5: Mind games

Alpha Bambam

“Don’t tell me you finally decided to choose a mate,” I snapped at my son, Lucian.

He had proved so stubborn over the years, knowing fully well that he couldn’t take over from me unless he found his mate and marked her according to tradition.

I was worried at first that he hadn’t found her yet, but then he proved me wrong when he started sleeping with every woman in sight.

I associated his silly attitude with the loss of his mum and the ache her absence brought. But when he finally told me he had found his mate, I was thrilled, finally, he was going to get over his reckless lifestyle.

But then came the greater shocker, he rejected her?

“Because I can’t be with her,” he had told me, without giving a clear reason why.

And now, he had finally decided to grow up at twenty-two.

“Good,” I muttered, assessing the beauty he had chosen for himself.

“Young lady, what’s your name?”

“Kelly Montero, and I’m just eighteen,” she replied shyly, bowing her head.

“Dad, she’s the love of my life, and I brought her to you so the date for the marking ceremony can be fixed.”

“That won’t be an issue at all. In fact, you’ve done well for yourself, and Lucas will meet with the elders on this matter immediately,” I said sharply.

He smiled faintly and cupped her arm.

“Thanks, Dad,” he replied, turning with the lady in question. That was when I received an email from the company.

Lady Lilian knew better than to distract me during my off period unless it was important, so I picked up the phone to check the mail.

“Kate Hunter? Such a ridiculous name,” I scoffed, feeling disinterested as I casually scrolled through her details.

She was definitely one of those lazy, lousy ladies who wanted to reap where they never sowed. An annoying bunch. I dropped the phone after logging out of the mail.

The rest of the day went on with the pack’s activities, though my mind was far from focused, as always.

Finally, I returned to my room, holding the golden necklace in my hands as I traced its delicate lines, something I had done more than a thousand times in four years. The reason for my sleepless nights, my ruthlessness, my distaste, and so much more.

After that night, I had been so occupied with activities surrounding my Luna's funeral, but the thought of HER never left me.

When I instructed Lucas to search for her, about some weeks after, she couldn’t be found. Her identity, who she really was, remained unknown. This necklace was the only thing she left behind on the bed when she hurriedly disappeared.

"You are mine, and I must fish you out wherever you are."

I sniffed it, inhaling the faint scent of honey mixed with moon dew.

At times, life felt cruel. Other times, it seemed she was just a ghost of Annabella, someone who had come to stir up the buried part of me, only to vanish at the slightest moment.

But...I must find her. And when I do, there's no going back.

Because how else could I explain that a young lady who spent the night with me went missing without a single trace, even when I had the best spy team, including Lucian himself, searching for her? And to think I never even asked her name.

As usual, I barely slept. The next day, I sat in my office, going through files from the previous day when the door suddenly opened.

I didn’t bother looking up, assuming it was Lady Lilian. She was the only one bold enough to storm into my office without notice.

But then that intoxicating scent hit me so hard my head snapped up instantly, and there she stood.

My heart skipped.

The ghost that had haunted me all these years.

So perfect. So flawless. Her hazel eyes pierced into mine, her hands clutched tightly around a file.

Even though it had been dark that night, her beauty in daylight was mesmerizing. A replica of Annabella, or perhaps a younger version, though her nose was slightly different.

She looked like Aphrodite herself, the goddess of love.

“Sir… Lady Lilian asked me to drop this file for you,” she stuttered at first, then composed herself under my intense gaze, stepping forward to place the file on my desk.

But that wasn’t it. Why did she act as if she didn’t remember me? Was she truly a ghost, or was she still bent on every words she said that night?

“And you are?” I asked, fighting the urge to pull her into my arms and kiss those tender lips until she gasped for breath.

“Kate Hunter, sir,” she replied politely. “And I’m the new…”

“Assistant,” I completed her sentence. She swallowed hard.

“What made you think you could just disappear and show up after all this time?” I asked coldly, rising from my seat.

“Sir?” she blinked.

Shocked?

I closed the distance between us, and she shivered. No… that wasn’t what I wanted. But it didn’t stop me as I blocked her path with one arm.

Her scent was so mesmerizing, alerting every nerve ending in me. My wolf, Rumus, was so damn uneasy inside me. He had missed this moment as much as I had.

She gasped nervously the second my lips grazed her neck, trailing down to the corner of her left lip, barely a breath away from claiming her voraciously.

She twitched sheepishly in my arms, as though she wasn’t the same woman who had moaned and called my name four years ago.

I didn’t pull back. I let my lips curl up to hers. Not kissing, just resting on top of them. Just enough to draw out that panic I saw flickering in her eyes.

I didn’t like that, either. She’s mine. There’s no way I’m letting go this time. My lips lingered there as I fought against Rumus.

He wanted her. To soothe her. To feel her again. And my cock…It was so F**king throbbing.

She whimpered, and I finally withdrew. Not because I wanted to, but because I sensed she might actually pass out from lack of oxygen.

“I…I…” she stuttered, eyes wide, clutching her garment as she stumbled out of the office.

“Get me every detail on one Kate Hunter,” I sent through the mindlink to Lucas.

She can’t be playing mind games with me…

A smirk curled on my lips.

“Run… only if you can.”