Two Alphas, One Mate

Mate

Elara’s POV:

The cafeteria was unusually noisy today and I took my seat at the normal secluded area, at the far corner of the cafeteria, away from eyes of those who might be bored and decide that I would be the one to provide them amusement.

My life was a tragedy and being the daughter of the great beta Dylan Hale did nothing to save me, in fact, it only made matters worse.

The fact that I was the Beta’s only daughter meant that no matter what I did, I would be popular. The fact that I also had an unusually reddish pink hair meant that I would be noticed wherever I went.

The horrible fact that in a community filled with wolves, I was the only one who hadn’t been able to transform made me and my father the object of ridicule.

I wasn’t spared from bullying and I couldn’t hide because of my f*****g red hair.

My father, the beta of our pack, had black hair and from the pictures I’d seen in our home of my mother, she had hair just as black as my father’s.

Often, I would ask my father why my hair was red and he would tell me that it was a blessing from the goddess.

The same goddess who couldn’t be bothered to give me a wolf? It was f*****g pathetic.

I was pathetic.

“Elara, look at me.” Emilia’s voice shook me from my state of self-despair. “You’re going to ruin your neck forever if you keep bending like that.” She added.

I gave her a small smile before turning back to the tray on the table.

“You, of all people, know why I have to be like this,” I answered, speaking from behind a curtain of my hair.

Emilia let out a sigh. “Really, the only thing you’re doing is drawing more attention to yourself.”

“Really?” I deadpanned.

Emilia was my best friend. Quite frankly, she was the only friend I had in the whole wide world, besides my father.

Emilia was a tiny little pretty thing, so there was only so much protection she could offer me, but that never stopped her from trying. She was a petite brunette with eyes that were a pretty brown. She was slender but had a really nice athlete's body.

I, on the other, was tall and where the goddess had blessed others with wolves, she had given me… curves. I had boobs that were a bit bigger than what was normal for girls my age. Not uncommon, but it added to my misery because the popular girls liked to pick on me because of it, calling me a slut and accusing me of trying to get a mate by doing fake breast implants.

It was all ridiculous.

Emilia smacked me in the neck and that forced me into an upright position.

“What the f**k, Emilia?” I turned to glare at her and my eyes caught the very dark eyes of the last person on this planet who I wanted to notice me.

Eryx Blackthorne.

Eryx’s eyes were fixed on me and for a moment, all I could do was stare back at him.

Eryx was seated at the other end of the cafeteria, dressed in our academy’s red blazers. His jacket was unbuttoned, and he was seated on the table with his girlfriend, Trisha, drooling all over him.

Eryx was handsome. He was undoubtedly the most good-looking guy in all of Blackthorne Academy, and his father was the Alpha of our pack, and that made him the next in line.

Being the daughter of the beta meant that while growing up, since I had no mother, I had to spend a lot of time with my father, and he being the beta meant he had to spend a lot of his time with the Alpha.

So basically, I had grown up with Eryx. And growing up with Eryx had been hell.

We never spoke to each other these days and I was grateful for that but I could never forget the years of taunting and pranking I had to endure from Eryx as a little girl. Unironically, he had also been the first, and only boy I had kissed.

“Earth to Elara,” Emilia called and I turned from Eryx to face my best friend, my heart racing.

I stole a quick glance at Eryx and found that he was still looking at me and I felt my palm grow moist.

If Eryx had been a big bad bully when we were kids, what he had turned to now that we were teenagers was ten times worse and as the cafeteria grew eerily quiet and the sound of multiple footsteps echoed around the room, I knew that I was in trouble.

I forced myself to remain looking at Emilia and when it became unbearable, I grabbed her hand.

“Let’s go.” I whispered, rising to my feet.

As I turned, I bumped into the rock solid chest of Eryx and I fell back down to my seat with a thump.

Our table in the cafeteria usually consisted of just Emilia and myself, but today Eryx stood at my table along with his girlfriend and a group of loud, rowdy friends who had influential parents.

Basically, a group of spoiled brats.

“Er… what can we do for you, Eryx?” Emilia asked.

This was her way of standing up for me, and she was able to talk mostly because her parents were also influential in the pack.

Eryx ignored Emilia. He stood as still as a statue, his body casting a shadow over me and when I dared to look at him, my heart sank to my stomach.

Eryx was angry.

Whenever Eryx was angry, it meant trouble for whoever had gotten him pissed and the fact that his anger seemed to be directed at me made my heart race.

His black eyes bore into mine, searching as though I owed him something.

“I… uhm… I’m sorry… can I help you?” I stammered.

Eryx still did not speak. His face was agonizingly handsome as he stared down at me and his eyes, so dark, seemed to reach the deepest part of my soul.

His brown hair was perfectly combed back, but a few loose strands fell over his face.

Eryx took a menacing step forward and his frown deepened as he spoke the word that changed my life forever.

“Mate.”