5: Distant

Aurora

Time itself seemed to freeze, as though even it was stunned into stillness, just like me. My body locked in place, my heart racing in uneven, fragile beats, while my mind spiraled with thousands of conflicting thoughts.

The world tilted, spinning faintly beneath my feet as I stared at the man standing just inches away from me.

He was calm. Too calm.

Dressed in a creamy casual shirt and plain dark trousers, he looked effortlessly composed, untouchable. A few buttons of his shirt were left undone, as though on clue, revealing a glimpse of the hard, sculpted muscles beneath.

Everything about him screamed power, control, authority, without a warning.

He didn't say a word, just stared at me. Or rather, glared at me with that unreadable gaze, but beneath that cold and calm exterior, I could feel the way his heart beat, only for a fraction before it settled, like he was still trying to wrap his head around it.

Wasn’t he aware… that I was his mate?

No… no way.

He was aware I was his mate. The way he had looked at me just yesterday when the SUV had parked. The way his gaze had hardened instantly. The irritation. The disappointment. The unmistakable coldness in his eyes.

Those couldn't have been from one who didn't recognize me as his mate. They were too true and realistic.

It was the reaction of someone who knew… and didn’t want it.

He had been unsettled. Displeased. Disappointed.

A shiver ran through me as something warm immediately brushed against my skin, pulling me out of my thoughts.

His breath.

It was warm, steady and distractingly close. It wrapped around me in a way that felt strangely soothing… and of course, dangerously alluring.

My chest tightened, as a strange pull unraveled deep within me, spreading through my veins, just by the awareness that I was still clung onto his chest.

My breath hitched.

Embarrassment flooded through me as I became painfully aware of my position; my face inches away from his broad, bare chest, the tiny frailty of the hairs on his chest, and my arms still resting against him, the only thing that had stopped me from falling when I accidentally collided with him.

Slowly, hesitantly, I pulled my arms away from his chest and took two steps backwards. Heat rushed to my face, burning through my skin as another thought followed closely behind.

That sudden awareness of the rejection that would follow after this moment.

His eyes were still on me the entire time. He didn't say a word, didn't flinch, he just stared at me, dragging his eyes over my features.

It felt like the earth should open and swallow me when his eyes lingered on the curve of my waist.

It hit me instantly, that shift, that pause, and it made something inside me crumble.

That obvious bump that stood rounded, too big, out of ideal shape. It rounded against the fabric of the customized uniform I had worn, that hung a little too tightly, outlining every part of me I suddenly wished I could hide.

I had never ever thought about it nor felt how tightly the fabric had curved onto my frame up until now, and it felt so embarrassing in a way that made my fingers curl slightly at my sides and I swallowed hard, lowering my head in shame.

I wasn't the ideal shape any man would want to cherish and adore and I had never ever felt such heat creeping up my spine, unfamiliar and suffocating.

It felt different. Too different and unbearable.

Then, I saw his lips twitch to the side, like he wanted to spill those words I had dreaded.

Those words that would eventually mark the end of my wolf, because I knew Keira wouldn't survive it this time. She wouldn't live past this rejection, judging her current status.

I was about to speak, to plead, but my words hung low in my throat as I felt his gaze linger only briefly. He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple gulping, before he altered those words and slipped away into the hall.

“You should be more careful next time.”

I stood there, stilled, his words echoing loudly in the air moments after he had left. I even forgot I was on an assignment and the occasion had already begun, with a multitude of pack members already assembled, until the loud music buzzed into my ears, bringing me back to reality.

As I stirred and turned, running back into the packhouse, my heart pounded in my chest as a series of questions began to stir, among which was, why Alpha Damian, my second chance mate, had followed through that back entrance instead of the main entrance?

Why did he react in that manner?

Why was he so cold, distant and unrelenting?

Was he only trying to pull through with this ceremony before he could finally reject me?

Keira stirred violently in my head.