THE ALPHA'S DESIRE

Leanna No. My eyes must have not been working well. I had been too tired from working double shifts at Grate n Pow. It's my problem. I worked too hard that when I arrived at the full moon ceremony, my eyes stopped working well because how could my very own cousin, Jeanne, be picked by my boyfriend. I had scoffed at the absurdity of the matter. Yes, we don't pick who our mates are but it was a one in a million chance that your mate wouldn't be someone you've been dating. It's just an unwritten rule. Yet, here I was, sitting on my chair, waiting to be picked by my boyfriend like a fool. The sky seemed to have been mirroring my emotions because it immediately began to gather, lightning traveling through the clouds in quick successions. Rain. Thunder. Pain. Betrayal. "How could you?" Were the only words I could spill like a damn i***t. I couldn't even form words. He had shrugged, his face that had always been attractive to me for two years in a row and the years I'd crushed on him starting to look punchable. "It's just fate, Leanna. Just accept it. Jeanne and I have been mates for a while now." "That's impossible!" I had yelled, not minding the fact that there were people of high calibre seated at the ceremony, watching us with keen interest. "You're my mate. We were supposed to get married, have cubs, be great! Isn't that what you promised me?" My heart clenched, my throat tightened and I could no longer fight the tears that rolled down my eyes. This was just too much for me. "I can't believe this, Trion. I know you don't mean this." I moved closer to him, gripping his elbow like I was reclaiming him. "Jeanne is not your mate. I am." Jeanne scoffed, a scornful smirk plastered on her face. "Pathetic. I can't believe you're this desperate to steal someone else's mate. Are you that poor that you want to force yourself on the Gamma’s son?" She twirled her curly hair, looking around as if addressing the crowd. "Or does your blind mother need some more money for her treatment? If you need money, just ask me. Why are we cousins?" I didn't know what came over me but my hands moved of their own accord, smacking Jeanne's face with a force I've never felt before. My wolf was livid, yearning to come out. "Trion belongs to me! That's final." I growled, along with my wolf, making Jeanne flinch. But then, Trion decided that was enough and so pushed me to the ground. "Don't you dare lay your hands on my mate, Leanna. You and me are over and that's it." He paused, his breathing ragged. "And just to be clear that you're no longer my mate, I'm serious. I can't get married to someone who works at a bar. You're not on my level, Leanna." I was too stunned to speak. For two years, he didn't think I wasn't on his level. But before I could say anything else, his father had approached him, giving him a knife. I knew what that meant. Reject me to accept his new mate. He wouldn't! No, I was still in denial and a part of me still believed this was all a big joke. But it wasn't. He truly meant what he said when he took the knife and looked at me. "I, Trion Gerzemma, reject you, Leanna Schuler as my mate." He sliced through his palm slowly and with each progression, I felt a deep wrenching pain in my guts. "Stop! Please, stop. It's painful." I yelled but the storm was louder than my cries that had been buried in the rain. I felt like a knife had been buried in my stomach and being twisted as if to search for something inside it. I could no longer breathe as I fell over on the ground, gasping for air and clutching the floor. I wanted to speak, ask him to stop because of the pain but my voice had been snatched by whatever seemed to have left my body. Because by the time I'd regained consciousness, I knew what emptiness really felt like. Bang! I was snatched from my daily reverie by a book being slammed on the bar counter. I cleared my throat as I grabbed a pen. "Can I take your order?" Looking up, I saw who it was. Across the counter was Phoebe. Phoebe Ray was my best friend whom I grew up together with in the pack. Phoebe had long straight blonde hair in a plait that I was often jealous of and a pretty face to die for, literally. I had, in fact, gotten used to being asked to link men to her. It wasn't that I was ugly or unattractive as well but since that incident—the one where I got rejected and lost my wolf, I'd been a reject. "Are you okay?" Phoebe asked again, her voice masked with concern. "You mean asides the worry that I'm going to get rejected again by Webb College?" I asked, heaving a huge sigh as I poured two glasses of strong gin. "Honestly, I don't know. I'm starting to give up because this year is all I've got. I had to use all my life savings to apply again." Phoebe flashed me a small smile that didn't reach her large blue eyes. "I'm sure they will accept your application this time. They say third time's the charm. Let's hope it applies here." I nodded and downed the burning drink. If I was being honest, the rejection was the reason why I started applying for the Webb college. One, the Webb college is a huge school on the outskirts of the pack. It's a collaboration of various packs who thought it would help unite us and create a strong bond among Werewolves. We wanted to rewrite history of blood and gore and the school was their brightest idea, which wasn't bad. Except it was too expensive and too competitive. Only the smartest, rich, innovative students got admitted. It was my best shot at ensuring I made Trion see that I wasn't useless. I could be better. Secondly, I needed to move away from home. No one ever saw me the same or treated me equally since that incident. I needed space. "I hope I get accepted, Phoebe. Then we can be together again." I said, my voice lighting up again. But when I looked at Phoebe, she wasn't listening. Her gaze was fixed on something on her phone that she was laughing at. After the day's shift, I arrived home at seven o'clock in the night. I had gotten enough ingredients to make dinner for my mom but something stopped me in my tracks. A large crowd gathered in front of my house, on the lawn and around the fence, all looking at something from inside. What was going on? Fearing the worst, I pushed the crowd aside to get in and was shocked to see the paramedics taking my mom out of the house. My mom was covered in cuts, blisters and blood. My heart was beating fast, hands sweating as I watched her go. I didn't even care about the bills that I'd be saddled with because she used the ambulance. I was worried about her surviving whatever it was that happened to her.