Cast Aside Without a Mate

Chapter 3: Twin Brothers

Chapter 3: Desmond's POV

Heading in the opposite direction of the stairs, I crept toward Dante's room, and as I raised my hand to knock, the door swung open in the blink of an eye. Standing before me is my charming brother Dante. "Happy birthday Des! Are you excited about the ceremonial festivities tonight?" I smiled widely at my brother, the only person to call me Des. He is the one person I feel confident about telling everything to in this castle. I do not think like our grandparents. Thankfully, Mama and Papa do not have our grandparents' ways of thinking and expectations about how we should live our lives. They love us equally and were the only ones to reassure Dante that last year's accident was not his fault but our grandparents' expectations for us during our coming-of-age ceremony at 14, when Alpha made their first shift. Dante was wearing a white button-up shirt. He reached for his forest-green tuxedo. It was an Armani brand tailored to fit him, which was draped over the back of the sizeable regal pastel pale green cashmere chair, matching the regal cashmere sofa in front of my brother's bed. I walked into my brother's room, which was nearly identical to mine except for the color scheme. He had two large floor-to-ceiling windows that had forest-green curtains. His bedding was a pastel pale green sheet with pastel pale green and forest green pillows. Dante had a pastel pale green and forest-green diamond-patterned duvet.

"Happy birthday Dante!" I excitedly replied, "What are you doing? Breakfast will start in 30 minutes, and you are not even dressed!" I hissed through my clenched teeth as I looked over at him. Dante leaned against his dresser lazily as I had done earlier, except he was not looking at his reflection but at me as I walked toward his bed. I flopped down and stretched lazily, mirroring my brother's demeanor. "What do you mean, Brother? I thought last year was enough to get me out of the ceremony again this year. What's the big deal anyway?" Dante sighed, and I could practically see the conflict in his mind.

Why do we have to be judged on our power? Why can't they love us for who we are and not what we possess in physique and magical ability through our beasts? If there was one thing my brother and I disagreed with, it was power. Power was everything I knew because I used to question the Menyakas laws too. We grew up reading and reciting the laws to our parents as we are one day expected to rule the kingdom together, equally, to ensure the safety of our people. We, as gods, need the power to keep things in order in society and the outside worlds we hold a domain over. Dante grabbed the embellishments and accessories from his dresser and placed them on his tuxedo. His ceremonial robe, hanging on a clothing rack just next to his dresser, was a sun-glowing gold gown adorned with flecks of golden stitching and black-lined pockets. It was the same ceremonial robe he had worn the year prior.

It all began with Dante and me last year when we did the Coming of Age Ceremony for our 14th birthday, the day we would get our Menyakas and transform before our people. We show off our fur coats and express our dominance through a mighty growl. Those whose beasts were weaker would bow or expose their necks to us, and those who were equal or stronger would stay standing as confirmation of power and status. We are Alphas, meaning we should get our beasts the earliest in our age groups at school.

However, that year, Dante found a book in our mother's study that stated that we are also supposed to have Neubetus co-exist amongst our people. We have grown up taught that Neubetus are our people who have been cursed or rejected by their mates and could not be saved from the gods' curse. We live in fear of rejection from our mates, and some never approach their mates due to contradictions from other races to dwindle our numbers in our community. It only takes a single rejection to curse us with Neubetu blood, and we will be cast out of our home. Neubetus are not welcome here at Xudford, our homeland, which is closed to all others except our kind. This is to ensure our protection and that we cannot harm others.

Last year, Dante let me in on his secret as long as I promised not to tell a soul, and of course, I had to know, but I also now bear Dante's weight of secrets on my shoulders. . .