Sophia’s POV
“Come on, Fia,” my brother sighed. “We are late.”
I turned around to look at him. He was leaning on the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Why are you waiting for me?” I asked. “You can go downstairs. I will be there soon.”
Lex rolled his eyes at me. “I am not leaving you alone. Hurry up.”
“Fine,” I mumbled as I bend down to zip up my boots.
I was a little bit nervous. Stella kept stirring and I could feel the tension radiating off her.
‘What’s wrong?’ I asked her for what felt like a millionth time today.
‘I don’t know,’ she mumbled. ‘Hurry up, Sophia.’
I furrowed my eyebrows and stood back up.
Why was she so nervous? Why was she hurrying me up?
“Done?” Lex asked, making me look at him.
I nodded and took a deep breath.
“What’s wrong?” he asked and I could hear a hint of worry in his voice.
“I don’t know,” I mumbled. “I’m a little bit nervous.”
I approached my brother and he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
“Don’t be, Fia,” he said, giving me a small smile. “You can leave whenever you want to, okay?”
I nodded and smiled back at him.
Lex moved his arm away from my shoulders and took my hand in his. He led me toward the stairs. The further we walked, the more Stella stirred.
What the hell was wrong with her?
“Why is Stella so tense?” Lex asked, looking down at me.
Axel probably told him.
“I don’t know,” I mumbled. “She’s been like that the whole morning.”
Lex furrowed his eyebrows and squeezed my hand tighter.
I took a deep breath as we started walking down the stairs.
Something smelt nice. Was it a new air refresher? It smelt like coffee and vanilla. I took a deep breath, letting the scent soothe me. My mom chose well this time. Those were my two favorite scents.
Lex and I were almost at the bottom of the stairs when Stella stirred and whined.
I felt eyes on me and I looked to my right.
The world stopped spinning.
A tall, muscular man was standing by the front door. His eyes were fixed on me. My whole body trembled. Stella purred. My scents were overwhelmed by him.
His dark brown eyes sparkled. His muscles clenched. His dark hair was perfect and it looked so soft. I wanted to run my fingers through it. I wanted to bury my nose into it and take a deep breath.
The scent was coming off him.
He was my mate.
Stella’s excitement almost made me jump up and down.
“Mate,” I mumbled at the same time he did.
“Mate?” Lex exclaimed and I could hear the confusion in his voice.
My mate moved. He wanted to approach me. I wanted him to. I wanted to touch him.
A quiet growl escaped me when my dad stopped him. Lex pulled me behind him, and I couldn’t see my mate anymore.
“Mate?” I heard my dad’s angry voice.
“Let me go!” my mate spoke, making me shiver. “She is my mate. You can’t keep me from her!”
His voice was deep and pleasurable. It was like velvet, rich and smooth, with a subtle roughness that added a touch of masculinity. His voice made me want to listen and follow. I wanted him to keep talking. I wanted to listen to him forever.
“Get her out of here, Alex,” my dad said, making my heart skip a beat.
No. I didn’t want to go. Why didn’t my dad let my mate come to me?
“Are you fucking kidding me?!” my mate shouted. “You can’t do this!”
I wanted to go to him, but Alex picked me up and rushed upstairs.
“Let me go!” I shouted, trying to get out of my brother’s arms.
His hold on me only tightened.
“Stop it, Sophia,” Lex growled. “You can’t go to him.”
I heard shouting from downstairs. I heard my mate yelling. I heard my dad telling him that he couldn’t go to me.
Mom? I mind-linked her. What is going on?
Don’t worry, honey. My mom said calmly. I will talk to your dad. He is just surprised, that’s all.
But why? I asked. Who is he, mom?
I didn’t recognize my mate. I didn’t know who he was.
He is Alpha Hunter. My mom said. He is Alpha Nathan’s son.
My heart stopped beating.
Alpha Nathan’s son? The same man who tried to take my mom away from my dad?
‘Hunter,’ Stella purred.
Lex walked into my dad’s office and put me down. He shut the door and started pacing around. He tangled his fingers into his hair and took a deep breath.
“Lex...,” I mumbled, but he stopped me immediately.
“No, Sophia,” he said, looking up at him. “You are not going anywhere near that man.”
My heart clenched painfully.
I understood why Lex and my dad didn’t want me near him, but he was my mate. I wanted to talk to him. I needed to talk to him.
“He is my mate,” I said quietly.
Lex growled and started pacing around the office again. I watched as he clenched his fists repeatedly.
“His father is an insane bastard,” Lex said angrily. “His son is probably the same. He can’t be trusted. We can’t allow this.”
Stella tensed up. I growled.
Lex looked at me and raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t, Sophia,” he said. “You know that I am right.”
“We don’t know him,” I argued. “He could be different than his father.”
Lex approached me and placed his hands on my shoulders. He bent down to look into my eyes.
“His father tried to take our mom away,” Lex said, gritting his teeth. “His father tried to kill aunt Daisy and Mason.”
My heart felt like it was being stabbed repeatedly.
My dad’s office door burst open. Mason and Mike ran inside.
“Is it true?” Mason growled loudly as he approached me and grabbed my arm.
“Yes,” Lex said as he looked at him. “You know the whole story?”
“What story?” Mike asked. “Who do we need to beat up?”
Mason nodded and pulled me into a hug. All of us ignored Mike.
“I am sorry, Soph,” he mumbled. “You deserve a better mate.”
I wrapped my arms around my cousin and let the tears fall down my cheeks.
They didn’t know him. I didn’t know him. They were talking about him like he was the one who tried to take my mom and kill my aunt. Would they even let me meet him? Would they even allow him to show us that he wasn’t his father?
Stella whined.
She knew the answer. We both did.