| Clementine POV - Present |

"Can you not hog the blanket?" Tom groggily groaned, forgetting that he was in my bed.

In my king-sized bed.

Under my sheets.

Sleeping in my fucking apartment.

The audacity of this man just because I popped his cherry.

"Go sleep in the guest room! My heat has finished so you are more than welcome to go buddy." I barked back.

"Nooo, I'm too sore to move." He cried and cocooned himself in the blanket like a burrito.

I would have kneed him in the groin since I'm not really too fond of sharing my bed but I owed him rest after 8 hours of non-stop sex.

"Damn, am I that good?" I spun around to face him with a cocky grin as he rubbed his eyes open.

"Bloody exhausting, more like. Were you a horse jockey in your past life?" He quipped before I kicked him off the bed and wrapped myself in MY blanket.

Yup, this absolute menace has gotten too comfortable.

Tom whined as he got off the floor and we both whipped our middle finger at each other like the children that we are.

Our banter was quickly interrupted by his ringing phone and Tom grabbed it inside his jean pocket that was lying carelessly on the floor.

"Hey Alpha, what's up?" Tom answered as I gagged at the person on the other side.

"Um, yeah I'm at my grandfather's. Is it urgent?"

Liar.

"Sure... It would probably take me 2hrs to drive to the council building."

Liar. It takes 20 mins from mine.

"I'll let my grandfather know. Yes, Alpha. Bye."

Tom ended the call and I gave him a questioning look at being a big fib.

"At your grandfather's, really Tomtom?" I asked as he sheepishly smiled back.

"What do you want me to say? Soz alpha I'm fucking your ex mate tee hee. Hope you don't mind bro?"

"He's a big boy. He could handle that you're fucking someone." I laughed back before Tom shook his head.

"Not when it's you, he can't. Do you really want me to get mauled to death?"

"What do you mean if it's me... wait don't answer that! I don't want to hear anything about him. Capiche?" I reiterated, catching my curiosity.

Tom simply nodded and gave me a knowing look, before heading to the bathroom.

Stop thinking about him.

Stop thinking about him.

Stop thinking about him.

I've done 5 years of not hearing or knowing anything about the asshole since I left and I should stick to that.

I heard the shower run and Tom belting his lungs out which distracted me from my mental torment. I hopped off the bed and knocked on the bathroom door as he sang off-key to an Adele song.

"Tom for the love of God, shut the fuck up I have neighbours! And don't waste my frangipani soap, that's from Harrods!" I nagged as Tom's annoying singing got louder.

How is it possible that he hasn't changed since we were kids? It's a fucking mystery at this point.

A whole hour later, Tom finally decided to come out, looking smug as he fixed his hair.

"What the fuck did you wash in there, a village? You just dried out London's entire water supply!" I complained, chucking a pillow at him.

"As long as you are not dry, love." He teased before chucking the pillow back at my face.

I rolled my eyes as he put his shirt on cheerily, proud of his little statement.

Note to self.

Book a new fuck buddy.

.

.

.

The walking headache finally left and I got myself ready for work.

I opened the doors to my walk-in wardrobe and filtered through the copious amount of designer outfits before I set my eyes on the one that suited my mood for the day

Something assertive.

A little bit domineering.

And a whole lot of chic.

I slipped on the tight-hugging red Versace work dress and matched it with a Hermes silk scarf before I twirled in front of the mirror, poised with confidence as I took a selfie. I then quickly threw a peace sign at myself like a proper loser to humble myself.

"Okay queen, that's enough!"

I scolded at my own reflection when my phone suddenly buzzed in my hand, making me jolt.

A message from Eric popped up and it was a cute picture of Pen and her baby bump. I smiled and replied 'that's not your kid' which provoked him to call me.

"Cece, that joke is getting tiring." He cried out as I heard Pen's giggles from the back.

"Good morning to you too! What's the agenda today?" I asked as I headed out of the door.

"Well I've got some big news, the council has specifically appointed us a big case to represent because of your win yesterday. You did it Ce!"

My jaw dropped and I screamed at my phone in complete joy which probably deafened Eric.

The big fucking break. My hard work has finally paid off.

"Omg Eric! Who is it? Who's our client?"

"I don't know yet! The council secretary booked an urgent meeting with this client in an hour so I'm heading to the firm now to sort that out. I'll meet you there for a rundown, okay?"

I squealed out a yes as Eric laughed and ended our call before I rushed to my car in excitement.

I blasted my celebratory ABBA playlist and sang my heart out to every line, not minding the god-awful traffic in London for once.

As I got to my building in Canary Wharf, I parked my car next to a bright red Ferrari and took a good look at it, knowing the owner of this car must be someone who craved speed and emitted so much fucking power.

Someone like a daddy...

I mean an Alpha.

A very single Alpha.

Doesn't take a genius to know that though since it wasn't a Volvo. I smiled coyly as I caressed the roof like a creep, hoping that our client was as gorgeous as his car.

I strutted inside and got greeted by Eric who looked a bit tense and not as excited as I hoped.

Odd.

I gave him a pointed look and he led me to my office hastily and shut the door behind us.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, confused and he replied with a deep sigh.

"Cece, the client is here."

"Yeah... I saw the car. Spill it Eric." I crossed my arms and asked him to continue, perplexed by his vagueness.

"Well... it's your old pack and the Alpha is literally in our meeting room as we speak. Will you be okay?"

I smiled and nodded before I bolted towards the window ready to escape but the party-pooper pulled me back in/

Am I okay? No.

Absolutely not.

Not when it's fucking Lucas.

"Eric, I need you to either kill me or kill him. Take your pick." I suggested while he sat me down safely and shut the window.

"Wait, what? I'm not killing anyone. Do you have a problem with him too?" He asked as he put away all the sharp objects off my desk.

Good idea. I would have used my fountain pen to gauge someone's eyes out.

I slid out my phone from my bag and swiftly texted Tom that I would kill him before Lucas could for not telling me that the devil himself would be coming for a visit too. He literally called this morning so how could Tom not know?

Eric just watched as I tried my best to keep it together and not have a full-blown panic attack before he carefully made his way to my mini-fridge and handed me a water bottle.

"Drink this and calm down." He goaded as I shakily drank the water.

"Calm down? I need something stronger than water for that. Pass me the wolfsbane on the top shelf. Let's pop that open shall we?"

"No, I'm not enabling your alcoholism Ce. Now tell me, what's going on with you?" Eric pushed for an answer and I gave him a defeated look.

"The reason why I left my pack was because of the man sitting in our meeting room right now. That Alpha in there is the mate I rejected."

Eric's face paled and he covered his mouth in shock.

"No fucking way. Him?"

I nodded and cupped my face in my hands, wishing I wore my sharper stilettos to throw at Lucas' face.

"Eric, what the fuck am I going to do?" I groaned and he patted me on the back.

"This is rough. I'd hate for you to do this but this is also your big opportunity. Maybe let the council know that this is a conflict of interest?"

"I can't! They don't know that we were mates in the first place so I'd be sabotaging my career if they ever find out that I rejected the Alpha!" I disclosed before we were both interrupted by a knock on the door and our receptionist Liz popped her head inside.

"Morning Ms Finch, I've organised tea for Alpha Lucas in the meeting room. I already let him know you're here." She conveyed to us, her cheeks fully blushed from meeting our hot werewolf client.

Sorry. Let me correct that. Ordinary-looking-pain-in-the-ass werewolf.

"Did you sneak in a bit of poison? I would bump up your pay if you did." I responded with a straight face as Liz looked on in confusion.

"I'm sorry?" She replied before Eric told her I was joking and made her go.

I wasn't.

"Cece, decide now. I'll ask him to go if you want me to. But, we can't keep him waiting in there. We got to be professional." Eric exclaimed as he pointed outside the door.

I gazed towards the direction he pointed at and heaved out a huge sigh. I then yelled a fuck you to the moon goddess for doing me another solid, wishing I could square up with her right now.

I wear the pants.

I am in charge.

Not him.

"Fuck this. Fine! We'll take him on as a client. For my sake and for the firm." I growled as Eric looked on both in pity and gratefulness.

We both walked out of my office and marched away to the meeting room, with Eric taking the lead. As soon as he opened the door, a familiar scent of amber and lavender wafted under my nose which made my wolf purr like crazy.

Annoyed, I blocked her out completely and took a big breath in before stepping inside to finally face him.

Those hauntingly blue eyes.

That dark hair that rivalled the night.

Those lips that once captured mine.

He was still as beautiful as I remembered him, and as bewitching. A big fucking red flag.

"Hello Clementine."

He smiled with familiarity and stood up but I could only stare back into those eyes swarmed with guilt, pain and deep longing.

Eric nudged me on the side and I had to subtly pick up my jaw as I broke out of my disillusionment.

Lucas was my heartbreak and my demise. My sworn enemy.

"No need for formalities Alpha, please sit." I coldly answered back and Lucas could only nod as he sat back down.

Eric and I sat across him, but I shifted myself awkwardly to face away from him. Lucas noticed and arched his eyebrow up before giving me a cheeky smirk.

This spawn of Satan and his perfectly curated eyebrows.

Damn him.

"I've introduced myself already but I'll be the supervising aid for Ms Finch. Alpha, you were sent to us by the wolven council to represent you. What may be the reason for such urgency?" Eric took over as I cocked my head towards Lucas.

"Yeah, Alpha what the fuck did you do? Excuse my French." I grumbled out and Eric gave me a side-eye.

Lucas bent his head down and pressed his lips together to stop himself from laughing before recollecting himself.

"Well firstly, I didn't do anything Clem, I mean Ms Finch. My pack was suddenly attacked last night by rogues who seemed to have joined forces with a smaller pack who wanted a section of our territory. I would like to file a breach of the territorial treaty and implement strong sanctions against Blue River pack for utilising rogues to cause commotion in my pack. 16 wolves got hurt over this and I need the council to help stop them." Lucas divulged with a serious expression as his fist clenched.

My hand mirrored his and I bit my lip, concerned that my old pack was attacked.

"Any casualties?" I asked as he stared directly at me.

"6. All 5 were rogues and the other was a warrior from Blue River. The brother of their Luna."

"And why were they killed?" Eric enquired as Lucas' eyes darkened at the reason.

"They got too close to my son." Lucas muttered while Eric looked at me, surprised.

He had a son.

With Alice.

His family.

Overcome with emotions, the room felt small all of a sudden and my chest tightened in pain.

The cowardly rejection.

The awful truth.

The undeserved threats.

Eric gently patted my shoulder and I blinked back the tears that were starting to pool in my eyes.

Shit. I shouldn't cry when he doesn't deserve my tears.

I wanted Lucas to be oblivious but he was quick to notice my tears as he shifted closer. The inner turmoil in his eyes was loud and clear as his fingers flinched under my gaze, itching to reach out.

"Don't" I whispered as I quickly stood up.

"Clem?" Lucas called out and I looked at him angrily.

"Get that name out of your mouth. We've already cut ties so don't get too familiar with me Alpha."

Lucas hesitated and clenched his fist closed as he looked on.

I hate this.

I hate vulnerability.

I hate that he could see through me.

"I'm really sorry, Ms Finch. Maybe representing me isn't the best idea?" Lucas mumbled out and Eric nodded in agreeance.

No.

I'm over him.

I'm not weak.

This is purely business.

I walked over to him as he stood up to face me, our bodies only a few centimetres apart. But I didn't crave intimacy, I wanted power over this man.

"I will represent the pack as a favour to them, not you. So let's keep this professional Alpha, understand?" I demanded, my harsh tone catching him off guard.

See, Alphas hate being controlled but Lucas' gaze seemed to imply that he enjoyed this. Those eyes wanted me to take charge, to have full authority and he would happily bend the knee.

"Of course." Lucas agreed and stuck his hand out for me to shake as I hesitated before taking it.

Lucas smiled coyly and clutched my hand tightly for a quick second before letting go. But that second was all it took for me to know that our mate bond wasn't completely severed. That electrifying touch proved that someone didn't complete the rejection after all.

"Lucas." I muttered and his eyes softened at the sound of his name.

"Yes?"

"I've never lost a case, ever and I know I would win yours. And if I do win, I've got one condition."

He cocked his eyebrow up and I smirked back.

"Reject me."

===End of chapter===

Lucas is backkkkkk.

Even Clem's jaw dropped.

What would be their dynamic like?

Stay tuned!

Happy reading and thank you everyone xxx

(Editing this chapter later for grammar issues)

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