Chapter 1: Mate

Liliana's POV

The warmth of the morning sun spills onto my face. It is dawn, but I do not want to open my eyes. I am immersed in a comfort and safety I have never experienced before. 

This is the mate bond, and I long to forever sleep in this embrace.

My mate, my childhood sweetheart, my Aden. We have been betrothed to each other since birth and last night, we celebrated my 21^st birthday and finally mated.

I inhale deeply and the masculine scent of pine, cedar and leather fills my senses, intoxicating me. It calls me back to slumber and I smile, ready to snuggle and fall back asleep. 

Wait. 

Pine, cedar and leather? Aden smells nothing like this! 

My eyes fly wide open and I see a man, strong and muscular holding me in his sleep. And all at once, memories flood my mind.  

Memories of last night. 

Fire burned within me and an all-consuming flame would have swallowed me whole if not for the man.  He held me close, and only by staying near him could my soul be shielded from the fire.

I kissed him but he turned his head away. I clung to him and yet, he gently pushed me aside. He whispered something to me, but I lacked the patience to listen. I could not understand why Aden was so distant. I had cried out Aden’s name, begging for him to take me.

The man’s aura suddenly turned fierce. He grabbed my chin, his nails digging into my skin and the rich tenor of his voice chilled me to the core as he demanded I look at him. "Remember, I am your mate, I am ...den Frost."

The face from my memory and the face before me begin to merge. Thick brows, full lips, chiselled jaw and a silver mane that spills across the pillow. This man is beautiful beyond reason, he is a god among wolves.

But this isn’t Aden! 

Covering my mouth to stifle a scream, I quickly retreat from him. But even in his sleep, he reaches out, pulling me back into his embrace, burying his head in my shoulder. He has yet to awaken, but even in his sleep, he leaves a searing kiss on me. 

Goddess. 

Current surges through me and I have to suppress a moan. I had no idea I could be this sensitive; a single kiss from this man almost brought me to orgasm. It must be the power of the mate bond.

Last night was the same.

I didn’t even catch his name, he kissed me after those words. His kiss felt like a refreshing stream, quenching the fire that threatened to consume me. But the next moment, the flames burned brighter and stronger than ever before, breaking down my inhibitions, and I lost myself in wave after wave of passion.

Thinking of last night, my body starts to heat up again. I can feel moisture pooling between my thighs. Quickly, I slapped my face to bring myself to my senses.

My wolf, Cathy, urges me for another round. She wants to mate again, she needs to. This is the mate bond, the strongest and purest of all bonds that any wolf can have.

But when I think of Aden's face, immense pain and guilt wash over me and overwhelm me. I warn Cathy to be quiet. ‘I may not be able to recall how it happened last night, but I won't make the same mistake again.’

Cathy is angry and growls at me in my mind. ‘Our mate is the best gift from the Moon Goddess. How can this be a mistake?!’

I remind her that we already have Aden.

Cathy shouts at me, ‘You don't love Aden!’

I ignore her, carefully trying to extricate myself from my mate’s embrace without waking him. The man furrows his dark grey brows, holding me tighter and through the mate bond, I sense his unease.

‘Your engagement to Aden was arranged before you were even born. All for your pack's benefit. You never had a chance to choose. It's not fair!’

I stay silent. 

‘Don't pretend not to care. I can feel how you feel. You're in pain, almost dying,’ Cathy says, quietly this time.

It is true. I place a hand on my chest and feel a phantom pain gnawing at it. My lips tremble as I whisper back, "Stop this stupidity, Cathy. I love Aden, I must. You know what today is and the role that I play."

Today is the day of our engagement - the day our two packs officially declare our allegiance. Nothing is allowed to go wrong today. 

As heiress of the Azure Pack, I cannot break our allegiance, I cannot let my parents down because, without Aden’s pack, we cannot survive. 

Distinguished guests from both packs will be there and the elders of our pack had chosen me to give a speech to commemorate our alliance. The speech is something I had been working on for months. One wrong word spoken and the whole alliance could be called off.

Cathy howls in agony as I make a mad dash out of the room. I jump into my car, start the engine with a roar and speed past every red light on the street. A quick look at my phone tells me that I have more than 20 missed calls from mom. 

With trembling hands, I call her back. 

“Thank goodness! Liliana, we haven’t been able to reach you through the mind link, are you okay? Where are you?” Mom's voice is filled with concern.

But before I can answer, dad yells into the phone, “ You know how important this ceremony is to me! You’d better show up right now!”

He is about to hang up on me when I quickly ask, “Dad, were you guys able to find Bella and Aden? Are they alright?” 

Bella is my cousin. She was with us when Aden and I went to the bar yesterday. And though I do not remember much, one thing is for certain. Something happened last night. And I need to know if they are okay.

“They’re already at the ceremony. They know better of their responsibilities than you.”

We end the call and I pick up speed, thanking the Moon Goddess that both Aden and Bella are safe and sound. They probably have no idea I met my mate.

‘Right, and they’ve probably forgotten that it was they who dragged you out for a birthday celebration last night,’ Cathy grumbles.  ‘You didn’t even want to go, you wanted to work more on the speech remember?’

‘They just wanted to celebrate my birthday is all. Bella and Aden care for me, they wanted to make sure I had a good time.’

Cathy snorts. ‘Yeah, they care so much for you that they didn’t even bother to look for you.’

My fingers tighten around the steering wheel and I accelerate along the highway. Cathy is right, why didn’t they look for me?

But I push the thought away. I must give them the benefit of the doubt, I am sure they have a valid reason for this. 

I reach the ceremony hall just in time. The place is jam-packed, everyone is already here.

One of the elders from my pack comes up to me and gives me a gentle peck on the cheek. “Liliana, we are so proud of you my dear.”

I force a smile. If only they knew.

And all around, people beam at me and give me respectful nods. That look is everything to me, compelling me to always do the right thing for my people.

"Liliana Ross!” dad’s icy cold voice breaks through my reverie and I freeze. “Don’t you know the responsibility you shoulder? How can you be so late and irresponsible?” Anger flashes in his eyes as he points an accusing finger at me. 

But Aden quickly steps in. “Alpha Antonio, allow me to apologize. Liliana is not to blame.” Aden places a protective hand around my shoulders and I feel my eyes water. He is a good man, how could I have hurt him?

The guests who have gathered around us gush at Aden. “He’s so sweet towards Liliana. They make such a wonderful couple.” Everyone nods at the comment and dread washes over me and my chest tightens. My guilt is eating me alive. 

I must tell Aden the truth. It is only right for him to know. I would beg for his forgiveness and perhaps, just perhaps he will forgive me. 

“Aden,” I tug at his arm.“Can I have a word with you after the ceremony?”

Aden’s face breaks into a smile and he flashes me his pearly whites. “Why not now? I have something to tell you too. Come.” He signals for me to follow him.  

“It is almost time to go on stage. ” My eyes flicker back and forth between Aden and dad. But surprisingly, dad encourages us to go and have our talk.  

A quick look at my smartwatch tells me that there is another half an hour more to go before the ceremony starts. So I decide to take the plunge, I decide to tell him now. 

We weave through the crowd until we reach a deserted hallway. The lights, the music and the sound of the guests talking fades away and all becomes quiet. All too quiet. 

I swallow the lump in my throat and force my lips to open, to confess. 

But Aden beats me to it. “Liliana,” he says, eyeing me quietly and touches my face. “I’m sorry.”

What? Shouldn’t I be the one apologizing?

Oblivious to my confusion, Aden continues, “Last night, after you and Bella went out for some air, she came back into the bar alone. She wasn’t feeling well. So I drove her home first.”

“And you…you left me at the bar alone?”

Aden shrugs, his hand leaves my face. “You’re strong. You can fight off any rogue with your eyes closed. But Bella isn’t. She’s as frail as a flower,” 

I try to see if he is joking, but he isn’t. I cannot help but ask,  "Don't you want to know how I spent last night?"

He chuckles, saying, "Let's talk about this later; the speech is about to start."

I take a deep breath, gather my emotions and reluctantly nod my head. “Alright,” I say, “We’ll talk about this after the presentation. I’ll go up the stage to prepare now.“ 

I need to live up to the role of the dutiful heiress dad expects me to be, I need to go through with the ceremony and deliver my presentation. 

Aden shakes his head. “Nah, there’s no need for that anymore.” 

“Huh?” I am just about to ask him what he means when we find ourselves in the hall, and a round of applause reverberates from the crowd.

Aden starts whistling and enthusiastically calling out Bella's name, his voice booming. I look up and see Bella on stage, wearing an attire that is oddly familiar – it is the very outfit she advised me not to wear yesterday. Aden begins clapping with eagerness.

And when Bella opens her mouth and delivers her speech, my body goes numb. It is the exact same speech I had prepared for months in advance.

Right on stage stands my cousin, my confidante, and my best friend - Bella. She is standing where I should have been, wearing my clothes, delivering the speech I penned, all while engaging passionately with my fiancé. And my fiancé is calling her name.

Aden waves happily at Bella and she turns to look at us, or rather, at him. And she smiles.