| Clementine POV |

As soon as I heard the last school bell ring, I dashed out of my maths class so I could swiftly avoid Lucas until tonight. I'm still a bit confused about what I truly felt about him being my mate since I've always been adamant about not finding one until I am ready. But the Moon Goddess hates me somehow by offering my mate on a silver platter. Dodging people in the hallway, I quickly realised that Tom was hot on my heels forgetting that we shared the same class. I briskly grabbed his wrist before he could even protest and dragged him towards the back of the school, away from prying eyes. As soon as I know that we were completely alone, we stopped and he spun me around to face him.

"You can't just avoid him Clem, if he already knows what's the point?" Tom gruffly said as he crossed his arms on his burly chest.

"He doesn't know that I know so I can avoid Lucas until I figure things out tonight okay?" I huffed back, mimicking his stance.

All of a sudden, Tom's eyes glazed over and I knew someone was mind linking him. I arched an eyebrow at him in confusion after he snapped out of his thoughts and he eyed me with a knowing look. He sighed deeply and bit his bottom lip.

"That was Lucas... um he wants to speak with you and he knows you're avoiding him."

"Fuck. What did you say?"

"I told him where we are so he's on his way now, sorry not sorry."

Fuming at the traitor in front of me, I squeezed his nipples in retaliation and he yelped in pain. Tom quickly shot me a murderous look and patted his chest gently. I smirked back wanting to get another pinch in when we were interrupted by Lucas' low growl. He shook his head at us and came a bit closer to where we were standing. I swallowed my nervousness away and Tom the traitor patted my back before he took off to leave us alone. I sighed in defeat and broke the silence first.

"What is it Alpha?"

"We need to talk Clem." He muttered anxiously as he stepped forward to face me.

I stared at his eyes and I could see that he seemed conflicted as if he was fighting with his wolf. Before I even get a chance to respond back, Lucas quickly pulled me towards him as he embraced me tightly in his arms.

What the fuck. I thought to myself as my heart started beating erratically at what was happening. Sensing that I might try to pull away from his grasp, Lucas tightened his hold and sighed deeply. With my ears pressed on his chest, I could hear the sound of his heartbeat which was similar to mine - nervous yet excited.

"You're my mate Clementine Finch and I didn't need the full moon tonight to feel it. Being an Alpha, the Moon Goddess has given me the opportunity to seek my mate first and I'm glad she did... and I'm glad it's you."

Hearing those words, my face began to blush as I felt the mate bond luring me in. I looked into his eyes as he stared back full of love and I held his hands gently, beaming at my fated mate but deep in my heart, I have to let him know what I truly feel about all this.

"Lucas, I am incredibly terrified that I am your mate since I didn't expect it to be you. It's a lot to take in to be quite honest and I have to sacrifice so much of myself to be with you and to be a future Luna of our pack. But the pull to you is so strong that I feel like I'll be okay as long as I'm with you.

The full moon tonight will definitely seal our mate bond and although I'm a nervous wreck right now, I'm excited about where this would take us."

Tightening his hold on my hands, Lucas smiled back and leaned closer to my lips, his warm breath touching the corners of my mouth. Welcoming this sudden intimacy, I inched forward to kiss him and felt a bolt of electricity go through my body as soon as our lips touched. With our mouths moving harmoniously with each other, I quickly realised that we were doing this in public, and at our school at that. I pulled my face away and we chuckled, as he cupped my face into his hand.

"Oops sorry, I got carried away. I didn't mean to have a complete make-out session with my Alpha out here." I bit my lip as I looked around if anyone saw us.

Lucas laughed at my antics and pulled me towards a bench facing the school field. We sat there silently while our fingers played in each other's grasp. But there was something that was niggling my mind about this whole mate thing and I wanted to hear it from Lucas' mouth before tonight.

"Lucas, what happens to Alice after tonight?" I asked, catching him off-guard.

"I have to end it with her of course but to be honest with you, I'm scared to break her heart. I could have avoided all of this if I didn't date her and just waited for you."

"Shit happens Lucas, I'm not gonna hold it against you that you fell for someone naturally since that's a beautiful thing to experience... but you do owe her closure and clarity before tonight."

"I know, and I will give her that. I owe it to you and her. I'm sorry that this is quite complicated than what you have expected it to be but I'm grateful that you do understand."

"Of course I understand Lucas. At one point I also wanted to fall for someone naturally without the bond making that decision for me and I still do, but I need to get over that now."

"I could still court you and take you on your first date if you want? I want you to experience all of those things if that's what you want. Hell, I'll even do the awkward first interaction with your parents or be jealous of Tom, the latter of course I could do very easily."

I snickered at the last bit since Tom and I are purely just friends so I need him to be kinder to his Beta in the future. Although the jealousy is a bit cute, to say the least.

"Okay Alpha, that is very sweet of you! But if it wasn't for the bond, what do you honestly think of me?"

"Hmm, I love your lips and your mushroom hair."

I huffed at him in annoyance and Lucas snickered loudly next to me as he pulled my chin to face him.

"Well, you've always caught my eye, Clementine Finch. Your presence brings so much joy when you're in a room that it's hard not to fall for your beautiful smile. The way your brown hair falls on your face when you laugh or when you wrinkle your nose when you're mad. The little idiosyncrasies you have, I've always adored it even before I know we were mates.

I love how giddy you get when you daydream and how passionate you get when you talk about your goals and aspirations. I also know how much you want to become a lawyer since you're really good at arguing but really it's to help people. Clem, you wear your heart on your sleeve and it's so endearing to see. I'm an ass to you before I felt the bond, but really I've always had a little crush on you to be quite honest."

Thank you Moon Goddess. I quickly pick my jaw off the floor at his beautiful confession and I couldn't help but smile at the man in front of me. How could I be so lucky?

Lucas booped my nose to get my attention and he pointed at himself, wanting to hear what I thought of him as well. I smirked, knowing the answer to that.

"Your big muscles."

===End of chapter===

Hehe, same Clem that's my favourite thing about him. Isn't Lucas so sweet though???

But as the premise entails, hearts will break soon. I'm awful for breaking these two lol.

Happy reading and don't forget to vote and comment!

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