Aria's POV
I spun around and yanked my arm free from the security guard's grip.
"I wasn't doing anything wrong!" I said, backing away from the big man in the black outfit.
"Rogues aren't allowed near this hotel," he growled, reaching for me again. "Move along before I call the police."
But I couldn't move. The smell coming from inside the hotel was getting stronger, making my wolf pace frantically in my mind. She was clawing at me, trying to get closer to whatever was calling us.
"Please," I begged the guard. "I just need to—"
"You need to leave. Now."
He stepped toward me, but I was faster. I ducked under his arm and ran around the corner of the building. My heart was racing, but not from fear. The mate smell was so strong now it made me dizzy.
I pressed myself against the brick wall and tried to think. I couldn't just walk into a fancy party looking like I'd been living in the streets. Which I had. But my wolf didn't care about looks. She was going crazy, screaming in my head.
"Mate! Mate! He's right there! Go to him!"
"Shut up," I whispered to her. "He'll take one look at me and run away screaming."
But even as I said it, I was moving toward the front of the hotel again. I couldn't help myself. The pull was too strong.
I hid behind a fancy car and watched the party through the big windows. There had to be a hundred wolves in there, all dressed in expensive clothes. Crystal glasses sparkled in their hands. A live band played songs I could hear even outside.
And there he was.
Standing in the middle of the room like he owned the world. Tall and strong, with dark hair that looked soft enough to touch. When he smiled at something someone said, my knees went weak.
This wasn't just any wolf. This was an Alpha. A really important one, judging by how everyone else acted around him. They all seemed nervous and excited to talk to him.
"That's Alpha Dante Storm," a woman near the window said to her friend. "The best Alpha in the country. Every pack boss wants to be his ally."
Alpha Dante Storm. Even his name sounded powerful.
And he was my friend.
I almost laughed at how impossible it was. Me, a rogue who ate garbage for dinner, mated to the most powerful Alpha living. The moon goddess had a strange sense of humor.
But my wolf didn't care about any of that. She could sense our mate through the glass, and she wanted him badly.
"He'll reject us," I told her. "Look at him. Look at me. We don't belong in the same world."
"He's ours," she maintained. "The bond will make him want us too."
I wanted to believe her, but I'd learned not to hope for impossible things. Hope only led to sadness.
Alpha Dante was talking to a group of important-looking people when he suddenly stopped mid-sentence. His head turned toward the window, and I felt my breath catch.
Could he feel me too?
His ice-blue eyes swept the street outside, and I ducked lower behind the car. My heart was beating so fast I thought it might explode.
"What are you looking for, Alpha?" someone asked him.
"Nothing," he said, but his voice sounded strange. Confused. "I thought I sensed... never mind."
He turned back to his talk, but I could see he was distracted now. He kept looking toward the window.
The mate bond was affecting him too. He could feel me nearby, even if he didn't understand what it meant yet.
I crept closer to the hotel, staying in the shadows. I needed to see him better. I needed to confirm what my wolf already knew.
That's when I made a huge mistake.
I stepped on a broken bottle, and the loud crack made everyone near the window turn and look outside.
"There's someone out there," a man said, pointing right at me.
I tried to run, but my legs felt like jelly. The mate smell was so overwhelming now that I could barely think straight.
Security guards came rushing out of the hotel, and I knew I was in trouble.
"Stop right there!" they yelled.
I stumbled backward, my eyes still locked on Alpha Dante through the window. He was moving toward the door now, following his guards outside.
This was it. I was about to meet my mate while looking like a street rat. He'd be disgusted. He'd reject me on the spot.
But I couldn't make myself run away.
The hotel doors burst open, and Alpha Dante stepped outside. The moment the cool night air hit him, he froze. His nostrils flared, and his eyes went wide.
He could smell my scent now. The mate link was hitting him full force.
"Mine," he whispered, so softly I almost didn't hear it.
The word sent electricity shooting through my whole body. Even though we were twenty feet apart, I could feel the unseen thread connecting us. It was real. It was strong. It was frightening.
Alpha Dante's eyes found mine across the crowd of security guards, and the world stopped spinning.
Ice-blue met green, and I felt something deep inside me click into place. Like a lock finding its key. Like a lost piece of a puzzle finally being found.
For one beautiful moment, nothing else existed. Not the guards, not the fancy party, not the fact that I was a rogue and he was an Alpha. There was just us, connected by something stronger than reasoning or social rules.
Then reality crashed back in.
"Grab her!" one of the guards shouted. "She's just a rogue!"
But Alpha Dante raised his hand, stopping them. "Wait."
He walked toward me slowly, like I was a wild animal that might run away. His eyes never left mine, and I could see confusion and something else in them. Want, maybe. Or need.
"What's your name?" he asked when he was close enough to touch me.
"Aria," I whispered. My voice came out all scratchy and weird.
"Aria," he repeated, like he was trying how it sounded. "I'm Dante."
As if I didn't already know. As if his name hadn't been burned into my brain the moment someone said it.
"I know who you are," I said.
He nodded slowly. "And you're..."
"A rogue," I finished for him. "Nobody important."
Something flickered across his face. Disappointment? Anger? I couldn't tell.
"That's impossible," he said, more to himself than to me. "The moon goddess wouldn't..."
He didn't finish the sentence, but I knew what he meant. The moon goddess wouldn't pair the best Alpha in the country with a worthless rogue. It had to be some kind of mistake.
"I should go," I said, taking a step backward.
"No." The word came out sharper than he probably meant it to. "Don't go anywhere."
But I could see the wheels turning in his head. He was trying to figure out how to handle this impossible situation. How to get rid of the unwanted mate bond without making a scene.
"Alpha Storm," one of his guards said carefully. "Should we escort her away from the property?"
Dante looked at me for a long moment. I saw the exact second he made his choice, and my heart broke a little.
"Yes," he said coldly. "Remove her from the premises. Rogues aren't welcome here."
The rejection hit me like a physical blow. Even though I'd expected it, it still hurt worse than anything.
"But sir," the guard said, looking confused. "She's your—"
"She's nothing to me," Dante cut him off. His voice was like ice. "Just another rogue looking for trouble."
He turned his back on me and walked toward the hotel. Like I didn't matter. Like the mate bond wasn't real.
But just before he reached the door, he stopped.
"Actually," he said without turning around. "Bring her to my office tomorrow morning. There's something I need to talk with her."
My heart jumped. Maybe he wasn't denying me after all. Maybe—
"And find out who she really is," he added. "I want to know everything about her background."
The guards grabbed my arms and started pulling me away from the hotel. I looked back at Alpha Dante one more time, but he was already disappearing through the glass doors.
"Wait!" I called out. "What do you want to talk about?"
But he was gone, leaving me with a million questions and a guard who was definitely not going to answer any of them.
As they pulled me down the street, one thought kept repeating in my mind: Alpha Dante Storm knew exactly who I was. And tomorrow, I was going to find out why.