Betrayed by My Chosen Mate: Claimed by the Forbidden Alpha

Chapter 19 - Inner Earthquake

Mara’s POV

It was just past dawn right when I heard a beep on my phone. I was about to ignore it and focus on packing my handbag for the day’s work. I had one morning shift that required me to be very early. I was also nursing a full ache in my knees from the sparring sessions I had been having with Damon. The phone buzzed twice on the bedside drawer.

So I reached for it, to check what it was, maybe it was some memo from one of the places I worked at and it was better to get any sliver of information before actually stepping out.

Transfer Confirmed: 72,000 Moon credits. Payment received. Current balance: •• 80,000 Moon Credits.

The bank’s logo shined bright at the top of the notification. Below it, there was still pending debts and ominous late fees flashing in red. It was only a matter of days before they would all grab onto all the money in the account again.

I stared at the numbers again, 72 thousand moon credits. How did that happen? Was it a glitch?

I couldn’t breathe nor even blink.

It had been a long time since such an amount of money entered into this account at once. All the jobs I was working at amounted to eight thousand moon credits in one month but they were never paid at the same time neither were they untouchable.

A whole thirty seconds passed before my fingers moved to open the details of the email notification but the truth was I didn’t need to. I already knew who could have done it. It could be no one else but him. Even if Aiden could afford a damn chocolate bar without putting it on my tab which he couldn’t, he’d not send this amount to the joint account we shared. I had no idea where his salary was going or anything at all.

I doubt he would put any of his money in this account when he knew it would all go to servicing the compound debt he had put us in.

That meant it was truly him…

Damon.

I exhaled shakily. There was relief first because this had just taken a huge burden off my shoulders but as quickly as that relief came, it disappeared…. Leaving only panic.

This was the joint account, so wouldn’t Aiden get the notification too? His name was there in black and white alongside mine. Unless he had muted the notifications all this while, that would make sense since he was never bothered except when he added a new debt. Or maybe he was too distracted to notice and the notification just remained in his inbox unread.

My stomach went cold.

Why wasn’t Damon worried about Aiden getting suspicious with such a huge amount dropped in our account? How did he think I would be able to explain it?

Maybe he was worried or he just didn’t care.

That… made something new happen inside me. I wasn’t scared and I wasn’t feeling that gratitude either.

I felt hot.

It wasn’t like the room was hot or that I was lustful or horny.

Just heat… a slow and unknown warmth spread like fire under my skin, it hummed weirdly. I had never felt like this before and I couldn’t explain it.

Was it a seventy two thousand moon credits transaction that caused this weird feeling or something else was happening that I had no knowledge of?

***

For the rest of the morning, I tried to bury whatever was going on inside me. I scrubbed down tables at the office cafeteria and I clocked in five minutes early at the pharmacy to sort out the shelf stock, then I rushed to the storage bay in the docks to finalize inventory before the couriers came.

But my mind kept drifting.

To Damon’s hands on my waist during training or the press of his chest behind my back. The careful restraint he had in every movement. He was controlled, measured and professional.

But he was always just close enough.

Just close enough to spark up the electricity under the surface of my skin and leave me struggling for breath.

I don’t even remember if he had always been that close or if I was the one just noticing it now.

My shift at the diner dragged on.

It was the lunch break crowd when Rina, one of the younger girls from the late night shift burst in like a powerful wind, her eyes were bright with energy.

“I found him,” she said, practically yelling across the kitchen line. “I’ve found my fated mate, everyone!”

Her voice echoed in the kitchen.

Spatulas and plates dropped. Nothing breakable but just enough for the women to give her the expected reaction.

Everyone turned to her.

Even old Marjorie who never looked up from her ever cooking pot of soup, paused to raise a single bushy eyebrow.

These days people hardly bothered with finding their fated mate because there was the possibility they were dead or had thought about the pros and cons of marrying someone they didn’t know just because the moon goddess had prepared their union before.

Rina beamed. “It all happened at the concert last night! I wasn’t even supposed to go to the thing but my crazy cousin literally dragged me by my hair there. But then boom, there he was, just standing near the exit like he wasn’t about to flip my whole damn life upside down.”

“Oh my goodness,” one of the waitresses gasped. Holding on to her little notepad where she wrote orders. She held it to her chest like it was treasure. “How did you know it was him?” She asked.

Rina flushed bright rouge. “I don’t even know how to say it in words. It was like…. a mental, physical and emotional pull. Like the universe just hooked me right into him and I couldn’t stop looking and the closer I got to him on the line, the more he looked at me too and I just knew. It wasn’t just like vibes or anything, I wasn’t looking for a guy. It wasn’t infatuation either, just… something old and sure. Like… familiar, that’s the word.”

“So did you two hook up?” Someone asked, giggling.

She nodded, almost like her head would bob off. “Yeah we did, that night.”

“Was it…?”

“Absolutely. Out. Of. This. World,” Rina groaned deeply, rolling her eyes. “And I’ve been around, okay? It’s not my first rodeo but this? This was different and my soul was shaking, my wolf was screaming as well and I cried and he cried and it was just like life touching divinity.”

Someone clapped. Another howled playfully.

I smiled weakly. “It sounds like something out of a nice romance novel.”

She grinned back. “I thought so too. Until I experienced it and it’s everything they said it was… and then some.”

I nodded and stepped away, back towards the counter. There were only two customers left out front, those ones that were the lunch break late comers and they had been served. I didn’t even need to be at the counter but I needed to be far away from that conversation.

Very, very, far away.

Behind the counter, I wiped the same clean spot twice. I was just doing anything to appear busy so I didn’t look like I was running away from the happiness inside the diner.

Kira stirred quietly inside me.

“You’re happy for her though.”

Of course I was, I would never want anyone to be in my shoes or live the life I had been living.

“But you’re aching too.”

I didn’t answer.

“It’s okay, Mira.” Kira’s voice was softer than usual. "It’s okay to want what she has. Even if it’s not yours. Yet.”

Yet? I was a thirty five year old Beta working like an omega in the city, I worked five different jobs in different locations and jumped on the bus every day. I still hadn’t seen anyone who even looked like my fated mate.

Even Aiden had managed to find his fated mate in that omega. The probability that my true fated mate was dead was higher than the fact that he would have been living under a rock for eight to ten years.

I swallowed hard.

She continued. “Maybe your true mate is still out there or maybe truly he died. Fate is messy like that, but we’ve survived worse things and we can survive this too. Whether we have a mate bond or not, we will be fine. We just have to start living life for us and our purpose and not for that bastard.”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah. We can,” I whispered under my breath. But I wasn’t so sure I believed it. Not because I didn’t think I could live without a mate. But because there was some small and traitorous part of me that wanted to want again.

And that made me feel vulnerable. And I hated that vulnerability.

When my shift ended, I checked my phone again. There was no message from Aiden and there was nothing else from the bank.

No withdrawal.

But I knew it was only a matter of time.

And when it came… I hadn’t yet thought about the excuse I’d give about how I got the money.

Or if I even wanted to lie anymore.