A Second Chance ✔ (The Alpha's Mate)

Chapter 3

"And I'm giving it my all, but I'm not the guy you're taking home. So, I keep dancing on my own." Calum Scott, Dancing on my own.

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Standing up, Katie swallowed the lump in her throat as she saw Megan wrap her arms around Zach's waist.

Zach felt Katie's pain before he saw it in her eyes, and his wolf groaned with him at the thought of causing their mate such a feeling.

"Hello." Megan smiled politely at Katie, and Katie found herself wishing Megan wasn't nice to her so it would be easy to hate her, but she was.

"Hey." Katie blinked twice, refusing to let her emotions form into tears as she smiled back at the beautiful burnette.

"Well?" Megan raised a playful eyebrow at her boyfriend, "aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Right. Megan, this is Katie." He hestitated for a mere second before he went on, his gaze never leaving Katie's. "Katie, this is Megan, my girlfriend." He almost spit the words out, and instantly wished he hadn't when he saw how Katie's face fell even further.

Realization settled on Katie's face and she nodded her head. She understood that the Alpha hadn't told Megan about her, and it seemed like he wasn't about to. Trying not to think much of it, Katie blasted on a smile. "Nice to meet you, Megan."

"Likewise. I love your necklace, by the way." Megan admired, drawing Zach's attention to Katie's neck. His fists clenched automatically as he remembered the scene he saw earlier today. A male had put that there this morning.

"Thank you. It's a gift." Katie's hand travelled to the pendant, holding on to it for support like she did a hundred times today.

"Happy birthday." Megan smiled widely.

"How did you--" Katie trailed off as she remembered the tiara on top of her head. "Oh, right."

Zach watched as Megan laughed along with Katie and he felt like an ass. Indeed, he hadn't technically done anything wrong, but he knew that sooner or later he had to break someone's heart. And the two women in front of him were too precious to hurt.

"Thank you. It was really nice to meet you, but I have to go. Please enjoy the party. Alpha." Katie gave him one last nod, her eyes refusing to meet his, before she rushed down the stairs and dissapeared into the crowd.

"So? How did it go? You've been gone for too long, I'm dying to know. And where did you get that?" Jessica asked once she saw Katie walking back in another pink tiara.

"Let's just get out of here." Katie's voice was small enough for Jessica to study her friend's face with concern.

"Whoa, whoa. What happened? What did he do?" She asked in worry.

"Let's just go, Jess. I'll tell you in the car." And with that Katie pulled Jessica to the parking lot outside Mike's place.

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"Is everything alright?" Megan's frown matched Zach's as he stared at the stairs Katie just rushed down.

"Everything is fine. I'm gonna head to the pack house. Nick and I have urgent matters to attend to. Do you want me to give you a ride?" Zach's voice was final.

"No, it's alright. I'll catch a ride with Sophie later." She pushed herself on her toes to give him a kiss. He kissed her back briefly ignoring how for the first time in two years it didn't feel right.

Pulling his keys out of his pocket, Zach got in his car and drove off, a pair of hazel brown eyes haunting him all the way home.

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