Second Chance Mate

Leticia Olsen's POV:

How did I get here? How did I turn from the happiest woman in the world to this pathetic, weepy loser whose mother walks on eggshells around? My mate paired with me by the moon goddess has broken me just like his mother and an outlander who's living with them has wished; the outlander manipulating them. I have become a self-hating, anger-driven idiot in an all out war for a wolf I was mated to. I see pieces of myself on the shards of the broken mirror on the floor. I can barely recognize the pieces of this wolf looking back at me. Aaron Turner has ruined me. Aaron Turner has broken me. He was my mate. My world. My Alpha. Was. I am obsessed with him. I gave him my soul. I gave him my body, my spirit, my wolf and it turns out, I'm not even family. I'm something to be discarded at will. I should have been something more. So much more....

♣. ♣. ♣

I hear shuffling from outside my locked door and I turn sharply. Is it him? Has he found us? Is he going to take them away?

"My child, please, come eat something. It's not the end of the world. The moon goddess has always been generous. She will bring your mate back to his senses. Hell, she might even pair you with someone else. Your true mate. You can fall in love twice, Leticia and... and move on. I don't want to lose you. Come on out, my child," she chokes, "Please, Leticia..."

I can't fall in love again. If it isn't Aaron Turner, it's no one else. In my arms, two tiny flushed faces stare back at me. My right hand grip around a knife laced with special wolfsbane.

The mark on the side of my neck starts to itch. That damned mark. I try to scratch on it but it's becoming worse. My eyes start to falter. No! One of my cubs whimper. I coo him and kiss him tenderly, my body shaking of starvation. I let the knife drop aside and I gently drop my cubs on my bed. Then I grab the knife and slit the wound on the part of my neck that itches, blood gushing like water. She's punishing me. Why did he have to be so special? I should have rejected him. I slit on his mark on my neck again. I should have rejected him. I slowly fall on the bed, next to my twins. I hear the muffled sound of crying. The darkness now seems hazy, swirling like a maelstrom that can't suck me in but leave me trapped. I hear a man's voice. A voice I've longed so desperately, to hear. I can't cry or tell him words. I don't even see him. I falter.

Aaron's POV:

Leticia... I'm sorry. It's all my fault. It's all my fault...

Leticia's POV:

The grandfather clock is ticking. Not the usual tick tock of a normal clock but the tick tock sound of someone pounding on your head with a stainless spoon. The heavy one. This is what I'm currently going through, listening to Zephyr stumble with his words, giving reasons why he has to break up with me. I don't know the expression I have on my face-but I am trying hard to look bored. One thing I've learnt from some self-help books is to act like you don't care-men love it. Make them curious! Make them want more! I'm trying to look like I want Zephyr to want me again but he still wants to break up with me.

He says for the umpteenth time, "it's over between us, Leticia..." He eyes me like he is irritated, "are you even listening?"

I force a smile. I don't know how to reply to him. All I know is how to be a girlfriend. Not an ex. A thousand fuckyous replay and echo in my head yet my mouth is too nice to utter them straight to his face. I have suddenly become useless to him. I am no longer 'Leticia, my world, my bank, my emotional dumpster.' He has finally found someone better. He doesn't say that. He is trying to be a gentleman. I don't know why I'm still sitting there, listening to him. Fuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyou-

"There are better people out there, Leticia. We both need to stop lying to ourselves now and move on. I'm not trying to be the bad guy here. I'm doing something... better for us. For you, okay?"

I feel my canines protruding. My wolf is ready to tear this fool in pieces.

«So ordinary. So cheap. I don't know why you chose this hybrid as a boyfriend. He's not even good at intercourse. He sucks. Leticia, you've let me down.» My wolf-Ronnie berates me like I'm a little child. «Are you still here listening to this loser talk?» I stand up and cast one final look at Zephyr. He stops talking and grins like I understand half of what he just said. I spin and leave.

"Hey, Leticia! The bill!" I hear him yell and I scoff, adding my pace, determined to forget his face and his voice. What a man. He wants to break up and still can't settle his bills? Great.

I thought I was strong during the encounter with Zephyr but after I left what used to be our love restaurant, I wander the woods in my wolf form, bawling like an idiot. Ronnie ignores me and we roam the cemetery ground and I go to my father's and sister's burial site and lie, weeping. It has been ages since I visited them and I come over like this, a total wreck because of a bastard like Zephyr.

Something wakes me. I don't know, maybe a howl? Ronnie is vigilant and we begin to sniffing around for threats, treading the forest floor carefully, despite the dried leaves crunching beneath my paws. I hear a bunch of snarls from a broken down, dilapidated block of house I see in the distance. I head over and carefully tread in. A bunch of rogue wolves; big, dark and ferocious outlanders, I know by the human scent emitting from most of them. These wolves have scars running from their ears to their eyes, a form of identification. They are ganging up on this grey wolf-a beta who's backed to the ground, helpless and wounded. From the open window, the crescent moon showers on him. That's something about him...

«You feel it too, right? Let's go save him.»

«Ready when you are, slowpoke.» I say to her, ready to charge.

«Let's go get those bastards.» I let out a howl and dash straight to them, knocking them away with my cranium. Maybe it's the adrenaline of being dumped and numb or maybe I'm just suicidal but I'm charging straight into these wolves that look like a pack of Alphas instead-their glowing red eyes. I'm fast enough to dodge their counterattacks and I bite one hard enough to leave a gash that might take time to heal. But there are too many of them and I realize I entered the wrong battle.

The outlanders take to their heels, scattering like helpless chicken. I hear a soft grunt behind me and a dull thud. I spin and take in this gorgeous man sprawled to the ground. He's naked and I'll be too when I turn to my human form. That will be embarrassing. I flee and go to my father's grave. There's a crevice under the fine block of plastered cement where I hide a bag of clothes for emergencies like these. I morph to myself and grab a simple singlet and a pair of knickers for myself. Another black singlet and knickers for the gorgeous stranger. I return back to him and throw the clothes at him. He looks at me with his striking green eyes. I look again. I squint. Green eyes. His leafy eyes trail me and I feel scorched like he's undressing me with those eyes. His pale body is wounded, his healing taking more time than normal. His thick brown hair cascades his chest, showing signs of pulling and grabbing, shimmering in the moonlight.

"Let me take you home. Where do you live?" I'm about to ask more questions when he manages to stand and starts to wear the clothes I brought. He's silent but he doesn't regard me with hostility and I wonder who I just saved. Is he a criminal? Is he a killer? Is he a psychopath? He raises his head when he is done and smiles broadly, throwing me off balance.

"Aaron Turner. Or you must know me as the Alpha's brother."

I shrug, trying to remember where I know him from. Nothing comes to mind. I shrug again, "never heard of you. Sorry."

He approaches me with a teasing smile. He is different from the dying wolf I was headbutting and biting a jerk for. I frown and brace myself. If he wants to end back to that dying wolf, I'd be willing to bite his flesh off. Now, he's standing a few inches taller before me, his breathing fanning my nose as he utters, "are you pretending not to know or do you just want something from me?"

I step away from him and scoff, looking at him incredulously. "You're not even the Alpha. Get a load of this guy."

"I'm related to him."

"No. You're not. Stop lying," I'm looking at him like he's the cause of my problems.

"Seriously?" He chuckles, revealing rows of bloodied teeth. He could be looking like art if he hadn't been beaten to stupor. "You do know the Alpha of Alton Ridge pack, right?"

Is he dense? Or does he think I'm dense? "Yes?"

"And you don't know me?"

"No."

"I'm basically his twin."

I suck a breath and say to him, "Do you want me to take you home or do you want me to leave you at the mercy of your friends?"

"They're not my friends," he spits and I know he's dense. Who thinks those were his friends? He tries to walk but he groans, his lower legs shuddering as if they can't support his weight anymore. "My house is not safe either."

"I'll take you to the nearest hotel and-"

"I have no money..."

I stare at him and he stares back. What? How can a grown man like him who claims to be the Alpha's brother not have a dime on him? Is today an April Fool's day or something? "So, what are you going to do about it?"

"I can sleep in your house. It'll only be a couple of days and I..."

"No way." I say, my voice higher than I intend it to be. "I live with my mom and she doesn't like strangers in the house. Sorry."

"You saw those wolves," he says with wide eyes as if he's now starting to get scared of them. "They must have raided my home by now."

"Did they attack you from your house and chase you all the way?"

"Yep."

"You don't have any friends?"

"They could be stalking them."

"Tough luck." I folded my arms over my chest. He's barefooted and dirty and his lengthy fine hair probably needs a thorough wash. He must be a playboy.

«Leticia, let's take him home. We've nothing to lose. Even if you take him to bed, you-»

"Shut it!" I yell.

"Are you..." He chuckles again, "are you talking to me?"

I swallow. He's teasing me and I don't know why it's affecting me like this. Like it's a big deal. "No."

"Are you talking to your wolf?"

I choke when he calls me out and I yell, "no. Not your business." He looks at himself like he knows what I'm thinking and my face flush. It's embarrassing looking at this gorgeous man despite all the soot and dirt and he's starting to make me loose focus. "You've got no friends you can call for help?"

"Please, take me to your house. I promise to repay you in return. What do you need?"

I look at him like he's a clown and mutter, turning away, "I want gold."

"I've got gold. Just tell me how many ingots of it you want."

I pause and spin to eye him. "You've got gold."

♣. ♣. ♣

The taxi driver keeps glancing at us through the rearview like we're a bunch of kids who ran off and are caught. Of course we're weird. We're both dressed like hikers from the East. Aaron Turner looks at the trajectory of life through the window, his forehead locked on the pane like a little schoolboy. I turn to look at the moving trajectory from the left side of the car and he asks, "where are we going?"

"Home," I answer perfunctorily.

"Your home or my home?"

I turn to him, slightly exasperated by his playful attitude. He freezes and looks at me with amusement. I want to biff him right now. I think his eyes also need some blood too. He has to shed blood. "What do you think?" I snap and turn away.

"You didn't tell me your name."

"Leticia," I say, "Leticia Olsen."

"Very pleased to meet you, Leticia Olsen."

"I'm sure you are."

"Do you always come around the woods?"

"Sometimes, mostly when I'm upset."

"Does it mean you were upset when you're sleeping in someone's graveyard?"

"None of your business." The car whizz past Turner street and I throw a casual glance at him. He is fidgeting with the clothes I gave him. Is his brother really the Alpha? Is he really Regan Turner's brother?

The current Alpha's family. The Turner wolves. The legends of Alton Ridge pack. It's surprising that that family has had the best Alphas that led Alton Ridge throughout the storms that have shaken several werewolf territories. Several clans from these territories also belong to the Turners through the efforts of the previous Alphas. Alpha Cain Turner, Regan Turner's great grandfather who's now late, has ruled with a roar so powerful, it shook trees. He died in a victorious battle against the outlanders. Alpha Sage Turner, Regan's grandfather who's also late has achievements to his name. His wife, Luna Carolyn Reigns Turner was a powerful shaman who made her stand on equal footing with her mate, her husband. Alpha Torem Turner and his wife Lucerne Harvey Turner they ruled with grace and became a monarchy, crowning Regan Alpha. Regan Turner is currently Alpha because someone from Torem Turner's sons refused the title. Is he the one? Why did he reject the title? If he was chosen, it meant the moon goddess knew he would be greater than the great. Why did he refuse?

Not only just in werewolf territory. Regan Turner has taken the Turner business and has made it global in only four years, making him a sought-after businessman that even the humans always sought after him for collaborations. He is the face of Turner group. He's every girl's dream man, including me. A business legend admired by all. So where is Aaron Turner in all of this? I've heard that his two brothers and his two sisters are now married to their mates. Why is Aaron Turner different from his family if he really is a Turner?

I pay the driver and we come down on the pavement in front of a bungalow. Its faded yellow paint is peeled thanks to the sun and rain. Dying shrubs in flowerpots cluster around the freshly mowed lawn. An older woman with pale blue eyes sits by the porch, on a lawn chair, listening to folk songs from the radio in her hand.

"Mom?" I stop short when I see her rise, her eyes trailing the man behind me.

"Who's the gentleman with you?" She breaks into a grin that shocks me. My head tingles. What is she thinking?

Aaron Turner beats me to it and goes to my mom, proffering a hand, "Aaron Turner. Very pleased to meet you, Mrs Olsen."

Mom takes his hands warmly and sniffs it, "I recognize you. You're that big grey wolf that saved me from those damned outlanders. You risked your life... I thought you almost died, son."