Chapter 5

"Where did they even get that ridiculous idea?" Alpha Alaric said before he started walking again.

"Your grandmother actually saw you bringing Castellana into your room last night. What business did you have with her?" Zack questioned as a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Even I am intrigued, especially when you requested that your bed be changed."

The alpha just glared at his beta and it was more than enough to shut him up. He clicked his tongue, annoyed at the fact that his grandmother was the one who saw them the other night. For sure, she would not stop pestering him once they saw each other.

When the training resumed, Alpha Alaric decided to pay Castellana a quick visit just to know what his grandmother told her that morning. However, when he entered the infirmary, he could already hear two people talking. He could not make out what they were talking about, but he was sure he could hear Castellana's giggles.

Even then, he walked towards the room located at the end of the hallway only to stop when their voices became clearer.

"Anyway, I heard from Ivana that you received an invitation for the model competition you have been eyeing since last year. Aren't you going to attend?" Calvin questioned, which immediately switched the jovial mood into a sullen one.

Castellana looked down on her hands with an obvious sad smile. She shook her head as a response to Calvin's question.

"Is it because of this joint training?" he added, to which he received a small nod from her. "You should go. I will cover up for you. It's not like this will be the last joint training we will have with the Ivanov pack."

He did not want to hear anymore bullshit so Alpha Alaric decided to announce his presence. He knocked on the door and immediately caught their attention. Calvin glared at him without even being subtle about it and the alpha's presence was no reason enough for him to let go of Castellana's hand.

"You have been gone for quite some time. You should go and help supervise your pack," Alaric said. "Seeing that she seems to be okay, there is no need to keep her company."

Calvin stood from his seat, ready to lunge at him, however, Castellana held onto his wrist.

"I'm okay now. I will also get ready and follow you to the training ground," she said.

"No," Calvin said. "We'll leave this place together."

"Leave this place first since I have some matters to talk about with her," Alaric interjected.

Calvin hated the idea of leaving the two of them alone, however, Castellana was able to convince him that their talk would not take too long. Hence, he left the infirmary first and headed to the training ground.

For a while, silence ruled over between the two as a bit of tension brewed in that small room. Castellana did not want to speak first or even meet the alpha's gaze even though she could feel that he was staring at her with a cold gaze.

"Did you tell that old woman?" Alaric finally asked with a hint of annoyance and command in his tone of voice.

It pissed off Castellana, but she knew better than anyone not to show it to the man in front of her. Hence, she could only clench her fists.

"Tell her what?" she questioned back, having no idea what he was referring to.

Yet she received a scoff from the alpha.

"You know what I am talking about. Did you tell her or not?"

"If it is about sleeping with you last night, I did not have to say anything since one of the elders knew about it."

"That's not what I am referring to."

"Then, what?"

This time, she looked at him with a glare.

"That you are my fucking mate!" he replied with so much hatred laced in his voice.

It was as if those words were nothing but poison in his mouth. It pained Castellana. Witnessing how the alpha loathed her and her family just felt unfair for her and there was nothing she could do about it. Despite the mixed feelings brewing inside her, she still kept her composure.

"What are you even talking about? I am not your mate so why would I lie about it to the elders?" she said, shutting up Alpha Alaric in no time. "Besides, I do not recall what happened last night or the other night we spent together so there is nothing for me to say."

The alpha had a hard time guessing if Castellana had spoken of the truth or not. She did not sound like she was lying at all so it was possible that she could not remember what happened for whatever reason. However, what puzzled him even more was the fact that she also seemed genuine when she said that she was not his mate.

Even then, he was more than sure that they both knew about it last night. Even if Castellana could not remember the deed, it would be impossible for her not to feel the bond between them.

"You..." He walked towards her while letting his scent fill the room.

Since Castellana was surely his mate, she would not be able to resist him if his scent would surround her. He was confident that she would give in no matter what. However, even though he no longer suppressed his scent like he normally does, the woman in front of him remained unfazed. She even moved a bit further from him with a scowl on her face.

Castellana noticed how the room suddenly had this strong scent of mint. It was as if she was suddenly surrounded by orange peppermint plants. Since the smell started to hurt her nose, she immediately covered it with one hand.

"Can you suppress your scent? It's so strong that I feel like I can already taste it," she said.

Observing her gestures, Alpha Alaric was convinced that Castellana was indeed unaffected with it when she was supposed to. They were mates. That was for sure. He could not possibly be mistaken, especially after what happened last night. The snap was real. He felt that. Even at that very moment, he could feel their bond. Hence, it was a great puzzle to him as to why she was not responding to his scent.

"Could it be because she is a half-vampire?"

That question crossed his mind.

"Never mind. Forget what I said," Alpha Alaric said and left the room with unanswered questions running in his mind.

When Castellana was all alone, she could only heave a heavy sigh and run her hands through her hair. She did nothing wrong yet she felt like the Ivanovs were punishing her. She could not also understand how the elders suddenly thought that she was the alpha's mate. Even Alpha Alaric accused her of telling them that she was his mate.

Since she felt better, she headed to their assigned room and changed into her combat apparel before showing up at the training ground. As always, the Ivanovs kept teasing her.

"Here comes the Disney Princess!" one of them yelled, causing the others to laugh right on Castellana's face.

She ignored them, which was something she was good at anyway.

"Have you heard? She is even called the 'Nation's Beauty' by the humans. I bet they'd call her a monster the moment they discover that she is a vampire."

The laughter grew louder, but Castellana still kept herself in check. One wrong move from her and it would be great trouble not just for herself, but also the Sullivan family and the entire Fajardo pack.

"Just ignore them," Calvin said as he walked up to her. "They're simply insecure since you clearly have something they don't."

Castellana immediately smiled at his words. She was more than happy that he was always right next to her whenever she needed someone.

"Stop," she giggled and lightly hit him on the arm since she knew that he was referring to her so-called beauty that the humans admired.

Not so far from where they were, Alpha Alaric and Zack continued to overlook the training between the two packs. The Ivanov beta was not at all impressed at how good the members of their pack were since he had been training with them, especially the younger ones. His expectations towards the members of the Fajardo pack, however, totally plummeted since they seemed to have grown weaker than before.

Whether it was one-on-one sparring or by group, the Fajardo pack members often drew the losing stick. The differences in their skills were apparent, making it look like they had been slacking off training just because there had been no serious battles so far.

"Only the Sullivan sisters and the direct family members of the Fajardo pack stand out. I wonder if the others are even taking this joint training seriously," Zack commented.

He waited for the alpha to express his thoughts, but his silence made him look in his direction. He then noticed that his gaze was fixed on two people, Castellana and Calvin. The two seemed to be having fun, especially that the former looked like she had not come from the infirmary seeing how lively she was.

"Did you ask her why she fainted after meeting the elders?" Zack questioned.

This seemed to have snapped Alpha Alaric back to his senses since he immediately looked away from Castellana.

"That is none of my concern," he said. "Is the plane ready to take off tonight?"

"Yes. And before you leave, your grandmother said that you should see her first. She said that there is something important she needs to discuss with you."

Alpha Alaric sighed.

"If it is about taking in a luna, I swear I will never give her a great-grandchild," he said.

Zack chuckled as he patted him on the shoulder.

"I will not let that happen since the responsibility of becoming the next alpha will be me. If I have to drug you just so you can produce an heir with any woman, I will do just that."

The alpha knew Zack was not at all kidding since he never once wanted to be the leader of the pack. Either way, he slapped his hand away from him and took one last glance at Castellana before he left the training ground so he could start packing up. While in his room, he called Gallahand, who had left the island early in the morning to take care of some business in the human world.

Just after a few rings, he answered.

"What's up? I heard you found your mate," That was the very first thing he said since he had been curious after Zack told him the news.

"I want you to look into something," Alpha Alaric replied, ignoring his greeting.