Chapter 2

YARA

I woke to the sound of objects clattering to the ground and started upright, blinking furiously, as sheets fell away from me. What– Aches in my body made themselves known and I felt like I had been attacked with a shovel as I glanced around the room I was in. It took me a moment to realize I didn’t recognize it. What the hell?

I moved to get out of the bed but a sharp pain shot through my left leg, making me wince, and I looked down to see that my arms were covered in scrapes and cuts before ripping off the sheets I had been covered with to see my lower legs were wrapped in bandages. Then everything that had happened before I passed out came crashing into my mind and my eyes widened. Oh, no.

Aiden Hendrix’s face popped up in my mind followed by the word mate and I shuddered.

Fuck no.

I slipped out of the bed and my toes curled as they touched the cold floor before I glanced around again. I had basically passed out in Hendrix’s arms so I assumed he was the one that brought me here and that only meant one thing – I needed to get out of here.

My bag and phone were at the foot of the bed and despite the pain in my left leg, I walked over to them and grabbed them. The phone’s screen was cracked and I gritted my teeth when pressing the power button didn’t make it come on.

Aunt Allison would be out of her mind with worry right now and I couldn’t help but feel awful.

I tossed the phone into my bag and began to make my way towards the door, hoping I wouldn’t run into Hendrix on my way out of wherever he brought me to, but fate had other plans because the moment I opened the door, I came face-to-face with him. I stumbled backwards.

Crap.

Hendrix’s eyebrows rose a bit in surprise and for a moment – for a very long moment – both of us stood still and stared at each other while I felt that damned pull again.

I closed the door. Crap. The word mate reverberated through my mind again and I frowned.

I did not want to deal with this now. I did not want to deal with this at all.

My heart hammered against my chest as I pressed my back against the door, like that would stop him from coming in if he really wanted to, before a hesitant knock came on the door.

“Uh, hello,” came Hendrix’s voice from the other side and I swallowed again. I couldn’t just ignore him and hope that he would go away. If I wanted to leave, I had to go out there first.

“Aiden?” another man’s voice called out.

Great! There are two of them out there. I gritted my teeth while the two men talked on the other side of the door – Hendrix telling the other man that I was awake when asked what was wrong. I then sucked in a breath, reminding myself that I was a witch. They wouldn’t be able to keep me here against my wish… well, except if they had magic-binding chains and I highly doubted that they had that.

I opened the door.

They immediately paused, turning to face me, and I plastered a smile on my face as my gaze bounced between both men. The man I didn’t recognize was as tall as Hendrix, had dark skin, and his hair was tall on top with fades on the sides.

“Hi,” I started and they gave me a slightly confused look. “Thank you for saving my life. I’ll take my leave now.” I brushed past them, not waiting to see their reactions, and when I was a couple of steps away from them, Hendrix spoke up.

“Wait.”

I didn’t want to but I was forced to when the other man rushed into my path with unnatural speed, cutting me off. I could have just walked around him but we were in a narrow hallway and he looked determined to stop me.

I frowned and turned to face Hendrix who was walking towards me. “What? I’m not going to tell anyone you’re a werewolf,” I said before glancing at the other man. “Werewolves,” I corrected and the corner of his mouth tugged up. I then returned my attention to Hendrix just as he stopped in front of me and I found myself focusing on how good-looking he was for a moment.

Get it together, Yara.

He glanced past me at the other man, giving him a nod, and I immediately looked over my shoulder to see if that was a sign for ‘grab her’ or something but only saw the other man walking away from us.

Oh… Wait, I don’t want to be left here with him. Or do I? I do have to do that thing if I want him to not bother me with this mate thing– What did dad call it again? An objection? A rejection? …Either way, he’ll understand what I mean when I say it.

“I’m Aiden,” he started when I faced him once more and I set my mouth in a hard line, wondering if I should tell him my name.

If I don’t tell him, he’ll eventually find out. I work in his hotel.

“Yara.”

“Yara…” My name rolled off his tongue like he was trying to see how it tasted and heat rushed to my face while the corner of his mouth tugged up. The tiny smile made my stomach do a little flip and he was so close that I could easily reach out and touch him… I wanted to touch him.

Don’t.

“What pack are you from?”