Zane's POV
"How does this look?" Nolan's panicked voice entered my ears, making me turn from the omelet I was currently making to my panicked little brother.
He had on a plain white t-shirt, black skinny jeans and his favourite pair of white sneakers.
"Good?" I said, more like asked as I stared at his panicked eyes," You do know that you're not going out on a date, right?" I asked him with a smile of amusement.
"So? I still need to work my charms on her, Idiot!" He seethed, glaring at me as if I had said the stupidest thing in the world.
"Or maybe you're just trying to trick her into thinking that you'll be going out after breakfast," I shrugged," Probably on a date." I raised my eyebrow at him.
He instantly slapped his forehead before looking at me with gratitude shining in his green orbs," I didn't think of that. " He sighed, plopping down on the barstool in front of the island.
"Nolan, chill!" I ordered, before turning around to tend to my hopefully still unburnt omelet," There is absolutely no need for you to change again, my eyes have had enough. "
"Do I look presentable at least?" He asked, still needing the reassurance.
'You should also change! You have to look good for mate too!' Liam huffed in frustration.
'And why would I do that? You do remember that I have absolutely no intention of trying to get any of Melissa's attention. She is Nolan's mate and that's it!' I coldly said in hopes of hiding the hurt that those words cut into my heart, but sadly, even I could hear the regrettable sorrow that failed to remain hidden from my words.
'That's not true and you know it! Wait 'till I tell Alexander!' He threatened, making a grow elicit from me in warning.
'You will do no such thing!' I growled at him.
'And why not?' He stubbornly fought back like the stubborn wolf he was.
'Because you do not want to lose your brother wolf over a woman.' I deadpanned, receiving silence as a response as the words sunk into his mind. I know that those words hit home.
'You are just scared. Fear is what's bringing out of all this bitterness and all these insensible excuses and you know it. I just hope that you wake up before you cost me something as dear as a mate.' He weakly responded in defeat before his presence completely left my mind, leaving a hollow, empty shell in my mind that only heightened my loneliness and sadly, fueled my guilt and regret.
As much as I didn't want to admit the truth to myself, I have to. My past regrets are haunting me and I can't do anything about them except feel pity for myself and hurt my friend, my wolf. Liam doesn't deserve this, he deserves having his mate like every other wolf, but because of me, he might never feel the love of his mate. I am costing him his mate by being selfish all because of a stupid but powerful thing as fear.
I'm not only going to lose my mate, but I'm going to lose my wolf too.
Once the bond starts punishing you as it is me for my past endeavours, you start losing your wolf and the only person who can save it is your mate. Liam has been growing weaker since the bond started its punishment on me, but he will only start deteriorating because we have met our mate, you could say a countdown to his death started the moment I laid eyes on her. Unless I mark her, I will lose Liam.
His presence in my mind had grown scarce in the past month because of how weak he had gotten, you could say he tends to fall into a coma so his body can gather energy. A single touch from her would be enough to fool the bond into slowing his death but I just can't push myself into doing so.
I am killing my friend when I know that I can save him. Why am I so selfish? Why do I feel so unworthy of having a mate? Actually, why am I so scared of the concept of having a mate?
*****
Nolan's POV
What is running through that thick skull of his?
Zane looked so defeated and devastated all of a sudden and not even a few minutes ago, he was teasing me about my attire.
"Zane," I softly called, receiving silence as a response," Zane!" I called louder.
He absentmindedly hummed in response before slowly turning to me, his features looked so disorientated, but his eyes were enough to cause a grown man like me to feel like they were drowning.
The emotions that freely roamed his eyes were so powerful and suffocating that I lost my capability to breath. The pain, the sorrow, the regret, the guilt, there were so many that I felt my head threaten to explode as my eyes fought to absorb each emotion. They were so overwhelming that I wandered how he dealt with so many emotions overpowering his mind at once. How was he not losing his mind? I feel like I might be losing my mind just by looking at them, my mind felt like it was drowning and was beginning to throb.
His mind was clearly in turmoil, his emotions and thoughts were at war.
His eyes closed for a second before I saw him take in a much needed deep breath as he fought to reign everything back in. Unknowingly, I felt better and my breathing gained back momentum. What was that?
His eyes opened and connected with mine, making a shiver run down my spine at the coldness of his void orbs. He gave me an almost discreet nod before quietly muttering," Sorry." And disappearing into thin air as he left the kitchen using his werewolf speed.
Remnants of the cold, suffocating atmosphere that had once surrounded the kitchen lingered in the air even though the person had left. As much as it felt much easier for me to breath, my heart strongly thumped and raced as if I had been running a marathon. The sound of my thumping heart resonated deep in my head as the sign of a slight headache made its appearance.
The knocking of the door snapped me out of my deep thoughts and to the unexpected sound. Shaking my head, I got off the barstool and headed to the door to welcome my definitely welcomed guests. I'm sure seeing my mate will ease some of the pent up tension I had gathered from the ordeal that had occurred.
*****
Melissa's POV
My hands felt clammy with sweat with every passing second that we waited for the door to open. My heart beat thumped with such vigor that I feared it world break through my ribcage and leave my body. Butterflies flew freely in my stomach as my brain felt mushy. Every passing second felt so torturous that it had me wandering what had happened to my patience.
I was filled with such ecstasy and earnest anticipation. My mind filled itself with images of Nolan and Zane that made it go crazy with energy, like a child waiting to receive a sweet. I hate to admit it, but as much as this feeling kind of scared me and sort of irritated me, it felt amazing. I felt high on energy and excitement, I felt like a little child and that felt great.
I guess I'll just try to enjoy these crushes for as long as they last, no more trying to fight them. They will soon end on their own anyway, so why waste my energy on such a miniscule, not even dangerous thing. It's not like I'm falling for them or anything, because if that were the case, then I'd not only be in trouble but if be in danger. Love is dangerous, it's like playing with fire and unfortunately I'm scared of fire. Many people have been burnt by it but I will try by all means not to be one of them, I will not jump into a fire when I can avoid it.
Love hurts and unfortunately I don't think my unfortunately frail heart will be able to handle that immense pain. Many people around me have fallen victim to love and I have seen how terrible it can hurt people. Call me scared, call me unprepared, I don't care, love is dangerous whether we like it or not. It's not for the faint hearted and I am faint hearted. Very few people are in happy relationships with normal relationship challenges as compared to the many that leave a relationship scarred and heartbroken. I don't want to be a part of the ma-
My mind froze as the door opened to reveal a sight I had not at all been ready for. My heart did uncontrollable flips as my lips lost all moisture and became dry.
The white T-shirt he had on left nothing to the imagination as it exposed every muscle that lined his chest. His sleeveless arms were naked to the eye, exposing every single bump of his muscles.
His jeans hugged his legs too well, his leg muscles were equally bulged out and firm. His black locks were naturally styled in a ravenous manner that showed that the owner had ran his fingers through then several times this morning, but that only contributed to his attractive nature even more.
He looked too handsome to be real, he was the epitome of perfection and that was both intimidating and mesmerising.
A small barely visible smirk lined his lips as his eyes connected with mine, a look of knowing shone lightly in his emerald coloured orbs making me duck my head to avoid his intense line of sight. His eyes made me feel so exposed, like he could see deep into my soul. This takes the saying of eyes being the windows to the soul to another level.
"Anne, Melissa, thank you for accepting our late invitation." Nolan's rich, almost baritone voice sounded with its velvety, smooth, gentle tone.
"How could we not." Mom lightly laughed.
"Please come in." Nolan invited, before his white sneaker, clad feet moved away from my sight.
"Thank you." Mom politely smiled as she walked into the house with me right at her heels.
My eyes instantly roamed the beautiful kitchen that knocked the breath out of me from its beauty. There was a creamy white, granite island with plates covered by dome covers on it with black barstools surrounding it. The floors were a sparkling white marble to go with the white island. Light grey cabinets marred the walls except for where the dishwasher was with a window on top of it.
"Please follow me?" Nolan asked, gaining my attention as he slowly retreated out of the kitchen with Mom and I.
We left the kitchen and walked into the grey and white hallway walls. The top half of the walls were a beautiful white that was covered in frames except for the places that held doors or the staircase. The staircase was marble just like the rest of the flooring of the house with golden rails to grab onto at each side. A children's gate was firmly placed at the bottom, restricting entrance to the stairs. The house held a homely, plain yet stylish feel that filled my brain with awe.
We stopped in front of thick, glass French doors that restricted a view to the other side of them. There were silver handles to open and close the door.
Nolan grabbed the handles and pulled them open, allowing us to finally have a peek of the other side before the doors completely opened to a breathtaking sight that had my jaw almost dropping in surprise and awe.
Nolan turned to us with a soft, but almost shy and nervous smile as he cautiously asked," I hope you don't mind a garden breakfast?"