Chapter 6 His True Preference

• Maverick's POV
• The moment I slid into the backseat of my car, I exhaled a breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding.
• My chest felt tight, my pulse still racing from what had just happened in Averin’s office. Without thinking, I pressed a hand over my sternum, trying to steady myself, trying to make sense of what I had just done.
• I had come here with a plan. A simple, and we'll thought-out plan: Gain Averin’s trust, use the bond to my advantage, and simply do what my father expected me to do.
• That had been the goal, and yet—
• "What the hell just happened back there?"
• I had expected Averin to be resistant. I had expected him to argue, to dismiss me, maybe even throw me out of his office altogether, but I had not expected him to push the conversation in the direction that he had.
• I hadn’t expected him to lean in like that, to bring up the idea of crossing the line—as if daring me to back away, and if there was one thing I hated, it was being dared.
• I had seen it in his eyes—he had been testing me. He had been waiting for me to flinch, to reconsider, to panic at the very thought of acknowledging the mate bond, and if this had been any other man, in any other situation, maybe I would have.
• Maybe I would have walked away, dismissed the whole thing, and kept my distance, but this wasn’t any other situation, and Averin wasn’t just any man.
• The moment he had gotten close, something in me had shifted.
• I didn’t want to admit it. In fact, I didn’t even want to think about it, but there was no point in lying to myself anymore, because the truth was, I had been attracted to him.
• It had been instant, uncontrollable, like something had settled inside of me before I could stop it, and that was why I had kissed him.
• I didn't do it to prove a point or to one-up him, but because I had wanted to.
• I dragged a hand down my face, letting my head fall back against the seat as I replayed the moment over and over again.
• The way his breath had hitched when I leaned in and the way his eyes widened when I actually kissed him—it had excited me.
• I was also surprised by the way I had kept my cool, despite my own shock at what I had done.
• I should have felt regret. I should have felt disgusted, conflicted, or something, but all I felt was curiosity and a strange urge to do it again.
• I was still lost in my thoughts, my mind spiraling down paths I didn’t want to acknowledge, when suddenly, a voice I hadn’t heard in days finally made itself known.
• "There’s something off about our mate."
• I stiffened, inhaling sharply.
• Finally.
• I had been waiting for my wolf to speak ever since I first laid eyes on Averin. The mate bond was supposed to be a connection between not just our human halves but also our wolves. Yet mine had been silent, offering no guidance, no instincts, nothing—until now.
• "You’re just now speaking up?" I shot back, pressing my fingers against my temples.
• "Didn’t have time to look into it before," my wolf—Orion—responded lazily. "You were too busy panicking like a pup at his first hunt."
• I scowled. "I was not panicking."
• "You absolutely were."
• I gritted my teeth, inhaling deeply through my nose. "Alright, since you’ve finally decided to contribute, what do you mean something’s off?"
• Orion hesitated. Then—
• "I mean that I can’t sense anything past the mate bond. It’s…blocked."
• I frowned. "Blocked?"
• "It’s like there’s something between us and our mate that shouldn’t be there," Orion explained. "I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s unnatural. I can sense the mate bond perfectly, but everything beyond that? It’s just… blank."
• I felt a cold prickle run down my spine. "What the hell does that even mean?" I asked, feeling utterly confused.
• "It means… I can’t be sure if our mate is a male or a female. I'm not getting anything that indicates what he is."
• My breath caught in my throat, and I let out a scoff. "Are you serious?"
• "Dead serious."
• I ran a hand through my hair, trying to make sense of what he was saying. "Of course, he’s a man, Orion. You saw him just like I did."
• "Did I?" Orion hummed, his tone annoyingly casual. "Or did I just see what I was expected to see?"
• I clenched my jaw. "That makes no sense. He’s clearly—"
• "I can’t sense past it," Orion interrupted. "That’s all I’m saying. It’s not normal, Maverick. The mate bond is supposed to connect everything—our wolves, our instincts, our very souls—but there’s a barrier there. A wall."
• I exhaled sharply, shaking my head. "You’re overthinking it. Averin is a man. That’s what this is. We got thrown into an unusual situation, and now you’re trying to make up an excuse to make it easier to process."
• Orion was quiet for a moment. "Maybe," he responded.
• "Maybe?"
• "Maybe I just don’t care."
• I frowned. "What’s that supposed to mean?"
• "It means," Orion said with a hint of amusement, "that whatever Averin is or isn’t, I like being around him, and I don’t want to be around anyone else. You're the one who's bothered by him being a man. I'm just worried that I can't connect to my mate like I'm supposed to."
• My stomach tightened at that declaration. "Orion—"
• "We've never had a mate before," he continued, ignoring me." And I have been waiting for one, and now that I have one? You’d rather be stubborn and push him away because it wasn't a situation you expected?"
• I groaned, leaning my head back against the seat. "But he’s a man, Orion. We can't be with a man. It'll cause a lot of problems for us."
• Orion huffed, the sound reverberating in my head. "That’s not my problem. You’re the one with the crisis over it. I just know that I finally found someone I don’t want to let go of, and I'm very curious about our mate."
• I swallowed hard, trying to ignore the way my chest tightened at those words.
• "Besides," Orion added, his tone smug now, "I never liked the women you were with before, anyway, so maybe this has always just being my preference, and I’d rather you not ruin it with your reluctance."
• I groaned again, louder this time, pressing the heels of my palms against my eyes.
• Because, deep down… I knew he was right.