"Good morning, honey. Where are you going this early?" Amelia asked her daughter.
Rosalie stopped and hid the keys automatically behind her back as she flashed a wide smile.
"Outside to do my duty," she blurted.
Amelia stared at her as if she were accessing her. Rosalie sucked in a breath. Was she still carrying Alex's scent? Her mum arched her eyebrows and smiled.
"Are you going to meet Alex? To say goodbye?"
"What?" Rosalie looked dumbfounded. Great! Her mum was living in a fairy tale. She let it be, and she nodded her head a little too enthusiastically.
"Aww, that's so romantic!" Amelia cooed. " I miss being young. Now come on, run off! He will leave any minute now!"
Rosalie didn't bother to wait and bolted out of the door. She made a quick run to the garage. She jumped into a minivan and drove past the unsuspecting Greystone pack members as they continued to heave suitcases. She breathed out in relief while she sped along the empty highway. Her heart lurched as she hurried away from the pack, moving farther from Alex Greyson. Her wolf sighed. She did not know what to do. The council was going to be furious; her parents would be ashamed of her and Chris. Well, it was none of his business who she mated with. But he was still her Alpha. She needed his permission to mate with anyone.
She tried to push away the guilt and worry, focusing on the road ahead. As she drove, she made a mental list of all the possible consequences of her actions, each one ending in a painful death !
'Rose, my love, please come back,' Alex's husky voice rang in her head.
Rosalie gasped, almost losing control of the steering wheel, and avoided bumping into a tree. She shook her head. 'I am hearing things now; I must be going crazy!' She thought about it and continued driving to the nearest town.
'Rosalie, you can't run from me,' he chuckled in her mind.
She frowned with confusion. It took her seconds to realise that Alex was speaking to her through the mate bond! They were connected through their mind and soul until eternity.
'Oh no! There I was, trying hard to avoid him when I forgot he could speak in my mind. We are practically soulmates now,' she cursed herself for this oversight.
"Leave me alone, Alex," she snarled under her breath, making use of their bond. "Just go away!" Her voice rose to a crescendo.
'I am going to talk to the council. I will tell them everything. I would even beg for your father's blessing. Please come back to me, love,' he pleaded.
She chuckled, 'Ask for my dad's blessing after you have already slept with his daughter! Right! Dad would be so thrilled he would shred us alive!'
'I will fix everything, I promise. I am ready to face your dad's wrath. Just come back, Rosalie.' He persisted.
"Go away, Alex; it will not work out." She insisted.
'You're hungry,' he noted, ignoring her outburst. ' No wonder you are being so difficult. Come back, my love; I will feed you more than just food.' He chuckled suggestively.
That didn't work. It made her even more crabby, and she increased the speed of the car.
'You're not going to guilt-trip me, Alex. Just let me go.' She replied firmly, her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly.
'COME BACK HOME THIS INSTANT ROSALIE,' he growled, ordering her to obey him.
She snarled. The ancient magic of the mate bond forced her to comply. He was her Alpha now. Her wolf forced Rosalie to obey. Reluctantly, she slowed down and made a sharp U-turn to return to the pack. Ugh, mate bond sucks! she cursed. She was obeying him like a Stepford wife!
'I hate you, Alex Greyson,' she hissed.
'But I love you, Rosalie Murdoch. Sorry, Rosalie Greyson. You are mine now!' He chuckled victoriously. She groaned, unable to resist his command.
As Rosalie drove back into the garage, Alex was already waiting for her. She parked the car and grumbled at him. He winked and grinned at her. He was dressed in a crisp suit, looking every bit the charming and controlling alpha male that he was. How could he look so perfect ? Rosalie couldn't help but feel a mix of frustration and attraction towards him.
"What do you want from me?" She screamed at him and kicked the car door shut.
"I want you to eat this first," he said, passing her a bagel wrapped in a tissue.
Her stomach growled; she was too hungry to refuse. She glared at him and grabbed the bagel. It tasted divine. He passed her a cup of steaming coffee to wash down the morning breakfast. It wasn't enough, but it had quelled her raging hunger for a while.
"Better?" he asked.
She nodded. "Thanks," she said, still scowling.
He took away the tissue and the empty cup and threw them in a bin.
"I will leave in an hour. I think it's best if we tell your alpha first before meeting the council and your father."
She looked at him, startled. " You are going to talk to Chris? Now?"
He nodded, a little confused at her reaction. "Is there a problem, love?"
"Is this necessary?" She asked dejectedly.
"What do you mean?" He frowned.
"We had a one-night stand; it means nothing... I mean, it wasn't supposed to happen." His frown deepened. "You don't have to take responsibility for this. I mean, I don't want to force you into a relationship just because you slept with me. You know what I mean?"
"Have you lost your mind?" He exclaimed, feeling a mix of frustration and disbelief. "I care about you, and I want to make things right. I'm not going to just walk away."
"What? No! You don't have to do this. We can just forget it and go our separate ways."
"I love you," he stated suddenly. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her towards him.
"What?" Her eyes popped wide in surprise.
"I know it's sudden, but I've been feeling this way for a while now," he continued, looking into her eyes with sincerity. "I was going to ask the council to take you as my mate anyway," he confessed.
"Really ?" she responded, still reeling from the shock.
"I didn't want it to happen this way either, but I couldn't control my wolf from claiming you." He said, pushing a strand of wayward curl behind her ear.
"But it's just too sudden. I don't even love you," she said without thinking.
He chuckled.
"I know, but you will learn to love me," he said confidently. "I will take care of you." He still had the decency to be smug. "We wouldn't have mated if you didn't have any feelings for me."
"I don't have any feelings for you." She insisted, looking around wildly.
"You will develop those feelings, Rosalie Greyson." He leant in closer, his warm breath tickling her skin. "And until then, I will keep trying."
"Murdoch!" She hissed. "Not Greyson!"
He smirked at her. "But you belong to me now. Deal with it," he bent down and kissed her forehead.
"Hmm, you smell good," he whispered, sending a memory of them tangled together in passion.
"You're mean," she snapped, blushing red.
"I'm just trying to woo you, love," he smiled. "Come now," he grabbed her waist and ushered her indoors.
"Let's find Chris and get over with this."
Ignoring her protests, he dragged her towards Alpha's office. Rosalie heard the moans coming out of Alpha Chris's office and huffed. He was with Grace.
"Ummm, it looks like they are busy. Let's come back later." She said it quickly and turned to leave.
Alex immediately grabbed her arm. "We are getting this done right now, love. No excuses."
She bit her lip and stared at the line of portraits of the previous alphas. It was odd. She was going to ask her previous mate for permission to go with another Alpha. It did not take her a single day to move on from him and mate with the next available man.
'I am such a slut!' She sighed.
Alex could sense her turmoil. She was nervous. He grasped her hand gingerly, giving it a light, supportive squeeze. "Chris will understand," he told her reassuringly.
"He is already aware of my interest in you. I hinted at it to him. Just before the mating ceremony, I told him that I would like to have one of his betas as my mate."
That explained why Chris was acting so weirdly towards her. And the reason why did he warn her to stay away from Alex during the reception? Her heart sank. Chris was going to be furious. Alex would not give up! He knocked on the door and waited. The moaning stopped. Rosalie heard the rustling of silk, and heat crept into her cheeks. They had interrupted their lovemaking. A while later, she followed Alex meekly, and the first thing she saw was Grace's flushed face and her robe-clad body as she sat in her mate's lap, caressing his cheeks with her finger.
'Ugh! Do they ever stop rutting?' Rosalie thought, wrinkling her nose. The room smelled of sex. She had forgotten that her mind was still open to Alex. He chuckled.