Page 19 of The Wrong Bond (Wolf Billionaire #4)

CHAPTER 19

ARLENE

I watched Shawn open the door, the gust of cold early morning air spilling into my apartment, and then he was gone. The door clicked shut behind him, and the tears I’d stubbornly held at bay throughout his confession welled up in my eyes, blurring the furniture around me.

I leaned against the wall to stop myself from falling over as his words replayed in my mind.

I’d wanted to hear them, I’d wanted him to admit how he felt, but I had no idea I would feel this way when he was done. It was completely messing with my head, and I had no idea what to do.

Arlene, I love you.

His words echoed in my head and spilled into every part of my body, making me warm and tingly all over.

Love.

A word I’d used so nonchalantly with my friends and family, something I’d imagined wouldn’t be able to be reciprocated for me. But here it was, hitting me like a fast-moving train, coming from a man who was part of a world I would never belong to.

I wanted to tell him how much I loved him too, and how my emotions had become tangled up in this mess the minute we’d started speaking. I was a slow burner, because I always guarded my heart so I didn’t get hurt. But he had broken down all those walls I’d constructed around my heart.

I wanted to tell him that I loved him more than I could ever hate the situation we were in, and I was willing to even continue being his mistress if that meant I got to be close to him.

I loved the way his eyebrows crinkled in concentration anytime he was driving or doing something he was passionate about. I loved how he kissed me on the forehead or my hand at random times.

But I couldn’t bring myself to voice any of it.

He was everything I wasn’t—charming, sophisticated, with a future paved in gold. I, on the other hand, was struggling to keep my head above water.

I felt a gnawing doubt, a persistent whisper reminding me that I was out of my depth.

I went to the door, locked it, and dragged my tired feet back to my room, my head hanging. I had no idea if I’d even be able to sleep a wink, but I had to try at least.

It was hard to admit that deep in my heart, I felt a sliver of hope. Maybe our lives didn’t have to be so different, and maybe we could weather any storm that came our way. We would never know until we tried.

Like Shawn had said, we had to truly think about what we were going to do next. And maybe the connection we shared, the way our laughter rang in sync every time we were together, maybe that was real. Maybe it was worth fighting for.

With a sigh, I crawled into bed, the sheets cold against my body. My mind replayed tonight’s events in a loop. I was dissecting every single word he’d said and every look he’d given me, hoping that I would find something new in them.

Just as I was about to drift off to sleep, a sharp buzz pierced through the silence. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and squinted at the screen.

An unknown number.

A single message sat there, brief and mysterious:

Meet me at Swirly’s Café. I want to talk about Shawn.

L

L? The only L I knew was Leah, and she wouldn’t leave me a message so cryptic this early in the morning. A wave of unease flashed through me.

This cryptic message had just added another turn to my night. I groaned and fell back into bed, but I was too tired to figure this out tonight. Hoping that sleep would come, it finally did.

I sat at Swirly’s, my feet tapping the floor impatiently as I waited. I’d called Leah this morning to ask her if she’d sent the message, and she’d confirmed she hadn’t.

Now my heart was running a mile a minute, but I had pepper spray nestled safely in my bag in case anything dangerous happened. But we were meeting at a very public space, so I was pretty sure I had nothing to worry about.

The aroma of coffee wafted in the air. On a regular day, I would have ordered a cup and a croissant to-go, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep anything down right now.

I quickly glanced at the wall clock to see that it was almost eleven. I had decided to arrive early, just to be prepared.

Surely, whoever they were wouldn’t think of attacking me in public. The café was very busy, with students hunched over their laptops, a women’s club meeting to discuss keto diets, and businessmen barking into phones.

I got my usual spot by the window, a place where I loved to silently drink my coffee and people watch. The clock ticked slowly and the minutes seemed to stretch into hours.

Suddenly, the café door creaked open, and the bell above it jingled to announce a new arrival. I turned to the door, my heart pounding in my chest.

A gorgeous woman with a heavy fur coat and an equally gorgeous dress walked into the café, her eyes scanning the tables before they fell on me.

I gave her a shaky smile as she walked toward me, her designer heels clicking sharply against the polished floor. Before I could even stammer a greeting, she pulled up the chair across from me and sat in it.

“Sorry I’m late,” she basically panted, shrugging off her coat. “We were caught in traffic.”

I wanted to ask who the “we” she was referring to was, but from the corner of my eyes, I could see her driver, who probably doubled as a bodyguard, standing in front of the car. Whoever she was, it was evident she was pretty influential.

“Hi” was the only word that left my lips.

“Hi,” she chuckled. “Oh my, where are my manners? I’m Lora McGregor, and I’m Shawn’s mate.”

Her words completely sucked the air out of me. This wasn’t on my bingo card this morning. I’d half-expected Leah to walk in and confess she was playing a prank on me, and I’d even expected a serial killer to sit across from me before I expected a woman who claimed she was Shawn’s mate.

“Come again,” I choked.

“I’m Shawn’s mate.”

Her repeating it did nothing to calm my heart, which was obviously racing at this point.

“Uh…” I trailed off, not knowing what to say.

Lora chuckled and shook her head, a habit of hers that was becoming incredibly annoying to me. “Where are my manners? I should start from the beginning because right now, I know I seem like a creep.”

I nodded, unable to say a word.

“Arlene Wilther, right?” she asked.

“Y-yes,” I stammered, completely taken aback by how nice she was being when it was obvious that she was hiding a bit of aggression.

She had very pale skin, dark brown hair, and even darker brown eyes. I couldn’t really read her body language like I wanted to. Her face was expressionless, so I couldn’t tell if she was bluffing or not.

I just had to rely on what she told me, but I could still sense the quiet hostility radiating off of her.

“Good,” she continued, her eyes boring into mine. “Then let me cut to the chase. You and Shawn Elton…”

My breath hitched. The unease in my stomach morphed into full-blown panic.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I murmured.

“I know that you’re one of his many mistresses. To be honest with you, he left the banquet in a rush last night, but I know he felt the same spark I did. Instead of going to his apartment, he drove straight to yours and stayed outside for three hours—one of which he spent standing in the rain.”

“You followed him?”

She rolled her eyes playfully. “I had to, and yes, I know it’s creepy. Don’t remind me. And while we both waited, someone on my team did a deep dive on you, and that’s how I got your phone number, and now here we are!”

I was partially impressed, but mostly scared of how far she’d gone just to meet with me.

I swallowed. “So what do you want?”

She smiled. “Nothing. I just want you to know what’s going on. Do you really care about Shawn?”

“We’re just together for business.”

“Well, I just wanted you to know that Shawn and I are mates, and you know how rare that is.”

I did.I was an avid watcher of One Percent Love, after all.

She continued, “He found out yesterday, and so did I. Which is very random, because when we first met, I didn’t think much of him. But I felt the connection and it was stronger than anything I’d ever experienced in my life.”

So Shawn knew he had a mate and he hadn’t mentioned her to me when he was pouring out his heart to me last night?

“Then what do I have to do with all of this?”

She leaned closer. “It’s not your fault. You had no idea that this was coming, but you have to realize that you’re a complication.”

I scoffed. “Shawn and I have a business arrangement and nothing more. I’m not even going to be a minor inconvenience. It’s all about money.”

She smiled. “Maybe you don’t want to admit it, but the way he raced out of the banquet hall to meet you didn’t seem like just a business arrangement.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“I understand you would not choose to be anyone’s mistress. I’m sorry about that. And I know it must be exciting to find out Shawn has fallen for you. But I have to tell you, whatever fierce emotions he has for you now? They will fade. But the fated bond is forever.”

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “And?”

“And we have a fated bond. It’s a very rare thing, and incredibly powerful. We’re destined to be together, Shawn and me.”

“Look, lady,” I said, my voice gaining a touch of steel.

“It’s Lora,” she responded.

I ignored her. “I think you should be having this conversation with Shawn, not me. I’m just the mistress. Nothing more.”

The word mistress left a bitter taste in my mouth, but I knew it had to be said. She had no business with me.This was between her and Shawn.

“I would if I could, Arlene. But I know how he feels about you, and talking to him about this would be like talking to a brick wall. I know you’ll be able to see reason, even if he can’t.”

“Okay,” I drawled, already over this conversation. “The ball is in Shawn’s court.”

Lora leaned even closer to me, her voice dropping to a low murmur. “But here’s the thing. This is not something he can pick and choose. He has no other option. If Shawn doesn’t fulfill this bond, the consequences will be dire.”

Dire consequences? My breath caught in my throat. What kind of threats was she making?

“What?”

She nodded. “First of all, he is unlikely to resist this bond for long. If he does, he’ll become withdrawn, reclusive. His mind will slowly unravel. It’s a fate worse than death, believe me. A fated bond is not meant to be broken. It’s in the histories. You can check for yourself if you don’t believe me.”

I had no idea what would happen if someone didn’t fulfill their fated bond. Was she being serious, or trying to scare me away? I had no idea, but she didn’t look like she was bluffing.

I couldn’t let Shawn go through that. It sounded like the worst thing ever, and if I could prevent it, I would.

But that would mean we didn’t stand any chance of being together, and that thought made my chest hurt. I swallowed, blinking rapidly so the tears didn’t fall. Things had been starting to look up, and then this had to happen.

Making Shawn risk his life for me was a selfishness I didn’t want to indulge in. I cared for him, heck, I was in love with him.

“We both care about Shawn, and I know you don’t want him to live the rest of his days in pain.”

She was right. And I hated that she was right.A gorgeous fated mate was best for him. And he would forget me after enough time passed.

She reached for her bag, pulled out a sleek envelope, and slid it over the coffee table to me.

“This,” she started, her voice softer, “is enough to cover your sister’s medical bills and set you two up for a fresh start. A new life, somewhere far away from here. I really am sorry.”

Though I wanted to protest, I couldn’t get over the thought that I’d decided to be Shawn’s mistress in the first place because I needed money to provide for Coral. I wanted to get enough to move her to her own private room, but with the envelope in front of me, I knew I would even be able to get her on the priority list for her surgery.

So I guessed that was it. The dream was over.

I reached for the envelope and pulled out the check inside. The number on it had an endless amount of zeros, just as I’d suspected, and the writing was very neat and elegant.

It was more than enough to clear Coral’s medical bills, enough to leave my cramped apartment behind and build a new life for myself, free from the constant worry and financial strain. It was a lifeline, but I couldn’t help but think of the small life I’d built here.

“This is a lot of money,” I finally managed, my voice hoarse.

“Consider it an incentive,” she said. “Think of it as a way to ensure everyone gets what they want. You, a fresh start. Shawn, his sanity. And me, my fated mate.”

She was offering me a way out, but guilt weighed on me.

For a few minutes, we sat there in silence as a businessman walked out and a woman with a child and dog walked in.I tucked the envelope into my bag.

“You’re making the right decision.” Lora smiled beautifully.

I swallowed. “I know.”

But it felt like the worst decision I’d ever made.