Chapter Five

Anna

I was stunned. It was a hard pill to swallow. My mate had made me look like a fool. I was nothing in his eyes. It had been hard for me to digest the words he had spoken to me. They felt like a million daggers that jabbed at my heart. I was lost in those cold lemon eyes that lacked remorse. It showed that he wasn’t bluffing.

“Did I stutter?” He asked.

I blinked hard trying to figure out my next words. But nothing came. I could feel my body trembling, and I couldn’t tell if it was out of anger or frustration. I couldn't tell what I was feeling. I was lost.

Damon’s brows furrowed now displaying his impatience.

“You should leave now,” he ordered.

She stepped out of the kitchen again and my eyes went to her. It was the woman that seemed to be close to Damon. What was she doing in his kitchen? Could she be his mistress? It seemed so.

“Dinner is ready, honey,” she announced.

Our eyes met and she seemed surprised that I was still standing in the living room. Her eyes immediately farted towards Damon who was glaring at me. I never felt so cornered in my life.

“Don’t make me repeat myself, Anna,” Damon said.

That was all I needed to hear. I darted off, leaving the door open and I disappeared into the darkness.

I could feel the tears gushing down my face as I ran through the woods. There were the tears that I held back while I was in the room. I couldn’t let him see me cry. I couldn’t show him how weak I was.

Today turned out to be the worst day of my life. Getting rejected by my mate, and on my birthday wasn’t something I expected. Getting kicked out of the one place where I felt was home was also horrible. I couldn’t go back there. I wasn’t welcomed any longer.

I didn’t know where I was going, but I knew I couldn't stay there any longer. All I wanted was to be out of sight. And there was only one place that I could go. Stella’s house. I wasn’t sure I would be welcomed there, but I didn’t have anywhere else to go.

I arrived at her door twenty minutes later with my cheeks damp from the endless tears, and my lungs crying out for oxygen. I knocked on their door rapidly hoping that she would answer it before I changed my mind.

The door swung open a couple of moments later revealing Stella who was dressed in a black nightgown. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail bringing out the color of her eyes. She looked better than I had seen her earlier today.

When she saw the look in my eyes, she knew already. Everything had gone wrong. She swung the door open and stepped aside.

“Come in.”

I rushed into the house and headed towards the couch. As I sat down, I placed my hands on my face trying to stop the downpour on my cheeks. But it wasn't as I expected.

I felt Stella’s hand on my shoulder as she sat beside me. I lifted my face from my palms and looked up at her. Her face was soft and her eyes were filled with worry. She held my head tenderly and pulled it to her bosom.

I laid my head on her bosom trying to stop myself from crying. She caressed my hair as she tried to comfort me in the best possible way.

“What happened, Anna?” She asked finally.

This was fifteen minutes after we sat in silence. My tears had stopped and the only sound that escaped from my mouth was sharp and silent sobs. My body jerked with each sob, expressing the disaster I was going through.

“He rejected me, Stella. My mate rejected me,” I replied.

She sighed. Her voice was soft and soothing.

“I’m so sorry, Anna. You didn’t deserve that,” she said.

I lifted my face from her huge bosom and wiped the tears from my cheeks. She watched me carefully, not daring to speak a word as she watched me pick myself up.

“What am I going to do, Stella?” I asked.

She was silent. Her eyes were on the couch and she thought of an answer. But her silence had already spoken loudly to me.

“I don’t know, Anna,” she said. “You will find someone else that will love and understand you.”

“Is that even possible? I thought we were only destined to be with our mates?” I asked.

Stella placed a hand on my shoulder and my eyes went to her. Her smile was broad which made her eyes crinkle up making her look more gorgeous.

“Maybe another mate is waiting for you to find them,” she said.

“I thought you could only be imprinted on once?” I asked, confused.

Stella shrugged.

“We can’t be certain of that yet.”

I knew she was lying. There was no possible way someone could mate twice. It had never happened before, and I wasn’t sure it was going to start with me.

But my mind went back to the other woman I found at Damon’s house. Could it be possible that she was his mate too? I doubted that. The whole pack would have known about her already.

“What are you thinking about?” Stella asked.

“Back at his place, there was another woman in the kitchen. Blonde hair and deep blue eyes,” I described.

Stella sighed.

“That’s his girlfriend, Sophie Rottard. I’m surprised that she ain’t his mate.”

I was surprised. Damon had a girlfriend. Now wonder he wasn’t excited when he found out.

Maybe Stella was right. Maybe I had another mate who was waiting to be found. The only thing I could do was hope that destiny crossed our paths.

And this time, I would be deserving of them.