Bonds of the Alpha Billionaire (Maya and Alex)

Chapter 115

-Maya's POV-

All day, I'd been trying my hardest to act normal around Ivan when we got to work but I had to figure out what the hell had happened so second the clock struck noon and my lunch break officially began, I practically dove for my phone and dialed Natalia, Sarah, and Riley. Thankfully, it was their lunch break too, except for Riley who was working the night shift today.

Natalia suggested we meet at a bar as I have come to realize that there was something absolutely wrong with my best friend. Thankfully, Ms. Edwards was giving Sarah a hard time about something - though maybe "thankfully" wasn't the right word. Sarah ended up grounded, which for her, was a fate worse than detention. To drown her sorrows, she craved ice cream, so here we were, at a brightly lit ice cream parlor that looked like it belonged in a cartoon, filled with overflowing bowls of sugary goodness and more sprinkles than seemed possible. I'd just finished explaining how the mark I had mysteriously disappeared.

Natalia frowned, her perfectly manicured nails scraping against the rim of her ice cream bowl. "Okay let me see if I understand this straight. It just vanished? Did you even check for it before, like yesterday or something?"

"The truth is, I hadn't really even noticed if it was there or not. I don't even know why I did this time, but something made me check, a sudden urge I couldn't explain. And then...poof, it was gone, like it never even existed."

Riley, who had been unusually quiet the whole time, finally spoke up, her voice hesitant. "Hold on a sec, you guys. I'm a little lost here. How exactly does this whole mating mark thing work? Is it like a permanent tattoo or something?"

to take s

Natalia, Sarah, and I exchanged glances. Riley wasn't a werewolf, so explaining the intricacies of the mating bond was going to tak needed to break it down for her from the very beginning.

some time. We

"Okay," I started, taking a deep breath, "Imagine two wolves who are destined to be together, like soulmates you know? When they find each other, and the connection is strong enough and they decide to be together, they claim one another and form a bond by marking each other."

"A mark? Like a tattoo

or

something?" Riley asked again, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Not exactly," Sarah chimed in, wiping a stray bit of chocolate ice cream from her cheek. "It's more like a birthmark, but it appears out of nowhere. It's usually a symbol that's unique to each couple, something special that represents their bond."

point of the mating mark is to create a connection between the two wolves. They become attuned to each other's

Natalia continued. The Dep

can feel what the other person is feeling, almost like

wonder. "So, basically, you can tell what the other

much. So Ivan marked me, I haven't marked him back but it isn't ground for the mark to just disappear. Mating marks don't just

talked about your wolf coming back and then you don't exactly know when it cleared off but it was there just before the gala and

was definitely there then and after the fight but

murmur escaped Sarah's lips. "Oh,

up in exasperation. "What? What is happening?" she whisper-yelled, her voice laced with frustration. "You guys are talking

I said slowly, the dawning realization hitting me like a punch to the gut. "My wolf wiped off the mark. She doesn't

words left my lips, I felt a presence bloom in the back of my mind, a familiar echo of my own thoughts and emotions and it felt like she'd been waiting for this moment, for me

you?" I demanded, the frustration bubbling inside

en dring

flickered through my mind - my wolf, sitting

pressed, my voice

"Why did

Silence. She was ignoring

1. me.

I yelled in

you

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Chapter 113

growl reverberated within

my jaw, the sound grating against my teeth. "Why did you take his mark away?" I repeated, forcing myself to stay calm. "Because he is not our mate," she

word felt like a slap in the face – "is an asshole who rejected us, Ivan is a

you want to see," she shot back, her

here after you left me for four straight years, turned your back on me

just fine without me, she echoed, her voice tinged with a bitter amusement. "I've only been fully back with you for a week now, and you've hardly acknowledged my presence. Why is that? Because you've been so preoccupied with

I growled, the memory of his rejection still a raw wound. "Now, return