Chapter 5

XAVE I walk to the exit leading to the main hall as fast as I can and stop behind one of the sculptures upstairs. From here, I can see Maddison is giving her a tour of the ground floor. Leading her from one boring room to another. They talk nicely and giggle from time to time. My mate's lovely voice fills my ears at the same time as her sweet scent reaches my nostrils. She is perfection. I’ve never been pulled to someone like this before. Something is off. She is supposed to be feeling all the same things already. I gave her time, I am very close. And yet, she acts as if she feels nothing. Is it even physically possible? Because I am feeling a fire burning inside. I need to urgently hold her in my arms. But for some reason, she is not there yet. I remember when Carter met Elle for the first time. We were meeting a hostile pack, yet the two of them ran to each other as soon as they laid their eyes on one another… That's it! She hasn’t seen me yet! That must be the reason! I want to take a step forward and introduce myself, but someone suddenly pulls me backward by my hand. “What are you doing, man?” Greg looks at me, dumbfounded. “What does it look like?” I snap my arm out of his grasp. “It looks like you are stalking your future Luna”, he smirks. “And you are right,” I said to him without correcting him. Even though I know that he means Maddie, but I am actually interested in the new girl. But this is not the time for explanations, I need to…. Damn it, while he distracted me, they left the wing and went somewhere else. “I’m glad that you are taking this seriously. Our pack needs a Luna and…” my Beta starts talking again and, for the first time ever, I want to slap him. “Yeah, yeah, you’ll get your Luna pretty soon. That’s a promise. Now leave me alone! I already missed her because of you!” “Big deal,” he smirks, “You’ll see her at dinner in an hour or two anyway.” “True,” I nod. For once, that brat is actually helpful. She’ll definitely be there. The clock can’t go any slower. I am in my room and dying. I've already taken a shower and changed to a fresh uniform, and now I am pacing around the room. Not that I don’t have anything to do. Piles of undone homework and papers from the pack are on my table, but right now, I am in no state to handle any of that. I need to bond with her. Quickly. Tonight. If anything, I need to claim her tonight. All my senses are heightened since I am an Alpha. There is no escape from this until she is mine in every sense of the word. I am deliberately late for dinner. I want her to come in first. I want her to sense the change when I enter the room, and I don’t want anyone else to distract me before I get to her. Walking into the dining hall, I am suddenly hit with her sweet scent. Lavender and honey –a heavenly mixture, so intoxicating. I know exactly where she is the moment I walk in – she is at my usual table, just near my usual place. Did she go there because she felt something? She is laughing and talking. And I can say for sure she hasn’t felt my presence. Doesn’t matter. As soon as she sees me, as soon as we touch… “I’m Stella,” she says innocently to someone. Stella… what a beautiful name! “A beautiful name for a beautiful girl!” I hear Greg, of all people, say to her. He is flirting! He is flirting with my f*****g mate! A growl escapes me and the room suddenly becomes quiet. I don’t care. I just need to finally look into her eyes. I walk to her rashly, and at this very moment, she turns and bumps into my chest with her tray. Her sandwich, cake, and a bottle of water start their flight. I catch all of them back on the tray and she falls right into my free arm; her silky curls brush briefly over my face as I catch her. I hold her by her waist, with my hand wrapped tightly around it, while our eyes finally meet. Green like emerald with bits of blue. Amazing. But not a shred of recognition in them… I wait for another second or two, which felt more like an hour, and then she abruptly jumps away from me, apologizing. I am speechless… She tries to get her tray from me, but I do not even realize that I am still holding it. “Bro, give the girl her food. She has had a long day and must be starving”, I hear my brother, Carter, say. I carefully pass the tray to her and sit at my usual seat. Luckily, she is just nearby. “Xavier”, I introduce myself to her, and initiated skin to skin contact by offering her my hand. That should do it. “Stella,” she smiles, and for a moment there I feel relieved. But only for a moment. She touches my hand and sparks go in waves through my whole body. I am dazed. But in that daze something is wrong. I can’t quite understand it at first, but the sparks start dying down and I realize that she is trying to pull her hand away from me. Why would she do that? I want more, doesn’t she? A sharp pain in my heart brings me back to reality. Is this a rejection? I feel like I am suffocating. Then, I notice that someone’s hands are all over me. Red nails. Disgusting. I brush the hands off me and, do not even bother to look at who they belong to. Rejection is physically painful, but somehow I look at Stella and her expression doesn’t show hatred or disgust… It’s quite blank… Like nothing happened. Is it possible that she just doesn’t feel the connection? “We need to have a word,” my wolf says and I cannot agree more. I rush away from the dining room, throwing a quick “See you later, Stella,” to her. Then swiftly go to the only place that I can tolerate at the moment. The roof. “What the f**k just happened?” I ask Draco. “Doesn’t she feel the mate bond?” “She doesn’t,” he says sadly, “I tried to reach her wolf or at least her mind. She doesn’t have a wolf, and her mind is unreachable. It’s like I am blocked.” “How is this possible?” My heart aches at the news. I’ve never experienced anything like this. “Is this some kind of joke? To further punish us, the Moon Goddess has sent me a mate who I’d be crazy for, while she doesn’t give a f**k about me?” “Easy, Xave, it’s not the end yet,” Draco tells me. “Care to elaborate on that?” “Of course,” he says calmly. For him, I am still a child, while he considers himself old and wise, “If there is a pull, then she is our mate. That’s a given. But she is human. Human mates haven’t been heard of for hundreds of years now. It’s almost a legend.. Once werewolves mated with humans, we just don’t know how it was different from being mated to a wolf.” “Well, now we know. While the wolf is in agony, a human can live freely and enjoy themselves!” I exclaim. Damn, I need a drink now. “Humans are complicated. They don’t have the instincts we have, they do not possess magic or any kind of power. She didn’t fall for you at first sight, but it doesn’t mean that it could never happen. Court her. Give her time to feel it” “Hmm, that actually makes some sense,” I finally come to an agreement with my wolf. Who am I lying to? It’s impossible to try and resist getting her to love me. I’ve never been this attracted to anyone, I‘ve never cared for someone like this. I had girls, but I never wanted anyone the way I wanted her. Her scent wraps around me like a cloud, indicating that she must be close. I look around and there she is, climbing awkwardly to the roof, just a few feet away from me. Not noticing me as usual. Damn it! “I hope they do not have ghosts here,” she sighs as she finds herself a seat which is dangerously close to the edge. “Not really,” I say and she screams. She starts falling down, I immediately catch her by her waist and pull her intomy lap. The sparks are hitting me harder this time as her firm butt is dangerously close to my groin. I still believe this is torture made by the Moon Goddess, especially for me. It can't be anything else. *** She sits on her windowsill, which is just four or five feet away from my usual spot. “Destiny brings her to you whether she realizes this or not,” Draco whispers, and I smile for the first time since today’s fiasco. I lean close to her, wishing for a kiss at least. It would be wonderful to taste her. But her expression changes to that of fear and I back off. “Don’t worry, little bird, I am not going to eat you,” I say and smirk. “Not tonight anyway”. She closes her eyes and her cheeks blush, radiating heat. She is a delight. But I need to go now and not push it too far for one night. Back in my room, I still have my school blazer in my hands. I bring it closer to my face and breathe in the wonderful scent she left on it. Lavender and honey… I can’t resist, I have to fight for her. The bond is there somewhere. I just need to unleash it.