In the evening,
Dane called Ava and offered to take her somewhere. When she told her friends about it, they did not seem pleased.
“Ava, think before you take a step,” Abigail reminded her.
Debra, too, said she should think about it and come up with a solution to the mate problem.
“Is there no way I can reject him?” she asked them.
They said she should have learned about it since they had never heard a female wolf could reject a male wolf. However, they could accept each other’s rejection or delay by not accepting their rejection.
Ava wondered how she had felt during their first rejection; she did not even accept it, but her wolf almost died as a result.
Many thoughts were racing through her mind. She was very stressed out.
When Dane arrived to pick her up, she gave him a friendly smile and then departed with him.
The car was the focus of Abigail and Debra’s attention.
“I noticed one thing in Ava’s eyes,” Debra said.
“What?” Abigail asked.
“Confusion. When it comes to Ian, she is never sure what to think. She believes she despises him. But whenever he is around her, she acts differently.”
Abigail responded with a nod. “I saw it at the reunion party. She was looking at Ian while telling her side of the story. I saw the sorrow in her heart, indicating her disappointment in him.”
Debra held her arm and began to walk. “Abi, what about Ian? All I can do is curse their fate. Why would they want to be together again when they are already settled with other people?”
Abigail was also confused. Everything was okay until last night Ava found that Ian had become her mate.
“What if their mate bond had never been broken? What if fate intended for them to follow its path, leading them here? Of course, there must be some reason, right? Otherwise, why did they have to split up for such a ridiculous reason? They used to love each other daringly.”
With a sigh, Debra shook her head. “I hope she will end up with the man her heart truly wants. I do not want her to force herself to make a choice. She should do what her heart says. Either it is Dane or Ian.”
Inside the car,
Ava was sitting with Dane.
He held her hand and pulled up her long sleeves, looking for something. Ava noticed it and asked,
“Are you searching for something?”
A frown appeared on his face as if he had not found what he was looking for. His eyes shifted to her, and he asked,
“Where is the bracelet?”
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She was taken aback. She looked at her hand and remembered taking it off the night before leaving the house for a
run.
It is in my bedroom. I took it off last night.”
She looked at him, assuming he was upset by her action. So she immediately added, “I am sorry. I thought-”
His gaze softened as he caressed the back of her hand, causing her to stop. She glanced at his thumb that was stroking her skin.
She took a deep breath, trying to feel his touch. However, she was feeling strange. She no longer felt calm beside him. It was as if everything had changed in one night. Even his scent was no longer making her feel calmer as it once did.
“He is not our mate,” her wolf reminded her.
She shut her eyes and immediately yanked her hand away from Dane.
It caught him off guard.
She came to realize what she had done. Her eyes were wide open as she turned her head to face him.
“I–I did not mean to do that.”
Dane moved toward her, examining her eyes, trying to see something. “Are you alright?”
He was the Alpha of witches and wizards. He was aware of many aspects of their world that others were not.
“Yes, I am alright.”
His hand reached out and wrapped around her waist. She felt her breath get caught in her throat. He drew her closer to him and asked,
“Are you hiding something from me?”
She blinked, unsure whether she should tell him what she had learned last night.
‘No, no. What if he got mad? I need to find a way to break this mate bond myself,‘ she reasoned. 1
“No,” she replied.
Dane gave her a long stare before nodding. “Okay.”
He backed away and turned to face the window. Ava breathed a sigh of relief.
The car came to a halt in front of a restaurant. Ava stepped outside and looked around. It was an expensive restaurant that appeared to be newly opened.
Dane took her hand and walked into the restaurant.
He had booked the entire restaurant for them. Ava felt very special.
They had dinner together. During the dinner, both of them talked about their upcoming projects. Ava realized that this was what happened when the boss and his employee dated each other. She chuckled at her own thoughts.
Dane inspired her to do better at work. He told her that she should now go back to the Thunder Howl Pack with him since her birthday was over.
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Ava told him that after the annual ball project, she would go back.
After dinner, Dane dropped Ava off at her house.
Before leaving, Ava wanted to express hier gratitude to Dane
Since Ava had already left, Dane was ready to instruct the driver to drive to his rental home.
But at that moment, Ava bent down to the window and rested her elbows on the window frame.
“You made my day and life special. Thank you, Dane.”
After saying that, she moved her head toward him. She tilted her head and kissed him on the cheek.
Dane was stunned by her action.
Her cheeks turned red as she quickly moved back and mumbled,
“Bye
She turned around with a sheepish grin and dashed into her house. She huffed as she found it embarrassing. She had never initiated doing these things, and they had only started their relationship. Because she wanted to take everything slow, he also did not force anything on her. 1
Ava used her keys to open the door and enter the house. She noticed that all of the lights were turned off.
She checked her watch and realized it was close to 12 a.m.
Did she get home this late?
She closed the door and walked slowly into the living room
As soon as she took a step forward, her eyes froze on a silhouette standing against a pillar.
She then heard an icy voice echo in her ears.
“Coming back so late at night? How was the dinner date with your dear boyfriend, Mate?”
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