Chapter 46

I stared out of the window until the skies darkened, lost in my thoughts. A lot of things had happened in such a short time and it made me appreciate things I took for granted before.

My father was missing, my mother was hysterical and my sister wasn’t talking to me. There was also the issue of my mate mating with someone else and my mum packing her things and leaving the house this morning without a word to us. In a nutshell, my life had fallen apart and it didn’t look like it would be fixed any time soon.

When I finally managed to pull myself into a semi-working condition to grab dinner, my wolf perked up. A voice like a rushing wind slammed into my mind.

It was the Alpha’s Call.

The Call was rarely used except on the occasion of the Feast of the Moon. In fact, I’d never heard the Alpha’s Call except in the times of the Feast but when I heard it then, even if it didn’t sound like the Call I was used to, my wolf recognized it and I knew what it was for.

It was physically impossible for a wolf to resist its Alpha’s Call. I didn’t want to be bound to mate stealer Valens, but I didn’t have much of a choice. I couldn’t fight his Call.

My body pulled me to the Arena where a lot of the older wolves were already gathered. A small podium had been set up before I came. People trooped in while I looked around for a familiar face.

“What’s going on?” I turned to see Celeste at my side. She was dressed in her pyjamas and her hair was a tangled mess, her complexion pale.

Damn. I knew she liked Levi but I didn’t think she liked him this much.

I felt eyes on me and when I raised my head, I caught the unwavering attention of Beta Jabari. He took his time glaring at me before he looked away. The man didn’t like me one bit.

“Gosh, that Beta is an a*****e,” Celeste spat. He glanced at her quickly but she didn’t take note of it.

I’d seen the Beta lurking around my sister more times than he’d been lurking around Aysel which was weird because his duty was to follow the Alpha’s mate and make sure they were protected in the Alpha’s absence.

“Your friend is about to pick a mating date,” I said to Celeste. Her eyes lit up, transforming her dull face.

“I never thought of that!” She exclaimed, clapping her hands. “A Mating Ceremony. Nice.” She smiled and I knew she was happy for Aysel. But what about me?

I’d lost my mate and my sister couldn’t even sympathize with me. The chances of breaking her away from Valens was slim now but it would be darn near impossible to break her away if they went through with a Mating Ceremony and completed the Mating Ritual. Not without severe damage to her which I didn’t want.

“Can I talk to you for a second?” Skylar appeared from nowhere and dragged me away from Celeste. “Do you know what the f**k is about to happen?” She hissed at me when she succeeded in dragging me into a corner.

“My mate is about to make things official with that a*****e.” I scrubbed a hand across my face.

“We can’t let this happen.” I know that already. “We’ll be at a bigger disadvantage if it happens.” There was a reason why I didn’t want the Mating Ceremony between the two to happen but I didn’t see why Skylar should care.

“Why do you care? It’s not as if it’ll hurt your chances of dethroning him if he completes the Mating Ritual.” I needed someone to lash out at and she willingly provided herself so she couldn’t blame me.

She hit me. She hit me hard. So hard that my vision blinked out for a few seconds.

“You’re a daft child, Lucien. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to realize it.” She hissed. “Their bond will be stronger when they complete the ritual and the stronger their bond, the stronger their individual prowess. I was just telling you the other day about the Prince’s new vulnerability and how we now stand a chance against him because he doesn’t heal as fast as he used to and you don’t have the sense to see that we’d lose that edge if he completes the mating ritual!?” Her eyes blazed with fire.

Who’d blame me that I no longer thought straight? Who would take the hit I took and still be fine afterwards? Nobody. No one could just get over losing their mate like that. I wasn’t thinking clearly anymore, darn it!

“What do you want me to do?” She gave me a disgusted look when I asked her that question.

“You’re useless. Forget it.” She turned and marched away.

I sighed, letting my shoulders fall back. Skylar was bossy and domineering. She had zero empathy and goddess, I really chose a bitch over my innocent and sweet mate!

“Have a second?” A cool voice called while I started at the ground. “Your friend didn’t look too happy.” I raised my head to see Clover.

The lady was stunning. She was dressed in black combat boots, a tight leather skirt with a crop top. She had slender athletic legs, a pretty face, a moderate-sized chest and a great rack. She’d have been my type a few months back but not now. It was unfortunate she just moved here because she really wanted me, I could tell.

“Hi, Clove.” Her nose wrinkled at the nickname.

“Don’t call me that.” Her tone was light but firm.

“Why? You said we could be friends. Friends give each other nicknames.” I knew the reason she wanted to be friends with me was that she liked me. Skylar was the one that proposed an alliance with her but she decided to partner up with me instead.

I wouldn’t humble myself to the point where I’d pretend I wasn’t actually a good looking man. I knew my looks had a huge effect on girls and even guys but I only wanted Aysel now. I was willing to use Clover to get to Aysel but she didn’t know that. She thought she could warm her way into my heart from being my friend and warning me about how dangerous Valens could be, trying to dissuade me from chasing Aysel, but I couldn’t be stopped. Aysel was mine.

“I don’t like the nickname.” I snorted. She was probably giggling and going crazy in her mind that her crush gave her a cute nickname but whatever. “Do you know what Valens is about to announce?” I nodded, not in the mood to speak anymore.

Valens and Aysel. Aysel and Valens.

Putting his name next to hers out a bitter taste in my mouth.

“Their Mating Ceremony is set for the twenty-first of next month. You know what that means, don’t you?” Three weeks. That was three weeks away!

People spent months planning their mating ceremony and they wanted theirs so soon?

“How do you know? They haven’t announced it yet.” I eyed her, suspicious. She gave me a cute smile at my question.

“Valens is my best friend. He tells me everything.” She sounded proud of herself.

Was she trying to make me jealous? I didn’t care about her so her relationship with Valens didn’t matter to me but I wondered why she liked me so much. She knew I was attached to Aysel. Except she thought I would never get my mate back.

I glared at her without meaning to, overcome with anger. No one believed I could destroy the flimsy mate bond the mate stealer had created with my mate. No one believed I could win back my predestined mate from Valens who was nothing but a common thief.

“What do you really want from me?” I asked the beauty queen standing before me. She leaned forward for no reason and I got a good view of her cleavage. So now she thought to seduce me? Ha! I’d seen Aysel naked and she had creamy skin, better than all the girls I’d been with.

“You are my friend. I want to assist you in your plans. I want to know how badly you want Aysel back because I want Valens.” She blinked at me and giggled.

This girl must think I was stupid. Valens? Yeah, right. She had the hots for me. I let her pretend though, to save her ego.

“How badly do you want Valens then?” I countered.

“He has been my best friend for a century. I do not want to lose him. They called me his lucky clover while we were kids. I am a luck bringer.” Whether she was trying to sell herself to me or not, I wasn’t buying.

The announcement of the Alpha and his Luna drew our attention. Clover straightened.

“When you need me, call me. You have my number.” She bounced away. I noticed an extra sway in her h**s as she walked away. I walked back to the middle of the Arena where Valens and Aysel stood. She was so short beside him. So small.

Indeed they were announcing their mating ceremony. I watched Valens as he spoke while Aysel smiled beside him.

“We will have our Mating Ceremony on the twenty-first of next month. My mate and I are officially inviting you and also asking you to help in our preparations,” Valens called in his cool voice.

Throughout the Call, he held her hand, brushed her shoulder, tucked her hair behind her ears and even hugged her closer. I saw red.

Just like that, we had a deadline.

There was an uproar in the crowd. People chanted their names. They hailed him, congratulated them and towards the end, a chant of ‘Aysel our curse breaker,’ rose in the air from the Prince’s men.