ISOBEL
"This is where you two will be staying," Alpha Francis said, and for a moment, I thought I heard wrongly but when he turned around to leave, that was when I realized that I had indeed heard him clearly.
"We'll share a room!" I asked with wide eyes, clearly shocked that he'd suggest that.
"Why is that a problem, Isobel?" He stopped and turned to me, "Aren't you two close?"
"We're not close." Just before I could finish my sentence and tell him that Mason and I were not close and so, we couldn't share a room.
Heck, I was sure that he didn't know we were step siblings. Only a handful of people knew about it so why did he think it was okay for us to share a room.
"If that's so, I'll give you another—,"
Mason didn't let Alpha Francis finish and he chimed in, "Don't worry about that, Francis. You can leave, we'll meet at dinner," Mason waved him off and without another word, Francis gave him a knowing smile and walked out.
"What was that about?!" I turned to Mason angrily. "He was about to give me a room of my own, why did you stop him?"
"I didn't," he casually replied and shrugged his shoulders, "and what makes you think that he wanted to give you another room?"
"He was about to say it before you stopped him, Mason. Don't play dumb." I glared at him and frowned as I thought about it, "Why would you even want us to share a room?"
"How else are we supposed to get close to each other?" He sounded so casual like we weren't step siblings, but I could see the faint
His words caught me off guard that I took a step back in shock, "W..what are you talking about? What's wrong with you, Mason?"
"Don't act like you don't feel the connection between us." He said and took a step closer to me but he left a bit of room between us.
"There's no connection between us," I said, trying to sound brave and convincing, to myself and him, but I doubted that it was working because he had an annoying smirk on his face.
"Why do you like to lie to yourself?" He asked and tilted his head slightly as if studying me.
Ignoring his question, I said, "We're siblings, Mason. In case you have forgotten, your mother is married to my father!" I tried to remind him and even myself.
"And so?" He asked, and it left me surprised and speechless. "Did the fact that we're 'siblings..'" he enunciated the last word before he continued, "..change anything? Do you feel less attracted to me?"
"I'm not attracted to you!" I said, and raised my head in defiance.
"Is that so?" He suddenly said in a low and seductive tone that I had to blink severally to regain composure. "You really are not attracted to me, right?" He took another step closer and this time, there was barely any space left between us.
We were so close that I was so still for the fear that my lips would touch him with the slightest move of my body. "Mason, this isn't right," I tried to talk some sense into him.
"Why?" He asked me like he didn't already know the answer to the question. It was as clear as day why we couldn't be together.
"You're my step—,"
He didn't allow me to finish my sentence as he shut me up with a kiss. The kiss was short and brief like he really didn't want to kiss me, but rather, he didn't want me to finish my words. It was as though he was tired of hearing those words.
He leaned closer to me and whispered into my ears, so quietly that it sent shivers down my spine. "Say something else, Isobel. Aren't you tired of the same old excuse?"
I sighed and tried to control myself from giving in while he ran his nose down my nape. He knew what he was doing. He wanted me to give in and let him in but I can't. I shouldn't. It wasn't right.
"Why?" I asked him almost inaudibly and it was accompanied by a sigh as he inhaled my scent and his own hit my nose, making me momentarily lose control.
"Why not?" He threw the question back at me, almost rendering me speechless but then I remembered the real reason why he came to our pack in the first place.
"You hate my father," I said with my eyes closed and only opened them when I felt him pull away from me and took his warmth with him. His face was hard, almost as if he too had forgotten why he came to the pack.
"And your mother can't stand me," I added, "Shouldn't that be enough reason for you to put whatever this is behind you and move on?"
Mason stared at me for a moment without saying a word. The intensity of his eyes made me feel small but I refused to cower in front of him. I didn't want to give him that privilege over me.
"Accept my rejection, Mason." I pleaded, and I realized that for the first time ever, I truly wanted my mate to reject me, "Accept my rejection and let me go."
For a second, Mason's eyes softened and I thought he'd do as I say but the second he opened his mouth to speak, my heart shattered, "Dream on, Isobel," he spat, and his eyes were dark with anger and something else, "You're going to be stuck with me for as long as I see fit," He said, then turned around and stormed out, banging the door behind me.
I slumped on the couch and sighed deeply. I couldn't understand why Mason was doing this. He claimed he hated me and couldn't stand me but he still didn't want to let me go.