By a Thread

Samantha.

"I, Eli Romano, Alpha of the Sacred Moon Pack hereby reject you -"

As he speaks his rejection, I could feel the strings of fate that tie us together snapping. My heart is literally breaking, breaking for a stranger. Whatever bond this is, it is real, and my soulmate is removing it.

"Samantha -" He suddenly stops. At first, I hoped he changed his mind, but as I replay his words in my head, I realize he needs my full name to complete the rejection.

"Greene," I choke up, tears brimming my eyes. "My last name is Greene."

Staring into his enchanting blue orbs is unexpectingly painful, so I burry my face back into his chest. We stand there for a moment, both our hearts beating rapidly to the rhythm of pain.

"Look at me." He demands.

I do just that. Forcing myself to meet his gaze once again, I peer up from his chest. Does he need me to watch as he speaks his final rejection? Is this part of it or something improvised for his satisfaction? Whatever it is, I can't hold it in anymore, and I cry. Silent streams streak my face. I press my lips together to keep from sobbing as I stare up at him.

"I, Eli Romano, Alpha of the Sacred Moon Pack hereby claim you Samantha Greene as my mate and Luna. Will you accept?"

That is it. The damm breaks, and I can't stop it for the life of me. The relief I feel in my aching chest; Weights lifting as his words make me float on clouds. What an asshole! How can he do this to me?! He makes me ugly cry in front of him.

My knees give way, and I fall to the floor. He slides down before me and continues to hold me. His lips send warmth throughout my body as he trails kisses lovingly along my face and jawline.

Just as he is about to take my lips, I pull away.

"I have boogers," I snort, and I wipe my face with my forearm. "That's gross." I giggle through my tears.

He lets out a hearty laugh that makes the butterflies in my stomach stir. That laugh will become my favorite sound next to Alex's. He cups my face in his hand and rubs my cheeks with his thumbs.

"Let's get you outta here.." he kisses me.

...

On the way out of the house, I am forced to bid fairwell to his awful mother. Gabriel addresses her as Luna Allison. What a rude person.

Allison stands to her feet and embraces her son tightly, rubbing his back. She whispers things like "everything's just fine" and "you'll be ok." She's trying to comfort her son, completely oblivous to the fact that her son is not taking me home to reject me but just simply that, taking me home. I smirk to myself, and that causes her to glare at me.

She walks over to me and gives me her limp hand to shake, and I do. She isn't even bothering to hide the look of disgust on her face. She leans in closer to me and sniffs me out of nowhere. What is with these people and sniffing me?

Gabriel and Eli give me a raised eyebrow, and I shrug.

"You smell weird, human." Allison glares at me, and again, I shrug. "Does she smell weird to you, Eli?"

"My mate smells of rosemary and peppermints." He smiles a toothy grin. Peppermints? I sniff myself and have no idea what they are talking about.

His mother shakes her head in disapproval.

"You won't be able to smell it then." Suddenly, she grabs Gabriel by the arm. "Smell her!" She demands, causing him to freeze. His eyes are the only thing that moves as they pinball back and forth between Eli, Allison, and I.

Eli's chest visibly puffs up, daring Gabriel to get near me. The Luna ignores her possessive son, yanking at Gabriel's arm for him to proceed.

"No need! No need!" He throws his hands up in surrender. "I know what you mean, I-I smelled it yesterday." He stutters.

He jumps behind the Luna as a threatening growl slips from Eli's lips.

"Aye, cut it already?! You Alphas are always so teritorial" Allison hisses. "You might as well piss on her!"

Wow, it is really killing her to see her son obsessed with his human mate. Eli looks away, embarrassed.

"What did she smell like?" Allison asks.

"Uhm.." Redness rises up Gabriel's pale neck and face. He looks at his alpha, letting out an audible gulp. He leans over, cupping his hand in front of his mouth, hiding it from our view, and whispers into the Luna's ear.

"Mhm," she nods in agreement, "oh!," her eyes get wide, then squints as she taps her cheek with her finger.

"Dramatic, no?" Eli mutters, "with all that you could have just mindlinked her."

Mindlink? I wonder what he means.

Gabriel clears his throat and stands up straight. His hands clasp eachother in his lap. He looks uncomfortable and nervous. The Luna leans into me again and takes another long sniff of my apparently unusual scent.

"I can smell the herbs and saltiness you talk of Gamma but not the roses, and I definitely don't see how it is arousing or sweet..."

My eyes nearly pop out of my head and shoot over to Gabriel, or at least where he used to be. He is gone already running for his life. All I see is his arm slip through the small opening of the door before in slams shut. Eli stays beside me, heaving in anger. He seems to have been caught too off guard to catch him before he fled.

"He's my gamma. He will have to come to me eventually, and when he does, I will snap his little neck!" He growls out.

"Relax," Allison walks, past me and her son waving her hand in front of her nose, obviously frustrated about my so-called scent.

"After you reject her, and she ACCEPTS," She says as she starts accending the stairs, "You'll probably have mild discomfort until next full moon. However, you will definitely be rid of this jealousy and possesiveness. Which is good because it doesn't suit you."

Eli doesn't speak. The guilt of lying to his mother radianting off of him.

After she disappears up the stairs, he escorts me to his car.

We meet again Red charger. I smile when I see it. I reach for the back door, but Eli stops me.

"Up front." He ushers me towards the front passenger.

"But there's no seatbelt, remember?" I raise my eyebrow at him.

"Being an Alpha comes with perks." He smirks as he opens up the car door.

I peer inside and examine the seat. The once torn seatbelt has been replaced.

"I got my men to fix it as soon as we pulled in."

"So, you just have your men waiting around to service you when needed? Doesn't sound too fun for them." I say as I sit in the car, and he leans down to continue our conversation.

"Well, let's just say Marcus, our head mechanic was royally pissed but will be royally happy on his vacation next week."

"What a generous boss." I smile at him.

He shuts the doors and walks around the front, and climbs into the car.

"This is a pack. My people do for me as I do for them. We do for each other, no matter our position. He did me a favor, and I returned it."

"How long did it take him?"

"30 minutes. He just changed the seat belt unit."

"Sheesh, a week's vacation for 30 minutes of work. He's so lucky." I laugh as we pull out of the garage, and he chuckles too.

"I guess I was feeling extremely generous and appreciative yesterday. I found my mate. I like to pass on my blessings."

I don't know what else to say about that. I'm flustered. Yesterday was straight out of a movie. To be honest, I thought I'd wake up today, and it'd have been all a dream. Some sex deprived fever dream about the hot stranger I embarrassed myself in front of.

Is this how it will always be with him? Is this the "mate bond"? If I stay by his side, will it always feel like a dream?