07/09/2017

Kristin was on her way to see Ryder. She was riding with her parents to the pack house where Nightfall Pack was meeting them.

Maybe she could convince her father that they weren't mates after this.

She hesitantly, yet eagerly followed her father into the pack building and up the stairs to one of the bigger meeting rooms.

She immediately searched the room for Ryder.

Alpha Rickard and Gabriel were standing at the end of the long table while Ryder was sitting in one of the chairs, his feet up on the table.

His longish black hair had a messy look to it, though Kristin was sure he styled it like that.

He also had a good jawline, she would give him that.

She watched as he crossed his arms, his muscles flexing.

Yes, he was exceptionally attractive, but most wolves were. It was in their genes.

No. He wasn't her mate. And she definitely wasn't his.

Just then he met her stare.

She frowned at him, not understanding why he would lie about them being mates.

Ryder smirked at her before taking his feet off the table and straightening up.

She scowled at him, trying her hardest to show her resentment.

"I brought Kristin here to sit in on our agreement for the alliance deal, since this involves her," Alpha John spoke to the others.

Kristin so badly wanted to speak out against this, but ever since she was little she was taught how to act professionally in the presence of other leaders.

Instead she bit her lip and took a seat, farthest away from Ryder.

Both Alphas were seated on either end of the table, their family next to them.

"That seems fair," Alpha Rickard nodded towards Kristin, a glint in his eyes. "I'm just glad my son has finally found his mate."

Kristin's father started discussing the details of the arrangement, but not before she noticed Ryder roll his eyes at his father's words.

She blinked. She had seen him roll his eyes.

He was definitely not acting like they were mates. Couldn't her parents see this?

In that moment she knew he was lying about them.

The rest of the meeting consisted of both Alphas agreeing to arrangement terms as Kristin glared at Ryder from across the table.

He was avoiding her gaze, looking bored with the whole situation.

A couple minutes later he met Kristin's gaze. He must have sensed her complete and utter hatred for him at this point.

He raised an eyebrow as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Okay, so the terms have been made. We will conclude this meeting and seal the alliance by signing here," Alpha John pointed to the stack of papers they had typed up, consisting of the terms.

Alpha Rickard seemed too eager to sign the papers according to Kristin. Gabriel signed next, eyeing Kristin before he scribbled his name.

Beta Karmin signed next.

Kristin watched Ryder closely as he grabbed the pen from Karmin's hand.

He rushed the motion as he scribbled his signature, clenching his jaw.

He almost looked annoyed.

He slid the papers towards their end of the table, not meeting Kristin's gaze.

Her father signed his name, her mother signed hers, Marcus quickly wrote his, and Jace scribbled his name down.

The papers were then passed to Kristin.

She warily eyed her father. She wanted to talk about this with him before they decided anything.

However the immediate signing caught her off guard and she didn't know what to do.

Her mother smiled at her encouragingly while her father nodded at her, telling her she needed to sign now.

Kristin took a silent breath in, her hand slightly shook as she took the pen.

She slowly wrote out her full name. Kristin... Rose... Marino.

She stared at the papers before her, frozen.

She basically just signed her life away.

Before leaving the room she requested to speak with Ryder, separately.

Everyone exited the room, closing the door behind them, leaving her and Ryder alone.

Kristin hadn't planned on what to say to him, she was filled with anger and just wanted to scream at him.

However now that they were alone she couldn't help but feel intimidated by him, even when he was sitting down.

He kicked his feet up on the table again. "Well?"

His deep voice almost making her jump.

"You are not my mate," she said, glaring at him.

"I know," he simply replied.

"What?" She hadn't expected him to agree with her.

"I'm not your mate because you aren't a wolf. However, you are my mate."

His dark eyes never left her bright ones.

"No I'm not," she said shaking her head. She was talking loud, hoping that her father was listening in.

"How would you know? You're a human," he said lowly.

Kristin dug her nails into her hand to keep from having a break down.

"We are not mates," she said, enunciating each word slowly, "I may be human, but I know that mates shouldn't feel utter and complete hatred for one another. And that's exactly how I feel."

"Harsh," he said chuckling. "Well you don't really have a choice anymore do you? You just signed the contract," he pointed out.

"You might have been able to convince everyone else that I'm your mate, but I know the truth," Kristin turned on her heel and walked out of the meeting room, slamming the door behind her. (With much effort, since the doors were heavier because of wolf strength.)

When she got back to her house, Kristin was met with five other women from the pack to help her pack all of her stuff.

By the end of the day, most of her stuff was in boxes that were loaded into two SUVs and driven to the arrangement house.

The rest of her stuff would go with her tomorrow when her and Ryder headed to the arrangement house.

Her stomach twisted in knots as she thought about the next days events.

This would be the last night spent in her house, in Spirit Moon Pack.

Sure she was technically still going to be in Spirit Moon Pack-- as well as half in Nightfall Pack-- but she'd be an hour away from her friends and family, from her pack.

She was standing in her (almost empty) room as she was brought out of her thoughts.

Allison and Logan barged in, their eyes widening as they took in the emptiness of her room.

"So its true?" Allison gasped, running to hug Kristin.

"How much did you hear?"

"You're Alpha Rickard's younger son's mate?" Logan asked.

"Apparently," she shrugged, not in the mood to argue against it.

"Well?" Allison said pulling away.

"What?"

"Is he hot?"

"Seriously? She's moving an hour away from her friends and family and that's what you ask?" Logan said incredulously.

Kristin chuckled at Allison's glare towards him. "It's okay. I can come see you guys whenever. It'll just be a longer drive now."

Allison looked to Kristin, wiggling her brows.

"And yes, he's pretty attractive," she admitted, mostly for Allison's sake. She would make sure Ryder never knew this though. It would just inflate his ego even more.

"I can't believe your Nightfall's second heir's mate," Logan said, shaking his head humorously. "You seriously can't get away from us wolves."

"It sucks," Kristin groaned, sitting back on her bed.

"But he's your mate, so it'll be okay," Allison took a seat next to her. "Trust me Kristin, I was young when my mom met Brad, but I remember her being a thousand times happier than she ever was with my dad."

"Oh," was all Kristin said in return. That definitely would not happen.

Her friends took her silence as just being nervous and they tried to encourage her like good friends would for the rest of the night.

The worst part was when they had to say their goodbyes when they left at eleven o'clock.

Kristin was now sitting in her room all by herself, mindlessly fiddling with her ring.

By the time she finally fell asleep it was well into the early morning hours.

•. •. •. •. •. •.

Chapter Three read!

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