"Bitch, there is no way we ran out on our second chance mate," Cherry said, voice ringing in my head with all the fire and zero tact.
"No, no, no," I muttered, pacing the tiny staff room behind the kitchens. My hands were shaking. "This can't be happening, Cherry. I just got rejected. One week ago. I haven't even healed, god help me. And now I have a new mate? Already?"
Not just any mate.
A rich-as-hell, terrifyingly powerful Alpha.
Of the Nightfang Pack.
And of course, because fate is a twisted, cruel little bitch—he's sexy. Not just hot. Not just attractive. The kind of sexy that ruins lives. I'd barely glimpsed him during our short meeting, and my brain short-circuited. Broad shoulders, inked forearms, storm-colored eyes that looked like they'd seen too much. Hair black as midnight and slightly messy, like he didn't care, he could make women combust just by existing.
"I want to ride him," Cherry moaned dramatically.
"Cherry. The fuck. Keep it together."
"Excuse me for having eyes and a libido. We got rejected, and the Moon Goddess gave us another shot, and you want to play it cool?"
"Cool?" I hissed under my breath, tugging the hem of my too-tight work shirt down over my hips. "Cherry, I'm not playing anything. I'm surviving. What is the guarantee he won't reject us, too?"
She went silent.
I knew what that meant.
There was no guarantee.
"I doubt he even felt the bond," I whispered.
" I'm not doing this again. Not putting my heart on a damn chopping block for another arrogant bastard who sees nothing but my body and decides I'm not Luna material because I'm not a size two with a family pedigree."
Cherry growled, a low, possessive sound. "He's not Ronan."
"No. He's worse. He's better."
I dragged in a breath. "We ignore it. That's the plan. We feel nothing. We pretend nothing. No matter how sexy he looks with those tattoos and those stupid arms and those ridiculous raven-black locks—"
"Bitch," Cherry breathed, dazed. "You're so far gone already."
"Damn it," I whispered. "Curse this bond. Curse this whole fated mate mess."
And just like that, the kitchen door swung open.
I froze.
And in walked the reason my pulse was on life support.
Alpha Alex Nightfang.
He didn't see me at first. maybe because I quickly hid behind a cabinet He was talking to someone, his voice low, effortless. Then his gaze lifted—and locked on mine. he definitely saw me
A flicker.
Nothing more.
But something in the air shifted. Like the whole damn room inhaled and forgot how to breathe.
My heart stuttered.
Cherry practically purred. "Oh, he felt that."
I looked away first.
Because I knew.
This wasn't over.