Page 8 of Bond To The Alpha (Fated Bond #1)

LIANA

It smells…not like home. It never really was.

The scent of pine and wet earth hits me as we cross the territory line, bringing back a deluge of memories I've tried so hard to forget.

My heart's been doing this annoying tap dance in my chest since I left Moonlight territory because it knows we're heading back here. I keep reminding myself it's for a good cause; that Sam and the pack need this, but my body ain't buying what my brain is selling.

I look up through the wound-down windows of the taxi and there's a massive wooden sign that reads "Welcome to Blood Moon Pack" in shiny gold letters. Not only was it never there before, but it’s the first change here that I notice. And as we cruise down the main road, more changes jump out at me. There are new, modern houses; the old general store's been replaced with some hipster-looking cafe. Even the town square's got a fancy new statue.

The more I see, the faster my mind keeps circling back to Kane, who I’m aware is now the alpha in charge. I hate to, but I still wonder if he ever thinks about me anymore or if I’ve become a blurry memory mixed in with all the other insignificant experiences he’s had.

I swallow hard to try and keep the nausea in my stomach at bay.

"Could you slow down a bit?" I ask the driver as we approach the campus.

He nods, easing off the gas.

As the taxi crawls past the school I almost unconsciously stare out the window at the students pouring out of the buildings. I see students crisscrossing the quad in every direction.

Seeing things look so alive makes me uncomfortable and I lean back in my seat. "Sorry, you can carry on now."

"Yes, ma'am," the driver replies, accelerating again, and before I know it, the car pulls up.

"We're here, ma'am."

Alighting from the car, I throw a glance in the direction of the affairs building ahead of me. My legs are a bit wobbly, and the wind picks up, whipping my hair around my face and making my skirt dance.

I let myself stand there for a moment to just breathe.

Finally, I force my feet to move. One step, then another. I'm so focused on just putting one foot in front of the other that I don't notice the person coming towards me until we collide.

I stumble back a step, shrieking a bit from the suddenness.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I wasn't—" a deep voice starts to apologize, pulling a phone away from his ear.

His words die as our eyes meet.

First goes the wide eyes, then a frown of surprise.

"Liana…?"

An older face and a bit of scruff on the jaw are not enough to make me not recognize Dan. And that one look on his face sends me back to that day, at that bar, hearing those sounds of them cackling over that bet they made.

Dan straightens up. "Where have you b— I mean..."

He glances back at the building, then to me again, which makes me ten times surer than I was, that I’ve come to find Kane at the right place and moment.

"I want to see him," I say.

"You have no idea how long—"

I cut him off with as much clearness and resolution as I can, but my heart is pounding. "Tell him a messenger from Moonlight is here on an urgent and dire matter."

"Moonlight Pack?" His eyebrows shoot up. "You were there all along?"

"Are we going to keep standing here, or can you have me meet him? Is he unavailable?"

His stance drops with a long sigh, then he motions a hand for me to follow.

"Come with me.”

He leads me through a series of corridors and corners until we stop at a door, and Dan turns to me.

"Wait here. I'll inform him you've requested an audience."

Now alone in the room, I cross my arms tightly over my chest to hide how badly my hands are shaking. The room feels too small and too confining that I have to force focus on anything around just to be able to breathe. I take note of the decor around the place which is pretty much bland. There’s nothing really more than the large desk dominating one side of the room and a couple of bookshelves marching along the walls.

I swing my head at the door when I hear it creak open, chills trying to run up my spine but stopping midway as soon as the lady with her face shining with bold makeup steps in. She’s not changed one bit…aside from the burning red lips.

“Just look what the cat dragged in,” Juliet drawls in a sing-songy manner.

“So it's true what I heard. The one and only Liana White is back in town."

It's probably the first time she's ever used my full name, and it sounds wrong coming from her mouth. That same mouth with which she’d pretty much predicted the outcome of that so-called 'happy ending’ I thought I was about to have back then.

But Juliet is the least of my worries right now and the last of the last person I need in front of my face at this important time. I'm here for a reason, and once that's done, I'm out of here.

I turn back to the window without a response.

"Not even a hello after all these years?" Juliet's heels click against the floor as she comes closer behind me.

"So why are you back here?" she continues anyway. "I thought you’d gone to reunite with your criminal parents to enjoy your life of plunder. Is that finished now?”

I smirk slowly, still facing the window without a response. Those same old taunts that don’t even raise a single strand of hair on my skin anymore.

Juliet's heels click sharply again as she approaches where I’m standing, "You know, the pack's been doing so well without you and your family. Why are you back? Nothing here for."

I still keep my gaze fixed on the view outside, but I can feel her eyes boring into my back.

"Oh, I get it. Do you think waltzing back here now that Kane is Alpha will help you pick up your trashy life again? Remember what I told you last time, Liana? You don't belong here. You never did, and you never will."

"Is that what helps you sleep at night?" I ask sarcastically.

“Huh?” Juliet mumbles.

I twist my neck slightly, glancing at her from the corner of my eye.

"Funny, I don't see much improvement in your life either. Still nothing better to do than chase after gossip and harass people? Some things never change, I guess."

I imagine her scowling behind me.

“Yeah, you told me back then that you are the one who deserves to be with Kane. You ticked all the boxes, you’re perfect for him. And yet..." I nod slowly at the view. "Here we are, six years later, and you’re still not Luna.”

“But at least I'm not you, crawling back here after all this time,” she fires back.

"Crawling?" I scoff. "Is that what you think this is?"

Juliet sneers. "I don't know, maybe if you'd stayed in whatever rathole you've been hiding in all these years and not shown your face around here—"

"So I make you feel insecure then," I interject calmly.

"You? You're not worth a pinch of salt to even make me—"

"Really?" I cut her off again. "Because it doesn't seem like that to me. Six years. It's been six years. What happens in another six if daddy's-perfect-little-girl's life still isn't going so well? Will that be my fault too?"

"You're pathetic," she spits.

“Heard that a million times already. Nothing new?”

“You think you can just come back here and act all high and mighty?" Juliet hisses bitterly:

"Maybe,” I shrug. “One piece of advice for you though. Since your perfection hasn't gotten you what you so desperately wanted all these years, perhaps you should switch tactics. Have you tried begging for it? I couldn't care less about you and your beloved Kane anyway."

Her face must have turned an alarming shade of red when she screams, "You bitch!" hurtling in my direction, but I’m quick enough to turn and dodge her hand.

Juliet stumbles, losing her balance on those ridiculous heels as she hits the floor.

Almost immediately a new presence engulfs the room and sends a quick jolt down my skin as everything else goes silent. He stares at me with those blue eyes of his that are deep and intense…and even if he’s the same boy from 6 years ago, he does look like a man now, with that stronger build and longer hair that’s styled in a way that screams authority and confidence.

A dull throb begins to spread through my chest and my wolf, which I’m not sure I’ve felt much all this while, has started stirring slowly inside me. I thought I was going to be able to force myself to not react, but my body is going into hyperdrive. My pulse is racing; my palms grow clammy, and I have to fight the urge to not physically show all I’m feeling at once, under his gaze.

The silence is soon rent asunder by Juliet’s sudden whine.

"Why would you push me like that, Liana?"

She turns to Kane, eyes wide with feigned innocence. "I was just trying to have a friendly talk, and look how she treats me!"

I scoff internally at her pathetic attempt to play the victim. It's so transparent and so typically Juliet.

"Save it. I heard everything.”

The pores of my skin prickle hyper-sensitively as soon as I hear that deep voice with that slight rasp I thought I’d forgotten after six years.

I clamp my jaw shut to steel myself.

"Why are you even here? As far as I'm aware, you have no business in the affairs building.”

Juliet's face flushes, but Kane doesn't give her a chance to respond.

“Someone is here to see me and you can't even accord them the basic respect of being decent? Is this how you represent our pack? By accosting visitors, insulting and even attacking them? When are you going to grow up and start contributing something of value to this pack instead of this childishness?”

Her eyes narrow as she glares at Kane. "Why are you scolding me because of her?" she spits out, gesturing wildly in my direction.

“Liana has done no wrong to anyone. Not even you! Why then are you still hung up on this nonsense and won’t catch a permanent break from it?”

"We both know she doesn't belong in the same league as us. She never has, and she never will!" Juliet screams back at Kane.

“She’s as equal and important as every member of this pack and shall be accorded due respect!”

I almost scoff hearing that.

On one hand, the petty part of me enjoys seeing Juliet put in her place. But on the other hand, Kane's words just ring hollow in my ears. Even now, with this physically matured image in front of my eyes, I can’t unsee the boy from back then. This makes seeing him acting all alpha-like and defensive like this seem like an irony.

I find it hypocritical even.

If you really thought this of me back then, you wouldn’t have done what you did.

The room falls silent again and I stand there, caught between them, like a spectator in my own drama.

"You know what? Fine. Defend her. But remember you also couldn’t help fooling her back then, because you know the truth too.”

With that, she storms out of the room, her heels clicking angrily against the floor.

First on Juliet’s retreating figure, then on Kane when it’s just the two of us left in the room. The scowl on his face disappears slowly when he looks at me again.

And with one step he takes closer to me, I take two steps back. I didn’t do it…my instincts did.