It smelled like a mixture of lavender and cinnamon. It was so good that I wanted to lick it. Hmmm... My body jolted up as my eyes snapped open when it finally hit me with what I was smelling. Andrea! My head snapped to my side, searching for her while my heart was thudding loudly in my chest.  I found her at her side of the bed, in a coiled position, hugging the blanket tightly against her body. She was sleeping peacefully, purring softly in her sleep. My eyes started to water as I inhaled more of her scent. It was too faint, but it was enough to wake up my senses. But I was not alone. Zion, my wolf, growled in my head. MATE. He was claiming Andrea as our mate. I wasn't hallucinating. I smelled her. And if my wolf acknowledged the bond, it meant one thing. He could sense Andrea's wolf as his mate. I shifted my weight and crept behind Andrea's body, burying my nose in the back of her neck and inhalin

ANDREA. I didn't have any idea how long I'd been standing in the middle of Caspian's room just looking at his bed. Many different emotions were surging in my chest, and I tried my hardest to control them all.  Anger. Fear. Sadness. Agony. Longing. Love. I knew someday Caspian would come to understand me. He might be angered by my decision, but I was doing this for him. Riley wouldn't stop until he staked his claim on me. He has been present for the last three years of my life, and although he hasn't done anything to physically torture me, he has succeeded in torturing me emotionally. I knew what he could do. And I knew I had this coming for me. But not Caspian. He could still get away from Riley. And that was what I wanted to do. I wanted to take him away from all of this. I held the letter I'd written for Caspian for the last hour tightly in my chest before bringing it onto my lips to leave a kiss and slipping it under his side t

ANDREA. I smiled weakly at Jenny before walking away from her and her mate, Gamma Sebastian, as Riley was guiding me towards the pack house, his hand securing mine tightly.  I was trying my best not to let out a sigh. I needed to be calm if I wanted to make Riley believe I was okay with this setup. I heard him say he would bring me to our room, and it took so much effort on my end not to flinch.  Although I have shared a bed with Caspian, I did it out of love. And I had no plans to just jump into another man's bed if I had a choice. But I didn't know how I could stop him from doing this. Sweat formed on my forehead as we reached the fourth floor of the packhouse. I had never been here before, and if I remembered it right, this floor belonged to the Alpha alone when I was still a small girl tagging along with my mother whenever she went here for work. So this floor belongs to Riley now.  Bile threatened to rise from my th

ANDREA. I've been here for two days now, and so far, Riley hasn't done anything to hurt me, at least physically. After his outburst outside my bedroom when he tried to kiss me, he acted as if nothing had happened. And it has been like that since then. We didn't talk about the pact or what his plans were, but he did take me everywhere around the territory, introducing me as his female.  I would internally flinch whenever he would say those words. and although a part of me wanted to defy him, I was scared. What could an omega do against an Alpha inside his own territory surrounded by his loyal men? I was helpless. The only thing that could save me was my calmness and my belief that somewhere inside Riley was the good-hearted boy I grew up with. I tried to be strong while keeping my distance from him whenever I could. But in the solace of my own room, I would wallow in the pain of missing Caspian. I wanted badly to call him, but for what? It

ANDREA. I couldn't stop myself from crying as I sat beside Jenny as we drove back home. I was thankful that Jenny wasn't asking anything, so we remained quiet until we reached the packhouse. She parked her car, and my eyes darted to where Riley's car was usually parked. I felt relief coursing through me. He wasn't home yet. I didn't need to explain why I was crying. I stayed seated in my seat, just contemplating my next move. Even though I kept telling myself that there was a slim chance for an Omega to be mated to an Alpha, a part of me was still hoping for that slim chance. But all hopes were gone.  "Are you okay? Do you want to talk or would you rather be alone for now?" Jenny's voice was laced with concern. "Jenny, how did you know Sebastian was your mate?" "I smelt him." "What kind of smell? Don't you smell me, Riley, or Aaron?" "Well, Aaron smelled good. Alpha Riley and Alpha Jacob smelled good too. I can sme