Chapter 9

Samantha’s Pov

Luca grabbed me by the waist and yanked me onto his shoulders.

“Put me down!” I resisted, kicking my legs and flailing my hands in the air.

“No.”

“Omg! You are being so immature right now! Get me down!”

“I'm an Alpha—you do not talk to me that way!” He didn’t mind my kicks; instead, he held my legs down and walked down the hallway.

“Luca!”

He smacked my behind. “That's Alpha Luca, for you. You can also call me mate.”

“Ew, no way.”

Despite all my resistance, I didn’t notice we had reached his room until he closed the door and threw me onto the bed—my rustled hair framing my face.

“Sit,” he commanded when I tried to get off the bed. I stayed still and watched him do absolutely nothing but breathe hollow breaths, looking at me with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Awesome… you got me to your room with an impeccable entrance, and all you're doing now is stand there and watch me.”

“Yes,” he responded, unbothered. What the hell is wrong with him? Does he even think at all?

“Oh my God!” I groaned, throwing my hand up in frustration.

“Samantha, why did you really come to my pack? And don’t lie to me—I’ve had enough of your lies.”

Not this again-please. This question would bring up thoughts about Killain that I desperately want to forget. Memories about our shared love and… my lost babies.

“Why do you think I’m lying?”

“I know you are. I can sense when someone lies, and since we are mates, you are obliged to tell me.”

“I’m not obliged to tell you anything. That’s my business, not yours,” I said as I got to my feet.

“Sit back down, Samantha. I’m not done.”

“Is this how you treat your mates?”

“I’ve never had one,” he responded.

That’s a lie. I’m pretty sure Alpha Luca is way older than me. I haven’t heard of him getting married or having spouses, but he must’ve had a mate sometime.

Or else, how would he have been ruler this long with no mate?

“That’s a lie.”

“Unlike you, I don’t lie, Samantha.”

‘You have to tell him, Sam. He has to know this if we want a good relationship with our mate.’

‘He is not our mate! The moon goddess has surely mismatched us,’ I responded to Aldrina. She had been quiet since the party. A part of me knew it was because she was still trying to study our surroundings and regain her strength. But somehow, I couldn’t help but feel that she enjoyed Luca’s company.

“Trust me, I totally believe we’ve been mismatched, so I’m waiting patiently for the moon goddess to do her thing,” Luca answered, directing my attention back to him.

“You can hear me?!”

“Yes,” he grunted.

“How is that possible?! We just found out we were mates recently, and there’s no way you can hear me because we’re from different packs.”

He swallowed and eyed me carefully. I pushed away the thought of his daring eyes watching me so intently-thoughts that were pushing me to imagine the most wonderful and dirtiest things about him.

“You know something,” I said. “Spill.”

“The night I met you and brought you to the castle, your wolf, Aldrina, asked me to save you. That is absolutely not possible, and it got me thinking…” He walked over to where I sat.

“I thought about so many answers to my questions, and then I suspected you and I were mates until we both felt the mate bond later.”

“And?”

“It’s not possible, Samantha. It has never happened before.”

“I don’t believe you,” I spat. “I don’t believe anything you’re telling me because you knew we were mates and didn’t even tell me.”

“It wouldn’t have made any difference. Now that we know, we have to look for a way to stop it.”

“You said Aldrina could mindlink with you personally?” I asked, unsure whether to say or think anything else. He could hear my thoughts, and I could slip up. How long has he known?

“Yes.”

“Why can’t I mindlink with your wolf yet?”

“Maybe because Cillian hasn't said anything yet,” he responded matter-of-factly.

“I know you're hiding something from me, and it has to do with Killain Black. Who were you to him?”

I sighed. I thought I had the upper hand in this. Not telling him meant I got to keep the better part of me—the hurt and vulnerable part. The part who is grieving for her lost, unborn babies while I showed the unbothered and straightforward side. But does it really matter now?

He will find out later—one way or another. And truthfully, I have nowhere else to go. Silver Rose might not be my home, but it looks like a place to create one. I hate it here—I honestly do. But I need time to be Samantha Forbes again, something that seems impossible right now.

“Alpha Killain Black was my mate,” I started, watching Luca from the corner of my eye. “We weren't mates before that night.”

“The night I saved you?”

“Yes. Killain and I were courting, you see. We loved each other,” I scoffed. “At least, I thought he loved me. Somehow, I always think the best of people even when I don’t want to. I always give them one chance—just that one chance to change and take away all the doubts. I believe everyone has some kind of love in them… and it sickens me that I believe that.”

“To me, Killain was my future. The man of my dreams. No one believed in me like he did. My pack hated me—I was a disgrace, the odd one among them. But whenever I was with Killain, I felt powerful. I felt whole—needed, loved.”

“He rejected you,” Luca said.

“Yes… he did. I couldn’t even tell him about the pregnancy. I didn’t have time to,” I sniffed and wiped the tears already falling from my cheeks. “I wanted to surprise him that night. I thought it would make him happy.”

I laughed sourly. “I was wrong to think that he wanted to spend eternity with me. What went wrong between us? He never had a problem with my status or who I was before—until that night.”

“Do you regret leaving your pack?” Luca asked quietly. If I didn’t know how much he hated me, I would have thought he felt pity from the raspiness in his voice.

“Yes. Not because of what Killain and my so-called best friend did to me, but because of the betrayal and mockery I’ve gotten from my own pack—my people.”

His face looked pale, as if drained of blood. Telling Luca that I am the Alpha of the Blood Rose Pack would be an unbelievable story. Everyone knows about my parents’ death and that I didn’t survive.

“Your people? What do you mean?”

But who cares? I’ve left Blood Rose and won’t set foot on that land until I’m prepared to reclaim my throne. To get my own birthright—Killain be damned.

“Killain is not the true Alpha of Blood Rose—I am.”