Moon's POV

Mine? Did I just hear him call me mine? I gaze at him with my brows scrunched at him in confusion and although I do feel a deep sense of connection and familiarity as I stand close to him. I am about to say something but the group of men I walked past earlier appear right in front of me. I hastily dash behind the young man for safety.

"Hey, it is Alpha Liam." I hear one among the group of men whisper to his gang.

Alpha Liam? Is it the same Alpha Liam I know? Alpha Liam of the Blood Moon pack? I sneak a glance at the young man and he has a poker face on.

"Stay away from her now!" The young man says in a commanding tone. Surprisingly for me, the group of men bow their heads in respect and hastily scurry off. Wow, did they become scared just by the sound of his voice?

"Are you alright?" He turns to glare at me with a concerned look on my face. I nod my head remaining fazed at what just happened.

"I am Alpha Liam and I am deeply sorry about bumping into you earlier." He says with a small smile on his face.

"Alpha Liam of the Blood Moon pack?" I ask with a brow raised at him in curiosity. He nods his head in agreement and mutters "I see that you have heard of me."

"Of course I have. I am from the Silverstone pack, I have heard a lot about you." I say taking a few steps backward. The Blood Moon pack is a rival pack to our pack. Our Alpha has told us several times about how ruthless and manipulative the Alpha of the Blood Moon pack is. We have also been warned to never associate ourselves with them. Judging from the few minutes I have spent with Alpha Liam, he does not match the criteria of a ruthless and manipulative Alpha.

"Oh, I see. The Silverstone pack? What a shame." Liam says shaking his head in disappointment.

"A shame that?" I ask.

"That my mate happens to be from a rival pack." Liam replies with a stern look on his face. I sigh heavily, did I just hear him address me as his mate? How and when?

"I am sorry but I am a little bit confused here. At first, you addressed me as yours which I chose to ignore because I thought that I probably misheard you but now you just called me your mate. That is not a coincidence right?" I ask.

Liam shakes his head in disagreement. He smiles at me and says "I can feel this connection with you, I know you can feel it too. This type of connection only means one thing." He pauses to clear his throat "A mate Bond."

He is not lying though, I feel this sense of deep connection around me and as much as I want to deny it, I am very sure that it is evident.

"I think you might be getting ahead of yourself. How can you be my mate when I know nothing about you? We have never even met before." I say.

"Exactly, that is why Fate brought us to each other." Liam says. I roll my eyes, I just got rejected by Aiden and now the supposed ruthless Alpha of the Blood Moon pack claims to be my mate, is this some kind of trick just so he can infiltrate our pack and destroy every one of us?

"I am not falling for that. Also, fate did not bring us together. We only happened to meet by chance. I needed fresh air so I went outside for a walk." I say.

"It is dangerous to go outside for walks by this time. Did your Alpha not emphasize deep on that or was he too stupid to remember to warn his pack members?" Liam retorts with an irritated look on his face. I scoff and shake my head "Actually, I was the stupid one for not listening." I say.

Liam sighs, places his hand on my shoulder, and says "I can feel that your wolf is troubled. What happened?" He has a concerned look on his face, although his concern is mixed with worry.

"Nothing, why would I even talk to a stranger that I know nothing about aside from the fact that he is manipulative and ruthless." I say.

Liam chokes out a small laughter and I can not help but admit to myself how charming his smile is.

"Those are all just rumors. You do not think I am ruthless, do you?" He asks placing his hand on his chest in fake hurt.

I shake my head in disagreement "No actually. Even though we have only just known each other for like ten minutes or less." I say.

Liam nods his head. He turns to me and grabs my hand. The feeling of his touch on my skin makes electricity course through my veins and the butterflies in my belly rise. I suddenly feel safe and warm knowing that I have his hands intertwined with mine.

"How about this? You tell me what is bothering you while I walk you back to your pack house. How does that sound to you?" Liam asks. It sounds nice actually. I think what I needed was some company, all I needed was just a friend.

"Okay, fine but you have to promise me that you will not mock me for what I am about to tell you." I say as we slowly walk. His hands remain intertwined with mine and he strolls beside me while sneaking glances at me.

"I promise. Before you talk about any of that. I just realized that you never told me your name." Liam says with a questioning look.

"Moon." I reply.

"Very beautiful name. That was my mother's name." Liam says with a sad smile. The smile on his face makes me understand that his mother is probably no longer alive.

"Anyways, back to you! What is that you think I would mock you for?" Liam asks changing the subject. I am glad he did because I am not really good at giving condolences to people.

"Apparently, I have this friend. His name is Aiden. I thought he was my destined mate so I confessed my love to him right in front of everyone at the dining hall." I say using my other hand to cover my face to hide the embarrassment.

"He rejected you? That is great." Liam says. I glance at him in shock and he has a big smile plastered on his face.

"I mean if he had accepted you then I would have never met you, Moon, it is sort of a win for me." Liam says. I scoff and shake my head at him but at the same time, I can not help but smile.

Throughout my years of living, I have never felt loved before, Aiden's rejection made me feel worse and it made me believe that I could never be loved but hearing Liam talk today, makes me feel happy.

I think I might be able to give love another chance.

Moon's POV

We come to a stop in front of my pack house. I turn to gaze at Liam but surprisingly he already has his eyes on me. I smile shyly and fiddle with my palms, just the way he glares at me is enough to melt my heart and make me smile.

Liam clears his throat and points towards the gate.

"You have to go in right?" He asks raising a brow at me. With all sincerity, I do not want to. I enjoyed every bit of my time with Liam and I want more. No one has ever made me feel this way before, not even Aiden. I mean I feel loved, I feel like he enjoys my company.

I nod my head in agreement. "Thank you for walking me back to my pack house and for saving my life." I say. I attempt to walk towards the gate but Liam grabs me by the wrist so quickly. I turn to raise a brow at him in confusion.

"Moon. I was going to ask if we could see each other again. I mean just stay friends at least until you agree to accept me as your mate." He says.

I release a heavy sigh, as much as I want to agree to have Liam as my mate. I can not trust him, not when I just got rejected by Aiden a few days ago, everything is still like a surprise to me. I always believed that Aiden and I were destined for each other but after he rejected me in front of everyone and made it clear that I was only his friend and nothing more, I do not think I can trust anyone after that.

"Calm down Moon, I am not rushing you at all I swear. I just want you to know that I am interested in you and your personality." Liam says with a reassuring smile.

I nod my head and say "Well, in that case, I guess we can see each other tomorrow. Although I would have to be careful about it because no one should know that I am seeing the Alpha of a rival pack." I say in a low tone.

Surprisingly, a big smile spreads across Liam's face as he nods his head excitedly. Wow, I did not think I was doing him such a huge favor, that means he must like me.

"Thank you, I will see you tomorrow. Same place yeah?" He asks. I nod my head in agreement. Hopefully, the same muscular men from earlier do not come for me tomorrow.

"Or I could stop by at the front of your packhouse?" Liam asks with a small shrug. I nudge his shoulder and hastily shake my head in disagreement. He could get caught and the both of us would be in trouble for it.

"No, it is fine. I will see you at the same spot I saw you today. Goodnight." I say hastily. I do not wait for his reply, I slowly push the gate open and step into the pack compound. I wait for the guards to snap at me for sneaking out in the first place but surprisingly there is no one around. I take it as a big opportunity for me. I hastily dash into the hallways and make my way towards my room. I push the door open and throw myself on the bed.

A huge smile spreads across my face and that is when I realize that I might have enjoyed Liam's company way more than he enjoyed mine.

I like him and I think he must be right, we are most likely destined for each other. I just need time, time, and space for myself and I hope Liam can wait for me.

The next day, I do not waste time. Once it is evening, I escape out of the pack house just to see Liam and like promised, I see him waiting for me at the spot we met yesterday. I felt happy to see him and we bonded over a lot of things that we seem to have in common.

It goes on like that for the next few days, I keep seeing Liam until I start to wonder if this might be too good to be real, my mind tells me that this is not going to last for a long while but I find it hard to accept the simple truth, I do not want any of this to end. Not when I am slowly becoming very attached to him, although when has things ever been good for me? I sigh when I realize that every good thing that has happened to me before has always been temporary.

I walk out of my room not after taking one last glance at myself in the mirror. I have been doing that a lot too, checking myself and making sure I look pretty enough for Liam. I do not know when all of this started but I think my feelings for Liam keep intensifying each minute I spend time with him. I do not know if it is a good thing, especially when I have a bad feeling that something is about to go wrong.

I run a hand through my hair in frustration and brush off the bad feeling. I will just see Liam and ask him to be more careful. I walk out of my room and make my way down the stairs. As usual, everywhere is quiet and the guards are not at the gate. That is how it has been for the past few days now, the guards have been leaving the gate and I am starting to think that they might just be neglecting their jobs and drinking their lives away.

Anyway, it is a win for me. I take that opportunity to sneak out. My hands reach for the gate and I am about to unlock it until I hear someone yell my name.

My entire body freezes and my hands become really cold at the familiarity of the voice. I gulp a lump down my throat and slowly turn around to gaze at the culprit. It is no one other than Aiden himself. What is he doing here and why does it feel like he has been following me?

I clutch my chest tight and pause to release a heavy sigh of relief. At least I was not caught by someone in a higher position in the pack.

"Moon?" Aiden calls out my name and I fight the urge to warm him to never call out my name.

"What do you want?" I snap at him with a frown on my face. Aiden slowly walks towards me with his hands tucked into his sweatpants. He finally freezes in his steps right in front of me and sighs heavily.

"How are you? How have you been?" Aiden asks with a genuinely concerned look on his face. What is with the sudden random question? Anyway, I answer him to avoid any suspicions. I do not want him to know that I have been seeing Alpha Liam unless he might ruin everything. I play along and reply. "I have been good, thank you for asking."

"You sure?" He asks. Why is he pushing further? Is there something Aiden is here to tell me? I do not honestly like this feeling, the feeling that he is about to say something shocking.

"Why would I not be? Do you expect me to cry my eyes out every single day just because you rejected me?" I snap at him.

"I see you have moved on." Aiden says rubbing his chin. I stagger backward and gulp a lump down my throat as his next words cause me to shiver in fear.

"I know you have been seeing Alpha Liam of the Blood Moon pack."

Liam’s P.O.V

I have been waiting for Moon at our usual spot, but she is nowhere to be found. Glancing at my wristwatch, the time reads 8:17 p.m., and she has never been this late since our usual meet-ups four days ago. I am a real definition of ‘restless’, I can’t stop the many questions popping up in my head.

Did I do something she didn’t like during our last meet-up? At this question, I tried to remember any action of mine that would have made her feel uncomfortable, but I found none; she promised to see me today. She gave me her word.

Or did she get caught? But no one would stop a grown lady from stepping out for a bit; it isn’t 9 yet, and if she got caught, I would have been notified.

Did she suddenly decide not to come see me? Now, I regret not asking her for a phone number; it would have been easier to phone her up and know what exactly is keeping her from being with me.

“Is anything the problem Alpha?” Kai, my Beta asked, cutting into my long train of thoughts.

I looked at him and saw a little frown sitting on his face.

“Yeah, why?”

“You are…uuhm…pacing?”

I guess that was supposed to be a question and I pause a minute to access my current state. Yes, I was indeed pacing and didn’t realize I was till I was stopped. I am suddenly just realizing that my hand is on my head, mindlessly ruffling my hair into a mess.

“Yeah. Keep off, I am good.” I told him, that the last thing I wanted was a piece of good advice from him.

“You sure?” An eyebrow of his raised and his mouth twitched.

“Just go, man.” I put out my right hand and gave him a gentle push.

“If you say so.” Then, he was off, but not without stopping in between his steps to have a good look at me and shake his head before continuing his steps to God knows where.

I could use some smoke, but what if she comes in to see me on it? I bet she would frown at me just like my mum would have done.

Heaving a sigh, I rest my body on the stand of the street light while humming to myself, counting every second to when I’d hear that family footstep or soft voice calling out to me.

“Is anything the matter Alpha?”

Urgh! Yes! Everything is the matter! I want to be left alone! But I don’t answer; I keep my eyes closed and my brain busy; I went back to the time I first met her.

They say meeting one's mate is the best feeling a werewolf would ever have. Praised be to the moon goddess for keeping me restless. I needed to stroll and I did when her scent hit my nostrils with the weight of a buffalo.

She smelled like fresh strawberries and she made my mouth water for a taste of her. I found her trying to stand up to herself cute; other girls would have cowered under the pressure my men gave, but she didn’t. A delicate tigress…hmmm.

Getting lost in her green eyes will be a favorite hobby of mine a few days from now, and I can’t wait to fully claim her as mine. All her pack members can go fuck themselves for all I care.

“Beta Kai, I think something is bothering our Alpha. Why not go speak to him, we could be of help.” I hear Harrison mumble in the background.

On any other day, I would have reminded him that I am a werewolf just like he is, and I can hear his faintest whisper, but today wasn’t just the right day to go into a friendly banter when my mate hasn’t honored her words.

“He can hear you.” That was all Kai said in reply, and I heard an “Ooh!” from Harrison before it got quiet again.

I crave the day I would weave my hand into her long curly brown hair to my satisfaction before having to deeply inhale the scent of it.

Glancing at my wristwatch, I see it’s almost 9 p.m., and my heartbeat skyrockets. What if something bad had happened to her? I mean, knowing a little of her history, it isn’t impossible.

I started pacing again before I knew what I was doing; this time, my leg led me toward the Silverstone Pack’s gate, and I let it. Fuck their opinion, I would not hesitate to claim my mate and bring hell to any opposition.

“Alpha…” I raised my hand to stop them before any more words could be uttered.

“I will be fine on my own.” I spat out and continued my journey towards her gate.

I am fearless, I am strong, and I am the rumored most dangerous werewolf, so why do I feel this way? My heart keeps beating fast, my breath won’t stay steady as it should, and my legs are trembling a bit as countless possibilities flash through my head.

Sighting the tall, sturdy gate from a distance left a sweet weird feeling at the bottom of my stomach. I had a thousand and one strategies on how to infiltrate the pack, locate her, and whisk her away but I kept calm till the gate came into full view.

I need to see Moon tonight to be calm and have the reassurance that she is okay, and nothing will stop me from doing that. Sitting under the tree in the dark to hide my presence, I heard a squeak from the direction of the gate before it slowly opened, each movement making my heartbeat go wild. It’s the moon; she is finally out to see me; I can perceive her sweet scent.

Standing up to rush to her side, I paused before I took six strides. She is not alone. Who is he?

I know I have to hide but I can’t stop my curiosity. Taking two steps closer, my eyes caught him, and I saw recognition in his eyes before he gave me a mocking smile.

My excitement dies, and my heartbeat slows down into a painful thud as I see him hold her face with both hands, inch closer before I have the will to take more steps forward; his lips touch hers.

HE KISSED HER! HE FUCKING KISSED HER! And she did next to nothing in resisting him? Why does it hurt this much? What was I thinking trying to take a bold step in trusting anyone again? A stranger at that?

With my nails digging into the palm of my skin, I watch him take her back into the gate and take a long glance at me before closing the gate to my face.