Ridian’s POV
I couldn’t be near Cilla Markle. After accepting her as my mate, the desire for her was too strong. I still despised her but I knew that if I stayed around, I’d end up in bed with her. Yet, I wanted her to be the one begging me.
As soon as I sent her away from my suite, I called my beta and gamma for a quick meeting in which I told them I was going somewhere for business. I promised to give them more details at a later time, and asked them to be in charge while I was gone.
Kane Blackwell, the alpha of Redmoon pack and I were long time best friends. We met when we were both five years old at a training camp for young alpha bloods. At that time we were both the weakest participants. We had bonded over our mutual hatred and fear of the stronger and older boys.
Our lives changed a lot during that camp, but our friendship only grew. Even long after the end of camp, we continued to be friends. Even though our packs were far away from each other, we made sure to meet occasionally. It got us into trouble and instead of separating us, it brought us together.
I was seating on the stone in the river. The water rushed past in high speed, making noise as it swished over the huge rocks. There were about ten of them spread out in that particular part of the river that ran in the middle of Redmoon pack territory. The water was too loud, but I liked it because it helped me shut out the world.
That’s why I did not sense her approaching. I only feel her presence when she sat next to me on the big rock. I did not say anything, but remembered the last time we met. We had exchanged words and I had even tossed in some insults because I never thought I would ever need her again. Not that I needed her or anything.
Samantha Buck was one hell of a beautiful woman. She was pretty and had a sexy body to match. But, she was a whore. That was the bad part. She had no problem sleeping around with any alpha or beta who shown the slightest interest in her. Eventually, my resolve weakened and I turned to look at her. She smiled, showing a perfect set of white teeth. Her blue eyes had a nice shine to them and she smelled heavenly.
“Hey,” I said. “Came to say, I told you so.”
She shook her head. “You know I don’t like talking much.”
“Right. You prefer to get right into the action. Let me ask you one thing, do you never get tired of this kind of life?”
I had only gone back to my old life for a few days, but it had already exhausted me. In comparison to my life with Jane as a one woman man, this sucked. Life was so much better when I had one woman in mind and knew that she would always be there for me.
I could have all kinds of women in the world but the thought did not make me feel like it used to before I fell in love with Jane Willow. No matter how much sex I had, I could feel a very huge hole in my soul. The harsh reality was that no amount of sex would fill that gap.
Samantha sighed. She had lost her mate at a very young age so I assumed sex was her coping mechanism. “It’s all I know now so it doesn’t really matter if I get tired or not. I may never meet someone who loves me for who I am. So, how I’m expected to live my lonely life? I will not bury my head into work like Elizabeth. Hanging around rich and handsome alphas is more fun. Sometimes, I feel like it’s all meaningless, but most times I actually enjoy it.”
“Do you ever think that maybe you won’t find someone who loves you because of your behaviour? Do ever wish to change?”
Samantha rolled her pretty blue eyes. “Come on, Ridian. I know you’re emotional and all but there’s no need for us to talk about silly things. I’m comfortable with my life the way it is. I can sleep with whoever I want. It is you who isn’t comfortable with yours. All I can tell you is that you don’t need to go back to your old life. You can just move on, and be what you think is better. I know you loved her, but she is gone now. You have to make peace with that and continue with your life.”
“I met my mate.”
“What? You didn’t tell me! That’s even better. I don’t know who she is, or what she looks like but I’m sure you are drawn to her as you should be. There’s your chance to move on and be happy again. I mean, that stuff with Jane was a mistake anyway. Whether you want to admit it or not, marrying her was never the right decision. You would never be happy forever, because a part of you would always be wondering if things would have been better if you had waited for your mate and married her instead.”
“I miss her so much, Sam. she always knew how to make everything better, how to cheer me up and brighten my days. I don’t think my new mate would be capable of doing that. She is a slave.”
Samantha gasped. “What? Your mate is a lowly slave? Oh, you poor dear. That’s a terrible twist of fate. Is she in your pack?”
I nodded.
“Now I get it. It’s why you ran away. Why not just reject her?”
“Uhmm, I accidently accepted her as my mate already so that may be impossible.”
“Accidentally? How does that even happen?”
I sighed. “You wouldn’t want to know.”
“Well, you got yourself into a mess. But I’m here for you. You know I can always make you feel better.”