"Did you also just feel like dressing up all pretty before breaking into your Alpha's home?" he asked me.

"Well you're not Alpha yet," I told him, the punch really getting to me.

"I will be soon," he replied. "Either way that doesn't excuse you from breaking in," he said, now placing his hands on either side of me. Not touching me, but just there.

"And what about your random intrusion into my mind?" I asked him back.

"Hey it's not my fault your mindlink is open for public access," he said.

"And also, I like knowing that you listen," he said through the link.

I looked at him, and felt something tingle in my heart.

He touched the lace on the dress gently and studied it. "What a pretty dress you've got on," he said.

"It's Renee's," I told him, because obviously it's too difficult for me to take a compliment with just a 'thank you'.

"Maybe. But it looks like it was made for you," he said.

I didn't want to blush. But damn it, I knew I was.

He got up from the floor and went to the mini fridge set conveniently near his bed to retrieve some drinks and a packet of chips.

No. I don't know why he kept his Doritos in the fridge.

"Why'd you come here?" he asked, handing me a can and a large packet of chips.

"Wanted to see you," I said, ripping the packet open.

As he sat on his carpeted floor, I decided to do too.

It seemed like an indoor picnic that neither of us planned to have.

"You wanted to see me?" he asked.

I nodded my head.

"You said no to going to the party with me. I figured you didn't like me," he said.

"I like you," I said, impulsively.

"Just like everything else you do in your life," said Imadis. I could tell she was shaking her head.

I internally cringed at the way it sounded and wished I could take it back. Not because I didn't mean it, but because I didn't want to seem like the girl who was playing hard-to-get.

Because I wasn't playing anything.

I could tell Valente was a little stunned too.

"Then why did you turn me down?" he asked me.

"Because," I sighed, "I don't get it. You've been such a jerk to me all this time when we could have been friends from the start. And now you're doing the exact opposite. Why is that?" I told him.

He sighed, any sign of mirth was gone from his face, and suddenly he was all serious.

"I've always been put on the spot, Rayne. With being the future Alpha, I've had to always consider majority sentiment. It's what makes a good Alpha.

"And to maintain the trust the pack has in me, I've had to do some things I didn't like. And mostly, I've just tried to avoid conflict between families. Especially yours and mine," he said.

"What does that mean?" I asked him.

"Rosa and Aunty used to be close friends. They've been distant ever since Rosa adopted you," he said.

"I couldn't openly tell people that it wasn't your fault and that we'd bring the culprits to justice because I was young and we hadn't had the means to do it.

"I couldn't promise something I could not deliver. And until now, it was better for the pack to stay in this quiet state of keeping their opinions to themselves.

"So to make sure no one bothered you, I asked everyone to stay away from you. You were off-limits," he said to me.

"I know that," I said, oddly liking the sound of how I was off-limits. Almost as if I was important.

"You do?" he asked me raising an eyebrow, while digging into the chips packet in my hand.

I nodded.

"I met Kristján today," I told him.

His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Where?" he asked.

"At Frida's eighteenth," I said in a quiet voice, putting three chips in my mouth at once to distract myself from his intense gaze.

He placed his drink down and walked to me on his hands and knees till he was right in front of my face, causing me to look at him.

"So," he said. I could detect Alpha anger in that one syllable. "You're telling me, that you didn't dress up so pretty for me?"

I couldn't tell if he was being serious but I smiled.

"Umm no, obviously not. I dressed up for me," I said to him smiling, at which his angry face turned into a puppy dog pout that was so damn cute, I could kiss him.

Malfunction. Please shut down. Please shut down.

His face was instantly different, still beautiful, or even more beautiful.

It was so quiet between us, I could hear his heart racing, let alone mine.

He was suddenly too close for me to breathe again, and I knew that if I didn't break eye contact right now, Valente wouldn't stop staring at my lips, and something could happen that I'd probably end up regretting.

I looked down at my hands in my lap.

"Don't look away from me," his voice was soft, like velvet in my mind. He came closer, his hands on either side of me again, but this time his action put only centimeters between us.

I lifted my face to look at him, and I could see every detail of his face, as if I was an artist painting him to the last line, freckle, and hair.

He pressed his forehead to mine, our eyes closing at the contact. We breathed the same air in that welcome silence, for minutes that seemed like hours, before he spoke, his voice pained.

"Would you regret it if I kissed you?" he asked me in such a quiet voice, that if I was any further, I wouldn't hear him.

I felt as if a rock had been placed on my chest, and I was torn.

Words failed me.

"It's too much for me right now. You're not the same Valente you were a while back. I know you've changed. I know you still are, but I don't know if you are my mate yet. And, what if we're not mates?" I said to him through the pack bond.

He placed his hand on my cheek, staring at me, unblinking. "I'll fight for you if I have to."

His words were intoxicating me more than any liquor I could ever have.

I didn't realize my eyes were welling up till the first tear fell down to his hand.

He instantly rubbed it away with his thumb, gently.

But a part of me knew that's not how the mate bond works. If he's not my mate, he has another and I have another.

But why does the thought hurt?

He gave me a pained smile, before kissing my forehead and sitting back in front of me, still close enough that our knees were touching.

"What else did you and Kristján talk about?" he asked me.

"You were pretty much it," which reminded me. "Why now?"

He raised his head to look at me, questioningly.

"Why are we okay now? Why did it take you so long?" I asked him.

He sighed, taking my hand in his and running his fingers along mine almost absent-mindedly.

"I'm going to officially be the Alpha soon. Once I do, my word will be final, even above my aunt's or the Gamma and Delta. I'll have my own set of right hand men, and I know we're capable now to take revenge on those that wronged us," he said.

"What's that got to do with me?" I asked him.

"What this pack needs, is justice. Without it, the blame game will continue. You're the easiest target, Rayne. I'm sorry about that," he said, his eyes trained on the way his fingers interlocked perfectly with mine.

"And then?" I asked, wondering what his eventual plan was.

"And then," he said, bringing my hand up to his lips, kissing it softly.

"I'll make you mine."

🙈❤️