CHAPTER 43


    KADEN’S P.O.V: THE PAST


    I stared at my mother with a nk expression waiting for her to say that it was all a joke but she


    remained smiling as if she had just given me the opportunity of a lifetime. I nced over at Lucy


    who looked up at me through hershes in what was supposed to be an innocent look but ended up


    making my skin crawl. I promptly looked away and I saw her smile fall.


    I was pissed that my mother kept trying to interfere and shove Lucy down my throat. I had told her


    time without number that I was not interested in Lucy that way but she seemed determined to have


    me mate with Lucy. I wanted to tell her that I had a mate but I knew that conversation was not going


    to end well at all so I stayed quiet.


    “What do you think?” she asked when she realized I hadn’t said anything. “Lucy is avable to start


    whenever you want. She is a hard worker and she-”


    “You don’t need to speak for her,” I cut my mother off.


    She was shocked that I had spoken back to her and I saw her entire being dete- she was upset. I


    ran my hands through my hair in frustration.


    “You’re right,” she said with a small nod then she nudged Lucy. “Why don’t you hand him the CV


    that you made and he can go through it and tell you exactly why he knows you’re the perfect


    candidate.”


    Mother added thest part while looking directly at me and I knew she wasn’t speaking to Lucy in


    that moment. Lucy picked up a bright pink folder that was on my desk and handed it to me. I wanted


    to throw it in the bin but mother was staring at me in a way that had me flipping it open.


    As soon as I opened it, I knew my mother was the one who wrote it. She had highlighted plenty


    times that Lucy was good with children and leading a pack as if that was something that my


    secretary needed to know. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and I ced the file back in Lucy’s


    hands.


    I knew about the internship position and I wanted to offer it to Amelia so I could have an excuse to


    be around her at every moment but I couldn’t tell my mother about it because she was against the


    idea of me being with my fated mate. I still didn’t know why she hated the idea so much but I was


    determined to find out and in the meantime I needed to figure out a way to fix the mess that she had


    just created.


    This new development also meant that I couldn’t im Amelia as my mate yet because I knew that


    mother was going to throw a fit.


    “Thank you for the offer, I will think about it,” I said pointedly and they all knew what it was- a


    dismissal.


    I saw my mother frown as if she couldn’t believe that I had dismissed her. I wanted to make my


    point clear so I walked across the room and took a seat in my chair then started browsing through


    some documents. I was barely skimming over the words but it had the desired effect because my


    mother cleared her throat.


    “It seems you’re very busy right now,” my mother said and there was an undercurrent of hurt in her


    tone. “Lucy will resume work in a few days and you can discuss the rest with her.”


    She said it with no room for argument and I sighed. She held Lucy’s hand in a tight grip and


    together they walked out of the office. As soon as the door closed behind them, I picked up the


    object closest to me which happened to be a vase and I threw it at the opposite side of the room


    with a roar of frustration.


    THE PRESENT:


    I was in the office thinking about how to fix the issue with Lucy when Pam told me that Amelia


    was awake. I left everything I was doing and I rushed to the house. I couldn’t believe it. I had


    wanted to be there when she woke up but some urgent work had pulled me out of the house and


    into the office.


    As soon as I got there and I smelled her mouthwatering scent, I wanted nothing more than to pull


    her into my arms and never let go. I had to calm myself down as I walked in through the doors so as


    not to scare her with my eagerness. She was already seated at the table and I knew I couldn’t do


    the things I wanted in public so I waited.


    Being Alpha, patience is one of the skills that we have to learn and I used to pride myself on my


    extraordinary patience but that patience was nonexistent when it came to Amelia.


    I wanted to pull her into my arms. I wanted to say damn everyone else in the room and kiss her


    senseless but I couldn’t so I settled for cing my hand behind her chair. Even that felt like it wasn’t


    enough but still, I waited. I waited until everyone had finished dinner and went off to do their own


    thing and then I told her I wanted to talk to her.


    As soon as the door closed, I couldn’t control myself again. I kissed her like a man starved and like


    she was an oasis in a dry desert. I held her close and I ran my hands down her body. I had missed


    her presence and her scent and just being around her was overwhelming. My senses were in


    overdrive and it felt like I was going to explode. If I had died in that moment, I would have died a


    happy man.


    My wolf was doing a happy dance and jumping for joy and I could barely concentrate on anything


    around me. I wanted to mark her and make her my own. In that moment, I didn’t care about my


    mother or any of the tantrums she could have thrown, all I wanted to do was to make Amelia mine


    and my wolf seemed to agree.


    He reached out to hers so we could begin the marking process but he couldn’t. It was like there was


    a wall that was preventing him from reaching out to her. It frustrated him and it was at that moment


    that I realized that she wasn’t as into the kiss as I was. She was kissing me back but there was a


    stiffness to her body and a hesitation in her actions that led me to realize that maybe, she didn’t


    want it.


    I pulled back from her and forced my wolf into the recesses of my mind because he wasn’t helping


    me by putting images of all the things we could be doing into my head. Amelia cast her head to the


    ground as if she was ashamed to look at me and I gently tilted her chin upwards until she was


    staring at me.


    “What’s wrong?” I asked and she swallowed deeply but didn’t respond. “Did I do something wrong?


    You can tell me, Amelia.”


    She still didn’t respond and she cast her eyes to the ground once more. There were a lot of


    emotions swirling through her irises but one of them was guilt and grief. My thoughts went back to


    the boy from earlier and I had to force down the growl that threatened to rise from my chest.


    N?velDrama.Org holds ? this.


    I took a step back from her to try and calm the murderous thoughts in my head. Did she love him?


    Were they together? Is that why she refuses to let me mark her, because of him? I was furious and I


    wanted to find the boy and kill him with my bare hands.


    I nced over at Amelia and she wrapped her hands around herself as if she wanted to hide from


    me. She slowly made her way over to the bed and took a seat but she still refused to nce my


    way. I knew I couldn’t ask her about the boy because she wouldn’t be honest so I decided to ask the


    next best person. I mind linked Caleb immediately and he responded within a few seconds.


    “I was just about to mind link you,” he said and he sounded out of breath as if he was running. “Pam


    told me that you were home so I nned to show you what I found in person.”


    “Tell me it is about the boy from earlier,”


    “It is,” he said but his voice had gone solemn as if he was worried about how I was going to react to


    it. “He was a wolf in Amelia’s pack. His name is ke and he was a soldier. He was dating Amelia


    and they were supposed to be mated the moment she found her wolf but he left her for her sister


    and was suddenly promoted.”


    I couldn’t help but scoff to myself. She was still hung over a boy who left her for a flimsy position. It


    infuriated me that she was still thinking about him and that in turn made me want to storm onto


    Gregory’s territory and torture him slowly not only for invading her thoughts but also for breaking her


    heart. The only thing that was stopping me was the fact that I knew it would be a deration of war.


    “Is that everything?” I asked and ke hummed.


    “It is for now but I will keep looking.”


    I ended the mind link immediately and turned to Amelia. She was still seated on the bed but now


    she was watching me. Her expression was carefully nk as if she was trying to analyze me and


    see what I knew and what I was going to do next.


    I made my way over to her slowly and when I stood in front of her, I knew I towered over her and it


    made her ufortable because she shuffled in her spot. I didn’t want to make her ufortable


    so I reached behind me and pulled the chair from her desk. It had been my home for the past three


    days although she didn’t know that.


    I pulled the chair forward and sat down so that I was facing her. In our position, I could feel the heat


    of her skin on mine even though we were not touching and I could feel the pull from her bond. If it


    were any other day, I would have pulled her into myp but I had other things to handle.


    “What happened earlier?” I asked but she stayed silent. “Do you not feel the bond between us? Is


    that what the problem is?”


    “I can feel it,” she began slowly and she opened her mouth to say something else but I cut her off.


    “Is it because of ke?”


    When those words left my lips, her eyes widened and whatever she was about to say disappeared


    from her lips.


    “I-” she began but she fell silent. She opened her mouth to speak but no words woulde out.


    I stood to my feet so quickly that she chair fell over.


    “Kaden,” she began and I stopped waiting for her to tell me that she wasn’t thinking of him but she


    couldn’t say any words.


    I had my answer.