Chapter 56: Mate Reveal

Aurora

The hours ticked by achingly fast.

I sat at home, pondering whether or not I should play sick and not go on the date. But then I picture Max getting hurt by my ghosting him, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Max had been nothing but sweet to me from the very first time I’d met him.

He’d looked out for me, had given me a shoulder to cry on when Wolfgang treated me—his own mate—like garbage.

Why couldn’t I have been mated to Max? Why was the Moon Goddess so eager to keep Wolfgang and I together?

It was clear as day that he didn’t want me. He had only acknowledged me recently because I might be of royal descent, which might make him king of the werewolves.

Nothing else.

~Knock, knock.~ Miss Kala tapped lightly on my door.

“I’m done for the day, Lady Aurora. I’ll be heading back to the mansion now. Aren’t you supposed to meet Beta Max in a while?” she asked me.

My stomach churned with anxiety.

“Yeah, I’ll be out right after you to meet him, Mrs. Kala. Take care on your way back,” I said, trying to appear nonchalant.

“All right, dearie. See you tomorrow. Take care of yourself. Make sure that Beta Max walks you to the bus station when you go to pick up your friend.”

With that, she closed the room behind her.

After a moment, I filled myself with courage and stood up, then grabbed my phone and purse and headed out as well, ready to get this date with Max over with.

I walked down the street and over to the mall. Max had said he’d meet me at the west entrance.

I had no idea what we’d be doing, but I hoped it wasn’t anything too corny.

I really didn’t like the idea of a romantic scene, where we’d sit around a table at some fancy restaurant for a fancy dinner.

I didn’t want to fill Max with false hope.

It took me exactly thirty-five minutes to get to the mall. Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck by the time I got there.

I felt like every eye was on me, like they were judging me for meeting with another male when I’m currently mated to the alpha.

But there was no way they could know that I was on a date. For all they knew, I was just going to the mall with the beta.

~“Sure they don’t. No one is paying us any attention, Rory,”~ Rhea chipped in, trying to reassure me that this wasn’t a bad idea.

I was so deep in my thoughts I didn’t realize Max had arrived until he patted me on my shoulder, startling me.

“Someone’s jumpy,” Max chuckled.

“No, I’m not. You just caught me off guard,” I said, trying to hide the fact that I was nervous.

“Yeah, sure. Tell yourself that.” He ruffled my head as if I was a kid before walking off, making me run a bit to catch up with him.

“So, you ready?” he asked.

I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat. “Where are we going?” I asked, terrified of the answer.

“You’ll see,” he said with a wolfish grin, still walking.

“You could at least give me a hint,” I tried once more, but he only shook his head.

We walked through the first floor of the mall and headed to the escalators.

When we got to the second floor, he led me until the end of a corridor, then we went up another flight of stairs to the third floor.

I racked my brain to remember if there were any romantic places on this floor, but all I could remember was the food court and the game zone.

Max marched straight to the game zone.

“We’re here,” he said.

“Really?” I said, immediately regretting my words.

The last thing that I wanted him to think was that I’d been expecting something extravagant or romantic.

“Yeah. I thought about it, and I decided I didn’t want to put you through an uncomfortable situation. You are a mated wolf after all, and to our alpha nonetheless.”

Max smirked. “So I thought we could spend the day here, playing games, and then maybe later, if you are up to it, we could hit the ice rink. I heard they opened one here.”

He rambled on, scratching his head. I realized he was a little nervous, too.

I couldn’t help but think about how sweet it was that he had thought of all this. At that moment, I deeply wished that Max had been my mate, and not Wolfgang.

But nothing is ever as it is planned. Only the Moon Goddess knows the reasons behind her actions.

“I think that’s an awesome idea. Plus, I think I can totally kick your ass at skee-ball,” I challenged, holding my arm up in a tight fist.

Max roared in laughter. “Ooh, you’re on!”

He went over to the ticket booth and bought some tokens for us to play.

Needless to say, I had a wonderful time with Max. We spent the rest of the evening at the game room, and played every single game in the place.

And a few hours later, we found ourselves in the mostly empty ice rink, racing each other.

“I win. That makes seven out of four,” I said triumphantly as I skidded over the finish line we had made by tying my scarf to a pole.

“I still don’t get how the hell are you so fast on those short legs of yours,” Max huffed.

He bent over to catch his breath before falling back on the cold ice floor flat on his back.

We had been racing non-stop since we stepped into the rink.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged.

It really was incredible that I was able to win against someone as tall and strong as the beta.

I had never been agile or quick when competing in sports back in school, but somehow lately I’d become faster and more dexterous.

I’d first noticed it during my fight with Klaus.

I shuddered at the memory.

But I’d felt the power again later when I stood up to Tallulah.

~“That’s because you are one hell of a person,”~ chimed in Rhea.

I rolled my eyes at her comment as I offered Max my hand to help him up, but right at that moment, someone had bumped into me from behind, causing me to fall.

I had closed my eyes, expecting to feel pain from crashing into the hard ice, but instead found myself caged and secure in a strong embrace.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in Max’s arms as he kept me from hitting the floor.

Needless to say, the position was very compromising. Our faces were mere inches away from each other. I could feel his breath fan my face.

“You okay there, Rory?” he asked.

I saw as his eyes flicker between my eyes and my lips.

This was bad.

“I…uh…yeah,” I quickly scrambled from off of him.

“I am so sorry, Luna! Are you alright? Look at what you did, Amy, say sorry to the Luna and the Beta,” a lady said, scolding a child no older than eight.

“I’m sorry, Luna,” the little girl said, playing with her fingers, her little brows coming together in a frown.

“It’s okay,” I said, patting her head.

Her mother and she both bowed their heads, then apologized once more before leaving.

Max and I stood there in uncomfortable silence. We had been having so much fun until now that I had completely forgotten that we were on a date.

“Sorry about that,” I said to break the silence.

“It’s okay. Are you hungry? We should go get something to eat. It’s already past eight,” he said, looking at his watch.

“What?!” I shouted.

Everyone in the rink paused to look at me.

“Oh my Goddess, she’s gonna kill me,” I said. I practically flew out of the rink to get my skates off.

“What do you mean? Who’s gonna kill you?” Max was already on Beta Mode.

“Sorry, Max. My best friend is coming home today, and I’m supposed to pick her up at the bus station.” I tied my shoelaces so quickly I wasn’t even sure if they were done correctly and grabbed my bag.

“Thanks for the day, Max. I really had a lot of fun,” I called before darting out of the game court.

It would take me at least forty minutes to walk to the bus station.

Emma was going to flip out on me, and I would never hear the end of her ranting about me being late to get her.

“Rors, wait! I’ll take you to the station in my car,” Max said, easily catching up with me.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to,” I said. I really didn’t want to spend more time with him.

It was already awkward as it was.

“It’s alright. I’ll take you there; it’ll be much faster. Besides, I’m guessing your friend is coming with bags, and last I checked, you didn’t have a car.”

He wiggles his keys in front of me. And he was right.

“Fine,” I said.

He grinned and led me through the parking lot to where his Jeep was parked. It was a Wrangler model, all black with huge, rimmed wheels.

I hopped in the passenger’s seat, and we drove off toward the bus station.

I pictured Emma fuming as she waited for me at the station. Thank Goddess the drive over to the station was shorter.

Max parked in front of the entrance which was devoid of any other cars.

“Thanks again, Max,” I said to him. I reached to open my door, but he stopped me.

“Rory, I know I said I wouldn’t put any pressure on you but…” he started to say.

~“Oh no. Here it comes,”~ Rhea said.

“Max, I had an awesome day with you. I laughed more than I have in months but, I’m truly sorry.

I took a deep breath. “I don’t want to fill you with false hope,” I started to continue, but the ringing of my cellphone cut me off.

“I’m sorry,” I said before answering the call.

“Hel…”

I couldn’t even get the word out before Emma’s voice came blasting through.

“WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!”

“I’m right outside, Em. I was about to step in when you called.” I mouthed “sorry” to Max and hopped out, then dashed into the station.

I heard Max call out to me, but I didn’t look back.

“Where are you? I don’t see you!” Emma cried over the phone. “I bet you forgot about picking me up and fell asleep!”

“I swear, I’m right here.”

I saw her from a distance and waved my hands so she could see me.

Then I ran up to her and bent over, resting my hands on my knees to catch my breath.

“I’m sorry, Em. I got caught up in something else,” I said.

She didn’t respond.

“Emma?” I raised my head to look at her, but her eyes were trained on someone behind me.

“…ate…” she said, barely above a whisper.

“What?” I asked.

I straightened and turned to see who she was looking at.

Max stood there.

They both repeated their last words.

The last words I would have expected.

“Mate.”