Luca
A few hours earlier
I rub my knuckles against my chest, trying to relieve the ache in my sternum that won’t let up. All morning my wolf has been a drum under my ribs—pacing, restless, itching for something to happen. I should be able to talk myself down. But I can’t, no matter how hard I try.
“I need to go, Mom. I’ll have to finish tomorrow,” I say, trying to keep the edge out of my voice. I’m already over two hours late. For fuck’s sake, Goddess only knows what could be happening at the party. I shoot off another mindlink to Ryan, who confirms there’s no sign of Sofia’s mate, but that does little to soothe the fire building in my gut.
Something is going to happen tonight. I can sense it. I’ve only ever seen happy matings before. Often, it’s a couple who were already together or there’s been some kind of connection already, or complete strangers who rush into each other’s arms as soon as they scent one another. Mate bonds are normally never surprising, and when the bond snaps into place, wolves typically move intogether immediately because there are no breakups with fated mates.
Until recently, I never thought fate could get it wrong; but after seeing who Emily was fated to only a few weeks ago, I’m less confident in the bonds. The idea of Sofia being mated to some asshole or worse has me ready to turn feral. My wolf gnashes his teeth every time the idea pops into my head of Sofia being mated.
“I don’t understand why you felt the need to help in the first place,” my dad says, handing me the screwdriver as I fix another piece of wood in place in the roof of their sitting room. A tree came through my parents' sitting room last night. And Dad wanted to fix it all himself rather than stay with me for a night and wait for me to help tomorrow. “I would have been fine doing it on my own.”
“And let you get yourself hurt?” I huff. “It’s a two-wolf job, and you know it.”
Fate, I wanted to be at Ryan’s place when Sofia walked in. But what could I do? Leave them to it so I could spend the night scowling at whoever turns out to be mated to her? They have no idea why I want to be there so badly. And it’s not as though I can tell them.
“I wonder if Sofia has met her mate. Whoever it is would be so lucky. Such a lovely girl. It’s a pity we never see her anymore. She used to be here all the time,” Mom says wistfully.
I don’t answer her vocalized stream of thoughts. I remember how much my mom loved having Sofia around. She saw her as the daughter she never had. And it didn’t just suck for me when I pushed Sofia away.
The doorbell rings, and Mom goes to answer it, inviting Rachel, the female I’ve been seeing casually for a few weeks, in to join us.
“I’m nearly done,” I call out, standing back to look at our work with my dad. “Think it’ll do for now?”
“Yeah, you should get going, son,” he replies, clapping me on the back. I might be a grumpy asshole to most of the pack these days, but I’ll always have a soft spot for my mom and dad. Seeing my two best friends lose their parents so young has made me appreciate the importance of family. I give them both hugs before heading to my place to change with Rachel in tow.
“We could stay here instead,” she says, watching me as I change out of the shirt I was wearing. “We could skip the pack princess’s birthday. You hate each other, and I’m not exactly her biggest fan either.”
“We don’t hate each other. She’s my best friend’s little sister. She’s practically my little sister too,” I say, even though those words taste like ash on my tongue. I wish I could look at Sofia the way an older brother would; protective, caring, uncomplicated.
I’m an only child, but I’m pretty sure that no big brothers look at their sisters how I look at Sofia. I grew up with my best friends—Ryan and Jackson—and those guys are my brothers. With the exception of the incident with Emily, we’ve always had each other’s backs. And even though a lot has changed in recent years, our friendship means everything to me.
Which means Sofia is family too.
“You sure that’s all this is?” Rachel questions, and I don’t miss the jealous edge to her tone or the bitter hint her scent takes on.I pinch the bridge of my nose and take a steadying breath. This is meant to be casual. Wolves don’t have serious relationships until they meet their fated mates, so why is Rachel acting this way? I thought we had an understanding. I don’t want to hurt her, but this is temporary.
“Seriously, Rachel? Can you drop the jealousy? What is the point of the suspicion? And anyway, you know I don’t see Sofia like that. She’s basically a child!”
“She’s only a year younger than me,” Rachel pouts, and I can’t help my recoil. That can’t be true. My wolf thrashes against my restraints. He’s sick of this conversation. I’d say he’s getting sick of Rachel too, but he’s been clear of his disdain for her since the first hint of flirtation.
He has hated every girl I’ve ever met.
Except Sofia. He has always been different when it comes to her. It started with being insanely protective of her. He urged me to stay close to her. Which was fine when she was a cute kid with a badly hidden crush on her older brother’s best friend—also known as me.
Sofia used to hang on my every word, and my wolf was more at ease when she followed us around. So, I encouraged it. While Ryan was trying to ditch the tag-along, I was telling him to play nice. But it stopped being cute when Sofia started growing into a stunning she-wolf.
She grew from a cute kid to a gangly and awkward teenager when she reached her full height of 5’9” long before her curves filled out. But then they did fill out. I started to notice how attractiveshe was shortly before I left the pack for a two-year training stint, and by the time I came back, Sofia was eighteen and had grown into the most beautiful female in the world.
But she was still way too young for me. And still my best friend’s little sister. I could never go there. So, I did what any sane guy would do when he realizes that he’s hot for his best friend’s little sister.
I pushed her away.
I acted like a complete prick and avoided spending time with her as much as possible. Instead of rushing to her defense every time an ex-girlfriend would make bitchy comments, I did everything in my power to not have anyone see anything that could be perceived as closeness between us.
Every chance I got, I created a wider gap between us. I figured I’d meet my mate and stop seeing her that way. No one would ever have to know. But there has been no sign yet, and the thought of watching Sofia with her mate has the contents of my stomach churning.
That must be why I’m on edge today. My wolf huffs out a breath and shakes his head, prowling in circles while he waits for me to hurry up and get over there.
