Chapter 5: Mateless Destiny

Aurora

“So…can I get you a cup of water? Some tea maybe…?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

Was I dreaming? Alpha Wolfgang was standing in my bedroom. In the middle of the night. It was just me and him. My mate.

Alone.

And all I had on were some short-shorts and an oversized t-shirt.

~“Maybe you should have used some lingerie as pajamas,”~ Rhea whispered.

~“How do you even know what that is?!”~ I hissed back.

I saw Alpha Wolfgang’s lips twitch into the ghost of a smile. Could he hear me? Was this that mind-link thing?

Oh, Goddess, kill me.

I saw him eye me up and down, and I could feel the trail of goosebumps his gaze left across my skin. Was that…lust in his eyes? But he blinked and the emotion was gone, replaced with his usual emotionless gaze.

I bit my lip.

~Calm down, calm down…~

I thought back to the disaster that had happened at the ball. He had ~not~ ~looked happy to see me.~

~“What if he’s here to reject me?”~ I whispered to Rhea.

If he rejected me, I’d be mateless for the rest of my life—unlike him, who would have the power to choose someone else, even if there was no connection.

Being an alpha, he had the power to reject whomever the Moon Goddess assigned him as his mate.

~“He won’t reject you. Relax. Just talk to him,”~ Rhea tried to reassure me.

“Miss Aurora Craton,” he said.

“Yes, that’s me…”

His eyes scanned my small bedroom, making me wish it was cleaner. His eyes stopped at the maid uniform that was hanging on my door.

“Stealing is a serious offense,” he said.

“I was going to bring that back in the morning!” I said. “I ran out of the gala without thinking after…uh…”

“See to it that you do,” Wolfgang said. “Otherwise you could be whipped and put in the dungeons for a month.”

I nodded, terrified. Why was he doing this to me?

“Why did you apply to become a maid at the packhouse?” he asked.

“I didn’t.” His gaze bore down on me, and I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt, looking down at my feet. “Um, my stepmother did it. She wanted me to get out of the house and earn some money, and also…” I hesitated and chanced a glance at him. “Maybe find my mate.”

His eyes darkened at the word and a low growl rumbled out from his chest.

Weirdly, I liked the sound…

He pulled out what looked to be a large envelope. He rifled through some of the papers there, scanning the words.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Some records,” he said. “Says here that you didn’t have any remarkable grades in school, nor achieved much in the athletic departments. Not much extracurricular activities either.”

“I like watching Netflix…” I frowned. “What’s this about?”

Alpha Wolfgang sighed in frustration. “Is there nothing you can offer, Miss Craton?”

“Wait a second…” My mouth fell open as I realized what was happening. “Are you ~interviewing~ ~me?”~

“I will say this only once, so listen carefully, Miss Craton. I am the alpha of this pack, known for my strength and my prowess in managing this village, just like my father and his ancestors did.”

He looked at me. “Much is expected from me. Especially the type of mate I present as my luna…”

He paused for a moment as he assessed me from head to toe.

“And I’m sure as hell that you do not qualify. I hope, for your own good, that you haven’t told anyone yet. Because if so, I’ll deny it.”

There it was. I looked at him as he stood there, his expression as stoic as ever.

This was what I’d feared the most. He was going to reject me.

I was going to be mateless for the rest of my life.

“Why am I not good enough, alpha?” I dared to ask him, my trembling voice barely above a whisper.

“What?”

“I said…why am I not good enough for you? Why will you condemn me to become a mateless wolf?” I asked, now looking straight into his eyes.

Tears rolled down my face freely.

“There’s too much at risk. You would be a liability to me if I chose you as my mate,” he said.

He shook his head. “You have no skills or abilities that may help me as a leader, to rule and protect the pack. You haven’t even shifted yet, have you?”

I bowed my head in shame. That was all he thought of me.

A liability. A worthless person. Someone who would offer him nothing if he took me as his mate.

“I…I understand…” I said, not daring to look up at him.

Could my life get any worse?