Chapter 3

 

Aurora’s POV

A rush of cold encloses my body. Suddenly my hand is too slack for the phone, but I don’t drop it. All the frustration from getting stalked and having the same mate as my sister finally catches up to me, and I find myself throwing the phone across the room.

The sound of it clattering against the wall makes the conversation stop in the dining hall. My mom calls out, “Are you okay, sweetie?”

“Yeah.” I can’t even feel my lips moving. “I just need some air.”

With that, I rush out into the backyard and sit alone in the gazebo. In the distance, I can see a bunch of cars making their way to the driveway. I panic for a while, but then I see that it’s just the cars of Margot’s friends. They seem to be coming over for my birthday.

Trust Margot to make my day about her and turn it into her party.

Soon enough, the house gets filled with people. My parents seem to be happy, though. Why wouldn’t they? I have always been the outcast, and I have no friends to come over.

I just wait in silence for the party to pick up. How long I sit there, I don’t know. But it does feel better to just have the breeze blowing through my hair. It’s like a comforting pat—

“Are you alright?”

The male voice startles me. I jump, nearly falling off the bench. I thought it’s Dad at first, but when I turn around, I see that it’s Mason.

I get to my feet and bow as though he’s royalty. Which he’s not. I don’t know what I’m doing with my body right now. I just force a smile so he won’t see my pain and disappointment, but judging on the sharp look in his eyes, I don’t think he missed anything.

“I am okay,” I tell him. “I’m just getting some air, you know.”

“Ah,” he says briefly, motioning to the spot in front of me. “Do you mind if I join you?”

“Of course not,” I say, sitting back on the bench just as he gets into the gazebo with me. “You can stay here. I can go back in so you can be comfortable—”

“Actually, I want you to stay. I need to talk to you.”

I freeze. “Okay.”

Silence hangs between us like an ominous sign. It feels so solid and uncomfortable but charged at the same time that I can’t help but move around in my spot like a worm.

But Mason is still and calm. “You felt that, right? When I first entered the house?”

I don’t want to embarrass myself, so I don’t react.

“It’s alright. I’m talking about what you’re thinking. The mate pull.”

“So you felt it too?” I whisper. “It wasn’t just me?”

He shakes his head. “No, it isn’t just you. I feel it even now.”

A slow smile creeps up to my face. I wasn’t just being delusional. He feels it too. He knows I’m his mate. I make a move to get close to him but he stops me with a raised hand.

“Don’t get me wrong, Aurora.” He slowly drops his hand as I sink back into my seat. “I have no plans of building a relationship with you. I don’t plan on breaking up with Margot to be with you. I also felt the mate pull with her, and I want to make it clear that I choose her. She’s the one I love.”

I don’t know why, but my heart snaps into pieces with his words. Each syllable caused a crack. The flippant, serious tone didn’t help either. It’s almost a physical pain, one that I can’t ignore. One that causes me to stay quiet right now, feeling smaller and smaller with each passing second.

“It’s normal to be hurt,” he says reassuringly. “But it would pass. All we need to do is sever the mate bond between us. Then, after that, you will find someone who will be yours.”

“Right.” I gulp. “How do I… how do we end this?”

Mason stands up and motions me to get to my feet. We stand in front of each other, and he takes my right hand and places it against his heart. He puts his hand on my chest too.

Still holding my gaze, he says, “I, Mason Chase, the Alpha Heir of the Black Dawn Pack, reject you as my mate, Aurora Everley of the Black Dawn Pack.”

I wait for something to change, but nothing happens. He looks at me expectantly, so I figure I must do the same to make it take hold.

“I, Aurora Everley of the Black Dawn Pack, reject you as my mate, Mason Chase, the Alpha Heir of the Black Dawn Pack.”

Anticipation rolls in. We both wait for the energy to shift. I don’t know exactly what I’m waiting for, but mate bonds are strong. Mate bonds are like personal fields of gravity, just pulling and pulling. I think what I should look for us repulsion. A big push that would make me feel nothing for him.

But as I meet Mason’s eyes, I feel the same. I’m still in his gravity.

The rejection didn’t work.

Mason lets go of me. I can tell he feels it too. Soon enough, anger builds in his kind face and I realize that he may not be so kind at all.

“What did you do?” He grabs me by the arm. “Why did you not end the mate bond?”