Chapter 5

Silence fell so thick in the air that it hung like a cloud above us. So heavy that I could hear the pulse of my own blood as it rushed in my wrist.

The hush had spread through the area, so great that tears pricked my eyes.

I looked at the crowd, at their faces wearing various expressions of shock and disbelief, even my best friend.

No one made any effort to clap, their hands stiffened from the shock and hung limply beside them. I worked my throat to swallow, tasting copper, and I tried to blink back the tears that had gathered.

My throat was so clogged, the lodge so firmly stuck, that my breath was getting labored with every passing minute.

Slowly, the spell began to break, their frozen faces now alive as their mouths moved. Little murmurs filled the arena, their eyes vile as they glared at me, and I could almost hear what they said.

I had always known my reputation was ruined, but never to that extent.

“How can you be mated to her?” A loud voice interrupted from the middle, and my hand flew to my chest, startled from the venom I heard.

The accuser, an old fling from when I was still desperate for love. A dark period in my life where I was hopping from dick to dick, thinking it was enough to satisfy the issues I had with my family.

“She is a whor—”

Suddenly someone began to clap, the sound so loud it swallowed their murmurs, increasing with an intensity that was almost compelling. As if by invisible command, scattered claps began to echo, noticeable in the haphazard joining of hands.

However, it was enough for me, just alright to soothe the despair that was forming rising in the heart, and I glanced at the fire starter. Thalia's eyes were still bulging from what she had heard; I could almost hear the words, ‘We need to talk,’ and I gave her a nod.

I blinked slowly, trying to convey with my eyes that I was grateful for her saving me from the embarrassment, but she gave me a tight-lipped smile, the annoyance still showing that she wasn’t pleased with me.

My gaze shifted to my family that had been glaring at me since they heard the announcement, their intensity neither dimming at all nor their hands moving to join in the applause, and I moved my gaze back.

I would deal with them some other time, but right now all I was going to concern myself with was my mate.

He had been staring at me staring at the audience, his gaze fastened on me like I was the only one in the world, and all of my worries dissolved like salt on water.

“Hello.” I whispered shyly, suddenly tongue-tied from being so close to him.

“Ryan.” He sighed like I was his prayer answered, and I slowly shook my head.

“It is Raya; I go by Raya now.” I explained, and he nodded.

“Raya,” he called after me, and I took a sharp inhale of air as a wave of pleasure danced down my spine. “It is a beautiful name, fitting for a queen like you.”

“Y-yes, it is.”

“Sit.” He said, pulling me gently to sit beside him, and I settled there while the activities continued.

There wasn’t much to do except eat, drink, and sway to the music. As the night wore on, the people loosened up, shedding their earlier restraint.

The interaction between the two groups had turned into one of casual friendliness, and everyone had pretty much forgotten all that had happened.

Throughout the bonfire, Micah had avoided talking to me, his focus on his packmates. Yet his hands remained on my thighs, slowly burning a hole through them.

I managed to sit through the ceremony, trying to pretend like I wasn’t getting turned on with the light brushes on my thighs.

Suppressing my urges this time was the hardest I have tried, all too aware of how sensitive our noses are and how I was still walking on a thin line with my pack.

Scenting my arousal will be the catalyst of my doom, and I wouldn’t put it past my alpha to try to say something in discouragement.

It was no rumor that we never got along, not when he had found my mouth on his son’s cock just behind the packhouse. Of course, his son had been left only with a slight warning, and I got reprimanded and made to serve community service.

He became my sworn enemy after that day, and with the way he was glaring at me, there was no telling he was going to do everything to ruin me.

However, Micah leaned towards me, his breath fanning my neck. “Are you enjoying the party?”

I took a deep breath, steadying myself before I could reply. “It is not really much of a party, but it will do.” And for effect, I reached for the bottle of alcohol, taking a big gulp.

“You wouldn’t want to drink too much of that, mate. You have somewhere to be tomorrow.” He reminded me, leaning way too close to me so that I could make out the individual lashes on his eyes.

“Ohhh.” I wiggled my brows, my earlier disposition slowly fizzling out. “Where are we going?” My mind had begun to conjure all sorts of rendezvous that could take place, but all seem to end the same way. Me tangled together with him in bed.

“We will be leaving tomorrow morning, and I will need you to be as functional and level-headed as possible. Remember, you are the alpha’s mate.”

My eyes widened drastically, my brain scrambling to make sense of this new development. I knew he was the alpha; I could remember vaguely that he had been addressed as such.

I knew I was going to leave sometime, but it had never occurred to me that I would have to leave with him this early.

“Are you alright?” He asked, brown eyes now softened so that they looked like pools of molten chocolate, and slowly my head moved up and down in a single nod.

I made the decision in a split second. I was going to miss my family, but thinking of all I had endured from them till this moment, I deserved it.

I deserved to be in a place where I was cherished and loved, so I did the best for my future.

“Yes, I will leave with you tomorrow.”