Chapter Six

Aria's POV 

“Yes, I'd love to”, I say, breaking the silence. 

I'd love to give this a chance, that's the least I can do. I won't let my fears rear their head back again and ruin my second chance at love.

He let out a sigh in relief, “I thought you would decline my offer, this means a whole lot to me. I'd love to know everything about you”, he says, “Your dress is in your room, be ready by eight, Kitten.”

“Okay, I look forward to it, Alpha”, I muttered with inflamed cheeks.

His eyes darken at my words, “Do well to behave, Kitten.” His lips stretch out in a smile, “I love it when you call me, Alpha.”

“Jeez I'm leaving now”, I answer, “You're making me feel all shy.”

I wiggle out of his loving arms, rushing out of his office. His loud laughter can be heard down the hallway. 

Unfortunately for me I have a horrible sense of direction. The hallway feels like it is closing in on me, I wish I hadn't rushed out of Kael's office. My pack is yet to be officially joined with the Cantara Pack. 

“Are you lost, scum”, a harsh feminine voice pulled me from my thoughts. 

I raise my head in question towards the familiar voice. Jessica is standing right in front of me, with folded arms leaning against the wall. A hateful gaze directed at me.

“Are you following me?” I ask in question, guarding the expression on my face.

“You're not worth my time”, she answers with spite.

I roll my eyes at her antics, “Okay, what is it you want this time?” I say, “You're wasting my precious time.”

“You feel so smug thinking you have won”, Jessica says in my face. “Watch your back cause, Kael is mine.”

“It's Alpha Kael to you, remember?” I gloat.

Her eyes switched to an orange hue, her wolf surfacing fighting from dominance. She takes a step inching close to me, “You'd wish you never said that, Runt”, she growls out. 

Her eyes were glazed over for a short-time, it seems as if she is speaking to someone through the mindlink, “Enjoy your date”, she finishes with a smirk.

How did she know that we are having a date? Someone is bipolar it seems. Well, her problem, I'd love to see the dress Kael picked out for me. I can't wait to impress my mate, blushing at the thought.

I follow Jessica's sweet perfume, and find myself in the familiar parts of the hallway leading to my room. I opened the door to my room but something wasn't right, someone had entered my room.

I took a deep whiff of the scent but it didn't seem familiar. I know Martha was here but her scent was really faint, I'll figure it all out later.

My eyes scan the room in suspicion to find anything amiss, and there it was lying on my bed. Tears pricked at my eyes, in hurt and disbelief. 

“Ari, are you alright?” Martha's voice resounds behind me.

I spare her a quick glance, pushing myself forward. I kneel beside my bed picking up the beautiful dress and heels delivered to my room now in shreds.

A sharp gasp fills the room. “That two-faced mutt”, Martha says with her eyes darkening in fury. We both know who did this without any spoken words. She spins abruptly, heading towards the door.

“It's fine, right now I just need to find a dress for my date, I'll deal with this later.” I answer, wrapping my hands firmly around her arms to prevent her from doing anything rash.

“I have the perfect dress and fitting shoes for you”, she says, giving me a reassuring smile. 

“Really? But you're a size smaller than I am, right?” I say utterly discouraged. It was already almost time for my date and I had nothing fitting for it.

“Well, my Dad got me a gift for my last birthday but it never really fit since it's a size bigger than I am.”

A subtle sigh of relief escapes my lips, my demeanour brightens almost immediately.

“Well what are you standing there for, let's go!” I move swiftly past her, heading towards her room. 

Our feet thud loudly as we hasten to catch up with time. We slip into Martha's room, completely disorganised and in disarray. 

“Oops, I'm so sorry it's just so stressful to tidy things out with my numerous clothes”, She says, batting her lashes at me innocently. 

“That's what you said the last fifty times, idiot”, I say bursting into a fit of giggles. She joined me in as we relished in the moment.

She walks into her closet and steps out with a beautiful red dress and stilettos. She throws them towards me, points towards the bathroom. “Go wash off, so I can work my magic.”

***

I stare at my luscious curves in the mirror. The shade of my dress compliments my tan skin. 

A sharp whistle distracts me, “You look ethereal, too beautiful to put into words.” Martha compliments.

Red hue quickly fills my cheeks, “Are you sure he'd love this?” I shyly take out hair from my face.

“Of course he will, just you wait”, she says. “I love you bestie, don't forget chin up and eyes high and proud.”

I hug her tightly. “Most importantly have fun”, she finishes as she pushes me out of the door. 

The scent of my mate quickly fills my nostrils, I peer beneath my lashes and see him staring with so much intensity. This makes my knees weak, no one has ever made me feel so cherished. He's staring at me as if I mean the world to him, his eyes though guarded say it all.

“You look rather dashing”, I mention with so much confidence though my palms were so sweaty.

He clears his throat, “Thank you, Kitten, you look extremely beautiful, I can't put it into words.”

“Thank you, Alpha”, I tease him lightly, taking his outstretched arm.

“Keep pushing it, Kitten”, he says with so much conviction, “Hopefully, you don't regret your actions, because my resolve is slowly breaking to pieces especially after seeing you in that dress.”

“It’ll be a short drive to our destination”, Kael mentions making small talk.

We slowly steer towards the front door, I caught a whiff of Alpha Omari,  or better still the dead beat that rejected me, thinking I was unworthy. I am so grateful that he did reject me, now I have a second chance with a stronger mate that is beautiful inside out. I school my emotions incase of any altercation.

“Good evening, Alpha Kael”, Omari mentions with a scowl on his face.

My mate raises his brows in question, “Good evening, Alpha Omari”, he answers. 

“You seem to be on your way out”, Omari asks Kael, though his eyes are fixated on me. I return his gesture with a condescending look. 

A possessive growl pushes past my mate's lips as he pushes me completely behind him. He then wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me alongside him until we get to a black sleek car.

His arm pulls the car door open, and I take a seat. He then walks swiftly towards his side, opens the door, steps in and we drive off.

I get comfortable in his leather seats. I've never been in a car before, moreso an expensive one like this. He then places his large palm on my thigh drawing random patterns. 

“Are you okay?” I ask due to the silence that fills the car.

He then gives me a long gaze, “Is there something going on that I should know?” His voice is calm but his eyes say a completely different story. He was pissed, that was obvious 

“There's nothing going on between us, if that's what you're asking”, I say defensively, pushing his arms away.

He releases a sigh, “I'm sorry if I pissed you off, I just detest the way he was staring at you like he wanted every ounce of you.” 

I still didn't look at him, staring out the window as if it was so interesting. 

“I'm sorry for ruining our date night, can we start over, mmmm?” He mutters.

“Just promised me your head wouldn't start having wild thoughts when someone behaves like that, I can't control them but I want nothing to do with them, okay?” I answer.

I may have overreacted as well, I'm yet to tell him about my rejection. I will in time, trust needs to be built though.

“I'm sorry for blowing things out of proportion”, I finish with a smile.

He veers into a dark parking lot, he then kisses my fingers making me blush hard. We get out of the car and head towards the fine dining.

“I wanted something simple, decent but elegant so you'd be comfortable”, he mutters as our feet hit the tarred road. “Let's see if you'd like it.”

He pushes the twin doors open and we walk into the nice diner, taking our seats. It is so tranquil and homely with menus spread across the tables.

A waiter walks up to us, bows in respect and takes our orders. We did small talk here and there.

“I am considering merging the packs together officially, Omari proposed the idea since your pack was destroyed and it seems you will be here a long while if not forever, what do you think?”

My eyes widen in surprise, is my mate already asking me for my opinion on matters. I'm not even Luna yet officially. 

“I think it's a beautiful idea, it will give the pack more stability and they would be able to enjoy privileges aligned with being a part of the Cantara pack”, I answer with a smile pulling on my lips.

“I wouldn't lie, I only considered this for selfish reasons”, he says with a smirk.

“What's that?” 

“I'll have you by my side forever, no questions asked”, he replies as if he won a lottery. 

“Speaking of forever, can I join pack training tomorrow?”