7. Retract your claws kitten

“You’ll have to repeat that” I choke.

He can’t be serious. Who in their right mind proposes such a thing? It's completely absurd. He has surely lost his goddamn mind.

He doesn’t respond to me. Just raises his perfectly shaped eyebrow. As if he were challenging me to continue pretending that I hadn’t heard him.

“Shit!” I mumble. Staring down at my heels in thought.

A million thoughts race through my mind. Making it hard to keep up with each one.

The last and only time I had been in a sort of mating, it had been a love match. At least that’s what I had thought and it hadn’t ended well for me.

What he was proposing on the other hand was a business deal. It was bound to go horribly wrong.

Could I honestly enter into such a mating, after I had been burned? Then being shoved aside once my usefulness had ended.

The familiar pain that has a grip on my heart emerges. I stamp it down. Refusing to give it reign. It only serves as a reminder of how broken I am.

“For a woman you sure curse like a sailor” he says flatly.

I look up and glare at him. Not understanding how cursing has anything to do with what we were discussing. Or what it had to do with me being woman.

I retort angrily. Giving him a glimpse of just how colorful my vocabulary is.

“If you hate my cursing that much, then what the hell am I doing here then? If you’re going to waste my time then you can take back your stupid offer and shove it up your freaking ass, you arrogant jerk”

If I was being honest. I was on edge. Being here with the ex-mate of my nemesis and with him prepositioning me. While fighting the desire to strangle him, was messing with my head.

“Retract your fucking claws kitty” he commands in warning, not liking the disrespect. He was an alpha after all.

I growl getting even more pissed. “I am not a damn kitten and stop telling what to do”

The bastard just smirks as if he finds me cute. He had no idea just how dangerous I currently was.

I sigh deeply after a while. “Let’s just get back to the matter at hand. Why me and what’s in it for you?”

This is what I couldn’t understand. I haven’t had much time to process everything he’s told me but I didn’t understand this one thing. Why me out of all women?

We didn’t know each other. We were basically strangers. So why would he come to me with this preposition? Yes it seems like he hates Miranda as well. But that is the extent of our mutuality.

“It’s simple really. You’ve just had your heart ripped to pieces so there’s no possibility of falling in love with me. This suits me because in order for this to work, love can’t be involved. I want revenge and I’m sure you do too. I’m giving you a chance to get your sanity back and revenge. Besides, I need a mother figure for Jax. Someone who isn’t a fucking bitch or total slut and Jax likes you which is rare.”

I think about what he’s just told me. I can’t help but feel like his answer is somewhat vague. Like he wasn’t telling me everything. His reasons seem justifiable but there was something else. Something he wasn't telling me or I was missing.

I stare deeply into his green orbs. Trying to see if I can catch a glimpse of what he was hiding. But he’s shut off. Emotionless. His eyes and expression giving away nothing.

Could I really enter such a deal without knowing everything? Without getting all the facts right? The rug could be pulled right from under me. Like with Darren.

If that somehow happens, Sebastian wouldn’t even be to blame because I entered into this blindly.

This definitely spells bad news written all over it, but could I pass the opportunity though?

He was giving me everything I wanted and desired. To get my revenge on Darren and Miranda, which was one of the reasons I came back.

With a powerful alpha such as Sebastian I could easily get that. No one would even be the wiser that I was involved in their downfall.

“How will this proposal prevent me from going feral?” I asked him after a while.

I didn’t want to go feral and as much as I’m still hurt by Krystal, I understand that she's just a child. I still wanted to fix things between us.

On the other hand I just don't see how his offer was connected to my problem, or how it would fix it.

“Going feral is about your spirit or soul being unhinged. Unbalanced. It’s about there being a tear or split. To fix this, I’ll mark you. This will anchor your soul to mine and make you rooted to yourself and your wolf” he rumbles.

It does make sense. Those who go feral do so because their spirit has been split. When you bond to someone and they break you, the heartbreak and pain can become too much that your spirit rips into two. Dividing you and your wolf. Since man and wolf are one, the division causes you to lose your mind.

Heartbreak isn’t the only cause for going feral. There are different reasons why a werewolf can lose their mind. In my case, I had bonded myself to Darren in every way even though he hadn’t done the same.

I want to ask Sebastian how he knew all these facts but I don’t. His expression brooks no further discussion on the subject.

“Okay then. If I were to agree, what would be the terms of our agreement?”

I was thinking this would be like any other business deal. With terms and conditions and probably a legal contract.

“You can’t tell anyone, so you’ll sign an NDA. No falling in love, we’ll only act as a loving couple when we’re in public and around my son and your daughter. We’ll share a room cause we have to make it look believable especially to Jax but that will be the extent of it. No intimate touching, no sex or kissing, except the occasional kiss on the cheek for appearance sake.” He says before continuing.

“You don’t interfere in my business and I won’t interfere with yours. During the duration of our contract you won’t be involved with any other man. You will also be the luna of my pack. In return I will give you my name, my full support and my protection. We’ll be mates in every sense with the exception of intimacy and again I repeat no fucking falling in love”

He finishes, and I snort at the last part. As if there’s a chance of that ever happening. He was an asshole and cold. There was no way I would fall for him.

I can’t help but notice that he hasn’t talked about his own fidelity though.

“Fidelity. I expect the same from you” I chip in.

If I was going to do this, then I expected him to be faithful to me too. There was no way I was going to allow another man to make a fool out of me.

“Fine, anything else?” he clipped.

I honestly don’t understand why he looked and sounded angry. He seriously didn’t think that I was going to let him cheat.

We were both going to remain faithful, whether he fucking wanted it or not. It may be just a business deal but I wasn’t going to allow him to disrespect me like that.

“Actually yes. What is our love story? What are we going to tell everyone? Especially the Media”

We couldn’t just come out of the blues with our mating. People would sense something wrong. They would be suspicious and the Media would pounce on us.

“We’ll tell them we bonded over our heartbreaks. We stayed in touch when you went away and I visited you a lot. Our love bloomed from there.”

A look of pure disgust fills his face when he says the last part. I have to stop myself from laughing out loud. It was honestly funny that love disgusted him that much His explanation made sense though. I could really see the media eating that shit up.

“So, do we have an agreement?” he asked carefully. “Once you agree, there’s no backing out”

His eyes were still giving away nothing and I wonder if he even has emotions.

‘What do you think Blue’

This also concerned her. I couldn’t make the decision without making sure she’s okay with it first. I didn’t need us splitting more than we already were.

She perks up immediately. ‘Right now it’s our best shot at surviving’

With that I sit up straight while tucking my hair behind my ears. Agreeing to something that could potentially destroy us, while knowing it’s the only option blue and I have.

“Yes” I agree, sealing our fate.