Chapter 6 - Rival

Jenna

Daylight is god’s evil creation. The aching in my skull throbs and flows like an inner tempest. I drank way too many tequilas yesterday, and now I’m paying the price. Bright sunlight catches my eyes, and I groan in bitterness at my phone vibrating in my pocket.

“Who is it?” My voice is hoarse when I press my phone to my ear.

“Jenna?” Hannah sounds worried. And so much happier than she should be. Damn morning people. Doesn’t she know Wednesday is the day of suffering? “Are you drunk?”

“No, I’m not drunk... I’m one hundred percent hungover though,” I drag my left hand over my face, grunting at the climbing headache building up in my temples. “I’m not working today, and that’s precisely why I spent my entire night drinking tequila in my bathtub,”

“Oh-my-god, where are you?”

“I’m sitting on a park bench somewhere...”

“In Central Park?! Jenna, that’s dangerous!”

Irritation slips into my head and gives me the courage to hang up the phone. Hannah is a good friend, the best sister by choice a person could have, but I need to sort these emotions by myself.

Yesterday I was succumbing to heartbreak. Ariel rejecting me played on repeat and made my blood turn to ice. I was in unimaginable pain and cried my eyes out until tequila knocked on my door and promised to end my suffering.

Tequila lied.

Now I’m hungover, still hurting, and the alcohol definitely wasn’t worth the headache.

Groaning at the sun, I slip on my shades. A kid is laughing in the background, and I tilt my head, spotting a girl holding a balloon the shape of a unicorn. The smile on her face is annoyingly bright, and combined with her ridiculous tiara and the princess dress she is wearing, I’m hardly able to control myself from popping her balloon.

“Fucking kids and their bright futures...”

The little girl runs around a tree like a lunatic until she accidentally loses her grip around the string. In an instant, the sparkly balloon gets stuck in the tree branches, and the little girl spins around, her hopeful eyes landing on mine.

“Can you help me?” She points at her balloon. “Please,”

Sighing, I get up from my seat. It’s a miracle I’m able to walk straight up to the tree and grab the balloon string. I pull down the sparkly thing, and then I pop it with my keys, showing no sign of remorse.

The little kid immediately starts bawling her eyes out, and I bend down in front of her. Sliding down my shades, I pat her on the shoulder and meet her gaze.

“Sorry, kid, life is harsh, and sadly, there are no unicorns to make it better,”

“Unicorns aren’t real?!” Her lively eyes swell with more tears.

I shake my head. “No, and Santa isn’t either,”

The little kid looks stunned, and I smile darkly. My work here is done. Being a villain isn’t half-bad. I slip on my shades and walk away from the crime scene with my back held straight. My heart is broken, but the birds still fly high. It’s a new day, and submitting to the gloom is refreshing.

Power shoots through me as I flip my hair like I’ve seen the badass girls do in the movies. I feel powerful, fierce until the sound of a roaring motorcycle fills my ears. My courage sinks down to the earth, and I frantically look around, terrified because motorcycles aren’t allowed on the sidewalk. With my luck, the idiot riding the bike would probably ram over me and send me to the nearest hospital.

Quickening my footsteps, I half-run down the sidewalk, but the motorcycle catches up with me. It almost seems like the rider is following me, which is impossible because I don’t remember messing with any leather jackets.

Yet this motorcycle stops behind me, and when I turn around, the realization hits my face. Harshness latches onto my face, and I scowl at the guy taking off his helmet. He shakes his head like an awakened phoenix and makes his chocolate-brown hair blow around his head.

He looks incredibly sexy, but I’m not about to walk down that route—fat chance.

“Hello, Haze,” I feign innocence. “Or was it Blaze?”

The young werewolf smirks at me. “It’s Blaze, but you can call me whatever you want, Princess,”

I glare at him, hating how I’m already swooning at the sight of him. I can’t stand his arrogant personality. The man is desirable, but he isn’t all that special, and I regard my heart as a traitor because it’s already racing, beating out of rhythm for no specific reason.

Bitterness fills me up like poison. “Did you need anything, or did you just randomly decide to turn off your engine to harass me?”

Blaze looks massively entertained. “Harass you?”

“I’m not your Princess,”

Laughter fills the air, and my mouth turns dry when Blaze approaches me. Fear circles my throat, and I gulp at seeing the descending amusement within them. It was a bad idea to antagonize a hulking werewolf; I realize that now.

“Are you always this moody?”

Blaze tilts his head, but I refuse to answer his question. Intimidated, I withdraw from him, but the werewolves follow me as if we are dancing. Within moments I’m backed up into a tree, painfully aware of the tall werewolf silently laughing at me with a broad smile showcasing his teeth.

My heart is pounding faster than it probably ever has. “W-What do you want?”

Blaze reaches out his hand, and I hold my breath.

“You had something stuck in your hair,” He picks something from my hair and holds it before my eyes. “A petal,”

“You asshole! You scared the living daylights out of me!” I snap.

Blaze leans closer, smirking. “Oh, come on! I wouldn’t scare you! We are mates, right?” I watch him come closer until he is almost brushing my cheek with his lips. I think he is contemplating kissing me. “I’m trying to seduce you,”

I growl at his words, but Blaze doesn’t seem to notice. He leans back with cracked lips, and I shudder in disdain. The mate bond is there, but I choose to ignore it, fight against the odds, and kick him between his legs. It’s his own fault for invading my personal space!

“Hey!” Blaze falls forward, wincing in pain. He uses the tree trunk for support, and I slide away from his towering form. “That fucking hurt!”

“I don’t care!” I squint my eyes, glaring back at him. “That’s what you get for trying to kiss me!”

Blaze sucks in a deep breath. It looks like he is about to say something. Unfortunately for him, I’m not about to listen to him. I’m already storming away from him, swinging my arms in determination.

There is no destination. I just want to get away from my second mate.

I march down the road, and before I know it, I’m crying. Tears are running down my cheeks, and when I move my hand to touch them, my lips pucker up with pain. Ariel rejected me. Thinking about it makes it harder to breathe. It doesn’t matter that I have a second mate. The second best isn’t who I want...

Everyone is staring at me when I get on the bus. I don’t have a place in mind, but it seems my heart is one step ahead of me. Thirty minutes later, I’m stepping out on familiar grounds, glancing up at Ariel hotel.

Swallowing, I keep my head low and enter the building. As usual, wealthy guests fill the entire floor.

Wine, top hats, and cards splaying over tables. The guests are here for a reason way less dirty than mine. I’m about to beg, try to turn the tables around, and ask Ariel to revise his decision.

Thirst for that sweet, sweet love fuels my legs. I get into the elevator, but this time the doors don’t get enough time to close before a woman has pressed through them. Blonde hair, legs for days, I recognize her immediately, Catherine.

Gasping, I blink upwards to the skies and shiver at the sight of the tall, beautiful woman. Her eyes flutter unnaturally as if she just woke up from a hundred-year-old nap. Mild interest takes over her features, and her eyes widen like a cat just having spotted its favorite toy.

“Oh,” Her accent suits her perfect, porcelain face. “You are new, right? I think I’ve seen you in the kitchen downstairs,”

I match her smile. “Yes, I work in the kitchen,” I tell her and reach out my hand. “My name is Jenna,”

Catherine doesn’t reach out to take my hand. She keeps the smile on her face, but somehow the room feels colder the longer she looks at me. The man she is dating is my mate, and I believe Catherine wouldn’t like me if she knew.

“Did Ariel hire you?” Her expression is still on guard.

I nod. “Yes,”

Raising one perfect eyebrow, she considers me. “Well, are you working today?” She reaches out her hand to press a button on display. When she catches the floor for where I’m headed, her expression turns dark. “Or are you here to talk with Ariel?”

I don’t like the way she says his name. The mate-bond is humming within me, and whatever monster it has created within me doesn’t want to share my mate with anyone else. Ariel belongs to me.

“Mm,” I hum nonchalantly. “I need to talk with Ariel,”

“About what?” Her tone is fierce now. “What business do you have with my fiance?”

I stare at her. “Fiance?”

Catherine seems to gloat in my confusion. “Yes, he proposed, and I said yes,”

“Oh...”

“And he is taking me out for dinner later, so if it isn’t something important, could you please come back tomorrow?”

Breaking apart seems like my best option. Nothing in this world could heal my growing wound after hearing my mate is about to marry someone else.

“Sure,” I mumble and try to make sense of the situation. “I can come back tomorrow...”

Satisfied, Catherine steps out of the elevator on Ariel’s floor. Flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder, she catches my gaze with icicles in her glare.

“Stay away from my soon-to-be husband,” Catherine warns me. “I know it might be hard for a human to understand, but Ariel is my mate-...”

I interrupt her by laughing; resisting is futile. The second her lie is out of her mouth, I can’t stop myself because Catherine is a fraud. Ariel is my mate, not hers.

“You’re lying,” courage floods my senses, and I confidently catch her gaze with newfound determination. “Because Ariel is my mate.”

Catherine squints her eyes at me, anger appearing on her wrinkle-free face. I can find it in her burning gaze, felt in the air surrounding us.

“Mate or not, Ariel belongs to me, and if you try to get between us, I will make your life a living hell, Jenna,”

“Is that a threat?”

Catherine smirks. “Yes, that’s a threat,”

I say nothing when Catherine leans back from the elevator. She waves at me as the elevator doors are closing. Hatred is visible on her features, unmistakable in her eyes. This is a woman who hates me, and my guts twist in realization. I’m a threat in her eyes, which means I might still be a player in the love triangle.