One Night Mate

Chapter Six

Alpha Ivan’s POV 

“Put ‘em up! You dirt-eating coward!” I call out at the top of my voice, pulling my silver gun from my holster.

I pull the trigger repeatedly, aiming my imaginary shot at the stuffed toy in the corner of the room. 

“Oh no! Here comes the old sheriff! I need my horse!” I exclaim loudly, galloping around the room. 

I accidentally bump into the table, causing a vase to fall onto the floor, shattering into tiny little pieces. 

Panic settles over me as I stop dead in my tracks. 

“WHAT THE HELL IS ALL THAT NOISE!?” my father roars from the other end of the hallway. 

My eyes widen in fear as I drop to the floor to scrape the pieces of glass together frantically. 

The door in the corner flies open and I dart my eyes upwards, relieved to see my mother looking back at me. 

“Ivan!! What have you done?!” she snaps, rushing over to examine the mess. 

I continue to claw at the the sharp debris on the floor and a piece of glass cuts through the tip of my finger but I don’t even feel it. 

My mom runs out of the room and comes back with a small brush and dustpan. 

“Move!” she orders me, frantically sweeping up the mess left on the floor. 

She dashes over to the bin, scraping the contents inside. 

Just then the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway reaches my ears. 

“Don’t say a word!” mom snarls at me, tucking the small brush and dustpan into a nearby cupboard. 

“Monika! Monika, what the hell is going on?” my father’s voice bellows as he strides into the room. 

I stand up straight and lock my hands together behind my back. 

“Nothing Serg! You go back to work dear. It was just Ivan playing around. Nothing to worry about.” she reassures him, walking over to stroke his arm lovingly. 

My father’s stern blue eyes make their way to me as I stand as still as a statue. Too frightened to move… too frightened to breathe.

“What have I told you about these silly games, boy? You are a wolf, act like one. Now take those damn cowboy toys off of him Monika and put them in the trash.” he orders as he stalks back out of the room. 

“Of course dear!” she says obediently before we are left in silence. 

Her shoulders visibly slump and she turns to look at me. 

“Ivan come here, give me the toys.” she demands, putting her hands out. 

I pull off my beloved gun and holster sadly and hand them over to her. 

“You realise that you can’t have these back now and it’s your own fault.” 

I nod my head and look down at the floor. 

Her eyes then make their way to my hand, which is smeared in blood from the cut on the top of my finger. 

“Oh my Goddess, sit down at the table before you bleed all over the carpet boy!” 

I do as I’m told as she rummages around in the cupboard to find a first aid box. 

She walks over to take a seat beside me and gently lifts my hand in hers. 

The gentle contact makes me relax a little. 

“I didn’t mean it, mom.” I say sadly. 

“I know Ivan. I know.” she replies as she cleans me up and applies the bandaid. 

***

Fucking hell my head. 

My eyes snap open and I look around the room drowsily. 

The bed is empty. 

I'm still lying fully clothed except for the fact that my trousers are unbuttoned. 

I fasten them quickly and sit on the edge of the bed, leaning forward to rest my throbbing head in my hands. 

I hear noise coming from outside the room and freeze at the sound of her gentle humming. 

I run my hand over my face and stand up to walk towards the bedroom door. 

I briefly catch sight of myself in the mirror and spot that my blonde hair is sticking up in different directions. 

I pat it down quickly and run my hand through it to set it back in its usual place. 

I open the door and peer into a small open-plan living area and kitchen. 

My eyes shift around the place and I notice that it’s a bit of a mess. Broken s**t litters the floor and I step between the c*****e to make my way further into the room. 

The humming sound stops and I flick my eyes over to the kitchen to see her staring back at me. 

My mate. 

“Good morning.” she says calmly, with a small smile. 

“Morning.” 

There are a couple of moments of silence and the air between us is f*****g suffocating. 

“Do you want some coffee?” she asks, nodding her head to a cup on the table. 

I nod my head in reply and walk over to pick it up. 

I wince at the sound of broken glass crushing beneath my shoes. 

We stand there and drink our coffee in silence before she turns to rinse out her cup in the sink. 

I scan over her and notice that she looks a damn sight better than me. 

She has clearly showered already, her glossy hair is pulled back into that sleek long ponytail once again. She is wearing a pair of black leggins and a sports bra with a grey zip-up sweater thrown over the top. She looks nice, I think to myself briefly before I push the thought from my mind. 

I tear my eyes away from her and look around the room again, my eyes settling near the doorframe, where a broken vase lies smashed in pieces. The broken shards glint in the sunlight which is streaming in from a nearby window. 

“So… about last night…” she starts, breaking me from my trance. 

I spin around to cut her off. 

“The s*x was amazing.” I say honestly as her eyes widen. 

“Uhh yeah it was.” she laughs slightly. 

She opens her mouth to talk again but I can’t listen to what is going to come next. I have to make my intentions clear from the get go. 

“It was still a one-time thing. It’s not going to happen again, so can we drop it there?” I ask rudely. 

She smirks a little, dropping her head as she shakes it from side to side. 

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch. I wasn’t going to beg you to claim me.” she says, narrowing her eyes. “Actually, if you had let me finish, I was about to say I have a class to teach. Then I have to clean up this mess and pack. I was going to ask you to leave.” 

I take another drink of the hot coffee and sit it down on the table. 

“Oh.” I say, furrowing my brows. “You were going to ask me to leave?” I question in slight shock. 

She shrugs her shoulders, looking at me as though I’ve gone completely mad. 

“Yeah… one night. That was our agreement, right?” 

I nod my head in reply. 

“It was but I thought you might… never mind.”

“You thought wrong it would seem… I don’t know where you get off thinking that I want you more than you want me. Let me make this crystal clear to you… I don’t want you. At all.” she says determinedly, looking into my eyes. 

“Then I guess we are all good then.” I snap back at her. 

Our eyes stay connected for a few moments, there is a silent battle raging between us and neither of us is willing to back down. 

She eventually throws in the towel. 

“Asshole.” she comments under her breath as she walks over to the sofa and lifts her gym bag, which she slings over her shoulder. 

“Let yourself out.” she mumbles before turning to walk out of the room. 

I stand there in silence, looking back at the closed door. 

My chest tightens just a little and I grit my teeth in annoyance at myself. 

Did it just irritate me that she walked out of the room without looking back? That she didn’t seem at all bothered? 

Fuck, that’s pathetic. 

I push the foreign feelings aside and replace my mask of indifference before I stalk out into the empty corridor and head back towards my own room. 

I walk downstairs and turn around the corner to see Jace standing outside my room banging on the door. 

Fuck this. This is the last thing I need. 

I turn my body immediately, trying to avoid him seeing me but it appears that I’m already too late. 

“Ivan! Ivan we have classes man.” he shouts, walking towards me. 

His annoyingly loud voice pierces my brain and causes me to wince once again. 

I turn back and let out a sigh as I pull out my keys in defeat. I ignore his stares as he looks over me, clearly noticing that I’m in the same clothes as last night. I unlock the door and head inside and he follows me. Uninvited. As f*****g usual. 

“Jace I need a shower, I’ll be there soon.” I snap at him angrily. 

He doesn’t sense the tone or, more likely, he does but he ignores it anyway. 

“Yeah, I bet you do, you dirty dog. I guess you owe me a beer.” he chuckles. 

“Why?” I ask in confusion, emptying the s**t from my pockets onto the table in the corner of the room. 

“For being your wingman, obviously.” 

I had forgotten about that part actually. After we sat down to drink together everything else just kind of faded into the background. 

“Yeah, whatever. Listen, can you tell Trev that I’ll be down in five?” 

“Yeah sure. See you down there and a word of advice bud… maybe try sticking a smile on your face when you see the pretty instructor again. I mean, it might seem like a crazy notion to you but women don’t generally enjoy being scowled at the morning after the night before.” he says, walking backwards towards the door with a smirk. 

“f**k off.” I state in annoyance before heading into the bathroom and flicking on the shower. 

***

I run full throttle between the trees, my wild eyes trained on stalking my prey. 

I’m gaining on him. I know that I’m going to catch him any minute now. 

I snap at his hind legs as he struggles to create more distance between us. 

I’m so focused on grabbing him that I miss the log protruding out from the forest floor beneath. 

I stumble over it slightly before regaining my balance. The set back doesn’t slow me down though. If anything, it just makes my rage inside grow. 

I snap again at his leg, eventually managing to get a good grip of it with my teeth. 

I yank him backwards with all my might, causing him to stop abruptly. I roll over the top of his body and land on my four legs, snarling at him as though he is a hated enemy. 

Fear passes over his eyes as he takes in my wild aggression and he begins to back off slowly but I don’t stop taking slow steps toward him. 

His eyes dart to the side and I know he is considering running again. 

No f*****g chance. 

I pounce on him quickly, bringing him to the ground with a large thud. I pin him down, snapping my jaws viciously and he immediately submits to me, lying still on the forest floor. 

“Ivan… Ivan.” I look to the side to see Jace standing there with his hands up. 

“Stop. You should shift back now.” he says, his face more serious than I’ve ever seen it before. 

I let go of the recruit and take a few steps back, deciding to take his advice and shift back to my human form. 

Jace looks at me with concern for a moment. 

“What are you looking at?” I say aggressively as I stalk off through the trees. 

“That was extreme Ivan. You were losing control. You nearly scared the kid half to death.” he says. 

I don’t answer but I can’t deny the fact that he is right. 

I don’t know what came over me. 

Ever since I woke up this morning I’ve just felt this anger inside and I don’t quite know what to do with it. 

Again my mind drifts back to my mate. 

This is the reason why I don’t want one. 

I don’t want to be changed by this stupid f*****g bond. I don’t want it to push me into being someone that I don’t even recognise. Meeting her is already beginning to mess with my mind and I can’t have it. 

I won’t have it. 

The academy comes into view through the thick of the trees and I open the clothes box to grab a pair of shorts. 

Jace follows behind me like my unwanted sidekick. 

“The exercise isn’t over Jace.” I say, turning to point back towards the forest. 

“Nah it is. You caught the last recruit. Only two of them made it back to base without getting caught.” he says. 

“Why am I not surprised?” I snort. 

Just then, there is rustling in the trees and I see two wolves stalk out calmly at the other side of the clearing. 

The first is a glossy dark brown colour. 

I know straight away that it’s her. I can sense her presence. 

She doesn’t seem to notice me as she shifts into her human form. The second wolf follows her lead and shifts, to reveal the man from the club last night. 

They seem to be having their own amusing conversation as she laughs lightly at something he says. 

My fist tightens automatically at the sight of them both standing there. f*****g naked. 

The man reaches into the clothes box and puts on a pair of shorts.

He then pulls out a T-shirt which he holds out towards her but when she goes to take it, he purposely drops it on the grass with a cheeky wink. 

And that’s when I f*****g lose it. 

I charge towards them at a rate of knots, I can see nothing but red. 

How dare he stand there and look at what’s mine? 

How f*****g dare he! 

As I get closer, I see that they both notice my approach but it’s too late to escape. 

Her eyes widen in shock and she drops down to the grass to pick up the discarded T-shirt which she throws over her head. 

“What are you do-“ she starts frantically but I’m not listening. 

I crane my arm back and punch the guy in the face with all the force I can muster. 

He crumbles, dropping to the ground as he tries to get his bearings. 

“STOP!!” she screams out angrily, grabbing at my arm but I shrug her off quickly. 

Rage is the only thing I have right now inside of me. 

I pin the asshole to the ground, punching him once again. 

“What the f**k is wrong with you!?” Jace bellows as he pulls me back with the help of my mate. 

Between them both they manage to force me down to the ground where I land with a thud. 

They force me on to my stomach as I thrash against them both uncontrollably. 

“f*****g calm down!” Jace demands as he pressed his knee into my back and holds my arms steady. 

I take a breath and it’s then that I feel the sparks that trickle up my arm slowly. 

I cast my eyes to the side and see her staring at me in a mixture of shock and confusion as she helps Jace hold me down in place. 

I immediately stop struggling against them and let my body relax into the grass. 

She lets go of me and runs towards her friend who is nursing a broken nose. He is dazed, bewildered and covered in blood. 

“Come on.” she says to him calmly, lifting his arm and guiding him up onto his feet. 

I watch as she leads him away. Her eyes looking back at me briefly before she disappears inside the building. 

“Ivan. Tell me what the f**k is going on? Tell me now or-“ 

“She’s my mate.” I concede quickly, unable to sustain the energy to fight with him anymore. 

He lets me go and stands up to look down at me pitifully. 

I jump to my feet and brush myself off, walking away to run my hand through my hair. 

“Wow, I had no idea… but you need to calm down. This is a good thing. Is it not?” 

I shake my head in response and put my hands on my hips as I get my breath back. 

No, it’s not good. 

It’s not f*****g good at all.