Aya's P.O.V
“I’m coming!” I called out as I stepped out of the bathroom and reached for the door. But as soon as I opened it, I regretted not checking who it was beforehand.
“Can I come in?” Zyane asked from outside the door with his hands tucked inside his pockets in a nervous gesture.
I sighed. It was finally time to suck it up and face the music.
I moved out of the way to let him into my room and closed the door behind him to give us some privacy. Zyane walked in nervously and took a look around the room before he settled for the seat on the windowsill. For once, he wasn't wearing the turban kinda think that the Arabs like to wear and I could see that his hair was a dark brown in colour and he wore it a bit longer than Rhys did. He also didn’t look as old when he was wearing the turban-thing and the moustache didn’t bother me as much. Overall he looked younger and different, but the fact remained that there was still nothing between him and me.
“Do you...feel...anything at all?” He asked hesitantly, but he cut right to the chase. No greetings were spoken and no pleasantries were needed.
“No.” I told him frankly. “Is that normal?” I asked a little hesitantly. It wasn't easy learning that I was different but to find out that I was a freak on top of everything else...that wasn't something I was looking forward to.
“In a way, yes.” Zyane said with a sad smile. “It’s just that, the roles are reversed in our case.”
“What do you mean? How so?” I asked frowning.
“You really don’t know much about the mating bond or about mates, do you?” He asked, but there was no mockery in his voice. Just genuine curiosity.
“No, I don’t.” My mother thinks that I’m too young and I believe the same as well. I’m not even legally an adult yet so thinking about mating and settling down with someone or even having pups was out of the question for me. I wanted to live my life freely, to explore the world and become my own person. There’s so much out there that I haven’t seen, so much that I haven’t discovered about myself and about the world. I don’t want anyone tying me down before I have had my opportunity to do everything that I wanted to do.
“Would you like to know why you can’t feel the bond between us?” Zyane asked then, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Yes,” I said instantly, eager to learn more about it. “I would like that.”
“Well,” Zyane scratched the back of his head awkwardly before explaining. “You see, there is usually some difference in power or ranking between a mated pair. The male is usually of a higher rank than the female, which is usually why the females are the first to feel the mating bonds and the attraction is almost instant. But sometimes, if the male is a lot higher in rank, like if the female is a normal submissive and the male is an Alpha or a beta, then it is possible that the male won’t feel the mating bond at all. It’s simply because of the rank difference...at least that’s one of the reasons the mating bond doesn’t come into play. But I think, in our case, it’s the exact opposite.”
I frowned at Zyane’s statement. “But how?” I asked him. “What are the odds of me being stronger than you? I’m just a normal juvenile wolf with no ranking in the pack hierarchy yet. The only duties I’ve ever received are for patrolling the borders.”
“That might be true,” Zyane told me. “But you are strong. You just haven’t grown into your powers yet. I’m pretty sure that one day, you’ll become a strong Alpha and lead your pack with grace, just like your mother does now.”
“Thanks...I guess,” this time, it was my turn to be awkward. An uncomfortable silence descended upon us as Zyane and I stood staring at the floor, unsure of what to do next. That was until he suddenly spoke up.
“Reject me.”
“What?” I stared at Zyane dumbfounded as he made the request. Reject him? What did he mean?
“Reject me.” He repeated. “End this bond between us before it starts suffocating me and I do something stupid once again.”
I didn’t need a reminder of how the first time of him being ‘stupid’ had gone down. It had left me traumatized and Zyane had ended up spending two whole days in the dungeons without food or water or any kind of contact with any other wolves. I could only imagine how that would’ve felt. Wolves are social creatures, to be without contact with anyone from our pack drives us crazy after a while.
“Are you sure that is what you want?” I asked him, even though I knew he must be going through hell right now.
“Do you see yourself mated to me in the near future?” His sudden question threw me offguard.
Did I see myself mated to him in the near future? Do I see myself mated to Zyane at all? The answer was simple and yet, it was the most difficult answer I ever had to give.
“No, I don’t.” I told him sincerely. “I just can’t see myself mated to you in the future or ever. We just don’t work.”
Zyane nodded his head like he understood what I was trying to tell him even though I didn’t quite understand everything myself. I had turned into my wolf counterpart before my eighteenth birthday, maybe that’s why the bond never came into place? But at the same time, I felt myself cringe at the thought of mating this early in my life.
“Then you have your answer.” He said at last.
Zyane’s P.O.V:
As a teenager, I had once heard my friend joke about how we could just reject a potential mate if she wasn’t up to our standard. I mean, Mother Nature had given us so many options to choose from so why not settle for the best out there, right?
Even then, Rhys would scoff at us and tell us to be thankful for the fact that we had been given a choice at all. But then he’d go and take part in every kind of debauchery possible. I hadn’t been one to complain about Rhys’s lifestyle because me and my friends would do the same things and then some. But as we’d all left our teenage years behind, our views on having a mate had changed drastically.
Today as I stood in front of my potential mate, waiting for her to reject me. I knew this was punishment for all the hearts that I’d broken, all the sins that I’ve ever committed.
“Alright then, here goes.” Aya told me in a strong, confident voice and I braced myself for the words that would tear my heart out of my chest and shatter it into a million pieces. “I, Alaya Carnell Raichand, reject you, Zyane Hudson, as my potential mate, from now on and forever.”
The words felt like a physical blow as the mating bond snapped in half and degenerated. My wolf whimpered inside my mind and I bucked under the force of the roaring pain inside my head. But it was finally over. My one sided mating bond with Aya was finally gone.
“Zyane?” Aya’s concerned voice was right next to me. “Are you alright? Did I do something wrong?”
“No.” I told her through gritted teeth as the pain reduced to a dull throb. “You did everything right.” And my wolf will forever blame me for breaking the bond between us.
But that was alright, it was better than knowing that the person I considered my mate felt nothing for me in return. This was for the best. “Thank you, Alaya Raichand. It was nice meeting you.” I told her truthfully and opened my arms for a hug.
It was an awkward embrace but I was glad she didn’t reject it. And as she came into my arms, I memorized the shape of her as I held her, took in the milk and saffron scent of her soap before letting her go. The way she was now, it’ll forever be branded into my soul.
And as I left her room, left her forever, I knew that a part of me would always belong to her. And when we meet again, in a month’s time, I was sure that I wouldn’t feel this ache in my heart where she was supposed to be.
----End----