The Lottery Mate

Chapter 5

Cedrick’s POV

“Who is that?” I asked, still too shocked to believe what had just happened. That girl! She’s…

“That?” Anja giggled and looked at my shocked expression, not suspecting a thing. She was a beautiful young woman, in her mid-20s; with chestnut brown hair, dark eyes, and long, beautiful legs, seductively sticking out from under her pencil skirt. She was a Healer and originally belonged to this pack, but was training with our pack Healer, since her father and he were old friends. And for the past 4 years, she’d been my girlfriend.

“That’s Lesley f**k’s-A-Lot,” she continued, as the girl disappeared into the woods. “She’s kinda our pack’s slut, but she’s a sweet girl.”

My heart cringed and my wolf growled. I clenched my hands around the steering wheel and tried to calm him down. Thanks to the sunglasses, I’d seen her eyes, but she hadn’t seen mine, so she didn’t know we were mates. My wolf wanted to go after her, but I found myself conflicted. The pack slut? Lesley f**k’s-A-Lot?! What the…? Why would I want a mate like that, when I had a perfect, beautiful, and kind girlfriend sitting right next to me?

I’d barely finished the thought when my wolf went completely nuts and dangerously close to taking control of our body!

“Why the sudden interest?” Anja asked, finally realizing my sudden change of state.

“That’s our mate!”

I don’t know if it was me or my wolf who said it. It’s not like I wanted to keep secrets from her, but… A mate?! Again…? I felt so confused and… strangely happy! I had a mate! I got a Second Chance Mate! Only one in a million got those! And thoughts like that calmed my wolf down. He was getting a second chance…

But I also felt guilty about that! In my time alone, I’d gotten used to the idea of having – not a mate – but a girlfriend. I loved her, as much as I could, and she loved me back. But a mate…

My wolf was whining, wanting to follow his mate. He never wanted Anja’s affections, but tolerated her, as she satisfied my needs and his. But every time I talked about making it permanent with Anja, he would scowl and frown and become like a 3-year-old toddler blowing a tantrum! He didn’t want another. He wanted a mate.

And what about when she finds her mate? He’d often asked me, clawing at the back of my mind, trying to take over and knock any such idiotic ideas out of our heads. What then?

I’d never answered that question. I guess I always thought I’d cross that bridge when I came to it. And now it looked like I was going to cross it. But not in the way I’d imagined it…

“What?”

Anja asked, confusion and surprise written all over her face. I knew she heard me, but as if I couldn’t believe it myself, I repeated the sentence:

“She’s my mate!”

I leaned back and again watched the spot where she’d disappeared. f*****g mate-bond! I literally felt more connected to a stranger I’d just sat eyes on – a stranger who thought I was an asshole I might add – than I did to the woman sitting next to me. A woman who’d given me four years of her life and to who I’d whispered many sweet nothing's during passionate and heated s*x. And because of some stranger, I felt like I’d been wasting my time, lying and being unfaithful…

Great!

I tried to look at Anja again, but her expression didn’t make sense to me. She was trying to figure this out, just like I was I guess, but I didn’t have a single clue as to what was going on inside her head right now. Even after 4 years, I still didn’t understand her. But then again, I never understood women…

“I’m sorry.”

It was the only thing I could say. I felt like I owed her an apology. I did! I felt like s**t about everything, but at the same time, my wolf was on cloud nine, still gnawing at the mental barrier between us, trying to take control, so he could follow his mate. Our mate. He was ready to move on, but I wasn’t. I knew it was wrong to just drop and forget Anja. I couldn’t do that to her. She deserved better…

“But-but…,” she stuttered, but I don’t think she knows what to say. “Where does that leave us then?”

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly, although my wolf would disagree. “I-I never expected--- this, but…”

I tried to give some sort of explanation, but nothing came to mind or even made sense. My wolf was whining about his mate getting away, so it was hard to think. And his emotions were running a rampage on my own, so I didn’t even know what I felt…!

“You could just avoid her,” Anja carefully suggested, glancing my way. “If she doesn’t know, the bond won’t grow.”

“Don’t suggest that,” I growled; or rather, my wolf growled. He became so furious I didn’t have the mental strength to hold him down. And it took the rest of it, only to push him back.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself, while Anja seemed to be ready to jump out of the car, in case her life suddenly became endangered. Wise choice! I was an alpha and I didn’t have a mate that had that usual calming effect on the male wolf. If I lost control, there was no telling what I might do or who I might hurt. Normally I killed and shredded my enemies, but everybody in my pack knew it was best never to anger me…

“My wolf becomes quite agitated if you suggest that he’s not getting his mate,” I managed to press between my teeth but avoided looking at her, in case he was gonna fight for control again.

“His second mate,” she spat. I snapped at her, but my heart cringed, and my anger quickly subsided, when I saw the tears forming at the corner of her eyes. “Are you really willing to go through that again?”

That!

I tried taking another deep breath, only partly succeeding in not thinking about that. The time when my life was nothing but darkness and chaos. Where I never lived, I only existed…

“I’m sorry,” I said again, not knowing if I meant it this time or not. I ran my fingers through my hair and tried to figure out something. “I’ll drive you to your pack. We’ll talk when you get back home, OK?”

“You’re going to choose her,” she snapped angrily, mostly confirming the statement rather than asking a question. Tears were running down her face. “Her over me?”

“She’s my mate,” I answered, also feeling frustrated and angry. “I’m not choosing this. It just--- happened!”

“Asshole,” she sneered and got out of the car. Wise choice! I sat back and watched her in the review mirror, while she grabbed her bag. She looked hurt. Tears ran down her face while anger and frustration radiated off her body. She slammed the door as hard as she could, and I’m pretty sure she was trying to break the handle.

Then she suddenly opened my door, towering over me and blocking the sun, casting a dark shadow over me. They say that there’s nothing more terrifying than a woman scorned. Then imagine how terrifying that woman is, if she’s part wolf!

“Oh, and plot twist,” she sneered, poison and hatred dripping off every word. “She’s an omega too!”

The door slammed back in my face. The window shattered, and the splinters rained over me like pearls of rain. But I honestly didn’t care! I barely noticed the cut forming on my face.

An omega!

Just like Sandra…

“f**k!”

I sighed and leaned over the steering wheel. My mate – my first mate – had also been an omega. And she rejected me. She rejected me because I was born an alpha…

Can anyone say Déjà vu?!

Want my advice? My wolf growled, finally sitting still, but angry as hellfire!

No! I muttered, knowing he wasn’t going to listen to me.

We mark and mate her now! GO!

We are not on the same page here, I sighed, still not ready to give in to the mate's pull. Not only would I lose an amazing girlfriend, but I would also be gaining another omega. Omega’s were weak! They couldn’t handle the pressure of being a Luna or carry the responsibility that followed being the Alpha Female. That I learned the hard way. And yet fate decided to pair me together with yet another one?! Seriously, what kind of twisted joke was this?! Just as I was getting my ‘happily ever after’ with Anja…

You chose to fall in love with the b***h, not me! My wolf howled this time, getting more and more pissed that I wasn’t getting off my ass. Now go get our MATE!

Not until I’ve settled things with Anja! I yelled back and finally got my wolf to back down. It’s the right thing to do. Besides she’s an omega! What’s the worst that could happen to her?!

I never expected to learn, later on, the sick and twisted irony in that statement…