Stronger as One (#1, Completed)

39. His name is...

RAFE

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! 

The only word that kept on playing on repeat in my head as I sat down on a chair on the porch.

Yes, that is what you just did- well done for figuring it out, Rafe.

Great, sarcastic Kai was back again.

Shut it, Kai! It's really not the right time to irritate me.

Why? Is little Rafe annoyed that the mate pull is stronger than he expected? Admit it, you prick, you like her. She stirs things inside us that we have never felt before and I don't mean only sexually. Although you should be on your knees begging her to let us have our way with her again, he chuckled.

And then you call me the prick? Fine, I will admit that she may have ruined me for all other women. But that's as far as it goes.

Oh, come on, Rafe- she is strong, opinionated, stubborn, independent, she clearly knows how to take care of herself- human or not- and she knows how to stand up to you. I know your dick twitches every time she challenges you. And if you don't want her, why did you tell her that she can't have anyone else?

Simply the mention of Riley being with somebody else, other than Aiden, made my blood boil but Kai was right- why did I say that to her? I had no right to make such a claim on her if I didn't want her to be my mate. But that was the thing- she was my mate. The Goddess had already decided on that and the urge to keep her away from all other men was immense. I couldn't help it even if I wanted. It was an instinct. It didn't change anything though.

Listen, Kai, and listen well- she will never be ours. She might be our mate because the Moon Goddess decided so, but we will not complete the ritual. I will not mark her or claim her- do you hear me?

We will see about that....

What the fuck does that mean, Kai?

It means that your decisions affect both of us and let me tell you, wolves don't do well when they have been denied their mate. I have already lost my mate-her wolf- when that scum John had taken her away from Riley. He was getting angry now, growling and pacing in my head as if he was ready to attack someone. I am not losing Riley too. So be careful, Rafe, because if you do make me lose her, you might lose me in the process as well.

What the hell? Was my wolf seriously threatening to leave me if I stayed away from Riley? Why did he have to make it harder than it already was?

Oh, and Rafe- we better make everyone who hurt our mate all those years ago pay. She lost her wolf, she lost her family, she nearly lost her heritage. Beneath all that hard exterior, I can feel that she is hurting for everything that she has been denied because of that fateful night.

I know, Kai. I can feel it too.

So you know what needs to be done, right? Our blood or not, if your father really is behind this, and if he is also responsible for what happened to us and your mother, as well as Natalia, he has to pay, Kai snarled.

He was right and I knew it. If my father was really behind everything, there were going to be consequences and he was not going to get away with it because he was my dad or my Alpha.

Just then I heard the car park and I saw Aiden make his way to me with two bags full of food.

"About time you showed up, man- I am starving."

"And there was me thinking that you were happy to see me because you needed me to save you from our feisty mate," he laughed. If only he knew.....

"We are both....." I paused thinking how to reply without lying to my best friend but not giving anything away either. I still didn't know what exactly happened back in the room and why. Obviously, we fucked. But what made me do that was still unclear to me and I was a bit anxious to dwell on what it meant going forward. "...alive."