Alexei's POV
She fiddled with her fingers, her gaze flickering away as if she were weighing the weight of her next words. “It’s my first kiss, so I don’t know how to react,” she whispered, covering her face with her palms.
I couldn't help but let out a low, dark chuckle. Since I’d met her, a sense of amusement had replaced my usual coldness. I found it strange that a mere human could shift my mood so effortlessly.
“Really?” I asked, leaning closer into her space. She nodded vigorously, her face still hidden. I laughed again, though part of me felt a predatory satisfaction. I already knew everything about her. I had tasked Viktor, my Beta, with unearthing every detail of her life. That was how I knew exactly where she lived. I knew she was untouched, and even if she didn't realize it, I could feel her primal pull toward me. I was an Alpha; she was my fated Mate. The universe didn't give her a choice.
I pulled the car to the curb in front of her apartment building. “Well, Miss Novel, I would like to see you again, but I’ll be busy tomorrow,” I told her. Her deep brown, almond-shaped eyes widened as she nodded. I watched her walk into the building, my eyes locked on her until I was certain she was safe inside her unit. Only then did I drive off.
“Alexei.”
My father’s voice pulled me from my thoughts the moment I walked through the door. Here we go again. He was desperate for me to find my mate so he could finally retire.
“Yes, Dad,” I answered.
“Have you found her? You know I would accept her even if she’s human,” he said with a knowing smile.
“I’ll tell you once I’m sure she’s the one,” I lied smoothly.
“You’re going to the pack house, right?” he asked mischievously.
“I would have gone sooner, but someone gave me a human company to babysit,” I replied sarcastically. He laughed that was my father for you. Always scheming.
I was the heir to Red Moon Pack, the most powerful territory among the eight centuries of werewolf lineage. I was the Alpha-in-waiting, but a King needs a Queen. I had been furious when my father forced me into the corporate world to manage his company, but his plea "Your mother needs me" had softened my resolve.
I remembered the day of the interview vividly. When she stepped into my office, the air left my lungs. The "Pull" hit me like a physical blow. She was stunning, with warm bronze skin and dark hair tied in a loose ponytail. She was a simple journalism student, but to my wolf, she was everything. I didn't even have to touch her to know because no one else had ever looked that beautiful to me.
I had orchestrated everything after that. I had Viktor track her to Pulse Edge, a club I owned, making our encounter look like a coincidence. When I finally touched her, placing my hand on the small of her back, the sparks were electric, I looked her with a smirk . She was human; she didn't believe in our myths, so she couldn't understand the bond, but her body knew.
The night I dropped her off, I couldn't restrain myself. I kissed her, expecting her to recoil, but she melted into me. The urge to mark her to sink my teeth into her neck and claim her forever became a roar in my head. I had to snap myself back to reality.
“Sorry,” I had grunted, leaving her standing there confused as I retreated. The pain that followed was excruciating. My bones snapped and reset, grinding against one another as I screamed in the dark. That was the price of refusing to mark a mate when the moon was high. But she was human; I couldn't let her see the monster yet.
Back at the pack house, tucked deep within a forest enchanted to hide from human eyes, the tension was thick.
“Alexei, welcome!” Ava, my childhood friend, ran up to me. She had always assumed she would be my Luna.
“Hi, Ava. You know I’m going to be Alpha soon; you should start using my title,” I said coldly.
She flinched but kept smiling. “Have you found your mate?”
“Yes,” I said shortly.
The smile vanished, replaced by a mask of shock and fury. She turned and fled.
“Alpha, you didn't have to be so blunt,” Viktor sighed.
“She needs to know she will never be mine,” I replied, walking into the council room where my parents and the elders were waiting. I took my seat at the head of the table.
“We will hold the crowning ceremony on the next full moon,” my father announced.
The room erupted. “But he doesn't have a mate!” Ava’s father, the current Beta, shouted.
“I have found my mate,” I said, my voice dropping an octave, vibrating with Alpha authority. “And she is human.”
The murmuring turned into a roar of protest.
“Silence!” my father barked.
“We cannot have a human Luna! It is unheard of!” Ava’s father argued. “We will be cursed!”
“Why can’t Ava be Luna?” another suggested. “They are already close.”
“Enough!” my father declared. “There has been a human Luna in our bloodline before, in my grandfather’s time. My son will only lead with his true mate. However...” He paused, looking at me with a challenge in his eyes. “If she does not agree to the bond by the full moon, he must marry Ava.”
Anger surged through me, my claws threatening to shift. The full moon was only a month away. How was I supposed to convince a girl who didn't believe in monsters to become the Queen of them. What if she rejects me forever?.
I thought about way I could make her mine without hurting her, though humans don't feel the pain of rejection but we do and I don't know what I would do if that happens.