Wrong Room, Right Mate Chapter 09

Wrong Room, Right Mate Chapter 09

That night, he hadn’t gone to Bloodfang Pack for himself.

His cousin was Sloane’s real mate.

But outside the house, the young man clutched his stomach, his face white as a sheet.

“I can’t do this… something was wrong with the wine at lunch. I have to go—” he waved, “Theodore, you go in. She never liked me anyway. I just wanted to see if she’d soften up. If not, we’ll leave. Don’t let her get hurt.”

With that, he ran into the woods.

Theodore stood there, staring at the brightly lit house, feeling like a fool.

He’d come to help his cousin steal his mate.

And in the end, his cousin had bailed.

He stood alone in the dark, torn between going in or turning away.

Finally, he walked inside.

In the first room he entered, a girl sat quietly at the vanity.

When their eyes met, Theodore froze.

He recognized her.

Years ago, at a wolf pack training camp on the border, he’d seen her.

She was smart, quick, light on her feet.

He remembered her face, and he remembered her name.

Nova.

He didn’t know why she was in Sloane’s room.

He only saw she had no smile on her face.

Anyone could tell—the person she was waiting for wasn’t coming.

Just then, a few rogues burst in, shoved her around, and started groping her.

She didn’t fight back, didn’t make a sound. She just sat there, took it all quietly.

He couldn’t stand it anymore.

He stepped forward and knelt on one knee in front of her. “Do you want to leave?”

She looked at him and nodded softly. Maybe it was fate. His wolf had claimed her almost instantly.

If his cousin hadn’t gotten sick that night… she would never have climbed onto his back.

Theodore was grateful she’d given him that chance.

“Arlo,” Nova said his name softly. “You got what you wanted, didn’t you? You have Sloane now.”

A burning pain shot up Arlo’s throat.

“I…”

Sloane. He’d ended that mate bond a long time ago.

But what good did that do now?

“Nova, I made the wrong choice.” He choked out, “It was supposed to be you that night. I thought you’d fight, yell, wait for me—but I never thought…

“I’ll send Sloane back to her family.” He looked at Theodore. “I’ll give everything back. Give Nova back to me. Let’s do the bonding ritual again. Please.”

Nova smiled.

“Arlo, bonding isn’t a game. In my pack, choosing the wrong mate is fate. Fate led me to him, so I went.”

She stepped back and moved to stand beside Theodore again.

“You took Sloane, I bonded with Theodore. We’re even.”

Arlo shook all over.

He watched Theodore pull her closer. He wanted to run after her.

But his feet wouldn’t move an inch.

Nova’s figure disappeared into the crowd.

Rain started to fall. Arlo stood alone in the open.

He suddenly remembered a summer years ago, when he’d gone to visit Nova.

It had poured that day too.

He’d stood on her doorstep, soaked to the bone, wild roses in his hand.

She ran out, scolded him for coming out in the rain, called him a fool.

He smiled and stuffed the flowers into her hands. “I didn’t want to make you wait a single moment longer.”

She held the roses, her eyes shining like stars on a mountain ridge.

She said, “Arlo, I’ll wait for you.”

He said, “Okay.”

And he’d made her wait three whole years.

Then he’d bonded with someone else. Arlo laughed in the rain.

He couldn’t tell if the wetness on his face was rain… or something else.