Bloodlines: Fated Mates (Book 6 Of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 9

"Ian." He grew quiet again, staring at her for a long moment and then he frowned. "Have we met?"

That question threw her off and she reminded herself he had no wolf to tell him what she was to him while her own was practically doing summersaults in her mind. "No. We've never met." How had her father handled this? Or her grandfather? She wished there was a manual. Maybe she should write one. How had Finn done it? And why did he think they'd met? Was that what he'd gotten out of the mate bond? He just thought she looked familiar? She felt so confused. She wished she could pause all of this so she could call her mother.

Ian still couldn't peel his eyes off of her. There was something about her. It was almost like she was his mate, but he could never let himself possibly believe that. Still, he had no idea why she'd wanted to meet him. She hadn't answered him. She was staring at him just as much as he was staring at her. They were both creeps, he supposed.

Suddenly, the door opened, breaking his concentration on the beautiful woman in front of him, and Ian looked up in surprise to see Noelle Remington walk in.

"Ian!" She exclaimed in surprise.

She did remember him, and he smiled at her. "Hey! I didn't know you were here."

Aria frowned, looking between them. How did Noelle know Ian? "You know him?"

"Yeah. Ian was sweet enough to dance with me at the mating ball at school last fall. We had fun," Noelle smiled at him.

Aria felt a stab of jealousy. "Oh."

"I see you've met my sister," Noelle said to Ian.

Ian looked back and forth between the two women. That was why Aria had looked familiar. She looked just like Noelle, but with blond hair. He was way more attracted to her than he was Noelle. Not that it mattered. She was a werewolf princess and he was a human. Not like she would go on a date with him. Which was disappointing. He still couldn't believe Noelle had danced with him. He wondered if Aria was as nice as Noelle. And he still had no idea why she'd wanted to meet him. "Yeah, I just met her."

"Well, I just wanted to let you know I'm back. I'm going to go stay with Nick and get some rest. Have you heard anything about the she-wolf?" Noelle asked her.

"Not yet. They were washing all of the blood out of her fur to make sure that she has no injuries. I'm going to go sit with her then," Aria said, feeling a bit deflated. Ian seemed more interested in her sister than her. That's why he'd thought she looked familiar. She knew she and Noelle looked a lot alike.

Noelle nodded. "Okay. Thank you for doing this."

"Of course."

Noelle left the room and Ian looked back at Aria, still not sure why she had wanted to meet him. She was so pretty. But he needed to leave before he did something stupid. Like kiss her. His gaze moved down to her full lips and he swallowed, wondering how soft they were. "Well, it was nice to meet you. I should um.. get going."

"Ian, wait!"

She reached out and grabbed his arm and that's when he felt it. The tingles. He'd never thought to experience them. He saw her gaze move down to where she was touching him, and she lightly rubbed her hand down his arm, seemingly mesmerized by them.

She was his mate! He realized it then. It was why his world had been rocked when he'd laid eyes on her. She had apparently seen him earlier, and asked to meet him.

And then he realized something. Aria was a princess. A Remington. Way out of his reach. He was just a human, raised by werewolves, and he had absolutely no chance whatsoever with this beautiful, perfect woman. She'd had his brother bring him here so she could reject him. It made perfect sense. Heartbreaking, but perfect sense. He wondered if Jesse was aware of any of it. It was probably why his brother hadn't followed him into the room. He'd given them privacy so she could reject him. He wasn't sure why Jesse had been smiling like he had.

The one thing he'd wanted, he'd gotten with a woman that was so far out of his reach, he couldn't even begin to think she'd want him. Why him? Why her? But he'd forever remember her, even if he never got to lay eyes on her again, he'd never forget her. He wondered if it would hurt, her rejection. He'd heard it did for werewolves though he didn't personally know anyone who was rejected. It wasn't common. He was just an abnormality, a human with a werewolf princess for a mate. He supposed he was about to find out if it was going to hurt. It broke his heart, to finally have the one thing he'd wanted, only to have it ripped away so cruelly.

He turned back to her, his beautiful mate that he'd never forget, and crossed his arms over his chest, preparing himself, then took a deep breath. "Go ahead."

Aria looked up at him in confusion. What did he mean? "Go ahead and do what?"

"Reject me."

She frowned and he watched her bite her lip. "You want me to reject you?"

She almost looked like she was going to cry. He felt a tiny glimmer of hope at that. She seemed genuinely confused at his words, and he saw her look down. "You're a princess. A Remington. I'm sure you don't want a human for a mate. I'm not really on your level." He was the adopted human son of a Gamma. She'd probably expected to be mated to a Beta or an Alpha. Definitely NOT a human.

She looked back up and her beautiful eyes widened a bit at his words. "Oh."

"I understand. I'll accept." He didn't want to, but so be it.

She frowned at him. "You want me to reject you?"

"I understand that it's necessary. I'm not really good enough for you," he said stoically. She was so beautiful though, he still hadn't stopped staring at her. He couldn't help himself.

She glared at him with annoyance. "That's not what I asked you. Do you want me to reject you?"

"No. But I understand that you.." She placed a finger over his lips, stopping him. Tingles danced across his lips from her touch, and he sighed internally. Why was she making this so difficult? He wanted her to stop touching him. Well, not really, but he didn't need to feel those tingles anymore. He wondered how they'd feel on his .. he cut that thought off. That would NEVER happen.

"If you don't want me to reject you, then just shut up. You don't need to list all the reasons why I should. Instead, you can just kiss me," she said, a glimmer of tears in her eyes.

Ian's eyes widened in shock at her words. Was she accepting him? "You are okay with this? With me being your mate? I'm a human."

She smiled. "I noticed. Ian, I'm more than okay with it. It doesn't matter to me that you're human. Now are you going to kiss me or what?"

Her words reassured him a bit, but he still felt like he was dreaming. He stepped closer to her and reached out and gently touched her cheek. She tipped her head back, smiling up at him and he dropped his lips to hers.

The kiss was electrifying and he was hooked the moment their lips touched. He still couldn't wrap his head around it, but he wasn't going to think about the craziness of the situation for the moment and instead, he was going to enjoy the kiss.

She parted her lips and he took it as an invitation to explore her mouth. He felt her hands come up to grip his biceps and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him.

This woman was his mate, the woman he was fated to spend the rest of his life with. And she was perfectly okay with the fact that he was human.

She fit against him perfectly, and her lips were just as soft as he'd thought they'd be. He was becoming increasingly aware of her body pressed against his, and the way his own was reacting to hers. It was almost unsettling, the mate bond.

She sighed softly into his mouth as he continued kissing her, not having any desire to stop. She was clinging to him now, as though she didn't want to let him go, and that was fine with him. He didn't want to let her go either. Part of him was afraid that if he did, he'd wake up and realize that this was just a pleasant dream, and not his new reality.

She was tiny too, like Noelle. Most of the she-wolves in his pack were taller than her. Not that he'd kissed many of them, but there were a few. But he wasn't going to think about them now, not when the most important one of them all, to him at least, was his mate, his fated. His.

"Princess?"