Apex Predator

~TWO~

"Sorry, I don't think I heard you." He growled lowly, his face only an inch away from mine now.

Don't snap. Keep your cool. He wants a reaction. I talked myself down in my head, taking a deep breath. His body was so close, I could feel his heart drumming in his chest, and even though my body trembled at our close proximity, my tone remained calm as I said slightly louder, "I'm sorry, Alpha Atlas."

His eyes bored into mine for a second before he let out an obnoxious scoff and pushed himself off the tree, standing straight and turning from me "You Thunder Sky's really are pathetic. What are any of you good for?"

Yep, that'll do it. Any ounce of fear I had, was replaced with blind fury. Obviously, I wasn't thinking very clearly as I marched forward and grabbed onto his shoulder, spinning him around to face me, "How dare you speak to me that way!" This little spat we were having in private was surly against the rules, but treating your mate as horrible as this was frowned upon.

His jaw clenched again, and he narrowed his eyes, "Why would I speak to you any differently? We hate each other. It's been that way for years, and it'll continue to be that way after both of us are dead."

So, he really didn't feel this? It's all in my head? Is that even possible? "You don't feel this?" the heartbreak was almost unbearable as my voice cracked. "There is no way you don't feel this!"

I swear his eyes grew darker, and that worried me a bit. Slowly he started inching closer to me, and instinctively my body started backing up until I was pressed against the same tree. This time he didn't trap me, but his face was close enough to mine that our noses brushed. My breath was trapped in my lungs, scared to breath, "Feel what? Those little feelings floating around in the back of my head?"

Little feelings? Little was definitely not the word I'd use to describe them, but if he wants to use that term, who am I to discourage him? That meant he felt them though, right?

As quickly as my hope rose, it was shot to the ground as he continued, "Its fake. What your feeling is fake. It's not real, it was just planted in your head to help you fulfill some destiny the moon has set out for us."

I don't know what hurt most. That his rejection for me was so strong, he was willing to push aside the heartbreak, or that he was completely right. We had no choice in who we fell in love with, and it was all for a higher purpose. It works out all of the time because of the feelings implanted in us, but who falls that hard from first glance?

Honestly though, even if it is for destiny, why wouldn't you want to follow it? The moon knows best, and we get to fall in love and have babies? Personally, I believe that's a pretty good deal. "Does it not hurt?" it felt like literal fire burning in the pit of my heart every second I wasn't near him. Even if it was fake, the pain was very real.

His eyes flicked down to my lips for a split second before he backed up a bit, "No." there was a bit of hesitation in his voice and I knew instantly that was a lie. In my bones, I could feel him struggling to not think of me in that way. He was sweating and his breathing was labored along with his rushing heartbeat. It might've been from anger, but I could smell the different emotions pulsating off of him in waves. Too many to fully point out, but enough of them to know that this destiny thing was hurting him as much as me.

Again, my eyes locked with his and I maintained eye contact before I stood up straight and smoothed out my dark blue dress, clearing my throat, "Then I guess we have nothing more to say to each other." I had a whole to say to him, but there wasn't enough time and there probably wouldn't ever be enough time. After the hunt we weren't allowed near each other, and he's made it very clear he doesn't want to be near me anyways.

I didn't give him a chance to say anything else as I turned around and started making my way back from where we came. If it wasn't for our smell that was very faint, I might've gotten lost in the density of the trees. As my feet carried me closer to the sounds of chatter, I tried to keep my mind off of the blackhole that now resides in my heart. They weren't lying when they said it's all you think about. I've had boyfriends and crushes, but it was known that the moment you find your mate, whatever feelings you had for them completely vanish. It was a cruel fate if you really think about it. I had never felt so strongly for something in my entire life, and I silently cursed the moon for doing this to me. How was this my destiny? If she knows all, she knew he'd reject me. Is it my destiny to live out the rest of my life feeling like a piece of me was empty?

A figure was suddenly making their way to me, the opening to Prayer Hill making her barely visible. Trella.

"Thank the Moon, you're okay." She breathed out as she jogged up to me, "You were gone awhile. I started to get a bit worried."

I shook my head and looked at her, offering her a smile that didn't reach my eyes, "I'm okay, He just scolded me."

She raised an eyebrow, "In private?"

Damn, she's pretty clever, "Yeah. He said some pretty nasty things, maybe he didn't want his packmates to hear." the lie slipped right off my tongue, and it made me feel a little guilty.

"It's so your dad wouldn't hear." The redhead concluded, grabbing my hand and leading me back to the group. "It would've started a fight and ruined the Hunt. He doesn't really care about our approval."

I never even thought of that. He really did bring me deeper into the forest so my dad wouldn't hear him talk bad about our clan. It was also a perfect time to bring up our predicament, and I took the offer. He may have reason to hate my clan, because we are constantly catching them hunting on our land, but he has never seen me be a part of any of that. Now that we aren't anything, and never will be anything, I wanted to patrol even more now. I probably wouldn't stand any sort of chance, but I know I could go out leaving him with a few wounds.

It was pointless even thinking about that, because it was never going to happen. Dad wouldn't even train me for it.

Maybe Trella was right. I mean, I stood up to an Alpha and didn't get mauled. If I go patrol without any training and get my ass kicked, maybe he'll finally listen.

Or maybe I'll just die. Either way, it'll be an adventure.