The Alpha's Unwanted Mate

Mate 01 - Thirteenth Birthday

Sage's Point of View

The rays of sunlight were hitting my lids, waking me up. The traces of my mom were left on the bed, and I was sure that she was now in the kitchen preparing our breakfast. I stood up to wash my face in the bathroom. My reflection in the mirror put a smile on my face because I resembled my beautiful mother. The straight silver hair is my favorite part. I had fair skin and perfectly proportioned lips and deep-set eyes. Sadly, I didn't get the color of her eyes because mine was aquamarine that I inherited from my father.

When I went back to our room to get a towel, my eyes wandered around it. It was small compared to others, but I was content living here as long as I was with my mom.

I walked downstairs and went to the kitchen. There I saw my mom's slender body.

“Good morning, Mommy!” I happily shouted and hugged her from behind.

“Hmm. My baby woke up early. I’m planning to surprise you in the bedroom, but I’m still not finished cooking our breakfast,” Mom stated, turning around to face me.

“I’m so excited about today's gift that’s why I woke up early,” I replied while looking into my mom's sienna-brown eyes.

My mother’s eyes were magnificent and her smile was comforting.

“I promise that you will love it. But before that, could you sit on the chair, baby? Wait for me there. I’ll just finish what I’m cooking,” she said. I nodded.

“Okay, Mom. Make it fast, please. I badly want to see what my gift is for today,” I answered and walked to our mahogany table set.

When I sat, I couldn’t help but think about the gift my mom had prepared for my thirteenth birthday.

My mother didn’t fail to give me a gift on my birthdays, and every gift she gave to me was a precious thing with a special story.

When I was six years old, she gave me a gold necklace with her initials engraved on it. According to my mom, my father gave it to her before leaving us to participate in the war.

Every time I asked her about my biological father, she would just kiss me and answer that my father was a great man. The only thing I knew about him was that he had a lot of responsibilities in the city's empire.

My forehead furrowed as soon as I heard a knock on the door.

“Baby, open the door. I think it's your Uncle Cedric,” Mom said.

I rolled my eyes. That man is here again.

Why does he need to come here every day and ruin my morning?

When I opened the door, I saw the figure of a man that made my blood boil.

“Happy birthday, Sage,” Cedric greeted and smiled at me.

Not paying attention to what he said, I straightforwardly asked, “What brings you here?”

“Is that how you should act towards your father? I’m here to celebrate your birthday. Look, I also brought a gift for you,” he said and patted my head.

“I’m not interested, and you will never be my father. Stop dreaming,” I hissed, and removed his hand from my head.

“I’m just concerned for your mother, and besides, show some gratitude. Without me, both of you would barely survive here,” Cedric whispered in my ears, making me tremble in anger.

“Why are you both still standing there? Come inside and eat,” Mom said, holding my right hand.

“Good morning, Reia. You’re always beautiful as ever,” Cedric said and pecked a kiss on my Mom’s hand.

“Y-Yeah, Good Morning Cedric,” Mom uttered and tried to pull her hand back.

“Have you thought about my offer? I can’t help but feel excited about what you’ll answer.” He grinned and gave Mom a bouquet of red roses.

“Sage is here. Can we talk about it later?” Mom forced a smile.

“I think it’s fine for Sage to hear that I will soon be her father,” Cedric boasted. I knitted my eyebrows.

There was no way that I would consider someone like him as my father.

“Mom, is that true?”

Mom turned her gaze to me and took a deep breath. Please, say no.

“Cedric, I’m not ready to be in a relationship again. I hope you understand,” Mom answered, returning the flowers to his hand.

Cedric gnashed his teeth. “Is this because of him?”

“Stop. I just don’t want to have a serious relationship. Right now, I will only focus on raising my daughter Sage. This has nothing to do with him,” Mom affirmed, but Cedric threw the bouquet on the floor.

“I’m not an i***t, Reia. You still haven’t moved on from him after all these years,” he stated, gripping my mom’s shoulder.

“Let go,” Mom demanded.

“My mom said to let go!” I yelled and stepped on his foot, but he didn’t even budge.

“F*ck. Why are you still hoping that he’ll come back here for the two of you? All these years, I supported you and Sage, yet you still loved that man who abandoned both of you for his dreams!” Cedric growled, the veins on his neck popping out.

“Get out, Cedric. I don’t want to hear any words from you,” Mom calmly said.

“Why are your ears closed when it comes to him? I will repeat it many times for you to understand, Reia. That man doesn’t care about you and his child.”

“Get out!” Mom snapped and forcefully removed Cedric’s hand from her shoulder.

This was the first time I saw Mom this mad.

“How ungrateful of you, Reia. You’re lucky to have me with a high status, to love you. I even ignored women just to be with you, yet this is how you will return my feelings?” Cedric stepped on the roses before walking away. “You will regret this,” he warned, before slamming the door.

When I turned my eyes to Mom, I saw her hands shaking.

I held her hand. “Mom, are you okay?”

When she turned her eyes to me, Mom took a deep breath and kneeled to hug me. “Yes, I’m so sorry, baby, because you heard those things. It must’ve scared you. This is all my fault.”

“I’m fine, Mom. Don’t worry about me,” I replied and smiled at her.

“I hope that you didn’t pay attention to your Uncle Cedric's words,” Mom uttered.

“Mom, does Father love us?” I asked out of curiosity.

I saw in my mom’s face that she was shocked, but she still answered, “Of course, baby. We both loved you so much.”

“If Father does, then why isn’t he coming here to see us?”

Mom brushed my hair using her fingers and gave me a fake smile. “There are a lot of responsibilities in the empire that he needs to fulfill. After fulfilling those, I’m sure he will come here to see the both of us. Be patient, baby, okay? Now, let’s eat our breakfast.”

When Mom stood up, she looked at the ceiling so could not see her face, but I knew for sure that she was holding her tears again.

I couldn’t help but sympathize with Mom because she went through a lot, and the reason for it was my father.

Mom always put her hopes up in my father, who didn’t even visit us throughout the years to see if we were fine. I was starting to believe that Cedric was right—he had abandoned us.

Mom and I sat in the wooden chair facing each other.

“I’m sorry, baby. This is all I can afford for now. I promise on your next birthday, Mommy will work hard to earn a lot of money to make you experience a grand birthday party celebration,” she stated while putting a cup of rice on my plate.

“It’s fine, Mom. I’m happy to celebrate my birthday like this,” I replied, plastering a smile on my face.

“But my baby deserves a—”

I cut her words off. “No, Mom. This is enough as long as we’re together.”

To be honest, I don’t need a grand party. What I only want is to experience celebrating my birthday together with Mom and Dad.

“Oh, I’m lost for words. My baby is so sweet and mature. Here, Let me hug you,” Mom uttered. She walked to my side and embraced me. “I’m so blessed to have you as my daughter. How I wish that we could continue to be together like this. Always remember that Mom is always on your side,” she added, making me burst into tears.

I replied, “I’m the one who is lucky because the Moon Goddess gave me a loving mother like you. Besides, what are you saying, Mommy? We will always be together forever.”

This time, tears ran down to Mom’s cheek.

“I just wish for you to be genuinely happy. If you ever hated me for what you will find out soon, I will understand,” Mom said, leaving me confused.

“That’s impossible. No matter what the reason is, I know that I can’t bring myself to hate you, Mom.”

She sobbed. “That makes me feel at ease. I love you, baby.”

“I love you too, Mom.”

After minutes of embracing each other, we finally calmed down. Mom sat on her chair. “The food will get cold.” She put a piece of scrambled egg on my plate.

“How about we pray first, Mom, before we eat?” I suggested.

“Can you lead it, baby?”

I held both of her hands and closed my eyes to feel the presence of our goddess.

“Moon Goddess, I have adored you so much ever since I was a kid. Not just me, but all the werewolves in this world. I’m thanking you for giving me a beautiful and loving mother. Also, we are grateful for all the blessings we have received.

I want to confess that sometimes, I’m jealous of other kids with a complete family. I have always wished that I could experience that kind of thing, too, but I know that there’s an important reason why I can’t be with my father at the moment.

So, please, always lead us with your strength to continue striving in life . . . and I know it’s a hard request, but can you protect my father whenever he is? I hope we meet and get together soon. Oh, bless us, our goddess.”

When I opened my eyes, I saw Mom looking at me with pity. “I’m sure that the Moon Goddess will hear what my baby prayed for,” she said and pinched my cheek.

I answered, “Yeah. I hope so, Mom.”

“Do you want to roam around the village today?”

My face lit up. “Yes, Mom. It’s been a long time since we visited Aunt Cecilia. I missed her so much.”

“Then finish your food. We will visit them.”

“I'm done!” I said after finishing my food. Mom stacked our plates and washed them on the sink.

“Go upstairs, baby. Change your clothes, I will come after I finish the household chores.”

“Can I help?” I asked, blinking my eyes like a cute puppy while putting both of my hands together to make Mom accept my offer.

Mom replied, “Hmm. Not today, baby. This is your special day.”

I pouted. “But I really wanna help you.”

Mom pinched both of my cheeks. “My baby sure knows how to use her charm, but Mommy’s answer remains. So get upstairs and change your clothes.”

I couldn’t do anything but accept that my charm didn’t work with Mom today.

After taking a bath, I glanced at myself once again. I could say I was very lucky when it came to appearance because I had the genes of my parents.

“Baby, are you done getting dressed?” Mom shouted. I immediately went down.

I wore a knee-length lilac dress that my mother gave me when I was ten years old. She sewed it herself, so it had sentimental value to me.

“Yes, Mom. I’m sorry if I took a long time going down. I took a bath because I want to smell nice,” I stated. I saw my mother folding her sleeves.

“My daughter is a grown-up woman now. Sit here in front of the mirror, I’ll braid your hair,” she said, and I immediately obeyed.

When Mom finished braiding my hair, she wrapped a purple scarf around my neck.

“It’s cold outside, wear this.” Mom put gloves on my hands.

As soon as we stepped outside of our house, I noticed the lanterns hanging in the streets.

“They’re beautiful,” I mumbled.

“The festival is near. I’m sure someone out there is selling your favorite barbecue,” Mom said, making me jump in excitement.

“Can we buy some when we see a stall?”

She replied, “Of course, baby. Let’s walk quickly and buy two pieces for you.”

“Yes, Mom,” I said and held her hands tightly.

It took us ten minutes of walking before we saw the stalls.

“Two barbecues, please,” Mom said to the saleswoman who was smiling at us.

“Two copper each,” the saleswoman replied.

Mom only had two coppers she got from her pocket.

“Baby, can we get only one? Mom doesn’t have enough money for now, but I promise when we come back here again, we will buy a lot of barbecues.”

I replied, “It’s fine, Mom. We can share in this one.”

“My baby is kind and understanding, but that’s only for you,” Mom uttered and paid for the barbecue.

I saw kids running around, shouting, “We can’t miss the performance in the plaza, so run faster!”

“Are you also here to watch in the plaza?” the woman asked. Mom shook her head. “Why not? I heard you just need to register. It’s free.”

I asked, “Mom, can we also watch it? I’m curious!”

“Okay, baby. If that’s what you want,” Mom answered.

When we reached the plaza, there were many people. “Wait here, baby, okay? Don’t move around. I’ll just register our names. I’ll be quick,” Mom said and left me on the bench.

I wandered my eyes, and there were a lot of families here. I wish we could be like them, too.

I was busy wandering my eyes when someone caught my attention. It was a boy, I think the same age as me, scourging the trash bin.

I couldn't help but walk towards him. There was a kind of force that pushed me to him.