Chapter 3

ARIELLA. Something was wrong with me. Eli's scent affected me and I didn't like it. It's like I got intoxicated by his scent which was everywhere. Then the next thing I knew, I could hear a voice inside of me. I couldn't tell if that was inside my head, or from my body, all I knew was that the voice wasn't of a human's. It started with a growl, and then when Eli started kissing me, it became a whimper. My wolf finally manifested and the first thing it did was to surrender to Eli. "N-No... No..." I managed to whisper in between Eli's kisses as I gasped for air. But my body wasn't cooperating. I wanted to push Eli away but I don't think that I could even move any part of my body. All I could do was breathe hard as he sniffed me, his nose hungrily lining my jaw. It scared me because I knew what he was doing with every little kiss he planted on my skin. He was marking me with his scent like I was his territory. Everything was in slow motion, and my body kept on shivering as Eli continued what he was doing to me. My mind was telling me to stop Eli but my wolf was stronger. I could feel it growl and whimper in celebration of what was happening, and the good sensation it caused had started to sway me. "Eli..." I managed to whisper as I finally gave in. I started touching him and it felt good. The need and want of my wolf became my need and want too. And that was to touch and mark with my scent Eli too so that's what I did. I could sense his wolf growling inside of him, and that both felt sensual and shocking as I never had sensed anyone else's wolf before. But everything felt like it was the right thing to do. It was like what was happening between us right now was the result of two years of pent-up frustration. We kissed again and again until we ran out of air. It was surreal and sexual. I never felt this way before, not even with Kayden, and now I understand why everyone is saying that having a mate is the most wonderful thing in the world. This only meant one thing though... something that I have feared would happen. Eli was my mate. It wasn't my boyfriend. Then reality hit me. There were loud knocks on the door followed by loud bangs which made Eli and I stop what we were doing. Whoever was on the other side was trying to tear the door down. "Ariella! Eli! Open the door!" It was Kayden. Eli and I exchanged looks, but instead of answering Kayden's calls, Eli kissed me again. "No... Eli... We mustn't." "Mustn't what? Do what mates are supposed to do?" he whispered into my ear which brought shivers down my spine. I was almost helpless if not only my heart was breaking too. "We don't love each other," I told him before I could push him away from me. Finally. I guess Kayden's loud, angry voice and the door banging behind me helped a lot in bringing me back to my senses. "Stop. Please." I was already pleading, and my eyes welled with tears as the ache started to kick into my system. Even my wolf became quiet as I cried looking at Eli who was now looking at me too with a confused face. And then realization finally dawned on his eyes and what I saw there broke my heart even more. Eli didn't want this to happen too. He was also the victim of our mating bond finally revealing itself to us. He reeled back to the edge of my bed while I remained standing in front of the door. Kayden was still calling me out and I was scared of the moment that the door would finally open. This was so wrong. Kayden should have been my mate, not Eli. My knees gave in from the pain and I sat on the floor, powerless. "This can't be..." I heard Eli say to himself. His face was buried in his hands and his chest was heaving from breathing deeply. Hearing him say that hurt too. It immediately sent me back to that scene from two years ago. He was about to kiss me inside his car. He just confessed and pulled over by the road just to kiss me and I was waiting for him to do it. My sixteen-year-old self had loved him but we got calls from our parents asking us where we were. They wanted us to go home immediately, saying there was an emergency. There was something wrong with my father's voice over the phone so I told Eli to get back home first thinking that we had the time of our lives to kiss. When we got to our town, loud yells could be heard from the town square. It seemed like half of the pack was still up and that something was happening so we headed there. We got out of the car with our worried faces, and when everybody saw us, they gave way and that's when we saw what was causing the commotion. In the middle of the crowd was my father and Eli's uncle. They were facing each other throwing dagger looks. "Father? What happened?" I called out and both of them looked in our direction. "Oh, finally, your daughter is here!" said Eli's uncle, Ross. "She's asking you a question, Jonathan. Why don't you tell her what happened? Tell your daughter how big of a cheat you are!" I was so confused about what was happening. "Father? What is he saying? Is this about the election?" I asked because that was the only thing I could think of. Kingsville, the city where our town is a part of, just held a mayoral election. Both Father and Ross were candidates for the position, but Father won. Father hesitated but replied still. "Ariella... I... I will no longer become the mayor. I got disqualified." "What? Why?" Father couldn't look me in the eye. He was looking at his shoes and I noticed that everyone was looking at him with disdain. I also noticed that most of the people here were Ross' supporters. "What? You can't tell your daughter what you did?" said Ross, who seemed to be very mad at my father. "Fine. I'll tell her for you. Well, the thing is, your father is a cheat, Ariella. He was found to have sent money on payola to a lot of people to vote for him. Election officers came here earlier to confirm the cheating and your father got removed from the position even before assuming it." "What? F-Father, is that true?" But Father wasn't replying. He just looked at me with sorry eyes. "Yes, it's true, Ariella." It was his Beta that replied for him whom I didn't notice earlier. Kayden's father was standing behind Father but now went forward to explain things to me. "But your Father wasn't the one who paid those voters. It was one of his big supporters. He got arrested already." "It's the same thing! He was aware that there was someone who was going to cheat for him," Ross chimed in. "And he didn't do anything to stop it. Why would he? He needed the votes!" "Is that true, Father?" I repeated, looking at my own father with teary eyes. I wanted him to speak. I wanted to hear it from him because until he says a word I don't know if I will ever believe anything that these men will say about my father. "I'm sorry, Ariella," he finally said and that was enough to break my heart into pieces. "I made a mistake. I should have stopped the vote buying—" "Did you really want to, though?" "One of us had to win, Ross. And I admit my mistake. But now, what you want me to do, I can't let it happen. Ariella, Ross here wants me to step down as the Alpha of our pack too---" "Because we no longer trust you!" "Yeah! Just step down and let Ross take over!" The voices of these angry people were starting to suffocate me. My heart dropped when I saw how Father was helpless in this situation. "You must be dreaming, Ross," said Father's Beta. "Alpha Jonathan isn't stepping down. And even if he did, you're not the one in line to replace him. I am his Beta." Ross looked even madder after hearing that. "If that's the case, then we leave this pack. I don't think I can still follow any of you anyway. After what you did? This was our chance to have representation in the city but you blew it. If you don't step down, then we leave." "Then leave. We won't stop you." Father's Beta was holding it together. He looked like he was also ready to throw hands at Ross. "We will!" said Ross who turned to Eli. "Good thing you're here, Eli. Come with us. Your parents are already packing your things. We'll leave this place for good. I don't want to get involved ever again with these cheaters." I looked at Eli, who was now avoiding my gaze. He walked towards his uncle and never looked back so I called him. He stopped when I called his name. "Eli! Please don't go! What about me?" "What about you?" he said and I was caught off guard by how cold his response to me was. "I... Back in the car..." "I no longer want to do anything with you, Ariella. Not when you're the daughter of a cheater." Just like that, Eli walked away. I was so embarrassed to go after him because he was right, I was the daughter of a cheater. I got mad at my father for messing everything up, and at Eli for rejecting me like that. After that night, our pack split into two. All of Ross' supporters left with him and made a pack of their own with him as the Alpha. For the last two years, our packs had become some sort of rivals, and Eli never talked to me again. Not until now, as my mate. And now he was in my bed, clearly in agony over the fact that we were mates. I'd said that I wouldn't care about him anymore, but his rejection hurt like hell.