TWO

spilled over as I tried to blink them away. 

KATIA HARRIS

In a flash, it all made sense, the mixed emotions, the unsettling feeling and the sudden confusion, I stormed out of the meeting trying my best to fight back tears. Eva   quickly came after me, shooting Tyler stares that were like daggers. Once outside, it dawned on me that my world was crashing around me with a realization that my once beloved Atlanta had become a place I needed to leave, how will I face the pack?, How will I continue at work when every day reminds me of Tyler and how we met? 

      Everything around me suddenly made me unsure how to survive. As I took the long walk home, I came to the conclusion that I needed to leave, I needed to clear my head and put myself together. No way is Tyler going to see me defeated I thought. But where, where could I possibly go? Only one place came to mind, out of Atlanta, back to where it all began for me.  

“Wait up Katia,” I heard Eva running towards me. “Oh, poor girl, come here” she said spreading out her hand and welcoming me in, “it’s alright, you do deserve better, it was important he played his hand now than in the future” Eva said has she patted me on the back. 

      “I know, but I loved him” I said fighting back tears, “I know sweetheart, it’s part of the shit that happens in life, come let’s get out of here” Eva suggested trying her best to put some distance between us and the building while she thought of ways to stir my mind away from it. 

 She hailed a taxi, “just drive” she told the cab man when we got in. 

 “where are we going to?” I  asked still trying to put myself together “well, I can’t have you go home and cry yourself to bed, so I think we should go get high and maybe figure out what to do with Tyler Rogers  tomorrow” she explained as she gave the driver our address. 

KATIA HARRIS  

I stood before Alpha Titan, the Alpha of Maroon fang, trembling slightly. We were in a room that was slightly dark, so that I could hardly make out the furniture in it. The warm glow from the lampshade beside the Alpha’s seat however cast a glow on his face so that I could see his features clearly. 

   His well chiseled face seemed expressionless, like he had been carved by the gods themselves, a male equal to the moon goddess. There was something so powerful about the perfect arch of his dark brows, his unfathomable grey eyes and his slightly upturned lips. Was he smiling, smirking, I couldn’t tell. I only knew that he found something about my presence amusing, he looked almost bored, and yet poised for danger, like he could order my execution in an instant if I got him angry. 

   I had fled my pack after I was betrayed by the male I thought was my mate, and heartbroken, I applied to join the Maroon fang, but now I knew how silly my plan was. Not only was the Maroon fang which was the most powerful pack in the country not in need of new members, but I had heard how much Alpha Titan didn’t trust strangers. He would probably think I was sent by my former pack to spy on him. 

    I took a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves. There was something so powerfully magnetic about the Alpha of Maroon Fang  pack that drew me in and made me feel vulnerable. I felt as though he could see through the petty defenses I had built up since Tyler’s betrayal to most vulnerable emotions. 

    “So tell me why you want to join Maroon Fang pack – and why you think I should accept you?” He asked simply, too casually, as though we were having a normal conversation, but the violent thudding of my heart  made it impossible for me to feel calm. 

    I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. How would he accept my claim that I had come simply because I was heartbroken! 

    My eyes sought out his formidable grey ones in a silent plea. “I want to join your pack, to leave my former pack – because of personal reasons. And I would do anything to get accepted – well almost anything –” 

    “Careful now.” The Alpha said darkly. He got up and came closer to me, his strides purposeful, calculated. I found I myself moving backwards as he came forward.  

   He was by far the most handsome Male I had ever seen, far more handsome than Tyler. But it was not his handsomeness that drew me in, it was the air of danger that surrounded him. He seemed very unpredictable, as though he could kiss you one minute, and then kill you the next. 

    His facial expressions was unreadable, a Greek god carved in marble. His dark hair that was slightly longer than the usual was in mild disarray, as though a female had recently just run her hands through it. Then for some reason, I began to wonder what it would feel like to run my hands through his hair, to have those powerful arms of his hold me, to have him kiss me like – 

    “You’re blushing.” He observed. “May I ask why? Is it because of the reason you wish to leave your pack, or because of what you think you’d have to do to join mine?” 

    “What w . . . what would I have to do?” I found myself stammering. My back hit the wall, and so I couldn’t move backwards anymore. I drew in a sharp breath as he finally reached me. “What would I have to do?” I asked in a more stable voice.    

    “Kiss me.” 

     He crushed his lips to mine before I had any chance to answer, and I was lost in the turmoil of emotions he drew from me. His hands, ever so skillful, feather light moved over my skin, triggering sensitive spots I had long forgotten were there.    

   I tried to think through the fog that was my emotions. What was I doing – I had come to apply to join this Alpha’s pack, I had no business kissing him. But just when I thought I could clear the fog from my brain, his hands moved upwards to cup my sensitive flesh, making whatever protest I would have made end in a moan.    

   Deftly, he unbuttoned my dress 

   “What’s your name love?” His voice was a feather soft whisper in my ears, but I heard the underlining steel in them. He may be kissing me at the moment, but he was still Alpha, and I was an unknown female he did not trust. 

   “Katia . . .” my voice sounded strange, even to my own ears. 

   “Katia . . .” he murmured, “take off your clothes.”