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Her gaze collides with mine, fire burning in their depths. “Sorry? You have got to be fucking kidding me,” she shouts. Rising from the chair, she pushes me in the center of my chest. I stumble back, caught off guard.
“For years, my father was treated as less than a second-rate citizen, and now that he’s dead, everyone suddenly wants to show up and pay their fucking respects?” She shoves me again,but this time, I stand my ground.
“Kira,” I say gently.
“Don’t you Kira me! Just leave me alone. And get the rest of this mess you call a pack to do the same. I’m here to put my father to rest and then I’m going home. I don’t need anyone to talk to me or try to make amends. I just need everyone to leave me the fuck alone.” She turns and stomps toward the back door of her father’s house.
“Kira,” I call out to her retreating form. “We need to talk.”
“No, Rowan, we don’t. I will see the pack elder tomorrow, and she will tell me how to get out of this mating bullshit,” she says before closing the door and flipping the lock.
Fuck! This isn’t what I was hoping for when I dreamed of finding my fated mate. But one thing is for sure: there’s no way in hell I’m letting Kira end this mating before I even get a chance to win her over.
I need to see Mavis, our pack elder, before Kira does. Jogging toward her house, I try to think of what I will say to her. It’s late, but I don’t have a choice. I’m going to need her help to keep my mate. I bang loudly on the front door until I hear movement inside the house.
“Hold your horses!” Mavis shouts from inside her home.
I stop knocking and wait impatiently for her to open the door.
“Rowan.” She sighs as she pulls the door open. “To what do I owe the displeasure of having you at my home at midnight?”
“Thank you for seeing me, Mavis.”
“Like I had a choice,” Mavis snarks, opening the door wider to allow me access.
Taking a seat at her kitchen table, I wait for her as she putters around the room, getting cups and putting water in the kettle. When she has finished preparing our coffee, she hands me a cup and takes a seat in front of me.
“So?” Mavis asks.
After taking a deep breath, I lay into the whole story, starting from the night Kira left. When I’m done, I wait for Mavis to enlighten me with her opinion.
“You’re an idiot,” Mavis says with a sigh. “What do you want me to do about this?”
“I don’t know. Tell her you can’t break the mating bond?” I say angrily. This conversation isn’t going the way I wanted.
“Well, I can’t, but she can,” Mavis says.
“Don’t you dare tell her that!”
“Sit your dumb ass down, boy.” Mavis glares at me. “I will slap you if you ever speak to me that way again. No less in my own home.”
“Sorry,” I say as I take a seat and try to look contrite. I shouldn’t have raised my voice, but the idea of Kira breaking our bond is enough to drive me crazy.
“Fine. I will help you,” Mavis says after a moment, and my shoulders sag in relief.
Chapter Five
Kira
My dreams are haunted by hunter-green eyes and perfect lips. Rowan hunts me in my dreams, pursuing me through the forest, trying to catch me. I run and run, but no matter where I turn, it’s always toward him.
I wake up irritated and more tired than I was when I eventually fell asleep. Add in the fact that I have a hangover, and you can believe that I’m in no mood to fool around today. But I need to see the pack elder and get this mating mess sorted out. The sad part is that I have always longed to find my mate, but not like this.
I know full well that if I end the mating with Rowan, I will spend the rest of my life alone—unless I take a mate out of convenience. But I can’t be mated to Rowan. He will never leave the pack, and I can’t see myself living here ever again. My heart breaks, knowing I will never have what my parents and so many of my new family have, but it’s for the best this way.
After my shower, I head out, walking toward the center of town. I wonder if Mavis is still the town elder. She is the one good memory I have left from all the time I spent here. News has spread fast, and people stare as I walk down the street toward the house that has always been assigned to the pack elder. Knocking lightly on the kitchen door, I wait.
The door opens, and Mavis smiles at me brightly.
