Rise Above ✓

Chapter Five

A/N: Before you start reading, I need to explain the following;

Mating/Mated = dating/being in a steady relationship

Bonded = basically married. 

And now, enjoy! ^^<3

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Chapter Five

 

Markus Rowan hated flying. He absolutely detested it. It made him feel extremely uncomfortable and irritable and he literally always sat as stiff as a rock throughout the entire flight, no matter how long or short and no amount of blankets, drinks, food or even entertainment could take his mind off the fact that he was in a machine that was floating and moving several thousand feet above the ground.

By the time he got to Sendorai from Serai, all his muscles were aching. It had been an eight hour flight and he’d held himself so stiffly that it felt like he’d turn to stone at some point.

The hosts and hostesses on the plane looked at him with sympathy as he exited the plane and he ignored them, inhaling deeply and gratefully as his feet touched solid ground. His stomach was churning but he knew that in a matter of time, it would go down and he wouldn’t feel like he was about to retch out his soul.

Customs was a bitch as usual, he stood in the line for nearly three hours but then he was finally done and off to his new apartment at four a.m. in the bloody morning – which was just fantastic considering that he was starting work immediately the next day at nine.

In the cab, he nodded off, feeling completely irritable and cranky and almost annoyed at the driver when the beta gently woke him up to tell him they’d arrived at his apartment building. He thanked the man blankly and then picked up his single large suitcase which carried all his treasured belongings – everything else he’d sold off or given to charity back in Serai; if you could call his old teammates charity; they’d raided his house like it was an open market.

After paying the driver and watching him drive off, Markus heaved the large suitcase towards the reception of the apartment building. It was dark and the night was silent, not a single creature stirring except for the crickets and hoppers singing in the bushes that silenced the minute he approached.

The light in the reception was on but most of the rooms in the floors above were all covered in darkness. Markus squinted his eyes, guessing that there were about eight or nine floors in the building before he was dragging his large box into the reception.

The reception was warm and cosy, made up of warm and vibrant red and orange hues that would have hurt his eyes if not for the dim lights.

“Hello!” a lovely woman dressed in a co-operate white blouse and fitted navy blue khaki pants called out to him, as she waved a bit from beside the reception desk. She was really tall and slim; her hair in lovely bouncy dark brown almost black curls up to her shoulders and her skin looked like melted creamy chocolate, the brown tone healthy and radiant.

As he approached, one sniff of the air told him she was an alpha; another sniff told him that she was mated and bonded and he managed a smile despite how shitty he felt.

“Hi, I made a reservation about a week ago? My name’s Rowan? Markus Rowan.”

“Right, give me a second Mr Rowan,” she said sweetly as she walked around the desk and took a seat, turning to the computer on her desk while Markus waited, using the time to look around the room. Cream coloured walls, a velvet carpet lay in the middle of the room with dark brown chairs surrounding it that didn’t look too comfortable. Markus immediately changed his mind about the place looking warm and cosy – now that he looked properly, the velvet carpet made the brown chairs look ancient and dull.