Her Mates

Ella's POV Never have I asked for much, except to be loved. To be chosen by the one person fated to be mine. But life has never been fair to me. Not even when I watched my peers shift at eighteen beneath the full moon, while I stood there praying for a miracle that never came. And tonight wasn't any different. I stand beside Derek, my mate. At the annual moon gathering watching his hand slide over another woman's waist. Not just any woman. My sister. Maria. Every touch and giggle between them felt like a thousand needles piercing my heart. I averted my gaze, feeling the world tremble beneath me despite the laughter and the music surrounding me in the ceremonial hall. I told myself to be patient. Ignore them. Just get through tonight, like every other day. On my eighteenth birthday, Derek recognised me as his mate. He begged me to keep it secret until he became Alpha… promised that when the time came, he would make me his Luna. And I’ve held onto that promise like a lifeline. Maria was just a distraction. He would never choose an affair over his fated mate. It was only a matter of time. “Breathe,” I muttered, plastering a fake smile on my face. "Can I have all of your attention, please?” Derek cleared his throat, and the hall was instantly quiet, their eyes filled with curiosity. "I know you've all been waiting for this announcement I'm about to make. And I apologise for the delay." My breath hitched, this is it. I clapped along with the cheering crowd, and once the noise settled, Derek spoke again, his voice ringing with pride. "Today, I want you all to know… I've found my mate. Your Luna." A smile slips onto my lips before I could stop it. Patience definitely pays! Maybe now that he’s announcing it, Maria will finally back off. I reached for Derek’s hand, but before I could grasp it, he drew back as if my hand disgusted him. Then he looked me straight in the eye and smiled. "Maria!" He chose Maria. Not me. He chose her in front of everyone. His fingers tightened more around Maria's waist, and his gaze flickered to mine just for a second, I saw regret in them. Then it was gone. ‘No…no…no!’ My vision blurred, and the surrounding voices faded into a dull hum, drowned out by the congratulatory cheers for my sister. I’d never felt so betrayed. Not even when I had caught Maria beneath him, ripping my heart out with their declarations of love. “Make way for the Alpha!” My father's sharp, loud voice cut through the chaos yanking me out of my spiral, as the Alpha strode to the centre of the room. Smack!!! The sound cracked through the hall. I flinched, my head snapping toward the direction of the sound. I froze, when I saw the Alpha towering over Derek, his eyes blazing with fury. “I’ve heard rumors of your affairs,” Alpha Alaric said, his voice low but cold, “but, I didn't believe any of it, until now.” He looked at Derek, then gestured toward me, his expression hardening. “You’re cheating on your mate, with her own sister!” He continued. “And you stand there, claiming your mistress is your fated mate… deceiving your people! Do you not fear the wrath of the goddess?” The room went completely still, and every eye stared at me judging me. "Father?!" Derek snapped. I almost shrank at how pathetic my situation was to have the Alpha defending me. “Don't Father me! You're a disgrace, Derek. I didn’t raise you to be a heartless and mannerless fool! And you..." he shifted his gaze to Maria. "You should be ashamed of yourself, Maria." My stomach twisted as Derek turned his cold, murderous eyes accompanied by Aria’s furious ones. They were looking at me accusingly, as if I betrayed them. Call me a fool, but I never wanted this…Never wanted Derek to hate me more than he did, when all I craved was his love and acceptance. I could feel the heat of every gaze in the hall, judging me instead of the cheaters. My instincts begged me to leave, to hide from the shame, and anguish this moment would bring. But I fought the urge and stood my ground, my eyes unflinching. I’m not a coward!! “Father, I have tried to make you happy, to play along with your old-fashioned mating beliefs,” Derek said, his voice rising as he uttered each word. “Trying to keep up with the damn pretence, but I won’t do that anymore.” He spat, his cold eyes still trained on me, before emphasising it. “I will never mate you, Ella.” His words felt like a punch to the gut, like he sliced my chest open and rubbed salt on it. I looked away, my chest tightening in pain. “Not when you're wolf-less, and my heart belongs to someone else.” Derek continued. I knew it would all come back to my disability, to my curse of not having a wolf. “You will do no such thing!” Alpha Alaric retorted again. “You will never reject the moon goddess sacred mating, for a woman that isn't your mate. Not in my lifetime!” “I don’t know what kind of spell Ella has cast over you, but open your eyes, Father.” Derek hissed. “A Luna without a wolf is not worthy to be called a Luna. She is a joke.” I didn’t dare talk as I watched father and son argue back and forth over me, like I was a bad investment. “Wolfless or not, Ella is your fated mate and your Luna.” Alpha Alaric growled. “I can’t believe how blind you are not to recognise the rare gem that the moon goddess gifted you.” “Gem?” Derek repeated with sarcasm. “Ella is no gift, she’s a liability I refuse to be saddled with. And as for me not recognising her said worth, Father…” he drawled, a sick smile gracing his face as his eyes swept around the room to where all the high-ranking Alphas stood with their mates. “Would any of you wish to be mated to her?” He gestured to me, and I willed for the ground to swallow me whole. Goddess forbids! Hell no? What good is a runt to an Alpha, and to a pack? Different mocking words and insults rose in the crowd, and my eyes met with Aria’s. She was now standing beside our expressionless parents, a smirk tugging at her lips as she’d won. "See? No one wants a useless mate. So stop forcing her on me, Father!” He spat. “Enough! Here’s what will happen, you either accept Ella, your fated mate, or you can forget about becoming the next Alpha.” Alpha Alaric growled. “What?” Derek yelled. “You’re giving me an ultimatum because of her?!” "Yes. Choose wisely, son," Alpha Alaric said firmly, glancing at me. "And you, Ella, fight, fight for what's yours. You're not alone." And I nodded in relief as he finally announced, "Tonight's celebration is over, go home people." Despite how Derek had treated me tonight, I hated and blamed myself for putting him in a difficult position with Alpha Alaric. I made a mental note to plead with Alpha Alaric. I never wanted to be the cause of a rift between a father and son. "You couldn't have me, so you went all crazy? Throwing tantrums, blabbering to my father, manipulating him into denying me the one thing I've always wanted in my whole life?" Derek growled, taking aggressive steps towards me. The look in his eyes scared me, and my body tensed up in fear. “No, that's not true…” I began, but he cut me off. "I don't want to hear it. Go to hell." He shoved past me, knocking me off balance. And just when I thought he was done, he turned back, his face cold and expressionless. "Do us all a favour and die.” And just like that, he killed a part of me. “She ruins everything she touches,” one voice sneered behind me. “Oh, she is such a pest." Another spat. My hands curled into fists at my sides. Don't cry. Don't give them the satisfaction of seeing you shatter. But their words seemed to fade into the background, as Luna Amelia, Derek's mom slapped me across the face. “If you think for one moment that you can destroy my family, that you can turn my mate against his own son just to become Luna, think again." Luna Amelia hissed. "You worthless little thing. You can try all you want, but my son will never mate you f*****g bastard.” I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. I just stood there, watching her retreat, as sadness and pain consumed me.