This girl was my mate.

 

My mate.

 

. I had a mate.

 

I couldn’t breathe. I actually couldn’t breathe. What was I supposed to do? If I didn’t move now I wasn’t going to be able to stop myself going to her.

 

, she was beautiful. That just made it worse.

 

She was talking to the people in the bar, her eyes darting around over all the faces, but she didn’t look at me. I willed her to, I wanted her to see, to realise who I was. I needed to touch her…

 

“I have to go…” I whispered. Tiffany turned and frowned at me.

 

“Wha— " she began, but her words ran short when she saw my face; my eyes locked onto my mate. “Oh holy crap,” she whispered, shaking her head slowly.

 

“What?” Siwon asked, turning around.

 

“She’s his mate,” Tiffany said in disbelief. “Donghae…” Tiffany started but her voice just stopped as the sound of singing filled the room. I literally felt my blood run cold and my breathing stopped.

 

“I have to go…” I repeated as I took a step backwards. “I have to…” I muttered as I clenched my fists, willing myself not to do anything stupid. I hurried backwards, away from Tiffany and Siwon’s worried faces before turning and running from the room.

 

I didn’t want this. Even if she was the most beautiful girl in the world. I couldn’t. I wasn’t worthy of her, there was nothing I could give her yet she deserved the world.

 

I collapsed on the floor outside, taking in a deep breath of the fresh air. I should leave. I should just leave right? That wasn’t the kind of girl I wanted as a mate, Tiffany had already said she was a and she liked guys a lot. Would she change for a mate? What if she didn’t? How would I cope if she didn’t want to be with me? This was the problem wasn’t it; nothing could happen now without me being hurt. Every feeling was so much more intensified in a mate relationship, and that meant getting hurt was one hundred times more painful.

 

“Donghae-ah,” a voice interrupted quietly. I turned to face Sungmin who was walking out of the main door and heading over to me. “Hey, everything alright?” He asked.

 

“What am I supposed to do?” I groaned.

 

“Go back in there and talk to her. And just be glad you have a girl like that as your mate,” he said firmly. I looked up at him.

 

“A girl like what?” I asked.

 

He looked down and shrugged. “Just, you know… Just be glad you’ve found your mate.”

 

“I don’t want a girl like that. You heard what Fany said about her.”

 

“Everything changes when you find your mate,” Sungmin said quietly. I got up to my feet and frowned at him.

 

“You say that as if from experience,” I said suspiciously. His eyes shot to mine and his cheeks warmed.

 

“No, just what I’ve been told.” He said quickly. “Come on,” he said before turning and walking back into the bar. I frowned but followed anyway. Perhaps I was just imagining it but the guy was really off today.

 

When we walked back in, I was immediately struck by a smell. I knew it was her. Nothing I’d ever smelt had been so good, it had to be her. It was nothing I’d smelt before, no combination of sweet or fruity smells, just…her; her distinctive smell. It smelt like home, and that scared me.

 

I took a deep breath before holding it in, trying to breath in as little of that smell as possible. As we pushed through the crowd, the stage came into view. She was there. Right up there, singing. God, she was beautiful… I could stand here forever and listen to her sing.

 

Her skin was fair and free of blemishes, acnes or scars. It was just…perfect. Her hair was dark brown, and it fell almost to her waist. Her eyes were almond shaped, just like Tiffany’s. From where I was standing, I could see how dark her eyes were. She still hadn’t notice me, but I was still hidden behind a few people. Sungmin had disappeared, I couldn’t take another step. I was just mesmerised.

 

The song ended. She stopped singing and I snapped back to reality as claps erupted in the place. I pulled my eyes away from her grinning face and glanced around for my brothers and Tiffany. Siwon waved me over to their place against the bar. I pushed through the crowd and made my way over.

 

“Hey man, you okay?” Siwon asked. I nodded and Tiffany smiled sympathetically.

 

“Do you want me to get her over here? You two could have a chat?”

 

“No!” I cried on impulse, my eyes widening. “I mean, thank you but I really don’t that’s the best thing,” I said with a wince.

 

“You need to meet her sometime. She hasn’t even seen you yet,” Tiffany said with a frown.

 

“Tiff!” A voice called through the noise. I felt my skin tingle and as an instinct, I turned towards the sound. I knew that voice already, even though I’d never heard it before, it was her. She was pushing her way through the people, working her way to her cousin. She threw herself on Tiffany, crushing her in a hug. I tried to push the jealousy down that I felt towards Tiffany at that moment. It shouldn’t be Tiffany her arms were around, it should have been me.

 

I felt my body tense up and I growled low in my throat, too low for anyone to hear over the music.

 

I was instantly calmer as her arms fell away from Tiffany. They began to talk animatedly and I found myself fascinated. She laughed a lot. I wanted her to laugh like that with me; I wanted to make her that happy. When she was this close, I could also get a better look at her body. It made me hard to even hear her, but looking at her, I thought I was gonna burst with the need to touch her. It was illegal for anyone to have legs like that, it had to be. With her heels, she was tall, but she was mostly just a stretch of fair toned legs. Even despite her heels, she would have been tall for a girl. She stood almost to my height with her heels, 5’8. I imagined she’d be around 5’5 without them.  

 

“Jessie, I want you to meet someone,” Tiffany said suddenly, snapping me away from my staring. I glared at her, willing her not to draw attention to me. “This is Donghae,” she said gesturing to me. I spun away quickly, turning my back to her. However, Siwon grabbed her arm and spun me back and our eyes met. I was overcome with feelings for this girl, this girl I knew nothing about. I’d never seen anyone more beautiful. Not ever. Her eyes were as dark as her hair and shone just as brightly. I noticed them widen as she looked at me. She knew, she felt it too.

 

I smiled at her, wanting to see her grin the way she’d looked at Tiffany a second ago. I wanted to see the way her face lit up, I knew it would make her look even more beautiful, if that was even possible.

 

But she didn’t smile. She didn’t move. Her eyes hardened and that shining excitement was replaced with a cold front, immediately blocking me out. I felt my throat close and the air around me seemed to go icy cold.

 

“Nice to meet you,” she said in a hard voice. She didn’t offer to shake my hand or greet me in any way. In fact, she seemed to lean further away from me. She held my gaze for mere seconds before turning back to Tiffany and smiling at her as if that exchange had never happened. I felt cold. Cold and suddenly sick. “So who’s this mate of yours I’ve heard so much about?!” She asked, excitement filling her voice. I stared at her.

 

“Uh…” Tiffany mumbled, quickly stealing a glance between me and Jessica before turning to Siwon who was staring directly at me, as if I was going to burst into flames. I felt like bursting into flames. I felt like ing dying. My own mate just rejected me, didn’t even give me a second glance. I just got shot down; by the girl I’m destined to spend the rest of my life with. that. “This is Siwon,” Tiffany introduced, gesturing to Siwon.

 

“Nice to meet you,” She said. They shook hands.

 

“Okay, so it’s just me?” I shot in. Everyone’s eyes turned to me. Even hers. Her cold front was up, blocking me out.

 

“Excuse me?” She said, staring at me curiously.

 

“I said, it’s just me? That you refuse to touch?” I said.

 

“You didn’t appear to be of any importance,” she said with a shrug. I laughed bitterly at her.

 

“Okay, so either you’re ignoring it, or you’re blind,” I said. Anger blared in her eyes and for a moment, I saw a flash of something else, but it was quickly covered by blackness.

 

“I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about,” she said angrily. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have things to do.” She turned and walked away. I watched her glide away; there wasn’t any other way to describe it. She moved so fluidly, and with so much grace, even in those shoes. I smiled at her, even if she was a , she was still mine and she couldn’t do anything about it.

 

“Donghae-ah… I’m sorry, I warned you,” Tiffany said sympathetically. I turned to her and smiled.

 

“She seems pretty kick .”

 

“You don’t have to sugar-coat it. She’s a . I had no idea she’d act that way towards you. I thought… well I thought seeing her mate might wake something up inside of her,” Tiffany said. “A good side of some sort. It was stupid, I’m sorry,” she muttered. Siwon grabbed her hand and pulled her closer into him. He leaned in to whisper something in her ear which made her giggle.

 

“Do you think I should go find her?” I asked, casting my gaze across the heavily crowded room… I just wanted to see her again.

 

“No!” Tiffany shot in, shaking her head at me frantically. “No offense, but you really need to give her time. She needs to take in the fact that she has a mate. She wasn’t always like this you know; she used to be such a sweet person, the sweetest of the sweet,” she said. I raised an eyebrow and she shrugged. “Then she changed suddenly, deciding she thought the whole mating thing was stupid. She’s never shown interest in wanting a mate so give her time,” she said sympathetically. I sighed and swept my eyes over the room once more.

 

Then I saw her; huddled in the corner of the room, by the stage. I leant up, trying to see her more clearly over all the heads. I wanted to run to her, but what Tiffany had just said made sense. I couldn’t work out what she was doing, her back was towards me. I frowned and watched her. She threw her head back and laughed. As she did, I noticed the guy she was pressed up against in the corner and I felt myself burn.

 

No. Way. No ing way. I turned back to Tiffany sharply, glaring at her angrily.

 

“What the ?!” I yelled at Tiffany. “She has a boyfriend?!” I cried. Before Tiffany could open , she was suddenly shoved away roughly and Siwon stepped in front of her.

 

“Donghae, I understand how you feel. But getting angry wouldn’t do anything, so calm down,” Siwon said grabbing me by the shoulders. I gripped his wrists and pushed her away from me. Bad move. He went straight into Tiffany. She let out a surprised yelp as she stumbled backwards into the bar, and I heard the sound of glass smashing. Siwon’s head whipped round to her. I noticed the blood beginning to seep into her palm as she removed parts of the glass from her skin. Siwon grabbed her arm and yanked her hand towards him, getting a closer look. Then I realised what he was going to do. . Siwon had a temper at the best of times. Now really wasn’t the best of times. I was kinda in trouble. I stepped backwards and Siwon spun around to stop me. I caught the look in his eyes before I turned and pushed myself through the crowd. Pure rage. Mental tip, don’t ever hurt someone’s mate.

 

“Sorry!” I yelled as I pushed people away, desperate to get through and get out of here. But if I ran outside, he’d just follow me, and then beat me up…whereas if I hid somewhere…

 

I noticed the sign for the toilets out of the corner of my eyes and switched directions and headed over to the men’s bathroom. But he’d find me in there. Whereas he wouldn’t look in the other one…

 

Okay, so running into the girls’ toilets was slightly creepy but I really wasn’t thinking; I just burst in there.

 

A group of girls reapplying their makeup shot around and shrieked at me. I winced.

 

“Sorry, please just shush. I’m…uh, I’m hiding out here,” I said quietly keeping my eyes fixed on the door. I hoped he hadn’t seen me run in here…

 

“Eww you !” One of them shouted as she closed her bag and ran out of there. Another followed her.

 

“Are you drunk?” A blonde asked.

 

“No. I told you, I’m hiding out,” I said, taking a step towards the door.

 

“From what?” She asked.

 

“A guy who wanted to beat me up,” I muttered, wishing she’d be quiet. I opened the door slowly, trying to get a look out in case he was there. However, before I could get a proper look, the door swung back in my face, straight into my nose and knocking me off my feet. I groaned as my back hit the floor and the wind was knocked out of me.

 

“Oh my God! Are you okay?” A voice cried. My eyes flew open, landing straight on Jessica. When she saw it was me, the care in her face dispersed. “Oh, it’s you. What the hell are you doing in the girls’ bathroom?” She asked disgustedly before stepping over me and walking over to a mirror. I rolled my eyes and sat up, clutching my nose. I got to my feet and scowled at her.

 

“Thanks for the help,” I mumbled sarcastically. The blonde girl excused herself and walked out. I was alone with her. For the first time. She turned and looked at me with a raised eyebrow, before turning back to her reflection. “Are you going to talk to me?” I asked, stepping closer to her. She sighed and moved away.

 

“Should I be?” She asked irritably, trying to ignore me. I knew it wasn’t possible. If she felt anything I was feeling right now, she really didn’t want to be moving away. This girl was trying too hard to ignore me and I wanted to know why.

 

“Probably. With us being mates and all,” I said with a smirk. I stepped closer and then moved behind her. I grabbed her arm and spun her around before pressing myself entirely against her. She was pressed back into the counter so she couldn’t move. She gasped at the invasion and then angrily tried to shove me away.

 

“Get off me!” She said angrily.

 

“I don’t think you really want me to,” I whispered, leaning closer to her. I couldn’t resist the urge, I couldn’t stop myself from touching my lips to her jaw. . She felt good. Really good. I wanted to kiss every inch of that beautiful skin. She was softer than I’d thought. I pulled back and gazed at her; she looked dazed and I grinned to myself, knowing I was having an effect on her. But then she placed her hands on my chest and pushed me away.

 

“Back off,” she said through her teeth. I glared at her.

 

“What is your problem?” I asked.

 

“What’s yours?! Can’t you see that I don’t want any of this. I don’t want a mate and I’m never going to be yours so forget it,” she yelled before turning and heading to the door.

 

“Is it that guy? Is her your boyfriend?” I asked after her. Just thinking about it made me want to smash something. It made me want to grab her and show her who she really belonged to. She stopped.

 

“I don’t do boyfriends. I do guys, lots and lots of guys,” she said, throwing me a smirk before pushing the door and walking away from me again.