Alicia's Fate

Satisfactory Response

JAMES

My Alpha Ceremony is in tomorrow, and the air crackles with anticipation, this is the most important celebration of any Alpha's life. I should be completely focused on the power I’m about to inherit. I can't wait to officially take my place.

​But there is one catastrophic problem.

​I found my fated mate a year ago, and she is none other than the pack's stinking slave. I still don't understand the cruel joke the Moon Goddess played, pairing me, the Alpha heir, with that girl. There is no conceivable hell I would accept her. Alicia Dawson does not deserve to stand by my side as Luna.

​It was bad enough that my focus fractured every time she passed. My wolf, Bose, was driving me insane even before we confirmed the bond. Bose and I have always been perfectly aligned, two wills, one purpose. But everything shattered the morning of my eighteenth birthday.

​I was still in bed, enjoying the familiar warmth of Olivia, the wolf who should be my Luna, when an unbelievable aroma assaulted my senses. It wasn't merely amazing; it was the divine, intoxicating scent of wild roses and mountain air, a perfect invitation. I wanted to anchor myself to it, to breathe it until my lungs burned.

​When the scent began to recede, moving further away, I had no choice but to follow. The disappointment was a cold, sharp shock: the scent didn't belong to Olivia. She was meant to be my Luna. We shared everything, a perfect bond; I had assumed we would be fated mates. I left my bed in a cold, swift haste, driven by a destiny I already hated.

My world didn't just crash; it imploded the instant I traced the sublime scent of wild roses to its source, the pack's stinking slave.

​She was in one of the empty storage rooms, oblivious to my presence, scrubbing the cold floor. Watching her clean, the lowest of tasks, disgusted me more than the scent had intoxicated me. I retreated to my room, a cold, violent anger churning in my gut, needing a strategy to annihilate this problem before it became public.

​That day, Bose and I had our first real battle. My wolf was utterly primal, howling with joyous recognition, demanding that I claim her immediately, regardless of her rank or the years of cruelty we'd subjected her to. But I fought back with every ounce of my Alpha arrogance. ​She is unacceptable!

​I couldn't look past her wretched appearance. Everything about Alicia was wrong. She was unnaturally short for a werewolf, maybe five-seven, slender to the point of frailty, and perpetually unkempt. She lacked the soft curves and natural strength that defined the other females in our pack. There was nothing visually appealing, nothing that whispered 'Luna' about her. I didn't want a mate like that; I refused to be mated to a burden.

​The Moon Goddess undoubtedly possessed a wicked, sadistic sense of humor. What use could I possibly have for a wretched girl whose value was less than that of the dirt she scrubbed? Unlike Bose, I was thoroughly appalled by the mere notion of this bond, and I couldn't wait to rip it apart.

​But I was forced to wait. I was trapped, unable to finalize the rejection until the slave reached her eighteenth birthday and was able to fully feel the nascent bond and the subsequent, devastating severance.

​I didn't know her exact birthdate, but I was certain the slave would discover her mate soon. She didn't. The agonizing wait stretched on for another year, three months and thirteen days. Those days were a specific, drawn-out torture.

​My relief came in watching her suffer. Since Bose had flat-out refused to participate in the physical torment anymore, a constant, low-grade argument in my skull, he forced me to stop as well. But he couldn't stop me from enjoying the scene from afar, watching other pack members harass and bully her. Why should I intervene? It was the norm here, and protecting her would instantly give away the shameful truth of our bond.

​With the Alpha Ceremony looming, I became a coiled spring of anxiety. What if Bose seized control? What if, in a moment of weakness, I couldn't utter the rejection? The thought of proclaiming that girl as my Luna at the ceremony, publicly shaming my parents and destroying my own credibility appalled me beyond compression. I slammed those thoughts down, refusing to dwell on the potential catastrophe.

​Her scent, that intoxicating blend of wild roses and mountain air was becoming dangerously addictive every time our paths crossed. I feigned ignorance, managing to restrain the primal urge, but the effort was draining. Sometimes, when the struggle became too difficult, and I found myself fantasizing about her, I'd seek brutal distraction, partying hard and finding solace in whoever was available to satisfy my raw, s****l needs.

​The last few days had been the worst. I was restless, the scent pull growing unbearable, sometimes finding myself drawn stealthily to the abandoned storage room where she slept. I was desperate for the bond to activate so I could finalize the rejection and extinguish these unwanted, festering feelings. Her scent, now filling the small space and my lungs, was suffocating me, driving me crazy with need.

​I thought I'd just watch her for a moment and retreat. But no sooner had I slipped into the dark room than she inhaled sharply, her body tensing as she began to sniff the air. I had done this a thousand times over the last year, but today was different.

​A wave of intense relief washed over me, the wait was over. My days of woes were coming to an end. Yet, underneath the relief, a surprising, sharp tingle of disappointment flickered in the sudden, heartbreaking realization that the secret ritual of watching her was finished.

It was like subconsciously I didn't want this horrible circle of torture to end. 'Today is her birthday.' Bose, my wolf, was instantly pleading, 'Leave her alone. At least for today. We can reject her tomorrow, or the day after.' But I don't think it was a good idea to prolong the process any longer. We have waited too long and now that she can feel the attraction, we needed to sever the ties now, before anyone discovered the shameful truth. 'I know it's cruel,' I rationalized, 'but it can't be helped.' I had to do it to secure the future of the pack. Her dull brown eyes shone brightly when she sought me out, but the light went out quicker than candlelight in a hurricane once she saw me.

After all was said and done, I felt a heavy burden placed on my heart. I pray to the moon that I didn't just make a mistake.

'We could have kept her in secret,' Bose grumbled on the way back to the room.

'And risk getting found out? No, thank you,' I said, even though I wished things had turned out differently too.

'What about it? She is our mate, Olivia isn't,' said Bose, evidently still mad at me for rejecting her even though we had never liked her until after finding out she was our mate.

'Yes, but Olivia is an alpha's daughter, she is strong and would make a great Luna. What was more? Her father would be our ally, but you already knew all of that.' I boasted, trying to make myself feel good about the mess I had created.

'But she is not our mate. What if Olivia meets her mate later?' This got me thinking, what if she did? Would she really leave me for her fated mate? After I rejected mine for her.

'She would not leave us,' I affirmed, even though I no longer believed the words myself. 'She loves us too much to do that to us.'

'You don't know that,' he groaned, the doubt in his voice a furious counterpoint to my forced certainty. To silence him, and the rising panic in my own chest, I had to know. I went to wake Olivia and demand my peace of mind.

​"Hey babe," I greeted, forcing a cheerful tone as I sprinkled her face with light, feathery kisses. Olivia hated being roused, particularly after a night of heavy drinking, and she especially hated being interrupted for a 'chat.'

​"Mmmm?" she cooed sweetly. A perverse, fleeting moment of guilt struck me, but it was quickly overshadowed by her perfection. Olivia was simply perfection personified. Who needs a repulsive slave when they possess the whole, flawless package?

​"I need to ask a quick question," I insisted, shaking her shoulder until her head lifted slightly, forcing her toward lucidity.

​"Let me sleep, James. We can talk about it tomorrow," she mumbled groggily. But I couldn't wait. It was vital, an immediate crisis, to know if she would choose a fated mate over me.

​"Olivia!" I snapped, my Alpha tone finally cracking through, though I knew that command seldom worked on her willful spirit. I had to try something to get the answer fast.

​"What do you think you're doing?" she bolted upright, instantly furious, and her hand shot out, aiming for a slap. I caught her wrist instantly, halting the strike inches from my face.

​"Now that you are awake, you owe me an honest answer to a troubling question," I demanded. She stared at me, her blue eyes wide and bewildered, clearly thinking I'd lost my mind.

​"Well, since you've successfully interrupted my sleep, I think I'm no longer interested in passing the night here," she announced, yanking her arm free and marching toward the door.

​"At least hear me out!" But she wasn't listening. This wasn't our first squabble, and it wouldn't be the last. I could feel the sharp edge of her frustration, but I didn't care. I blocked her exit, caging her in with my body.

​"If you found your fated mate, would you leave me?" I blurted, the question a rush of panicked air.

​She looked at me, a strange expression crossing her features before she burst into ringing laughter. "What? Is this why you woke me up?" she asked, a little calmer now. She walked toward me, playfully patting my shoulder as if consoling an injured child. "I thought we had grown past this ridiculous insecurity," she joked.

​I grabbed her hand, holding her steady, forcing her to look into my eyes. "I love you, James, I think that much is established," she said, her voice dropping to a smooth, convincing promise. "What made you think I would leave you for another?"

​"No reason," I lied, the word tasting like ash. I kissed the tips of her fingers, the response satisfying me down to my core. I was now absolutely certain, she would reject her mate without ever telling me, just as I had done for her. "I'm sorry," I said, finally relinquishing the tension. I swept her up bridal style and carried her back to the bed, her triumphant laughter echoing falsely around the room.