Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Oh. I pressed my lips against each other. I sometimes forgot he had a mate.

"Aiden.." I heard him say and my face snapped at him.

Ryan chuckled.

"He's fine. And yes, he sent his greetings" He said. His greetings? Why did it sound so formal? And why couldn't he come see me himself? Oh yeah, he had a mate now, and they would be busy with stuffs.. like mating and trying to produce.. pups.

I gritted my teeth slowly against each other before nodding at Ryan with a forced smile.

Ryan's brows deepened, his forehead wrinkled. "What's wrong, Arielle?" He asked, concern evident in his voice.

I bit my lips harshly, I can't, not in front of him.

"Nothing" I said, looking away and trying to swallow my tears.

"It's about his mate, right?" Ryan suddenly said, and I turned slowly to him.

"W..what?" I couldn't stop my voice from breaking.

"I know you like him" He said and the tears flowed out at once.

I looked away immediately, getting up and trying to walk away from him. I didn't want him to see me like this. It was embarrassing, and hurtful. I was in pain. Our other best friend, I was crying over him. It was indeed embarrassing.

Ryan instead, grabbed my arms and pulled me to his chest, and I cried, I let it all out while he patted my back slowly.

"It's fine" He would mutter at several intervals.

"It's not" I said.

"It's not.. I thought...I thought I had a chance, I really did" I cried harder, sniffing my tears.

"I know.. I know" He said, bring his lips to my hair and kissed them.

"It's fine.. you'll be fine" He muttered.

***

Ryan grabbed a tissue from the bathroom and handed it to me to dry my tears. I did, and he took them tossing them in the bin and we both sat on the bed, at the edge.

I cleared my throat slowly, looking away. It was awkward, and embarrassing.

"You okay now?" He asked, and I nodded awkwardly, still not looking at him.

I thought I didn't care, but I was wrong. Not thinking about it for days and not seeing anyone that reminded me of him took my mind off it, but seeing Ryan, everything just overflowed, every emotion I couldn't feel back then, all just came rushing to my head.

"So..

"Is he.." We both said at once, facing each other and we both looked away at once. Ryan chuckled before saying "Go on"

"Is he...fine?" I asked and he nodded. "Why hasn't.." I stopped, pressing my lips together.

"Why hasn't he come over?" He completed it for me, and I nodded.

"He just found his mate, and as the future Alpha, there are some traditions he has to do, together with Ariana, for the moon goddess prophecy to come to pass and to be sure everything will go well" He responded. I nodded.

"So, how's it.. going?" I asked, slowly.

"Well.." Ryan took a deep sigh. "I don't really know. There are some issues, but it's probably nothing" He said. I raised my brows, and turned to him. "What?"

"Well, some of the pack members and elders do not think Ariana is fitted to be the Luna, and they're debating on a chosen mate instead" He said, and my eyes widened.

"What?!" I screamed, getting up at once.

"Hey.." Ryan pulled me down. " I know, it's crazy."

"It is!" I snapped. "Do you know that means he should reject my sister? Do you know what that's going to do to her, or both of them?!" I snapped angrily. I might dislike my sister, but that doesn't mean I wanted her to die.

Rejection was one strong thing, she could die or lose herself. My face softened at once. "Aiden.. wouldn't do that right?" I asked slowly. "And moreover, chosen mates won't strengthen our pack, it will only reduce our strength, chosen mates are never good for the pack's future.." I said at once, not giving him a chance to reply.

"Yes, Arielle calm down, yes I do know that" He said, patting my back slowly.

His hands dragged to mine, and he interlocked our hands. My eyes fell on it, then I looked up at him. He only smiled. "Aiden would never do such, and yes, you're right, it's dangerous for him and Ariana, and for the future of the pack.. " He dropped my hand. "And moreover, Alpha Caden would never agree to that, he knows how much fated mates are important and how much strength it would bring to an alpha, and yes, he rejected the idea at once" He explained, and I nodded, calming my wits down now.

I was feeling bad for Ariana now, there must be a lot of pressure on her now, and having people say to your face you weren't good enough was the worst, but she is strong and she could handle it, she had always faced stuffs like that and would immediately call them off.

She wasn't like me, she was stronger. And yeah, if any of us could be the Luna of ColdTown pack, it should be her. I can't handle public opinions, I would collapse immediately. "You know, now I'm glad I wasn't Aiden's mate. Don't think I could handle people saying to my face how awful and weak I was" I said and Ryan chuckled.

"Yeah, right.." He joked before getting serious again, facing me with concern now on his face.

I turned and raised my brows. "What?"

"What really happened that night?" He asked, and my brows raised.

"What?" I asked at once. He wasn't there, was he?

"I wasn't..I had received a mind link from my father to come to the pack house immediately, so I had left town. Wanted to tell you but saw you asleep outside in the corridor and I covered you with a piece of clothing" He explained. Oh, I did see a wrapper on my body. So, it was him.

I nodded. "Then how did you know something happened?.." I gasped at once when a thought came to my head.

"Are people talking about it??" I asked. Oh my, everyone in town must be talking about how I almost became the Alpha prince's mate until he turned right around and chose my twin instead.

Gosh, how was I supposed to face people at school now? I was going to be taunted forever.

"No." Ryan shut my thoughts off, and I raised my brows immediately.

"Aiden told me himself. He said he didn't know what happened at that moment." Ryan said, and my eyes widened. He felt it too.