Chapter 2 Chapter 2

MERCEDES.

My head was spinning, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.

For as long as I could remember, I had dreamed about the moment my wolf would recognize our fated mate.

Every girl in our pack spent her late teens wondering who the Moon Goddess had chosen for her… imagining some handsome, ambitious young wolf who would sweep her off her feet.

I never in a million fucking years imagined it would be Malakai Hadid.

On the shore, Malakai looked like he was fighting a war against his own muscle and bone.

His chest heaved beneath his white dress shirt, his hands trembling slightly as he clenched them into white-knuckled fists.

The burning amber in his eyes slowly receded, replaced by his usual dark, agonizingly intense irises, though the heavy Alpha scent of mahogany and Brine still rolled off him in suffocating waves.

He took a slow, deliberate step backward, severing the immediate physical proximity, though the invisible, electric wire connecting our chests remained painfully taut.

"No," Malakai said, his voice a low, gravelly rasp that sounded like grinding stones.

I blinked, the cool water lapping against my collarbones. "What do you mean, no?"

"No," he repeated, firmer this time, his jaw locking down into a rigid, unyielding line. "This isn't happening. The bond is mistaken."

A sudden spike of heat flared in my throat, not from the bond, but from sheer, unadulterated insult. "The bond doesn't make mistakes, Malakai. You know that as well as I do."

"You are twenty-one years old, Mercedes!" he growled, dragging a heavy, rough hand down his face, his fingers catching in his silver-speckled beard. "You're Stefan's daughter. I watched you grow up. I helped your father fix your bicycle when you were ten years old!"

"And I'm a fully grown woman now!" I shot back, splashing water as I gripped the dock. "Don't bring up my childhood like that's supposed to make me shrink into a corner! I didn't choose this bond any more than you did!"

"Then we agree to ignore it," Malakai said coldly, turning his broad back on me and taking a step toward the dark tree line. "Get out of the water, put your dress on, and go back to the main house. We are never speaking of this again."

"Are you fucking serious right now?!"

I launched myself out of the shallow water, grabbing my silk dress off the rock and shoving it hastily over my head.

Damp silk clung to my wet skin, but I didn't give a shit.

I sprinted across the dew-slicked grass, catching up to his towering frame just before he reached the shadowy trail.

"Malakai, stop!" I barked, reaching out and slamming my hand against his bare forearm.

The second my palm made contact with his warm skin, a violent bolt of static electricity ripped through both of us.

A sharp, breathless gasp tore from my throat as the mating spark exploded across my nerve endings, sending liquid fire straight down between my thighs.

Malakai spun around with lethal, predatory speed, pinning my wrist in a crushing grip, his broad chest rising and falling heavily as he looked down at me.

The air between us evaporated.

Up close, I could smell the faint scent of silver-oak whiskey on his breath mixed with the raw, terrifying potency of his Alpha wolf.

His dark eyes flicked down to where my damp silk dress clung to the curve of my breasts, his pupils dilating until his eyes were almost completely black.

"Let go of me, Mercedes," he warned, his voice dropped an octave, dripping with a dark, dangerous threat that made my pulse leap. "I am struggling enough as it is. Do not push me."

"Then stop acting like a coward!" I hissed, taking a brazen step closer into his space, my chest practically brushing his unbuttoned shirt. "You felt that. You're feeling it right now! Your wolf wants to tear my dress off and pin me to the nearest tree, but you're standing here pretending like we're strangers!"

"Because I have fucking control!" Malakai snapped, his grip on my wrist tightening just enough to command absolute authority without hurting me. "You think this is a game? You think a fated bond is just some romantic fantasy you get to play out?"

"I don't think it's a game!" I yelled back, glaring right into his intense gaze. "I know who you are to my dad! I know how complicated this is! But you don't get to dismiss me like I'm some naive little girl who doesn't understand her own mind!"

"You are naive," he rasped, his thumb brushing over the delicate skin of my inner wrist, a unconscious, instinctual caress that contradicted every harsh word coming out of his mouth.

"You have no idea what accepting this bond would mean. It would destroy my friendship with Stefan. It would tear apart the trust between our packs. Do you really think your father is going to sit back and smile when he finds out his best friend is taking his twenty-one-year-old daughter to his bed?"

The bluntness of his words hit me like a slap, but I refused to flinch.

“If you’re so terrified of what this means, and you clearly want nothing to do with me,” I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper, “then why don’t you just fucking claim me and get it over with? Or are you going to keep pretending you don’t want me?”

Malakai froze.

For three terrifying seconds, the forest was dead silent.

His dark eyes flared with an amber sheen so bright it looked like living fire.

The hand holding my wrist yanked me half an inch closer, his powerful body rigid with a terrifying, suppressed hunger that made my knees go weak.

"Do not tempt me, brat," he whispered, his deep voice vibrating right through my sternum.

"You have no concept of what claiming you would look like. If I claim you, I don't just take your body. I take your life. I take your freedom. I become your Alpha in every sense of the word. You wouldn't survive twenty-four hours under my weight."

My breath hitched, a shiver running down my spine that had nothing to do with the night cold.

The intense, undeniable bond between us was suffocating, pulling us together like two collapsing stars.

"Try me," I breathed, tilting my chin up, practically daring him to close the inch of space between our lips.

Malakai stared down at my mouth, his heavy jaw clenching so hard a muscle twitched repeatedly near his ear.

I saw the exact moment his iron discipline fought back against his wolf's primal urge. He let out a long, ragged exhale, dropping my wrist like he'd been burned.

He took two deliberate steps back, putting space between us, his face hardening into an unreadable, impenetrable mask.

"I won't do it," he said softly, all the heat vanishing from his tone, replaced by an agonizing, bitter coldness. "I will not betray Stefan, and I will not drag you into a life you aren't ready for."

"So what?" I spat, crossing my arms over my damp chest to hide the slight tremor in my hands. "You're just going to reject me?"

"Rejection between pureblood Alphas is dangerous, Mercedes," Malakai said, his dark eyes locking onto mine with grim solemnity. "The pain could break your mind, and it could destroy your wolf. I am not going to inflict that kind of agonizing agony on my best friend's daughter."

"How generous of you," I sarcastically sneered, tears of sheer frustration burning at the backs of my eyes. "So you're just going to decide my entire fucking fate for me? Without giving me a single say in it?"

"I am doing what an Alpha is supposed to do," he said quietly, stepping fully into the shadow of the trees. "I will find a way to sever the bond cleanly. A quiet, magic-less detachment that won't kill you or endanger your wolf. Until then... you stay away from me."

"Malakai—"

"Go back to the house, Mercedes," he commanded, his Alpha tone vibrating through the air with absolute finality. "Now."

Before I could fire off another insult, he turned and vanished into the thick foliage, moving with the silent, terrifying speed of an Alpha wolf.

"Fuck!" I screamed into the empty night air, kicking a loose rock into the dirt.

My chest felt heavy, suffocatingly tight.

Zuri was whimpering inside my head, curled up into a miserable ball, mourning the cold distance of her mate.

I stomped over to the flat rock, shoving my heels onto my feet with shaking hands, wiping away a single, furious tear that snuck down my cheek.

He was arrogant.

He was bossy.

He was completely out of his mind if he thought he could just order me around and decide what was best for me like I was a child.

I dragged myself up the sloping dirt trail, my mind a chaotic storm of anger, confusion, and the lingering, intoxicating sensation of his hand on my wrist.

By the time I reached the grand stone patio of the main house, the party was still in full swing, though the crowd had thinned out slightly as the midnight hour passed.

I scanned the terrace, looking for my dad so I could pretend I had just been exploring the gardens.

I spotted him standing near the entrance of the driveway, surrounded by two of our pack guards who looked breathless and visibly panicked.

My dad's face was pale, his posture tense and rigid as he shoved a folded piece of paper into his inner suit pocket.

"Dad?" I called out, wiping the remnants of the lake water off my arms as I hurried over to him. "What's going on? What happened?"

Dad turned toward me, his eyes wide with stress. "Mercedes... thank goodness. Where were you?"

"Just... walking around," I stammered, my heart dropping into my stomach at the grave look on his face. "What's wrong?"

"It's the northern border," Dad said quickly, his voice tight with anxiety as he grabbed my shoulders. "A rogue pack just breached our secondary line. They've burnt down two sentry posts, and the guards say the Alpha is demanding a territory challenge. I have to leave. Right now."

Panic flared in my chest. "Wait, what? Leave? But what about our week here? Never mind, I'm coming with you!"

"No, you're not," Dad insisted firmly, shaking his head. "It's too dangerous at home right now. If a border war breaks out, the packhouse is going to be a battleground. I need to know you're safe."

He turned toward the grand archway of the estate, where Malakai was already walking out, dressed back in his sharp suit jacket, his face an emotionless wall of stone.

"Malakai!" Dad called out, striding over to his best friend and gripping his shoulder with desperation. "I need a massive favor, brother. My borders are under attack. I have to return immediately."

Malakai's eyes flicked to me for a fraction of a second, a dark, unreadable flash, before returning to my father. "Do you need warrior support, Stefan?"

"No, my Beta has the vanguard ready, but I can't take Mercedes into a war zone," Dad said breathlessly.

He looked back at me, then at Malakai, his face filled with absolute, unwavering trust.

"Keep her here with you for the week, Malakai. Look after my girl until I get this sorted out. Please. She's the only thing in this world I can't afford to lose."

I froze, the air knocked straight out of my lungs.

I stared at Malakai in horror as the cruel, twisted irony of the universe crashed down on me.