by Eli Lowe
I have made a promise, which I must keep.
But to the least of my expectations, even after my rude behaviour, I saw Markus was still standing before me with his eyes fixed on mine, without any intention to take back whatever he had just said. He seemed determined to change the way we see each other...as rivals.
But no matter what he says or what he does, it was the only hand that I would never dare to take, I would never dare to touch.
I know everyone deserves a second chance but what if he is my mate? How can I accept someone like him who already had so many girls on his bed till now? What would I do if I found out that he is a liar too?
The possibility of him being my mate is already the highest as he got the very smell which I am still reluctant to believe.
I kept losing my mind with every single thought of what should I do or not.
Running away seemed the best option for now. As giving him the opportunity to get himself confirmed about my identity as his mate was the last thing I wanted.
Yeah, that's right.
“Summer, I know that we were never on the good terms with each other, but if I think carefully, I never had any particular reason to hate you. In fact, I never hated you. It's just that, you are way superior to everyone else, even me.
And you were right.
Maybe I was proud enough to acknowledge such reality. And maybe also the fact that I never stopped admiring you for whoever you are or how powerful you are, made me caught up in a fight with my own proud self. Only for that reason, even I thought that I hated you the most, but it is not the truth. And I know now.
So, I wanted to change that. From now on, I want to acknowledge the truth no matter if I like it or not.” Markus stopped saying further but his eyes didn't. As if a lot of things were still lying behind those enticing blue eyes, which were dying to find their own words.
“Why now? What changed your mind all of a sudden?” Though I didn't want to hear the answer which I kept anticipating back in my mind over and over again, I dared to ask.
I wanted to listen to whatever he had to say.
“Because I think I...” Markus could not even finish his words as the most irritating person came from behind to irritate me even more.
“Hey man!! What are you wasting your time with? Ah, look, who is here.” Adrian started his nonsense as soon as he approached Markus from behind while checking me out from head to toe with his nasty gaze, making me quite disgusted.
But Markus didn't move to face his friend, neither did his eyes shifted from mine as he kept standing there with his clenched jaws as if he was not happy at all for being interrupted or maybe for something else.
Anyway, it wasn't something that I needed to care.
All I just wanted was to escape the captivating smell of my mate for now. And even though Adrian was the last person to help me out but he did anyway, unconsciously. He gave me the opportunity to run away without waiting for a single moment.
“Later.” With just one word I turned back to walk out of the corridor, as I didn't want to deal with them any second more.
But on my way out, a loud thud didn't fail to fall on my ears, followed by the screams of Adrian, in no time. I wondered what happened after I left, but it wasn't the right time to be all curious about those, as I already needed to rush to the library for my part-time work as the second warning bell just went off.
Even though I was engaged with a lot of works at the library, I could not stop thinking about whatever I just ran out from, to save myself.
I could not stop relating all those words which I got to listen from my mate last night and today from Markus. And I was sure that something was not right as their words don't even match at all. As if I just can't fix the two pieces of the puzzle perfectly, no matter how hard I try. What if I am trying with two different pieces of the puzzle which were never meant to fit in?
If I think properly now, except for the smell, nothing was similar between the two, while I couldn't overlook the fact either that those two could be the same person as well.
Cause I don't know how my mate looks like.
But for now, I had no choice to find out the truth, cause it could also expose me, depriving me of each and every chances to keep myself safe and hidden from the cruel world.
I realised that my single assumption was enough to mess up my mind successfully even when there was no certainty of it becoming true. But it did affect me awfully, as the books which were supposed to go up on the shelf according to the order of their initial letters, were now placed at some inappropriate spaces, in-between some books of other kinds, which was very unlikely, for me at least.
I was never this inattentive before, but the sudden arrival of mate in my dark and pathetic life shook my world. And the incident with Markus added more fuel to the already raging storm inside me.
The rest of the hours in school today turned out to be a horrible nightmare to me, as I could not concentrate at any of the classes afterwards.
The fight with oneself was the hardest fight indeed. And I was losing, miserably. It seems that strength doesn't help you to win each and every battle. But a strong will does.
My entire day filled with a lot of sighs.
And at last, when the school ended for today and it was my most awaited moment to flee from the very thing which kept me weakening all day, I was trapped by yet another incident which left me totally clueless once again, messing up each and every piece of the puzzle that I was able to put together by now.
At that moment I realised how fate plays us for its own little.
We all are nothing but puppets.
You must be wondering what happened that I am saying all these, right?
Well, you will know soon.
After the last bell for today went off, declaring that the school had finally ended for today, I rushed out without wasting much time as I didn't want to face Markus or any of his goons to worsen my day even more. I also didn't want to come in front of the now mysterious Markus as well. Actually, I wanted to avoid the smell, to be precise.
But I forgot that nothing was meant to happen according to my will.
Because I was forced to get entangled with the exact same thing which I wanted to avoid.
The smell.
The most intriguing smell came to me out of nowhere, causing my legs to cease from walking yet another step ahead. But...but, something was different this time. Though I realised it was mate's but the smell was even more intense than today morning. The pull was even stronger, almost unavoidable. And it was working on me intensely, just like last night.
My eyes looked around ever so desperately to find the familiar face which I was expecting, but nothing came to my sight, until I saw that Markus and his gang was passing through from the other end, without being aware that I was watching them from a distance.
The four of them soon went out of my sight and with them, the most alluring smell was gone too.
Markus?
Was it really him?
My hope was dying bit by a bit as I was forced to accept the bitter reality.
I wanted to cry out loud for the first time, but I didn't. Rather I couldn't. As if my tears have already died long ago.
Closing my eyes I breathed in. As I already saw my heart at the verge of shattering into pieces, but I couldn't do anything.
A soft touch suddenly pulled me out of my zone only to meet with a warm smile and those two ever so gorgeous dimples.
“Hey! What are you doing standing here? I kept calling you from behind but you didn't answer. It seemed you couldn't even hear me.” Jenny asked with certain worries.
“Umm, ... Where is Kaith? He was supposed to be here by now.” I asked instead of answering as I did want to skip the topic, at least for now.
“Yes, he needed to talk to some teacher and after that, he will come. So, he asked us to wait for him outside.” Jenny's face lit up with the name of her mate, that it didn't even fail to get caught by my eyes as well.
But does it work the same for everyone?
Why am I the only unfortunate one?
For what sin I am still paying?
I didn't know.
Anyway, Kaith joined us in no time and it was time for us to leave the school premises.
“Hey, Sam! How about I take Jenny to her work today?” He asked cautiously, fearing that I might beat him up for being such a lost puppy.
“You don't have to ask. I knew already that you were going to snatch my Jenny from me sooner or later. Tsk. What could I say?” I pretended to be heartbroken, even though I wanted to laugh out loud for his sudden goofy act.
“Okay okay, you can replace me from now on, but you have to take a good care of her. Do you get that?” I uttered right after as I saw both of their faces dropped for my certain words.
With that, we all parted our ways to our next destination, but this time mine was different from them. Kaith took Jenny to her workplace while I went towards the cafe together with my only companion, yes... my bike.
The evening seemed a little gloomy as even the last ray of the sun abandoned me only to stay in the dark night forever. I didn't complain though, as I was becoming more used to the dark by now.
My wheels kept enclosing the distance between me and my workplace but as if it was taking me closer and closer to some other destination. With each passing seconds, I was becoming closer to the time when I supposed to meet my mate, in the same dark alley as last night.
I didn't know if I am doing anything wrong.
I didn't know if he is Markus or not.
But one thing I knew was that I need to keep my promise.
I need to meet my mysterious unknown mate once again, tonight.
Episode 16
Summer's P.O.V
Only today I realised how time could be treacherous too.
It seemed like every second was flying away from my grip with a great pace unlike every other day while I kept spacing out every now and then during my work. Time had never shown this kind of mercy to me before and when I wanted it to run even slower than before, it was meant to betray my will by running faster than ever.
Getting off from work, I headed straight towards home as there was plenty of time to meet him.
To meet my mate, as we had promised each other.
On my way, I kept wondering if I would get to know anything about him tonight or not, which would help me to confirm all my doubts about his actual identity...which would help me to murder my last hopes brutally.
I know that I was not supposed to find out who he is. I even know that he will definitely tell me himself if I just ask him. But I won't do that.
You see, I am a real coward in that way.
And even when I might get to connect all the puzzles perfectly together, Markus was one of the last names that I wanted him to be known by.
And I am not ashamed to say that I am really afraid of the truth now.
The cold night breeze once again messed up my already confused mind, announcing the fact that my life was about to turn into a real inferno in no time soon.
Anyway,
I returned to my lonely space shortly only to be greeted by the familiar dreary rooms at my home.
Throwing the backpack aside, I went to my room to wash up. I carefully scrubbed my entire body to get out of the very smell which kept helping me to hide under the daylight. I washed my hair too as the shower after a long and hectic day, was much needed. And it indeed helped me to soothe my mind a bit as the cold water touched the entire surface of my body softly and ran down after cooling me down while soaking my not so long hair, completely.
Today I stood under the shower for long as I had no reason to rush, letting all my anxiety drown for a while at least.
Only after I felt quite satisfied, I came out of the shower to dry myself and to get into a comfortable piece of clothing.
As I knew that I needed to go out soon, I chose to wear denim jeans together with a black full sleeves tank top. Taking the jacket out from my closet, I came out of my room as I needed to eat something too. As there was no one to make the dinner for me anymore, I needed to feed myself with whatever I get in hand.
After filling my empty stomach with some instant noodles, I decided to call Kaith to know if he is coming home tonight or not, so that I can decide what I should tell him about my absence at the middle of the night.
Without delaying further I dialled his number quickly.
I looked at the time, and it was almost eleven-thirty.
“Hey! Where are you?” Kaith asked from the other end of the call, as soon as he picked up.
“I am at home. What about you?” I asked, even though I knew where he could be.
“I am going to get Jenny back from her work. Why?” He enquired, causing me to think once again if I should tell him or not.
“I wanted to know if you are coming tonight or not?” I decided to play safe for the time being.
“I don't think I could come tonight. I will drop Jenny at her place and then I have to go straight back to the packhouse. Cause if I don't go back home tonight, mom will kick me out for sure. She had already warned me last night.” Kaith's reply made me relieved a bit at last.
“Okay fine. See you tomorrow then.” I hung up without giving him much time to counter me back with his own queries, for which I didn't have any answers for now.
So, it was time I guess.
With a deep sigh, I put on my boots and took the jacket along with me before going out for the very destination where someone might be waiting for me.
The time which I wanted to never come, knocked on my door very soon, as it was already time to face my yet unknown mate.
I shivered with the realisation that what new I might get to know tonight. In how many new ways my heart was going to shatter over again.
I didn't know.
As the thoughts were not at all helping me except entangling my mind into even more complex knots, I got on the bike without much delay to make its wheels run on the dark night streets without any expectations.
Even though I took the long roads intentionally, it seemed like the whole universe had conspired against me to take me to the one and only destination where I supposed to be.
So, once again, I ended up standing at one of the ends of the darkest alley. Even though I parked my bike aside a few minutes ago, I kept lacking my courage to go in, cause the most familiar and captivating smell had already found its way to me even before I could engulf myself into the darkness.
He came.
The smell did get to me with a certain declaration that my mate was already there inside the dark and was waiting for me, I didn't know for how long.
And it was my turn to go to him.
Even though I was scared, I started to walk inside the alley after taking a long breath in, thinking that I was trapped already, and it was of no use to run away from my unfortunate destiny.
As I kept enclosing the distance in the dark, the smell was getting even stronger with my every step until I felt the same sturdy hands. With his slightest touch, sparks started to invade my entire body only to make me fall right into the source of all my temptations, because without giving me any time to recollect myself, mate pulled me into his hard chest.
He pulled me into a tight hug as he buried his face on the crook of my neck to take in my scent as much as possible, as if his life depended on it. My condition was no better.
While I was lost into my mates embrace without worrying about all those things which kept bothering me since today morning, his deep voice fell on my ears with his warm breath which brushed against my skin, giving me even more tingles.
“I want to tell you so many things, which I couldn't last night. And you need to listen to it carefully before you start to make your own assumptions about me. I know that you don't want to know who I am actually, for your
own reasons, which I won't ask ever, until you decide to tell me yourself.
But I want you to know me. I want you to know how I feel.” Mate paused for a while, as his hands had already started to roam on my back desperately while his face was still buried on the curve of my neck. He was clumsy with his moves yet he was gentle, at least for now.
The next moment absolutely made me stunned at my spot because his lips had already started his sweet torture in no time, as he removed my jacket aside a little bit and went busy with his kissing and nipping on my skin which would definitely leave marks on my neck.
I froze.
An unfamiliar pleasure started to spread out inside me at the same time when I wanted to run far away from his reach.
“I...I don't know how to woo a girl, cause I have never been with anyone before. I never felt the need to be with someone who was not my mate. I always wanted to give all of me to my mate only. To you. And... I want to do everything with no one but you.” Even though his deep voice was not at all for the romantic talks, still his each and every word was reaching my already desperate heart. Though I wasn't in a state to think carefully about whatever he was saying, I kept listening to him only to engrave his words deep in my mind.
Mate seemed a bit taller than me as he needed to bend in order to merge both of our bodies fully without leaving any space in between. And still, as he was not satisfied, he pulled me even closer and lifted me up, to stand on his feet so that he could go on with his own act of nipping my little bit of exposed skin.
I couldn't say anything, neither could I stop him as I kept drowning with all those sudden feeling that I was greeted with every single touch of my mate.
“I even want to do all those perverted things that my friends kept doing with anyone and everyone, as far as they are girls, but I wanted to find you as soon as possible to...to do everything that I kept missing only to try them out with you.” His words shook me out of my oblivion in no time and I tried to move myself as soon as possible, out of his tight grip around my body in sudden fear. But I failed.
Because his grip didn't lose but tightened further just when he pulled his head back from my neck only to say in a stern voice,
