Chapter 9: Another Alpha

My fingers were trembling as I tried to insert the key into the keyhole. '

"Damn it! Insert!" I scream in frustration. 

My heart is aching, and it makes me want to lash out. My wolf's pained howls aren't helping too.

I know both of us were hurting, but what else could we do? Our mate is with someone else. I thought my wolf and I could carry on his terms, but damn, it hurts. The reality is freaking hurt.

As soon I managed to insert the key and start the car, I drove away from the pack house and doubted if I would see it the way I did before, back when I hadn't met my mate. This situation is frustrating, painfully frustrating. I am incomplete, and my heart is yearning for Killian. I want him. 

My wolf wants his wolf. 

We want him so much...

 I wiped my tears as they started to blur my sight while driving. I can't do anything to claim what is mine. 

Killian...Killian.

I'm still holding on because I don't want to let him go. He is mine. 

When I arrived at my house, I noticed a moving truck in front of the house opposite mine. I saw men unloading boxes from the car. That house has been on sale for as far as I know. It looks like someone is moving, and they will be my first neighbor. I parked my car and climbed off after. And when I looked again at the house, I saw a man smiling. And I smile back.

"Hi," he greeted me. 

"Hello," I replied, panicking about my eyes. They are a little swollen, and the man may think I cried. "Are you the one who bought the house?" I asked, giving him a friendly smile.

"Yeah," he replied.

I noticed that the man had striking black eyes and full straight eyebrows. He has a high nose bridge, yet he has this straight, pointed nose. His plump and reddish lips, which he constantly licks, making them redder, screams that this man has some Middle Eastern blood, although he recently shaved his beard. I know because I noticed it. Middle Eastern wolves only come here if they are looking for their mates. 

I'd be lying if I said this man isn't hot and damn gorgeous because he is! 

"Looks like we will be neighbors from now on," he added.

"What made you move to this isolated part of the neutral city?" I ask him, thinking he is a mateless wolf. And he came here because he wanted to find his mate.

"Yes, he is mateless, and I sense that he is an Alpha," my wolf whispered.

"Well, this part seems quite so; I thought this is a good place to stay, and oh, by the way, my name is Erix," he replied, giving me his right hand for a handshake, I supposed.

"Rain," I replied, accepting his hand, and we handshake. "I'm sorry for asking this, but are you from the Middle East?"

"Yes, I am," he answered, staring at me.

His stares are intense, and it makes me feel uncomfortable. No men, even Killian, stared at me like this. Not even once. But since he came from the Middle East, I heard men often have a stare like him. Women who don't have self-control and respect would be mistaken for the way Erix stares and jump at him. As an Alpha, his features are exceptional. He belongs to high-grade Alpha. Ah, his mate will be so lucky to have him. 

If only he is my mate...

"Stop it, Rain! What are you thinking? He is not ours, and we already have Killian. We don't need anyone else," my wolf scolded me.

"It's not wrong to wish," I answered her and smiled.

My wolf looked at me and sighed. Between us two, I am the one who felt the pain more than her. And she understands me too, and in the law of mates, praising another male wolf is considered unfaithful and betrayal. 

But what about Killian? What about him? He is only not betraying us, but he is forcing us to do what he wants. That's not what a mate should do. Another pang of pain suddenly erupted in my heart when I remembered Killian and Isabelle a few hours ago.

"Hey, are you okay? You seem like you want to cry," Erix asked me, concerned.

I looked at him sadly. And he probably understood as he reacted immediately by hugging me so tight. I don't know what got into me because I hugged him tightly too. My wolf didn't react; instead, she just closed her eyes as tears flowed from her eyes.

"You can tell me. I will do my best to help you, Rain. You can lean on my shoulder," Erix proposed. 

Yes, I need someone who can listen to me, someone who doesn't belong to my pack, and maybe someone who can comfort me when I need someone to lean on. I told Erix about my situation and saw the anger on his face. He didn't even try to hide it. It is apparent.

"What kind of jerk do that to his mate?" 

Yes, what kind of an Alpha would do that to his mate? That is always the question in my mind whenever I lay on my bed. And my mind wanders to Killian and why he did that.

"I don't know. But my mate promised me that he would be completely mine after he sorted everything," I replied, wiping the tears from my face.

Erix's handsome face suddenly filled with concern for me. 

"You know, you deserve someone better," Erix commented, but I noticed that his mind seemed wandering, and when he sensed my stare, he smiled at me. "If I were your mate, I would never do that to you."

"I wish it were you instead," I secretly whispered.

I ended up having dinner at Erix's house. He insisted that I should taste his cooking since, according to him, his food can heal a wounded heart. I don't know, but something in Erix made me feel comfortable. I felt like both of us would become good friends and that I could tell him all my worries. And before I could even notice, it's been three days, and Erix and I had become close to the extent of him inviting me to his house, or he will come and give me someone food after work. And with Killian missing in action, Erix is present.

"Here, try this," he said, shoving my face a plate of some dessert. "This can make you forget this jerk mate you have," he added.

"I feel like you want me to become fat," I replied, laughing.

"Werewolf, don't get fat, silly. All you have to do is run for an hour or two, then all the calories you eat will burn," he said before shoving me a spoonful of the sweet dessert.