Not your normal Luna

Ryland POV

Same day different pack b******t. Windsor academy was my fathers pet project. He expected me to be the top student here whilst also getting ready to take over being alpha.

The only reason I was even mildly popular was my position. I had to be top student, top alpha, quarterback, and try to keep some form of social life. It was exhausting.

I was on the phone with my dad going over some dumb merger with another pack when I saw her.

She smelled like strawberries and her blonde hair flowed around her shoulders like gold. Her hazel eyes seemed to bore into me and I could see a bit of purple seeping out of them.

The next thing I knew she was walking towards me. When I saw my betas hand try to stop her- my wolf Zion was ready to tear it off. Something totally unexpected happened at the moment though. She brought him to his knees. The power radiating off of her was full alpha. Maybe something more.

F*** I didn’t need this. I have too much going on right now to deal with a mate. She’s also clearly a half breed. My father believed fully in fated mates but this would cause me too much stress. Zion was battling me fiercely. He wanted our mate desperately. When I brought up a chosen mate to him months ago he nearly ripped off my head. I blocked him with great difficulty while I readied myself for what I needed to do.

I said the most cursed words and hated myself every second albeit I hid that very well.

I expected her to fall to the ground screaming in agony. She looked confused however? I’ve never seen this kind of reaction.

After a second I felt a chill go down my spine as I watched time stop. Zion even in immense pain was instantly on alert for a threat. It wasn’t til I looked back at her and realized she was the threat. Her eyes were red and when she grabbed my hand I wanted to scream out in pain.

It was like a red hot iron that I couldn’t escape from. When she demanded I rescind for the sake of her wolf I caved. It wasn’t just because of the pain. Zion was literally tearing me up inside seeing the pain of his mate. I was feeling pain internally and externally.

After I rescinded she let go and I stared down at the third degree burns on my arm. Zion could heal me but he refused. I looked up and her eyes turned back to hazel. Time started again and I realized everyone was looking at us. She seemed to come to this conclusion as well as she fell to the ground and pretended to cry. I could see her hate filled glare from the corner of her eye.

The moon almost hurt worse than the burn. I swiftly turned on my heel. I could feel my gamma and beta starting to follow me but I linked them to stay back.

I needed to do some serious reading about this. That kind of power wasn’t normal and definitely wasn’t safe. Should I be afraid of my own mate? Zion was livid that I would disrespect both Tiana and her wolf like that. He was devastated he didn’t even know her wolfs name.

After listening to his whine for hours as I read through the books we came to an agreement that if I found out her name he would heal my arm. I felt instantly better when my arm wasn’t in searing pain and could focus more on the reading. I started to doze off at my desk after hours of fruitless work.

Beep beep beep

I blinked myself awake and stared at my horrid alarm clock. I had to wake up hours earlier than the rest of the school to work out before school. My body was fighting me but I knew I had to go.

I dragged myself from my bed and found myself in the gym. I started with light exercises but found myself with my headphones in beating on a dummy.

I felt a weird sensation behind my back but ignored it. Then I smelt her and then I felt her hand reach out to grab my arm. The mate tingles slipped down my arm and I came face to face with those hazel eyes.

I should’ve said something smooth or cool or just apologized but instead I just blurted out “what’s your wolfs name”

She looked confused for a second but after collecting herself she pulled out a notepad with a simple answer. Ana.

Zion perked up at this. He was already going over how strong and beautiful she must be. I was trying to shut him up and focus on her. She seemed to be trying to mentally communicate with me. It took me a second to realize I had up my barriers.

Are you listening? She was tapping her foot impatiently. It was…cute.

Yes I um I didn’t realize I had up my barrier I tried to smile at her but she didn’t reciprocate.

Fine. What do we do about this. You don’t want me and I don’t want you but I won’t put Ana through any more pain. She talked as if they both experienced a fair share of pain in there life. Zion growled dangerously in my head and I suddenly felt like an even bigger piece of s***.

I never said I didn’t want you. I just don’t have time for you. Saying it outloud I suddenly realized how ridiculous it sounded. Like having a mate was a burden and not a blessing bestowed on only a few. She also looked deeply unimpressed by my answer.

I’ll look in the spell book for a way to break this without pain. It would help if you could converse with your kind. She said that as if ‘my kind’ wasn’t also ‘her kind’. Meaning she wasn’t from a pack. She didn’t understand the blessing of mates.

It isn’t my kind. It’s our kind. Mates are supposed to be sacred. She looked unimpressed and merely scoffed at my statement.

I knew I was about to be due for a tongue lashing when i heard the gym door open. I spared a look at the clock. It was only 5 am. Why would someone be down here?

I assumed Tiana followed me only to speak about this but someone else truly wanted to suffer waking up this early?

I watched as an unearthly looking man waltzed in. He definitely wasn’t dressed to work out and looked deeply annoyed to be up and awake. Why was he down here then?

“Tiana let’s go. There’s no reason for you to be down here.” He stared at her expectantly. I was ready to intervene when. I saw a small look of fear cross her features but she was already walking towards him.

I felt insane jealously ripple through me when I saw his hand slide around her back. He looked back at me with venom on his face. When he looked down at her it almost looked like love? Who the h*** was this guy?