The Runaway Mate: Alpha's Secret Heir

CHAPTER 2

Amber

The next day…

At the c***k of dawn, I slid out of the bed and began the usual preparation of the day. My mind was still trying to process what I had overhead the night before. Everyone knows better than to get into the Alpha's trap.

I was just placing the last tray on the table when Gabriel and my Mom stepped into the dining area.

“Good morning, Mom” I turned to her and I noticed her puffy eyes which could be from crying herself to sleep. Owing Alpha Nathan wasn’t something that could make one sleep which made me wonder how well Gabriel was taking it.

“Morning, Gabriel” he nodded towards him and I turned to take my leave. I never stay in the room with them, not even when it comes to eating. Staying in the room with Gabriel would only mean I wanted to be used for work all day long, he couldn’t see me and let me be.

“Uhm Mom, I would be spending my afternoon at Hilda's, just wanted to inform you,” I said as I walked up the staircase.

“You do realize you have work to do here, right?” I took in a deep breath, as expected, Gabriel was going to disagree which he didn’t disappoint.

“Yes, Gabriel. But I thought I could get a break at least, just for the afternoon” I said. “Besides, I have done everything that needs to be done” I pointed towards the sparkly house which I always cleaned every day, and then to the table filled with different varieties of food. I almost scoffed at that— different varieties of food.

“It’s fine, Gabriel. She’s not asking for the whole day off” Mom intervened. If I hadn’t overheard their conversation yesterday, I would have been left wondering why Mom had suddenly decided to become my messiah.

“Fine. But be here on time to prepare dinner” Gabriel said. I could see the ticking of veins at the corner of his eyes and I know this didn’t sit well with him but who cares?

*****

I left Hilda’s earlier than I wished to. Not because I didn’t want to stay there but because of Gabriel’s warning before I left the house besides that, I also needed to prepare dinner.

The walk from Hilda’s to my hours was a ten-minute walk, which gave me a lot of time and freedom to feel the freshness on my skin before I got home.

When I am at Hilda's, I always envy how her parents were, and how they care for her, the total opposite of what I receive at home. I sighed, as I tried to shake off the feeling of sadness from me when a strong scent hits my nose making Lily, my wolf, to be at unrest.

Chill Lilly. I grumbled as she kept on insisting that I hurried home. From where I was, I could see the roof of our house which was a stone's throw from me.

Hurry. Mate. She jumped excitedly and my heart began to pound hard. When I turned Eighteen and didn't find my mate I assumed I was one of those werewolves who weren't blessed by the moon goddess to have a mate but now, the thought of seeing my destined mate made me a little nervous but overall excited.

My legs picked up pace. I rounded up the block that led to my house and the sight in front of me made me freeze.

“Mom!” my eyes widened at what I was witnessing. Mom, Maria, and Gabriel were all on the floor. Gabriel’s face was badly bruised, his lips dripping with blood while a man whose back was turned to me had his foot on his head..

“I see the last party has joined us,” a cold sinister voice said, turning towards me and I stared at cold onyx black eyes.

He is your mate! Lily announced and I inwardly cringed as the new information was both exciting and repulsive at the same time—exciting because I had been eagerly looking forward to meeting my mate and repulsive because my mate turned out to be a beast.

“Mom, Gabriel, what—“ I paused as reality fully hit me like a brimstone. He wasn’t my mate. I refuse to believe that! I can’t accept it. No, no, no, I can’t be mated to the Cruel King.

“Alpha Nathan, plea… please… she knows nothing about it” Mom cried out, bringing me back to the event unfolding before me. I know they have never treated me well but at that moment I couldn’t help but feel bad for her.

The man whose back was now turned to me, glaring down at my Mother and stepfather was my mate. The man who many have known he was cursed is my mate. Tears filled my eyes and I let them fall. I didn’t know which hurts most. The fact that I just found my mate, the one I have been hoping for and it turned out to be the lunatic Alpha or the fact that I might be killed in the hands of my mate. Either of both, he wouldn’t even know.

“You know what to do with them, Brian.” Alpha Nathan shared a look with his beta Brian who nodded and threw one final look at me then turned to leave but before he could, Gabriel stopped him.

“What if I have a preposition, Alpha?” His voice was so weak that I was surprised how he managed to speak without choking up on his blood. I felt bile rise up in my throat as Alpha Nathan paused then turned to Gabriel. His expression was blank, I couldn’t even tell what he was thinking.

“Preposition you say?” The corner of his lips lifted in a half grin, his complete attention now on Gabriel.

“This better be good” he added and I swallowed. Gabriel better not say something stupid.

“Rumors have it that you need a mate, what if I can help with that?” I felt my throat clogged up as I stared at Gabriel wondering what he would say next.

The air seared with laughter as Alpha Nathan smiled at Gabriel. “Just like you said, Rumor. Pray tell, in what way do you think you can help me?” His brows c****d as he mockingly stared at Gabriel. Gabriel did not just dig the hole deeper for us.

“I will give you my daughter, she can be your mate, your Luna, yours to do whatever you like with on the condition that you let us go” Gabriel said, his eyes fleeting between the Alpha and the ground.

My eyes bulged, almost popping out of their sockets. Wasn't that like the most cruel thing to say. I knew Gabriel had been scheming. So this was what it was all about but to think that Gabriel could be cruel enough to hand Maria, his daughter to the Cruel Alpha meant he was a beast himself.

“You amaze me,” Alpha Nathan chuckled. “I could kill you right now” he stated, his expression returning back to the blank space, his face void of any trace of tease.

“I could kill you and your whole family and I can decide to spare your daughter and keep her if I wish” he walked towards Gabriel, crouched to his height then pulled him by the hair as he stared right into his eyes.

“Without. Your. Consent.” Each of those words came out slowly and strongly making sure that Gabriel got the message.

“Now tell me, Gabriel, say I decide to give your offer a thought,” he threw a look at Maria and somehow I felt a bit of jealousy rising in me. He was supposed to be looking at me, his mate. Not her.

“How does my money correlate with you giving your daughter to me, huh?” He scoffed.

“I— Alpha, I—“ Gabriel started to talk but Brian, the Beta, spoke.

“Alpha” his eyes changed color from the original brown that it was, into glassy brown eyes and I realized he was mindlinking the Alpha whose eyes had also changed color.

They were at it for almost five minutes when the Alpha sighed then turned to Gabriel. “Consider yourself saved” he said and Gabriel smiled.

“Thank you, Alpha for your mercy”

“Don’t count on it. You still owe me, your daughter is for an exchange for your life— your family’s life” the smile wiped off Gabriel’s face, well, our faces. Mom whose tears had subsided suddenly began but the hot glare sent her way by Alpha Nathan quickly shut her up.

“What do you expect? That I’d let you walk away with my money?” He tsked, shaking his head in a humorous laughter.

“Brian, bring my mate” he c****d his head at me and I felt my heart flutter. Why does an acknowledgement from him mean something to me?

Because he is your mate, i***t! Lily chastised and I almost smiled until I remembered where I was. Something must be really wrong with me. How could I find this amusing and disgusting at the same time? Could it be that I was the actual one who was cursed? I mean why should I be mated to this cruel Alpha.

I stood there, gaping at the ruthless Alpha Nathan, unable to shake off the sinking feeling that my destiny was now forever intertwined with his. I dreaded what this cruel union would mean for my future and the lives of my loved ones.