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

They can feel what the other person is feeling, almost like they're sharing the

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

isn't ground for the mark to just disappear. Mating marks

own thoughts, grappling with the implications of the vanished mark. Suddenly, Natalia broke the stillness. "Hold on a minute. We haven't really talked about your wolf

there then and after the fight but I never checked after

low murmur escaped Sarah's lips.

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

said slowly, the dawning realization hitting me like

and emotions and it felt like she'd been waiting for this moment, for me to finally understand. My eyes narrowed instinctively,

I demanded, the frustration bubbling inside me

en dring

image flickered through my mind - my wolf, sitting with her shoulders puffed up in a nonchalant shrug. It only served to

I pressed,

"Why did

Silence. She was ignoring

1. me.

talking to you!" I yelled in my head,

emptiness. "And you better start

1/2

10:39

Chapter 113

reverberated within my skull, raw and

his mark away?" I repeated, forcing myself to stay calm. "Because he is not our mate," she finally answered, her

out, my voice laced with bitterness, "our mate" - the word felt like a slap in the face – "is an asshole who rejected us, Ivan is

you want to see," she shot back, her words like a twisted logic that

no right to come back here after you left me for four straight years, turned your back on me only showing up when you felt like it, and now trying to

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

gone." I growled, the memory of his rejection still a