Denied by Destiny: Trapped in the Shadows of the Mate Bond

Kaia POV

I can't think of anything worse than attending a pack party today. Attendance has been declared essential for every pack member.

I was even delaying getting ready, finding anything to distract me seemed more important...even the mundane task of checking my emails.

I'm late which perhaps was a mistake. I can hear the music from the pack hall before I even close my front door. The laughter of the pack members celebrating their anniversary of when the pack was created. I must admit for such a young pack, they have...he has done well.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

I dread their stares, their whispers but when I finally arrive all I see of kindness.

Gentle nods of appreciation for attending, females welcoming me by gently touching my arms...letting me know that I am safe with them. That no one will mention my recent heartache.

Yet they all know, if I couldn't tell by their eyes...then Rosa coming over to check on me was confirmation enough. I was used to being ignored by a pack and I'm starting to realise the level of manipulation Than used on me in the college years. Grooming me as a lone female.

At the time I was on cloud nine, now I feel like a fool for believing his poetic words that he used to sweetly whisper into my ear.

The pack hall is decorated with large party lights which as the afternoon continues will offer a soft glow as evening falls.

A live band plays in the pack hall with a large bbq area and bar stand outside, tables and chairs prettily dressed with wildflowers picked from the pack's meadows.

How did they earn the reputation of a ruthless pack. Maybe that is how they have managed to grow so quickly, the image marketed out very different to the characteristic of the pack internally.

I see him talking to the band after they finish their song, deep in conversation. He hasn't noticed my arrival, why would he. To him I am just any other pack member.

I turn to head towards the outside bar, in need of a drink to calm the wolf within me. She was at her full strength again and the midnight energy she absorbed from the moon had worked wonders in our recovery. Both physically and mentally. "Kaia!" Beta Ezra hands me a champagne flute before pouring it to the top.

"I'm glad you came..."

"I thought attendance was essential?"

"It is."

"Well here I am then." I playfully tease but it doesn't seem to be well received by him.

An awkward silence falls upon us and I feel the need to fill it with small talk.

"The pack has grown quickly...in what is it..4 years?"

"Yes, Alpha has fought hard to move forward with his plans."

"Plans?"

"Alpha purchased the lands.."

"He didn't inherit them?" I've always wondered how Hector came to be Alpha of the Dark Phantom pack. I just assumed he inherited lands.

"No, he was on a mission to start a new pack within a certain timescale...a short timescale. Luckily Alpha Jude could spare me to help Alpha Hector."

"Alpha Jude? Isn't that his friend?" I remember Alpha Jude from the banquet ball.

"Yes, I am from Alpha Jude's pack. My brother is his beta. Alpha Hector offered me to join him, having no beta himself."

So Hector really has started from scratch and for what purpose?

"There you are..."

My heart skips a beat, and I could scream at it for falling victim to the bond, as he walks towards us. His powerful stride towards my direction is poetic itself.

The crowd parts, not one person conscious of what they are doing, their body's moving for them to let their powerful alpha through.

To hold such power of a pack bond...I wonder if it hurts sometimes. The burden of it all.

"Kaia and I were just talking about how the pack started."

"So keen to make an impression on the werewolf world?" I make light of the subject, earning a soft chuckle from both the alpha and the beta.

"I come from a business background, that's where my education is in. But I thought why not...why not start a pack. Why is it those only inherited a pack that can become Alpha." "Shake the mould..." I offer.

"Exactly."

Soft music starts to play in the background and in my peripheral vision I can see pairs coupling onto the dance floor.

Ezra clears his throat before excusing himself as he walks into the pack hall, surprisingly asking Rosa for

a dance.

"Would you like to dance?" His voice husky sending shivers of pleasure down my spine.

"Oh I'm...I'm not sure, I'm not very good at dancing..."

"Then I will lead the way."

He puts his hand out to me and against my better judgment I take it.

I couldn't think of a reason to decline him.