Aurora James - POV
The line was eerily silent, and the only sounds were my sobs. "Don't cry, darling."
"How can I not, Mom? You told me I would find my happiness soon. But looks like my chance of finding happiness has been successfully ruined."
"Don't lose hope, sweetheart. You don't need to show weakness. Remember you are strong, and everything will turn out just fine."
"How can you be so positive, Mom?"
"If he wanted to reject you, he would have done that a long time ago, Aurora. Always remember, everyone is fighting a battle of their own, and maybe Beta Perez is going through the same issue as well. But I have a feeling that everything would work out just fine." Mom reassured me, and I felt like a heavy weight was lifted off my shoulder.
"Thank you, mom."
"For what, honey?"
"For being there for me when I feel down," I said as a smile appeared on my face.
"I will always be there with you, Aurora. You are the light to my darkness, and I don't want that light to diminish no matter what." She said as tears rolled down my cheeks. "All right, it's getting pretty late. I will call you again soon, all right?"
"Okay, take care of your health, mom."
"Sure, honey, bye." She said as the line was discontented. I placed the phone on the bedside table and climbed into bed. Mom was right. I am strong, and I don't think I can show any weakness. If Beta Perez didn't want me to be his mate, then he would have rejected me when he got the chance twice, but he didn't.
My eyes fluttered close as I thought that I was not going to run behind him anymore. If he wants me, he is going to earn it.
The next day, I woke up early and changed into my sports bra and spandex shorts, grabbed my hoodie, and made my way downstairs. As I reached the dining room, my mood dampened when I saw that almost everything was over. "Good morning." I turned around when I saw Levi standing behind me with a paper bag in his hand, and a tray with two paper cups that had coffee inside.
"Good morning."
"Shall we go to train?"
"But I haven't eaten anything yet," I answered as I looked at the dining room again.
"I bought us some bagels and coffee." He said as he showed me the food. "Let's go and eat and then start our training." He said, and I nodded my head and walked out of the pack house with him. Once we had finished our breakfasts, Levi made me run twenty laps around the track again, but this time, I was more determined to leave this pack as soon as I could.
"Wow," Levi praised as I came to a stop in front of him. I was drenched with sweat while my heart was still racing, but I didn't feel drained like yesterday. "You finished fifteen minutes early. That's a great improvement."
"Thank you," I said as I straightened my back and did a few stretches. Levi picked up my hoodie from the grass and handed it over to me, I took it from him with a smile, and when I was about to wear it, I saw Beta Perez in the distance. His eyes were burning holes at us when an idea popped up in my mind.
I know I might end up regretting this later, but I did not care. "You dropped your hoodie," Levi said, but when he was about to pick it up, I moved closer to him. "Aurora?" He sounded confused as I got up on my tiptoes, wrapped my hands around his neck, and placed a kiss on his cheek.
At the angle we were positioned, anyone would have thought that we had a lip lock. "Levi!" I heard a thunderous growl which made me pull away as Levi turned around. For a second, the entire place descended into a thick silence when I saw the warriors training at a distant stop as well. Beta Perez stormed up towards us, his eyes held a murderous glare while Levi looked like a deer caught in headlights. "What the hell is going on in here?"
"Nothing, beta Perez, we were..."
"Miss. James, I do not tolerate this kind of behavior in my pack. Distraction could cost lives and…"
"Our training session was already over, Beta Perez. And I know the pack rules as well. Any warrior can date any woman he wants outside his training sessions. So I don't think we were doing anything wrong." I asserted when I saw Levi's eyes as wide as saucers. Looks like no one has talked back to his big bad beta like this before.
His chest was rapidly rising and falling in anger, while his glare was directed at me. He looked at Levi one last time before he stormed out of there, and an accomplished smile formed on my face. "What happened to him?" Levi sounded shocked.
"More like what got stuck up his butt." I joked when Levi and I looked at each other at the same time.
"Beta Perez has never had an outburst like this before."
"Maybe he is going through some personal issues," I said as I shrugged my shoulder and picked up my hoodie. "I will see you later," I told him as I walked out of there. As I walked into the pack house, I was about to go upstairs when I saw Adrian walk out from the kitchen.
"Hey, how was your training today?"
"Eventful," I said.
"Great. Zander would like to meet you in his office, soon." Adrian formed me, and I nodded my head and walked upstairs. After a nice warm shower, I wore my high-waist denim and an orange crop top and walked out of my room.
As I reached his office, I knocked on his door, and soon, I heard his voice. "You wanted to see me, Beta Perez?" I asked him when he pushed away the papers he was reading and glared at me.
"You want to rent a shop in my town. These are some of the terms you should agree to." He said as he placed a file in front of me. A frown appeared on my face as I stepped closer to his desk and took the file. As I began reading, I felt the anger bubbling within me.