Mate

Although I am frozen by Roman's words, I try to keep my expression neutral. My mind constantly shifted between what he was doing and why. It's clear from his smiles at me and my family that he has not come here to complain about me. In fact, he is the one who touched me at his office and not the other way around.

“Is everything okay, Bryan?” Dad asks, sipping the wine that Roman brought.

“Yes, Beta Wolfram” Roman coolly replies while throwing a smirk in my way.

His smirk sent a tingly sensation through me, and the air became chilly. This man can make me feel smothering hot and chilling cold at the same time. The knee-length split dress I am currently wearing is doing great good, making me freeze.

“She is doing better than I assumed” a pregnant pause “her results came back and I can say she will do well in for the meeting” Roman looks at my parents while he explains his ‘news’ regarding me.

“That's amazing” mom looks at me with a smile.

"We consulted many doctors, but her condition did not improve. I really appreciate what you did for my daughter” dad says. His voice had this tenderness which he used to use when I was little.

I have been consulting several pack doctors for two years now. Being mateless did a number on me. I used to get panic attacks, depression and loneliness. Everything I tried led to a new set of problems, but nothing fixed me.

But all that pain, loneliness washed away when I met Roman today. His eyes spoke volumes to me that I couldn't describe. His voice soothed my wounds. His hands made me feel safe.

Once again, I felt in a trance, the same trance I was in when I saw Roman in front of my house. I feel but in slow motion. I can't hear anything. As I watch his gaze alight on me, he gently takes my hand. When sparks are shot through my skin, I quickly retreat my hand away, and I fall backwards.

"Taylor, open your eyes...sweety" I hear noises, but I can't move. I panicked and was unable to breathe. It is as if all my senses have lost sense and I can hear my heartbeat in my ears. The last thing I remember was Roman giving me mouth to mouth just before I passed out. Cold.

………

I wake up feeling like crap. It's like I'm punched 100 times and all my hair is pulled out one by one. Thank goodness, I am able to open my eyes and I am greeted by darkness. I immediately place my hand over my head due to the extreme pain.

Where am I? I thought to myself.

While I try to stand up, I remain in the same position as if a mysterious force is holding me down.

‘I am telling you. This is a mistake’

The voice is soft and feminine.

‘What do you want me to do then’

My heart is shaken by a gruff masculine voice that I recognize immediately. Roman.

‘She is not ready for it. You have to choose.’

The same female voice says.

What should he choose? Am I in a hospital? The smell sure isn't like a hospital.

There is an absolute silence in the room as the voices cease. I feel someone enter the room. A creak comes from the door and my eyes close because of the light.

"Taylor," I hear him say. The sound of my name coming from his mouth makes me calm. "Taylor, can you hear me?" Once he starts talking again, the pain from my headache begins to subside.

He looks at me when I open my eyes. The only thing I see is the rings of gold in his eyes. Mateless wolves gradually lose their ability to see, hear, and shift. The last time I shifted into my wolf form was one year ago. Lilly is relatively silent these days and sometimes speaks in my mind, but mostly she remains unconscious.

“Where am I?", I ask, sitting up.

“In your room”.

There is another pause, and then the lights go on.

Suddenly, the light was so bright that I closed my eyes. Then I opened my eyes again.

“My apologies. While I thought we were making progress, I was wrong. What you experienced today is due to…” He trails off looking elsewhere.

“Is it that bad?”, I chuckle annoyed. I have no idea why I was annoyed.

“No. It's just that we pushed your body too hard. It's my fault. I apologize.’’ He explains.

What an odd day it has been. Earlier this afternoon, I was apologizing to him, and he is now apologizing to me.

“How long was I out?”.

What went wrong is not even worth contemplating. Almost two years of medications did not help me or my wolf. It's not surprising it didn't work out this time either.

"Eleven hours." He tells me, handing me a glass of water with two tablets. He motions for me to take them. "It's for your headache", he says.

Shaking my head, I only take the water. “I don't have a headache”. I say, getting up. I am wearing the same loose knee-length dress I wore yesterday.

"Are you here all night?" Roman's eyes wander down my body. His gaze diverted toward me when he saw that I was looking into his eyes, he replied, "yes"

My jaw dropped when I heard his response. Why didn't he leave? What about his mate?

I couldn't control my annoyance any longer. “What about your mate?” I snap

Once again, his eyes grow darker, but this time not from lust but from anger.

“I don't have a mate”, his voice rings in my ear. I try to grasp the situation but I fail miserably. "But you are a doctor..." His voice cuts me off.

‘'She's gone. She died during a great war".

His voice cracks and I can see the hurt in his eyes. I feel terrible at the moment.

“I am sorry, Roman”. He adverts my gaze again and he doesn't speak.

I speak after a pause. “Roman”.

I feel so stupid. I feel guilty.

“I know what it's like. To be mateless. Trust me. It's taken me a lot of years and healing to be where I am today. One day you are gonna be happy too...without a mate”, he whispers at the end.

As I open my mouth to speak, his voice cuts me again. “I have changed your entire schedule and I will be monitoring you myself,” He tells clearly changing the subject.

This explains why he lives almost on the edge of the pack. His mate's death caused him to distance himself from others and manage the situation on his own. Like a rouge. He has been dealing with it on his own all these years. Alone and by himself.

Suddenly, a feeling of mutuality springs up and I find myself touching his hand. I feel his gentle touch on my cheek. We gaze into each other's eyes. He looks at me with adoration in his eyes.

"You are so beautiful"

The familiar sparks fly on my cheeks as my heart flips at his words.

“Why do I feel sparks Roman”. I whisper, afraid this moment we are sharing will end soon and that's what happens.

He recoiled again like he did in the office.

His eyes are filled with guilt and hurt. They are enough for me to know that he not only misses her but he still has feelings for his deceased mate.

“Meet me at my office after your work”. He says leaving my room.

This is it. My anger got the best of me. He is here, but he pushes me away. He is hiding something and he doesn’t wanna tell it, because he still has feelings for her. I try to control my anger as my wolf takes partial control of me.

As she whimpers, I say, "Roman.". He pauses in his tracks.

“What are you not telling me?” I say slowly walking to him.

“I….” he starts never finishing the sentence.

“Okay, explain this. Why do I feel better when you are near and worse when you are not around” at this point, I am one foot away from him.

“Or this” I close the gap between us and take his hand keeping it on my cheek. “ why do I feel the freaking sparks?” I yell.

He looks at my eyes and realizes that my wolf is also present. I raise an eyebrow and tighten my lips. He says nothing but his look tells me he is losing his control too.

The gold rings in his eyes become more apparent as he grabs me and pins me to my room wall. His whole demeanour changes. It’s like we are back at his office. Then he speaks. His voice causing an earthquake both in my body and mind.

“It’s all because you are my second chance mate”