is this why he refuses to acknowledge our mate bond?

Because he is… hurt?

He cusses under his breath like he just said what he shouldn't have.

Then he runs his hand over his face before he looks at me.

“Your brother is the one who needs your pep talk, not me. So coming here was pointless. You can leave now,” he says, his voice breaking a bit.

Five years ago, before I left for the human world, Alec collected my phone, so I had no way of reaching Thorne.

The human world had nothing to do with the werewolf world, so when I got there and got a new phone, I couldn't find Thorne’s social media account while I was there.

I am shocked that he was even able to keep tabs on me while I was there.

But then again, if he could access my social media, why didn’t he reach out to me all these years?

He should have reached out. But no... He kept mute, and now he is blaming me like it's my fault.

“So that’s it?” I scoff in exasperation. “You aren’t going to talk about the fact that we are mates?”

“It’s pointless. You should go get married to Magnus,” he spits coldly while walking upstairs.

And I can’t even bring myself to stop him.

If only he knows how I longed for him and wished to hear his voice all these years, he wouldn’t treat me this way.

As stupid and pathetic as it sounds, I want to run to him and hug him from behind.

But I am a woman, and I need to have self-respect, because I know my worth. So I stay where I am.

And I really make up my mind this time around. I am done throwing myself at Thorne.

Coming here was a waste of time.

But that doesn’t mean I am going to let Alec marry me off to some old man.

******

I fail to stop the marriage.

Or simply put, I agree for Alec's sake?

Yeah, I do.

He is the only family I have left, and even though we don't always see eye to eye on things, I still love him.

So I wipe the tears from my eyes as I stare at my reflection in the mirror.

For the first time, a thought settles heavily in my chest.

Alec didn’t send me to the human world just because he wants to start a war. There is something more at play here.

And whatever it is, it costs me five years… and the man I have had feelings for all my life.

Maybe if I can find out why I was sent to the human world and why our packs are at war, I would have a chance of avoiding this marriage at its early stage.

"I'm sorry you have to go through all this. If I had the power, I would have called off the marriage." Mrs Hale walks up behind me and places her hands on my shoulders, giving them a comforting rub.

I smile sadly.

“Don't sound like that, Mrs Hales. You know what happened when I tried to," I remind her, and she sighs.

After I tried to call off the marriage yesterday, Alpha Magnus sent threat messages asking for his money back, and Alec doesn't have it.

And our pack can't afford to be at war with two packs at the same time. So I gave up and gave in.

Maybe this is my fate.

"It's time," Alec peeps into the room and announces.

I exhale sharply and nod.

Mrs Hale walks me to the altar where the priestess of the moon goddess waits alongside Alpha Magnus.

How am I going to survive him towering over me when we have sex?

Just the thought of it gives me the irks.

A wedding is supposed to be full of smiles between the bride and groom, and Love is supposed to be flying in the air.

Yet here I am, fighting back tears of despair.

I find myself wishing that Thorne is the one waiting for me at the altar.

My heart would have been pounding with ecstasy if that were the case.

But who am I kidding? Thorne isn't interested in me anymore because he feels I hurt him.

As I approach the altar, Alpha Magnus ogles my body with hungry eyes, and all I want to do is pluck out those eyes.

The big hall is already filled with people from my pack and his pack by the time I arrived here.

When I get to the altar and stand facing him, he leans closer, smiling like this wedding is already a done deal.

Like my consent doesn't matter in the first place.

"I can't wait to take off your panties tonight," Alpha Magnus whispers into my ear. “Fucking you would be a dream come true for me. With the kind of face you have, I bet your pussy will be damn tight.”

I sigh in exasperation. Just the sound of his voice alone makes my skin crawl.

I close my eyes, fighting the urge to break his balls, which, in my opinion, will be weak due to his age.

The priestess of the moon goddess is about to begin the joining ceremony when the hall door is forced open.

All our heads snap to the door, and the halls go pin-drop silent as though we all know a drama is about to ensue.

Confidently strolling into the hall like he owns the place and looking dashingly good is Thorne.

My heart skips a beat

Why is he here?

As though he can read our thoughts, he says just three words.

"She is mine.”

His voice booms through the hall, sending shivers down everyone's spine.

I freeze my eyes, widening in shock as I look at him, unable to believe my ears.

Is this a dream? Or is Thorne really here to claim me?