B.E. Harmel
My heart did a little somersault in my chest. At last. I’d been fretting over why he hadn’t replied to my texts.
But now he was calling. Maybe Dad was right. Maybe Mathew had just been swamped with work.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
His voice was like velvet, sending a shiver down my spine. The mate effect was in full swing.
“Hi, Mathew,” I replied, attempting to keep my voice steady, but it came out squeaky due to the thrill coursing through me.
“I was thinking we could grab lunch. Maybe at my place and…” He left the sentence hanging, but his tone suggested he wasn’t talking about a meal.
Before I could formulate a response, a yawn escaped me.
“That’s not the reaction I was expecting,” Mathew said, sounding surprised.
“Mathew, I’d love to, but I just finished a grueling shift. I’m wiped out, and I need to eat and sleep. I can meet you for lunch, but then I’m heading home. Can we plan something for tonight instead?” I proposed, only to hear him snort dismissively on the other end.
“Fine,” he replied curtly, ending the call abruptly. He didn’t even attempt to negotiate, didn’t try to find a compromise, and I felt tears of frustration and anger welling up in my eyes.
Why did it have to be this way?
I considered calling him back, but I was too drained. Too exhausted to convince him that I was genuinely tired, but still eager to see him.
I decided to make it up to him later. When I got home, the house was empty, but Mom had left a plate of food in the fridge. I was grateful for that small mercy! I warmed it up, ate, and then headed straight to bed.
It felt like I’d barely closed my eyes when it was already night. I was roused by the sound of my father and brother coming home. I rushed downstairs to greet them, and just as I entered, Tiffany was walking through the door. Bob welcomed her with open arms.
Seeing them together was enchanting. It was blatantly obvious they were mates. They seemed to struggle to breathe when they were apart, as if they were only whole when they were together.
It was a beautiful sight, the epitome of what mate bonds were described as. I could only hope to have something like that with Mathew.
“I thought you guys were going to happy hour today,” Mom said, raising an eyebrow as she stirred risotto on the stove.
“Yeah, the admin and legal team decided to hit up Tyler’s today. But Bob wanted to come home and see Tiffany,” Dad replied nonchalantly.
“Did Mathew go too?” I asked. Dad looked at me, his expression uncertain, as if he wasn’t sure what answer I was hoping for.
“I wanted to surprise him. I was tired after work and didn’t see him this morning,” I explained. I couldn’t quite decipher the look on my father’s face.
“I think he’s there,” Dad finally said.
“I’m going to freshen up and head over there, it’s worth a shot,” I said, excitement bubbling within me. I was yearning to see Mathew. I missed him and I knew that just seeing him would lift my spirits.
It was the mate effect, I figured. I only felt whole when I was around him. Sure, I had doubts about his behavior during our brief encounters, but he was my mate, chosen for me by the Moon Goddess. He deserved a second chance.
I went to my room and slipped into the sexiest dress I owned. It was a tight, red satin number. I applied makeup, smoky eyes, and slipped on a pair of high heels.
I was ready.
I grabbed a quick bite of risotto and drove to Tyler’s, a small club with a few tables and a dance floor. The drinks were good, and the music was lively.
I parked and walked to the entrance, but once there, I started to second-guess my decision.
I decided to text Mathew.
I sent the message, waited five minutes, but he didn’t reply. He probably didn’t see or hear it, I reasoned, because of the loud music.
I mustered all the courage I had and walked in. The place was packed, probably due to a local band playing. I squeezed through the crowd, deciding to bypass the dance floor and look for Mathew at the tables in the back, where the happy hour crowd usually congregated.
And then, as if by magic, a path cleared in the crowd, and I saw him, standing with a glass of vodka in his hand. Just as I was about to call out to him, I saw him pull out his phone. I imagined the smile that would light up his face when he saw my message, but instead, he rolled his eyes and started typing. My heart shattered when I received his text.
And there he was, right in front of me. I thought I had hit rock bottom, but nothing compared to the sight of a woman approaching him, a stunning brunette with red lipstick. He smiled, pulled her close, and she draped herself around his neck, just before they kissed.
That’s when I completely lost it.
I lost my senses, my reason, and my dignity. My legs gave out from under me. My body started to tingle, and I collapsed to my knees on the floor. I didn’t feel the pain as my knees hit the floor. Or maybe I did, but it was nothing compared to the agony in my chest.
I felt as if the bond in my heart had been severed, torn apart mercilessly. I felt like I would never be the same again.
I felt as if a million daggers were being plunged into me, like I was trapped in a horrific nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from, and the void in my chest was so vast that I just wanted to sink into it and never resurface.
I felt the tears streaming down my face. They flowed freely, beyond my control, and I was convinced that this sorrow would never end.
My mate, chosen by the moon, who was supposed to love and protect me above all else, was cheating on me, right in front of me, and suddenly everything fell into place. He didn’t care about me. He didn’t care about his own mate.
He was only interested in sex.
A hand wrapped around my waist, lifting me off the dance floor. I tilted my head to comprehend what was happening, but the scent hit me first, a delightful blend of cinnamon, coffee, and a hint of wood. I glanced up at the alpha, who was carrying me out of the room. He held me against his body, my feet dangling in the air.
We moved past people, their eyes wide with awe, and I wasn’t sure whether to feel embarrassed or proud.
Once we entered a private room and he closed the door behind us, I finally managed to catch my breath. Everything had happened so quickly that I couldn’t process it all. Alpha Christopher circled around me to stand directly in front of me. He slid his hands into his pants pockets and met my gaze, my lips parting in surprise.
In the midst of my shock, I realized that I had stopped crying.
“Was he your mate?” he asked.
I swallowed hard, the urge to cry returning. I could only nod, my lips pressed together, trying to hold back the tears.
I felt so shattered that it seemed like every step I took left a piece of me behind.
“Idiot,” he muttered, stepping forward and closing the distance between us. His hands emerged from his pockets and cupped my face. He used his thumbs to wipe away the tears that were still trickling down my cheeks. His gaze seemed to penetrate even deeper, as if he was reading my soul.
For a moment, I could have sworn he was looking at my lips.
But then Christopher quickly stepped back, releasing me and grabbing his jacket from an armchair. He draped it over my shoulders. I felt comforted and protected, as if he cared about me. In my devastation over Mathew, this was the only good feeling I had, a warmth spreading through my heart.
I had always felt nervous around the alpha, but right now he made me feel comfortable. In the most horrible and vulnerable moment of my life, he managed to make me feel okay.
“You need a drink,” he declared, almost like an order.
I didn’t respond, but he walked over to a well-stocked bar at the back of the room and began pouring two glasses of whiskey.
“I don’t drink whiskey,” I admitted, finding it too strong for my taste.
“It’s a good day to start,” he said, extending the glass toward me.
I shrugged and accepted the glass, taking in the room we were in. It was spacious, with one wall lined with a vast array of drinks, another wall featuring a large sofa, and the remaining two made entirely of glass. But it was likely one-way glass, preventing anyone outside from seeing in.
There were two high pub tables next to the glass walls, along with four more armchairs.
“Is this a box?” I asked, turning to face him. I had never seen it in the club before.
Christopher paused for a moment before responding.
“Kind of,” he said, taking a sip of his whiskey. “I like going out, but I also like peace and quiet, so this gives me the best of both worlds.”
His gaze returned to me.
“You haven’t had your whiskey yet.”
I responded by exhaling deeply and taking a generous sip of the drink. I couldn’t help but make a face, which elicited a hearty laugh from the alpha.
“You know, for a tough doctor, you’re pretty weak at drinking,” he teased, settling next to me on the couch.
“I prefer wine or champagne,” I admitted. “But I think I really need this today,” I said, attempting to take another sip. But before I could bring the glass to my lips, I grimaced again.
Christopher smiled, his beautiful, wonderful smile. He stood up and gently took the glass from my hands, downing the rest of the shot in one go.
“This is hard to watch. I’m going to get you a glass of wine.”
As he moved to the bar, I was reminded of how Mathew, the one I had thought was my fucking mate, had gone to get me a drink, only to return empty-handed.
Another tear slipped out just as the alpha returned with a glass of wine. As he sat next to me, I quickly wiped it away with the back of my hand. I wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the sadness, but I began to speak, the words spilling out uncontrollably.
“I should have known better about Mathew. He hasn’t shown any care for me since he revealed himself as my mate,” I confessed. “We spent the night together, I lost my virginity to him, I even changed my shift at the hospital to spend the day with my mate. And then what did he do? He dismissed me the next morning, he didn’t even respond to my messages, and now I catch him kissing someone else. It just hurts so much.”
I took a deep breath, and Christopher placed one of his hands on mine, giving it a gentle squeeze. I felt a jolt of electricity shoot up my arm at his touch.
“I’m really sorry.”
His words were sincere, and his blue eyes looked deeply into mine. I saw a dark shadow pass over them, as if reflecting his thoughts.
“The mate bond is the closest thing we have to something divine. It’s magnificent, transcendent, and him not honoring that just shows what a horrible person he is,” Alpha said. “My own mate, Violet, meant more to me than my own life. A part of me died when I lost her. And for this guy to have this, and just throw it away, it makes me even more angry and disgusted with him.”
His words were underscored by a low growl, as he thought about what Mathew had done to me. But then something seemed to lighten his mood, and he smiled. “I spent three days locked in a room with her after we found each other,” he reminisced. His smile at the memory was absolutely beautiful.
I felt the same way watching him as I did when I saw my brother with Tiffany. Would I ever get to experience that feeling, that connection, for myself?