Chapter 3 Is She Our Mate

"You drugged me?" His growl cut through her words like a blade. He looked at her as if suddenly realizing why he had felt something for her last night.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop instantly, bringing a chilling coldness, as cold as his frigid expression.

"It wasn't me!" she pleaded desperately. "My father and Emily, they were trying to use you to pay off his debts! I don't even know how we ended up in the same-"

"Enough!"

The word slammed into her like a physical force. His eyes were dark, so dark she could feel his rage radiating in the air she breathed.

Those eyes that had gazed at her so sweetly, so gently last night were now filled with something she had never wanted directed at her.

Disgust.

"You disgust me." He growled menacingly, disappointment laced in his tone.

Sarina froze, her chest tightened painfully.

He stood up grabbing his clothes and pulling them on with sharp, efficient movements.

Each second felt like a lifetime.

"Alpha Kane..." she whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks.

He didn't hesitate.

"I don't ever want to see your face again," he said coldly. "God help you if I do."

Then he walked out.

Just like that he was gone, taking that strange, fragile connection she had felt last night with him.

"Alpha, please don't take your anger out on us!" Beta Simon hurried after him. "This daughter of mine is a disgrace, she is no longer part of my family!"

The words echoed in Sarina's ears, ringing repeatedly.

How could her own father hate her this much? How could her own father betray her and abandon her as if she was nothing, absolutely nothing.

The door slammed shut again and a cold silence settled in Sarina's heart. A sharp emptiness until a loud mocking laughter erupted in the room.

"It seems you're no longer a member of the Dawson family," Emily said with a mocking smile. "And poor thing..." She tilted her head. "The Alpha doesn't want you either."

Sarina's vision blurred with tears.

"What have I ever done to you?" she whispered, her voice breaking. "Why do you hate me so much?"

For a moment, Emily's smile faltered, then it twisted into something darker.

"Blame that face of yours," she snapped. "The one that makes every man choose you over me."

Sarina was confused by Emily's words.

"Remember Derek?" Emily continued bitterly. "He was supposed to like me. But then you showed up, smiling like you always do, and suddenly he couldn't see anyone else."

Sarina's memories flickered back to the past, she remembered the boy who had tried to woo her once before.

"I never liked Derek," she said softly. "I rejected him..."

"Who cares?!" Emily cut her off sharply. "He wanted you anyway!"

The words hit her harder than expected.

"And now?" Emily smirked. "You have nothing." She reached into her bag and pulled out a wad of cash.

"Take this as your severance pay. Don't ever think of showing your face here again!"

The notes scattered across Sarina as Emily threw them in her face. Her laughter sinking into Sarina's heart, causing it to break a thousand times faster. The tears that poured down her face burned hot, and she wished she could disappear from existence just so she could stop feeling this pain.

"Goodbye." Emily turned, waving sweetly over her shoulder as she walked out.

Her laughter echoed long after she was gone.

The silence that suddenly fell over the room felt heavy and empty.

Sarina sat there, unmoving, alone, completely alone. Slowly, she looked down at the money scattered around her.

Everything she had, her home, her family, her dignity were gone in a single night.

Her hands trembled and the tears streamed down in heavy torrents. In a single night, everything had fallen apart. She'd lost her home... though it never once treated her kindly she had masochistically held onto her small family, now she realized giving everything for her father and step-sister hadn't earned their love at all. They didn't care about her, they never did.

And the alpha...he didn't know her before this, but he certainly hated her now.

"I didn't do anything..." she whispered brokenly.

But no one was there to hear her. And for the first time in her life...

Sarina had nowhere left to go.

.....

Weeks had passed since that night, yet nothing had changed.

If anything, it had gotten worse.

Alpha Leonard Kane woke with a sharp inhale, his chest rising and falling unevenly as that same, relentless ache pulsed through him.

It wasn't a physical type of pain, not entirely, but it hurt, badly.

"Why..." he muttered, dragging a hand down his face before pressing it against the left side of his chest. "Why have I been feeling this way since that night?"

His brows furrowed, the emptiness was there again. It was gnawing and constant, so unforgiving.

Her face flashed through his mind again, like it did every single day after that night.

Soft green eyes filled with tears looking up at him.

The ache intensified instantly. Leo stiffened, his jaw tightening.

"Damn it," he hissed under his breath.

Why her?

Why now?

Why couldn't he get her out of his head?

She haunted him at the worst possible times. In meetings, during patrol reports, even in his sleep.

That night replayed itself over and over again, no matter how hard he tried to suppress it.

And what angered him most was that he didn't understand why.

'Is she our mate Revan?' he asked his wolf. He could have sworn that the spark he felt from her that night had been the mate bond, but what if it was nothing but the effects of the drug she used on him?

'I don't know, she smells different, she doesn't have a wolf, I can't tell if she is our mate or not.' Revan replied. It was obvious his wolf was also slightly bewildered about the whole thing.

'But she is different...' Revan added, 'Different from Everly, different from any other she-wolf we've ever met before. When you were with her I felt...'

A low, frustrated growl built in his chest.

'Enough Revan, we can't feel things for any female ever again.'

Revan went silent in his head after that, it was evident his wolf agreed with him, even if they both had been feeling this strange and heavy longing for the past week.

'Alpha, the pack elders have arrived.'

Timothy, his beta's voice echoed through the mind link.

Leo exhaled sharply, forcing his emotions down.

"On my way."