I snap back to reality, realizing the gravity of the situation at hand. Aaron is out of control, punching Regan, each blow laden with rage and hate. "Aaron! What the hell is your problem ? Let him go!" I try to stop him but someone shoves me. I snap. I'm emboldened by fear and anger and I kick him hard on the knee. The man crashes to the floor with a yelp. I rush to Aaron. I'm tired of him and his antics and I really wish he'd disappear. "Let Regan go right now. Are you forgetting he's your Alpha? You're embarrassing me, Aaron Turner!" Regan is battered, his nose broken and bloody and he's incapable of fighting back. Aaron has lost his mind! Is he going to kill his own brother? I panic and grab Aaron with everything in me, about to yank him away from Regan but as soon as my hand touch his wrist, a jolt of electrifying current shoot into my body, straight to my heart. It pauses for a moment and now beats erratically, about to implode. I let go of his wrist immediately with a shriek.
"Leticia!" Both of them holler. I look at Aaron in utter shock. Of course I recognize what that meant. I've dreamt of this day my whole life. But Aaron Turner? Why? Why, moon goddess? Why him of all people? He leaves Regan and comes to me, arms out as if he's about to hold me. "You're my mate?" I stumble back, terrified of this discovery, feeling uncertain and unwilling. This must be a joke. A cruel joke.
He reaches for my hands, "Have you... Have you felt it?"
I choke and cough. When I regain my voice back, I snatch my hands from his grasp, "no! No!" I bolt of the villa, combing through the frozen crowd, rushing outside and flagging down any car. I... I just want to get out of here. Aaron catches up with me and grabs my hands again, "Leticia."
Aaron's POV:
She claws at my hands, pushing me away, "get away from me, you psycho! I am not your mate!"
I hold on to her like she's my lifeline and say, "Leticia, you... You can't reject me."
"Why can't I? Oh, I certainly can!" She tries her hardest to wrench her hands away from my grasp even when my claws are boring into her skin.
Anger boils inside me and I scream at her, "why? Why? Because of Regan? How is he better than me? What do you see in him?" She scoffs. "Oh, now, you like Regan. You let him touch you. You allow him... He's not even your mate. I am! We're destined to be together! Forever!"
"Dream on! Let go of me. You're a psycho! You don't deserve a mate. And yes, Regan is a lot better than you could ever be!"
Something primal, possessive takes over me and I push her until her backwards until her back smacks the wall. I sink my growing canines into her neck and she goes limp. When I retract them and look at her, tears gush out of her wide, terrified eyes. I let go of her terrified at my own rage.
«Way to go, Aaron,» my wolf berates me, «way to go.»
I muster up my voice and say, "Leticia..."
She raises a trembling hand and silences me, "don't..." People are congregating outside, watching us. Leticia chokes on her tears and manages, "I never want to see you again." And she flees from me. I can't stop her because I had just marked her against her will—it's something she can't accept. Now, she hates me for that. I have successfully ruined my relationship with her because of my anger, my jealousy, my possessive traits.
"Brother, is that woman really your mate? I... I had no idea. If I knew..." Here comes my brother playing the victim. Everyone now think I have a goddamn problem including Leticia. Hasn't it always been like this? I'm always the villain and Regan is the hero.
Leticia's POV :
I sob in the cab, my cries bouncing off of the walls of the taxi like thunder. The driver has to turn up the radio and the music playing is one of my favorites. Whitney Houston's song which makes me cry harder.
The taxi stops before the bungalow and I search my purse for some change, my vision blurry from tears.
"Don't worry. Keep the money. Just use it and buy a bucket of ice cream. Subscribe to Netflixx and watch comedies. It'll help." He says, his eyebrows raising in pity. I'd have laughed if I'm not an emotional wreck at the moment. I muster some words and thank him. It sounds garbled in my ears. I get out the car and it speeds past. Mommy is waiting outside, on a plastic chair, basking in the cool breeze. Her features harden when she sees me. I burst into aggrieved tears and she shoots up in alarm. I dive into her arms and she clutch me. I weep.
♣ ♣ ♣
By morning, Mommy makes me lobster rolls—one of my favorites—and I eat it with puffy eyes and tear-streaked face.
"Did Adam upset you?"
I snap, my emotions a goddamn rollercoaster. "Who else can turn me like this? That bastard Aaron Turner. He's a psycho. He... He marked me against my will!"
"Is he your mate?"
"I reject him as my mate. He's not my mate, Mommy."
"But, he already marked you, hasn't he? You can't reject him now."
"I really hate him," I cry, loads of lobster meat in my mouth and I sound like a petulant child throwing a tantrum or rather, a little girl whose heart was shattered for the first time. I wasn't like this when Zephyr dumped me. Why does he have to be different? Why does he have to turn me like this? I hate him. I really hate him. "Ever since he came into my life I have not been sane."
"Tell me," she shifts closer and touches my cheek, "tell me, how does he make you feel?"
"Like I'm going crazy." I sniff. "Like I'm walking on eggshells around him. All. The. Time. I feel like, I don't feel safe around him. He's not right for me. Mother Goddess is punishing me. He's not the mate I asked for. I hate him." Tears cascade down my cheeks. The lobster taste like wax now and I break down. Mommy hugs me and pat my back. I think about my feisty sister, my overprotective father—how they are not here to console me and I wail.