Olive’s lips curved into a smile as she looked up at him. He had hurt her, which she hated. But the sight of him looking down at her made her heart lighter. Her wolf purred just by staring at him. She lifted her hand and ran her fingers through his soft, messy curls as slow as she could.
He felt tingles in form of electrical energy from his hair through his whole body. Her touch was magical. It soothed him and he suddenly felt at peace. He closed his eyes and exhaled.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered as he leaned into her palm, with his eyes still closed. Olive blinked slowly as she stared at his face. Wayne Knight, the Big Bad Alpha was her mate. No matter how she tried to force herself to say he wasn’t, she knew he was. He could protect her, and care for her. She would finally feel what it was like to have a mate, made for you only.
“My mate, why are you sorry?” she mumbled. Her throat hurt. He opened his eyes and stared into her beautiful green orbs. He looked down at her neck and curled his fist.
“I hurt you,” he answered while still staring at her neck.
“And why?” Olive asked and let down her hand.
“I… I don’t know,” he broke down and looked away from her.
“Perhaps you’re a hybrid?”
He chuckled and looked back at her.
“No. Just a wolf,” he said and she cracked a smile.
“Can I get water?”
Before Wayne could even fully understand what she was saying, he found himself speeding to his bar and returning with a bottle of cold water and a glass cup. He poured it out then held her up gently and she drank it. He scoffed inwardly at himself. He was serving someone like a servant.
“Thank you,” Olive appreciated and returned the cup to him.
“Did you accept my apology?”
“No. You will have to earn that.”
She stepped down from the bed and walked past him to the end of the room where she looked at her neck in the mirror.
“It looks pretty bad. And I have a difficulty with talking,” she said and winced as she moved her head left and right. Wayne crossed his arms and stared at her back.
“How am I going to earn it?” he asked with a tone of disbelief plus amusement.
“Be good to me. Genuinely good to me,” she answered and turned around to look at him. She placed her hands on her waist and stared at him back.
“If I see you’re being a good mate, then I’ll forgive you for trying to kill me deliberately.”
“Deliberately? Come on, that was… that was an accident,” Wayne countered her.
“Didn’t look like one. I remember you warned me not to ever walk out on you before you thrust me out of your grip,” Olive crossed her arms and gave him a ‘what’s your excuse?’ kind of stare. Wayne scratched the back of his head and looked away. He couldn’t explain his actions. He didn’t mean it. He didn’t know why he did it. But it sure didn’t look like that.
“Okay. I’ll earn your forgiveness,” he finally said. He remembered her request tallied with Jake’s advice.
“Good,” Olive smiled brightly and swung her arms back and forth.
“Now, get me a hot towel for my neck. It’s so sore,” she whined and pouted. Wayne scoffed.
“A maid would be here with it in a few minutes,” he said and turned around to leave the room.
“Wow! Then that maid would be the one to earn my forgiveness.”
“Wait. Are you insinuating I get it myself?”
“Yes, Alpha Knight. You have to care for me by yourself. Not assigning someone else to do it.”
“You’ve been here just a day and you’re already bossing me around? You have a death wish?”
“If I die, you’re dying too. I heard mates can’t survive if one goes away.”
Alpha Knight laughed at Olive’s naivety. He stopped laughing and his face turned into a deep, scary frown. The temperature of the room dropped again and his hair once again began to scamper around like a slow blow dryer was blowing on them. And… they were getting darker. Olive’s eyes widened and she moved backwards.
“Ever heard of certain people who reject mates?” he asked in a menacing tone. Olive gulped down. Yes, she had heard about that. But it was rare. And it took a very strong willed person, to break the mate bond. Could Alpha Knight break it? It would ruin her for life. And The Vrek Cult would come for her again. No, she couldn’t let that happen. She tightened her fist as Wayne stood right in front of her.
“It would not take me one minute to reject you, Olive. If I find out, that you’re in one way or the other a hindrance to me and my park, I’ll reject you,” Wayne pronounced with so much certainty that Olive believed him immediately.
“Noted. Though same thing applies to you. If you are a hindrance or a threat to my life, I’ll walk,” she said. He stared at her with surprise then he just turned around and left. Despite the temperature returning to normal, she still felt like she needed him back inside.
“Pull yourself back together, Olive. He doesn’t matter to you. You just need him for now to stand against The Vrek Cult,” she said out loud and walked into the bathroom.
As she washed her face, she tried hard to stop herself from crying. She wanted to be strong, just as always. But she couldn’t help it this time. She cried because her life was just broken. When she was younger, she dreamt of a good and fun life. But she got none of that.
And she had wanted to find her mate so she could pull her life back together. She found him, but he seemed to be the one that would break her even more. However, she craved for him inwardly. The mate bond was too strong for her. Deep down inside, she wished he could love her. She wanted to be able to run into his arms and cuddle him right. Then cry if she wanted to while he whispered sweet, encouraging words to her. But, how could she expect that of the Big Bad Alpha? Wasn’t she asking for too much?