Chapter 2

She couldn’t control the feelings that swept over her. Part of her wanted to get on her knees and beg him to fuck her, and another part wanted him to get on his knees and press that face between her thighs.

Luke wrapped his fingers around her neck, pulled her close, and then she shared her first kiss. The moment their lips touched, all of it became clear to her. This man, her alpha, was her mate.

“One day, when you meet your mate, you will just know, sweetheart. We can’t tell you exactly how we know this, but you have to trust us. It’s this feeling, it is more powerful than anything you’ve ever felt. It is more exciting than Christmas, more enjoyable than chocolate ice cream, and so much more intense than any exam you’ve ever studied for.”

Holy shit! Maya couldn’t believe it. This was impossible. Luke Marshall, the pack alpha, the wandering nomad biker, was her … mate. This couldn’t be happening.

She had never felt this way. It was shockingly overwhelming, almost terrifying, and she didn’t know what to do. This man—it wasn’t possible. He couldn’t be her mate and yet, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his body close to hers. She loved the feeling of him against her. The wolf inside her seemed to come to life at the scent of him, and Maya felt that need to mate.

She’d never wanted to have sex. Living with her parents, she had to get over the constant sounds of them … doing it, all the freaking time. They’d been mated young and still loved each other. That was the power of the mating.

All too soon, the kiss stopped.

Staring into Luke’s eyes, it was like her wolf instantly withdrew. She saw the threat, the anger, the hatred. Maya didn’t know how it was possible for this man to hate her when they had never even met, but it was there, clear to see by anyone willing to take notice. He despised her.

Luke leaned in close, his lips brushing against her ear. “You better have enjoyed that because that’s all you’re getting. I don’t want a fucking mate, and especially not someone like you. You keep this to yourself. You tell anyone and I’ll fucking kill you and your whole family, do you hear me?”

The threat was real.

Maya couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but at the same time, she … knew. For the longest time, she had always been bigger than the rest of the pack. She’d tried dieting and even starving herself so that she would meet the goal weight she had set herself. Nothing she did ever worked. Her parents hated her extreme dieting.

“Especially not someone like you.”That could only mean one thing—he found her unattractive. He didn’t want to fuck the fat girl. That was it, wasn’t it?

Maya stared at her mate and watched as he stepped back into the bar. Tears filled her eyes, and pain slashed right through her chest. She couldn’t think. This had to be the most mortifying feeling in the world.

“What happens if mates don’t ever want to be together? If they can’t stand each other?”It was a question she had asked her parents over dinner a few years ago.

Both of them had laughed.“Oh, honey, that kind of thing doesn’t happen. Once you find your mate, you don’t ever want to leave them. All you want is to be with them. There is no denying the pull of your mate. It just isn’t possible.”

Her mate had rejected her. He hated her. He was disgusted by her.

No one could ever find out.

From the high of the transition, Maya hit the low of this intense secret. She could never tell anyone she had found her mate, or that her mate didn’t want her.

★★★★

Five Years Later

Maya sat at the edge of the forest, high on a cliff. One fall would cause her problems for several weeks afterward. Her wolf could withstand a great deal of pain and injury but there came a point where even she would die. Not that she had a wish to jump off the cliff. None at all. She just loved to sit at the edge, looking over the forest.

In the distance, she saw the glinting lights of the few towns that were spread out. From this vantage point, they didn’t look too far apart, but in true distance, they were a few hours away. This was how she spent a lot of her time during the full moon. It was all she could do.

Her wolf had to stay away from the pack. Ever since Luke had rejected them, it had been hard for her wolf to even want to join in with the monthly moon run. Her parents didn’t like her withdrawal. They also didn’t like that whenever the alpha came to town, she made sure to stay the fuck away from him. The past three times he’d been in town, she’d taken a tent and gone hiking for over a week.

Living in the woods, far away from the pack, had been an interesting experience. Jordan, her friend, often came to get her. He also didn’t like her withdrawal. She knew he was upset that they were not mates. Maya hadn’t known the truth but in high school, he had a huge crush on her. Once he told her how he felt, which happened twenty-four hours after the ultimate rejection. She had no choice but to let him down. There was no way they could have been together. Jordan had understood. They remained friends, but she made the effort to try and find him a mate. She never allowed him to get too close to her either.

In fact, there was a lot of things she did now that kept her separate from the pack.

It had taken her a year to figure out that when Luke Marshall came to town, the only place he didn’t visit was the DIY store. She had quit her job at the library, then the café, followed by the diner and the bar, until she settled on the DIY store, and she had so far worked there for the past four years.