chapter fifteen || sorrow
Taylah's POV

Upon waking, I burrowed myself further into the warm fort of soft sheets. Slowly and reluctantly, I uncover my face and blink to focus my eyes. Streaks of sunlight penetrate the window and that's when it had occurred to me that I had forgotten to shut my curtains last night.

Groaning, I rubbed the remainders of sleep from my eyes and gazed out the window; the sun was shining down making the trees look greener than ever.

What a beautiful day.

I smiled giddily and pushed my tangled hair out of my face. I flicked my eyes over to my bed side table where my clock was situated and was surprised to see it was only seven in the morning. Swinging my legs over the side of my bed, I decided to quickly get ready and head down to the kitchen to make some breakfast.

I threw my hair into a high pony tail and ran to the bathroom. I did my business, washed my face and brushed my teeth and headed back to my room for a quick clothing change. I opened my cupboard and settled for something comfy, so I slid on a pair of black yoga pants and a black Calvin Klein sports bra. I slid my feet into a pair of ugg boots and raced down the spiral stairs straight into the kitchen. The kitchen was empty which led me to believe everyone was either out training or still asleep.

Today, I felt heavily inspired to make Nutella pancakes so I collected all the ingredients and placed them on the countertop. I scanned what I was working with and nodded once I was satisfied I hadn't forgotten anything. As I was creating the mix, my mind drifted to yesterdays events.

It was super nice meeting Alpha Elias, but of course my butt of a 'mate' had to ruin a potential friendship. Stupid over-protective carrot stick.

'Jealous mate equals hot mate,' Laila sighed dreamily.

I rolled my eyes at her comment which was obviously made out of pure arousal, and continued stirring the mix in the bowl. My focus was so intent, as I was making a great deal of ensuring no lumps were left at all.

"Pancakes?"

I gasped and flipped around to face a shirtless Ryder leaning against the countertop behind me. My grip on the bowl tightened as I sighed in relief.

"Ryder, you startled me," I said, eyeing out his bed hair, "but yes, I am making pancakes."

His eyes lit up, "ooh, make me! Make me!"

I rolled my eyes and giggled at his silly antics.

"Okay... fine. If I have to," I joked with a shrug of my shoulders.

Collecting more ingredients, I added to the mix to ensure there was enough pancakes for the both of us. As I was stirring the bowl, Ryder broke the silence.

"So," he started, "have you spoken to Alpha Adrianno?"

My brows furrowed as I looked up from the bowl to meet his moss coloured eyes. His head was tilted to the side in wonder as he stared at me intently, waiting for an answer.

"No?" I said, however it sounded more like a question than an answer. "About what?"

"I think I'll just leave that up to him, it's not my place Tay," he said with a slight shake of his head. I almost laughed at the way his curls bounced but my mind was elsewhere.

"Ryder, is everything oka-," I was interrupted by another voice coming from a person I didn't even hear enter the kitchen.

"Good morning Beta," the stormy colour eyes flicked to me, "Taylah," he nodded in acknowledgement.

My head bowed in respect of the presence of my Alpha.

"Good morning, Alpha," I mumbled quietly, keeping my eyes trained to the tiles beneath my ugg boot clad feet.

"I wish to speak with you privately, Taylah. Once you are ready, I'd like to meet with you in my office," Adrianno said, his eyes focused on me intently.

I tried to grasp any information from his facial expression but he was as blank as a wall.

"Okay," I nodded my head softly.

"Very well," he nodded, his gaze attached to the small band of skin that was on display in between my yoga pants and sports bra.

Instinctively, I crossed an arm across my stomach to shield myself from his gaze. Adrianno's gaze flickered up to mine, his eyes had noticeably darkened.

I screwed my eyes shut and broke the silence.

"Want some Nutella pancakes?" I asked in attempt to put a barrier between the tension.

"Uh," Adrianno mumbled, his eyebrows furrowed, "Sure."

I smiled giddily and for the second time this morning, I collected extra ingredients to add to the abandoned mix.

I kept my back turned on both Ryder and Adrianno, as I didn't think I could stand the awkward tension between my mate and I.

I wasn't completely unaware that they were most likely communicating through their mind link, I only chose to disregard that and focus on my pancakes.

I internally sighed.

Today was going to be a long day.

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After the whole kitchen fiasco, I took my time heading to my room, in which I took a lengthy shower, changed into more suitable clothing and even dusted my bookshelf.

I don't know if it was obvious or not, but I was stalling like crazy. I did not want to meet with Adrianno for a variety of reasons.

One, I have no idea what this so called 'meeting' will consist of, so clearly there is space for nervousness. Secondly, every time we speak, the awkward tension seems to grasp us both by the necks and master our whole conversation. And thirdly, he was, at the end of the day, my mate who had rejected me and being in a confined space with a person you knew didn't want you was not a nice feeling, nor one you ever looked forward to.

I took in a deep breath and mustered up all my possible courage to walk down the spiral stairs and head down to the room of doom.

Okay, that was a minor exaggeration.

In my clustered headspace, I failed to realise that I was standing outside the large mahogany door. With a shake of my head to clear my thoughts, I raised my hand and softly knocked on the painted wood.

I clasped my hands together in front of me and waited patiently for Adrianno to open the door.

After what had felt like centuries, yet was only about ten seconds, he opened the door and gazed down at me. Without a word, he stepped out of the door way and pointed towards his office, gesturing for me to enter.

I internally rolled my eyes at his silence and trudged into the room. I beelined straight for the sofa and sat down on the comfortable cushion.

Adrianno's eyes never strayed from me causing my body to unintentionally stiff up. He slowly walked forward to what I thought was going to be his office chair, but I'm sure the look of surprise on my face didn't go unnoticed by him when I saw his body collapse on the sofa beside me. Like, right beside me.

I sighed and broke the awkward silence.

"Alpha, do you-," I was cut off before I could finish my sentence.

"Adrianno."

My eyebrows furrowed, "Pardon?"

An intense entourage of emotion swirled in his stormy eyes as he spoke, "It is Adrianno to you, not Alpha. It is just you and I here, Taylah. No need for formalities."

Um. Okay then.

"Right, um, okay. Adrianno, then, may we make this as less awkward as possible and also as quick as possible. I do not mean to rush you but I promised some of the pups I would be available for their play time..." I trailed off in hopes I didn't sound too rude, but my words were full of honesty.

He blinked in response before replying, "Right, of course. I promise I won't keep you here for too long."

I smiled in relief and nodded to urge him to talk. I was really curious to hear what he had to say.

"So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" I questioned, urging him to get on with it.

I honestly wish he would just say what he needed to so I could get out here. The truth was, I was struggling to be this close to him in such close proximity. To make matters worse, Layla is stirring like crazy.

"I know I've yet to treat you as my mate and for this I apologise. I never wish to mistreat you. However, the concepts of mates never sat well with me. I know this is no excuse for my behaviour, but I wish to inform you of my sorrow before we leave," he started. His eyes staring intently into mine.

I didn't know what to say. Was this supposed to be a good thing?

"It's okay. I don't hold grudges and I understand why you acted the way you did. I do forgive you, but for now I think it's best we remain Alpha and pack member," I replied humbly.

His face scrunched up in wonder and I couldn't help but think about how cute he looked. And then it hit me.

"Wait, what do you mean leave?" I asked, tilting my head slightly.

Adrianno slowly nodded as if he was waiting for me to ask.

"Right. Taylah, a fair few members from the pack as well as me, will be assisting another Alpha at war. To be specific, these two packs have been fighting for decades, and it is time it gets settled. We always uphold our alliances, this will be no different," he said, watching me cautiously as if I were to combust any minute.

I nodded my head slowly and I couldn't help but to feel sad. I know he never treated me well, but at the end of the day, he is still my mate. And I'm destined to care for him.

"Well, Alpha," I started in order to spite him, "I wish you and the pack members only safety. My best wishes for a win."

His eye twitched at being called Alpha yet he remained as stoic as possible.

"I will be leaving my Third In Command and his mate in charge. If you wish to hear about the well-being of the members at war, you will contact them," he finished off.

"Very well, Alpha. Will that be -," he cut me off before I could finish.

"Taylah, please. Call me Adrianno," he pleaded with me.

I took in his gorgeous face and noticed his eyes were swarmed with emotions.

"Alpha, I just -," I was once again cut off.

A loud bang echoed throughout the whole office causing me to gasp and bounce back in fear. My heart rate spiked until I notice Adrianno's hand on his desk.

He had slammed his hand down and his eyes were flashing. I knew this was no joke.

"Adrianno," he said, stalking to me. His teeth were elongated and his wolf's eyes now piercing straight into mine.

I backed up as he stalked closer but that only further encouraged him to keep walking.

"Adrianno," he repeated, until he had me backed up right against the wall. I felt his warm breath fan the side of my face and I dropped eye contact out of fear.

A finger ever so slowly reached out and lifted my chin back up. Sparks shot up my face and it took all my strength to not kiss him right there.

"It is Adrianno, my love. That is it," he whispered softly as he caressed my chin.

I shut my eyes and relished in his warmth. Nothing has ever felt so pleasant.

I nodded my slowly to tell him I understand.

He pressed a light kiss to my forehead and in that moment I truly felt like I had a mate.

"You are mine," he stated, now pressing a kiss to my cheek.

Before I could get a word in, he continued.

"Mine," he repeated and pressed a kiss to my other cheek.

"Mine," he growled lowly, trailing small kisses down the side of my neck.

It was at this moment I remembered exactly how this man viewed me.

"N-no," I whimpered, struggling against his strong chest.

This man rejected me, treated me worse than how he would treat his pack members and all but gave me hell. I wouldn't allow him to get his way this easy.

"I don't care what you say baby girl," he growled slamming me back up against his office door, "Because you're mine. My mate. Forever and always. Mine."

I gasped as I saw his face travelling towards mine. The moment felt so surreal but I couldn't help but give in as his lips collided against mine.

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okay before you all kill me i would just like to say... hi?

i'm really sorry about the long ass wait i'm such a shit human 😩

but my dudes i've had so much shit going on believe me, so like i um kinda graduated?!?!? and i'm in uni now and i'm studying medicine so rest in peace to my social life 🙃

i hope this chapter was worth it

i appreciated every single one of you potatoes and i love you all endlessly

next chappie should be up not long after this once is published x

Xoxo,
Eden <3