Fated Mates: The Siren and The Chosen

Fiona: Chapter Two

Fiona

The pure devastation I felt when I learned that Derek and I weren't fated mates kept me in bed for days after my eighteenth birthday. I didn't understand it. I couldn't fathom the thought that there was a woman out there that was possibly fated to the man I loved for six years and it wasn't me.

For years, I prayed every night to the Moon Goddess to make it happen. Derek and I had grown up together, our birthday's only weeks apart from one another. He had always been there for me, always by my side with his warm smile that could melt anyone's heart and kind gestures.

He was the Beta's son of the Blue Ridge Pack, where my father presided as Alpha. He moved to our pack when he was twelve years old, and our Beta had been killed by a small group of hunters.

We were located in a small pack near the Blue Ridge Mountains in Tennessee. We weren't a very large pack, our numbers close to two hundred, but we were well known for training superior warriors. The only pack better than us was in California.

Derek and I had been inseperable ever since he moved into the packhouse with his family. It was widely known through the pack that I was his and he was mine, but now...

I had seen, on the first day after my birthday that it didn't matter to anyone anymore that we were together. When everyone found out we weren't fated, the female swarmed, trying to get a chance at him.

But that didn't stop him from seeking me out. Every day since then, Derek has stopped by my room as I sulked and laid with me, even though he had duties. He would wrap me in his thick, strong arms and press his lips to the crook of my neck and kiss me.

"It doesn't matter." He would tell me. "I still love you. I still want to be with only you."

A couple of weeks after my birthday, after a little cry fest in my bathroom, I finally emerged from my bedroom to face everyone. I wasn't one to hide. I never had been. I was trained, just like every pup in the pack, to be a strong warrior. Derek and I were at the top warriors of our class rank in our classes that we have taken since we got our wolf at twelve.

Despite being together, we always fought for the top spot, and that's what I loved about our relationship. We could be the best of lovers, but as soon as we fought, we didn't hold back.

I went directly to the classroom, hoping that it would be empty, but I should have known better. I slipped in through the door and watched as Derek and his best friend, Adler, fought. Derek's caramel brown skin glistened with sweat and the dark curls on his head were saturated.

Adler's tatted torso and back was covered in bruises, beginning to form. I watched with a small smile, a pang in my chest as I stared at them. I watched Derek's fluid movements, the swift kick of his legs, the way his muscles moved under his skin with every lethal strike.

"You know, I'm a wolf with wolf senses." Adler grunted as he took a kick in the side from Derek. "I can smell your arousal from here, Fi. It's kinda gross, seeing as you're kind of like a sister."

Derek growled and punched Adler in his kidney. He grunted again and laughed.

I smiled and shrugged. "Can't help it when I walk in here and see two big, sweaty men fighting."

"She's aroused by me," Adler chimes, earning him a swift fist to the nose. I watch the blood spurt out and Derek smirk as Adler groans and backs away.

"It's me." Derek grins as he wipes his bloodied fist on his shorts. "Not you."

"She said two!" Adler argued, blood flecking off of his lip.

I laugh and shake my head. This is nice. It's what I hoped for after I left my room. Normalcy.

I begin walking further in, towards the mats when the door opens behind me. I grit my teeth, seeing Adler's younger sister stroll in with her entourage, her eyes immediately latching onto Derek.

"Fiona! You're finally out of your room?"

I clench my fists and cross my arms over my chest. "Hey Makayla, how's training going?"

She flutters her eyelashes and smirks. "I can handle my own."

"Not against Fiona." Adler retorts as he holds a rag against his nose.

Makayla sneers, pushing her golden blonde hair from her shoulder. Next to her, Cindy, her minion, glares at me and rolls her eyes. I smile at her sweetly, knowing it pisses them off even more.

"I'm more than happy for a rematch." I tell Makayla, pulling my T-shirt off, revealing my sports bra and stepping up onto the mat. I feel his heat behind me before I feel his strong arms wrap around my middle. My stomach flutters at his touch and his campfire scent.

"Not today, Fi. We've got a date."

I raise my eyebrows, looking back at him. It's the first I've heard of it, so I'm guessing he's just trying to prevent a fight.

Makayla frowns at that, but then smiles, showing dazzling teeth. She's always been one of the most beautiful girls in our pack. She, like her twin brother, Adler, was tall, with long legs and golden hair. Her eyes were a light, coffee brown and her nose small and pert, perfect.

I always envied her beauty. When Derek arrived in the pack when he was twelve, her and I had been friends. She was a few months younger than I, so she would spend the night and we would talk. about our wolves and boys at school. At that point, I had a giant crush on Adler, but when Derek arrived, it all changed. Not just my crush, but our friendship.

I never thought that he would give me a second glance while standing next to her. Not that I was ugly or anything like that. I was just...smaller. I was of average height for a she-wolf, but I had mousy brown hair and was just really slender and still, to this day, have not developed much curves.

So imagine my surprise when Derek preferred me over her. Our friendship crash landed right after he asked me to the school dance and she called me a runty, Alpha b*tch.

Now, looking at her and realizing she could be his fated twisted my stomach. It would completely devastate me to see her claws in him.

"Fine, but next time, if you're so bold, we can spar. Get some tension out."

Makayla grins and then nods. "Sure. Sounds good. Ad, mind driving us home?"

"Where's your car?" Adler scowls, having put his shirt back on and still holding a washcloth to his nose.

"Daddy's getting it fixed from that fender bender."

More like she crashed her car into mine at the mall parking lot the night before I turned eighteen. I roll my eyes and turn to Derek, effectively ignoring the rest of the conversation.

Derek grins down at me, his lush lips pulling up. "Get ready and meet me in front?"

"Sure."

We walk hand in hand around the small park, the only park, we have in the pack. We don't talk. It's overrated sometimes, but the silence is so loud. We haven't had a conversation since I turned eighteen and found out we weren't fated. What if he brought me out to end it? What if he was being so sweet and nice because he just wanted to be friends.

"You think so loudly. Quit." I look up into his ocher eyes and smile.

"Sorry."

He sighs and runs a hand through his mop of curls. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I chew on the inside of my cheek and then shake my head. "No. We should talk."

"Yeah, I figured as much." We stop walking and my heart beats wildly in my chest. I'm not ready for the breakup. I'm not ready to let him go. I love Derek more than I have ever loved anyone in the world and I can't imagine a life without him in it.

I stare up at his gorgeous face. I don't know how many times I've imagined this beautiful man, marking me, being the father of beautiful, caramel colored babies, with curls.

"I've been worried about you."

I wince and sigh. "I know. I just... didn't take it well. I thought..."

"I know, me too. I know it's rare, but I thought I felt it from the moment I met you."

I smile and feel my eyes tear up. Dad would be so mad to see me like this. I was his little warrior. I shouldn't cry for a man.

"Me too. Do...is this it for us, then?"

He sighs and shakes his head slowly. "I don't think so, Fi. I...that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

I raise my eyebrows and wait. My heart stutters and I press my lips together. "What?"

"Choose me."

I inhale deeply and swallow hard. He wants to be my chosen. He wants me to forsake my fated for him and...yes. Yes. A hundred times yes!

"Are you...you've thought this through?"

He swallows hard and lifts a giant, calloused hand to caress my cheek. I melt into his touch and watch his face. "Yeah, I mean...I don't think I could fall for a stranger the same way I've fallen for you. You're it for me and it's a lot to ask out of you."

I take a deep breath."What if it's Makayla or Cindy? Or someone that hasn't come of age yet? They're not strangers."

He scowls and shakes his head. "I don't even like Makayla as a person. I can't imagine being stuck with her for the rest of my life."

I smile, but I don't know if it's because of what he just said or because I don't know what to say to him. Hope is blossoming in my chest, but I don't want it to. I'm afraid.

"What if my mate is Adler?"

He closes his eyes. "I thought of it too. If...if you wanted to be with him, I wouldn't step in your way I just...it would suck. Do you...do you want to break up and see where this goes?"

The thought rips a hole through me and literally shakes my foundation. "No. I...can I just have a little time to think it through?"

He nods with a small, nervous smile. "Yeah, of course. It's a big decision. I know it's a lot to ask. That's why I wanted to talk to you about it. "

I nod and take a deep breath. "Thank you."

He grins. "For what?"

"For being there for me even when I was being a whiny baby."

"Always."