Neutral Antonym

After graduation, I spend a year interning with my mentor, a healer, out in the neutral lands—no packs, no laws, and no one to protect me. My brother, the Lycan Chairman of all werewolves, nearly loses his mind over it. He's terrified I'll fall for some Rogue and impulsively form a reckless mate bond. As such, he handpicks an arranged mate for me—Falcon Sterling, the Alpha of the strongest pack in Northmere. He's handsome and dangerous, a legendary figure. My brother orders me to come home for the mating ceremony, so I have no choice but to go pick out a Luna crown. At the jewelry shop, my eyes snap straight to a crown made of pure silver and covered in diamonds. Just as I reach out to take it, a sharp female voice cuts in. "I like the one she's holding. I'll take it. Hand it over." Before I can react, the clerk snatches the crown right out of my hands, nearly scraping my skin. I straighten up, forcing myself to stay calm. "Ever heard of 'first come, first served?' I saw it first. Is this how you do things here?" The she-wolf slowly turns toward me, casting me a long, mocking look. "This crown costs 300 thousand dollars. You sure you can afford it, peasant? I grew up with the Alpha of the Silvermoon pack, Falcon Sterling. Around here, I make the rules." I stare at her, almost laughing. Isn't that funny? Falcon just happens to be my arranged mate. I pull out my phone and press the call button. "Hey, Falcon. Your adorable childhood sweetheart just stole the Luna crown I'm supposed to wear for the mating ceremony. What do you think I should do about that?"

I step into his office and he's waiting for me seated behind his desk. He eyes me intently. His amber eyes bore deep like he's trying to look into my soul. My face is neutral with so expressed emotions. “You can't work under me anymore Ms. Robinson.” He says and I wonder why am not surprised. So the rumors were true. “Are you firing me sir?” I ask and everytime I say the word Sir it feels so foreign in my tongue even now. He sighs and gets up from his seat staring at me with a professional look on his face. “I can't continue like you don't know what I want Ms. Robinson.” He replies and I frown not wanting to get into the same topic once more. I look away. “You know it's not possible. You are....married sir.” And I am forced to go down memory lane which brings nothing but pain and sadness. It had been four years since he left to study abroad. He left me with the hope of him returning and uniting with me. For our love. We loved each other since elementary school and I even did the deed at fifteen. I waited for him. I depended on his promise and didn't look anywhere else for love because my heart had already been claimed by him. But I was in for a shock and a pain wrenching stab to my chest when he returned but not alone. He returned not as mine but as someone else's. He was far away from me now. He returned as a married man with his wife. Now he wants me back but not as his equal but as his secret lover. As his mistress.

“If you want me to keep your secret, you have to do one thing for me in exchange,” he said, his lips curled up slightly. “What thing?” Aurora narrowed her eyes, alarmed at the direction of the conversation. “Never never share the same bed with my brother,” he demanded, his alpha dominance rolling off him in waves, making her want to bare her neck for submission. But Aurora straightened her back and challenged him head-on. “Why? I’m his wife,” Aurora stated with a neutral expression on her face. She and her husband were a fake couple, but he didn’t have to know that. The fewer people who knew, the more favorable the situation was to her. “I’m supposed to…” “You are mine!” he released a deep guttural growl. The possessiveness shown in his words and eyes made Aurora both startled and baffled. He stalked to her in calculated steps, his eyes glinting with a deep well of want and desire under the moonlight. Aurora started to retreat cautiously until her back hit a hard wall. In a flash, he was in front of her, his arms resting on the wall beside her head, caging her. He was so close to her. Too close. His lips almost touched hers. A smell mixed of rain and pine forests invaded her nose, making her dizzy. Her wolf perked up. Aurora quickly cleared her senses. “I’m nobody’s woman,” she declared, locking eyes with him. But she quickly regretted it because who wouldn’t lose herself in a pair of deep blue ocean-like eyes on a face carved out by the Moon Goddess herself? “Want a bet?” he smirked, “One day you will be mine.” The audacity of him!