Spellbound by His Once Rejected Mate

8 years later

8 years later.

Mellione’s POV

I’m not even sure how time flies by but before I can even blink, I’m at the airport, waiting for my luggage while a seven year old is clinging to my arm like I’m the last safe haven on Earth. I sigh and look at the child, with gentle eyes. I’m sure none of us needed a scene right now.

“I promise, There is someone out there, waiting for us and they didn’t forget to come pick us up.” I offer the child a tender smile and grab my luggage before walking out with him still latched on my arm, unsure if he was supposed to trust my words or not.

But lo and behold! There is indeed someone waiting for us as we exit the main gate and as soon as my father sees us, he starts waving like a madman. When the child finally releases my hand I can feel my blood circulating again. I don’t even get the time to tell him to slow down, before he jumps at Marcus and the man catches him with a big smile.

When I reach them as well, Marcus offers me a happy smile, before kissing the child’s cheek and pulling me into a hug with one of his arms.

“How was your flight?” he smiles at me as he takes my luggage too and starts walking, guiding us to the car.

“Exhausting. “I murmur, eyeing the careless child who already started speaking Marcus’ ear off. “I truly didn’t know what I signed myself for-” I add with a gentle smile as the child eyes me happily.

None of them seem to catch my comment, both too excited to finally see each other again. So I just swallow it back and get inside the car.

“Everybody is waiting for you! Old nanna has a whole list of symptoms she wants to discuss with you when you get back!” Marcus tells me with a playful smile as he secures the child’s seat and gets in the driver's seat while I open a bag of snacks for the little one.

“Of course she is-” I murmur to myself as I watch the blonde boy munch on his pretzels.

Despite recurrent visits home, this felt like one of the most dreaded ones. My birthday is tomorrow and there are plenty of memories linked to a certain birthday of mine. Some fuzzy and uncertain, but some vivid and still aching in a strange, still burning, way.

I didn’t want to come back. There was nothing left for me back with the pack. I was finally stable by myself, with a job, a small rented apartment, a rather peaceful and normal life, with not too much drama. The city was more than I could ever imagine. Maybe a little too agitated, but definitely it made its way into my heart and leaving it all behind seemed too much for me. Maybe this time I’ll finally get the balls to tell my father about my plans. Not as if I had it all laid out, but-

The storms of thoughts continue to consume me for a while longer, but when Kaius’ little hand grabs my hand and brings it in his lap, they all melt away.

The entire ride home, Marcus goes on and on about what a lovely thing it would be to finally have me back home and have someone to help him deal with everything like back in the day, how lovely it will be to have a new doctor to aid the pack in need and-ugh! Making it all harder for me to actually break it to him. Break it to him that I had a more than decent job at one of the biggest hospitals in the country and that I had no will of giving it up just to end up stuck with a small community that will know everything about me.

But I suck it. I suck it for a few more days, for the sake of having a happy celebration and a modest birthday for once.

***

I’m not even sure I get to even sip a full mouth of water since we got to the pack house, because people are constantly swarming me with questions about random moles and what not. When I finally manage to tear away from the crowd, I make my way to the porch where me and Kaius can enjoy a bit of dinner before I tuck him in. He’s unusually silent and I’d pay everything I have to know what he’s thinking about. He seemed troubled ever since we arrived at the pack house, despite visiting several times before.

I take a look at the small watch on my wrist and sigh. Annais wasn't here yet, and thankfully I hadn’t run into Zeke yet. Yet, I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. I managed to avoid him most of the other times I visited, but it was destined to happen at some point, wasn’t it?

In the distance, a car engine revs up and when I look up, I notice two black SUVs making their way to the parking lot of the pack house. Suddenly, I feel nauseated and terrified. Oh! So damn terrified. Why? I wasn’t sure either, but panic swells inside of my chest and I can’t control it anymore. The first cars stops abruptly and when the doors opens, my heart skips a beat.

Vetiver and tobacco immediately hit me like a damn truck and I get up fidgety. Vetiver and tobacco were something I only felt in my dreams during the last few years and it all goes back to one person.

Seth steps out of the car, from the driver's seat. He’s wearing black. A very modern old money all black attire that screams Seth in every possible way. His ashy hair seems longer than I remember it, his cheeks are covered with a short trimmed beard and between his lips, a cigar. He’s several yards away from us and I can clearly hear his heartbeat from here. His heartbeat, his scent, the way he pauses while he looks around and then his eyes land on me- all make me want to run. In which direction? I’m not as sure. It feels electric and maddening. I feel fidgety and when he plucks the cigar from between his lips and his eyes move to the blonde child beside me, my heart sinks.

Kaius suddenly gets up.

“Daddy!” he yells and I feel every bit of color drain from my cheeks when he starts running towards the driveway.

“Kaius!” I find myself bursting out as I try to catch him.

Seth stiffens and I feel like he’s about to get back into his car and drive away forever. Just thinking about this makes me want to puke. His morbidly cold eyes darken and I notice how he takes a small step back when the child nears him. But Kaius doesn’t seem phased. He passes by Seth as if he didn’t even exist and jumps at the blonde man that exits from the car behind Seth’s.

“I push him out of my damn v****a and look at him!” A very amused Annais is heard as she exits the car too. “Daddy is still the most important person in the world!” Her voice is muffled by the maddening heartbeat I hear as I stop only a few steps away from the small group.

Seth’s eyes are pinned on Kaius and Callix and I don’t need to be told to know he is utterly confused. On the other hand, mine are pinned on him. It seems that I have forgotten how scary he can be. His shoulders seem larger and his overall build makes me feel smaller in comparison. But now, now that I see him again, something falls right into place. I’m not sure how I missed it all this time, but this man right here, the man that I had drunkenly offered myself to all those years ago, was my mate. I try to swallow past the lump that blocked my throat and move my eyes to the small family behind Seth, watching as Kaius reaches for Annais. Annais begged me to have Kaius fly with me so she can have a few hours to herself and her mate. And I gave in. Over and over again, every time I visited. What can I say? The child is absolutely adorable!

Annais turns to look at us, her smile slowly fading as she notices the state I am in. She slowly peels away from Callix and Kaius and takes a few steps forward to meet me. But she doesn’t make it past Seth, who stops her abruptly, his eyes meeting mine now. A bit overprotective as usual, Callix immediately moves to her side and wraps an arm around her shoulder, knowing better than to make a scene.

The three walk past me and Annais whispers a silent “I’ll see you later” before Callix drags her away, despite her disapproval. He leans to her ear and whispers something, eyeing me and Seth, and a sudden shock seems to take Annais aback. Callix smiles and continues pulling her away from us, despite Annai’s silent pleas of leaving her here to witness whatever she thought was going to happen.

Soon, I hear the main door of the pack house open and close and I know we’re alone. And suddenly I feel like a doe in the headlights. Seth closes the distance between us, stopping mere inches away. His head tilts to the side as he eyes me with half lidded eyes and before I can say anything, his finger hooks under my chin and forces me to look up. When his skin makes contact with mine, a sudden rush of longing and need washes over me, leaving me breathless. Was this mine or his? His icy cold eyes pin me with fierceness and I feel naked and alone once again. And like the last time this happened, I felt scared. Was he going to reject me? Would he accept such a pitiful wolfless thing for a Luna?!

Over the deafening heartbeat I keep hearing ringing in my ears, I pick a low growl reverberating from his chest.

“Mate-” he growls the word in the most tantalizing way possible, and I feel my knees weaken, as a spark lights in his eyes.

Seth’s cold hand leaves my chin and travels to the side of my neck, his fingers sinking into my hair, before pulling me roughly into a kiss. Shivers run down my spine, as I find myself pressed against him, my hands squeezed between us as his tongue slips between my lips and finds mine. The tongue piercing I remember on his tongue is gone and I’m curious to see if he kept his ear ones. Passionate was not the right word for how this all felt. He felt like he was starving. And I was not complaining about it. All those sleepless nights spent thinking about his sleeping face next to mine, all those maddening thoughts I couldn’t erase about him, about his touch, about his scent- they all made sense now.

When I want to pull away from him, he is anything but happy about it. We break the kiss, but his other hand immediately rests on my lower back, keeping me against him.

“Don’t you dare think I’m letting you go anytime soon-” his forehead rests against mine and his eyes close. His voice is low and sultry and now, I’m not so sure I want to pull away from him anymore.