~RAINBOW
The world came to an abrupt stop.
How could I be his mate? How was that even possible?
Silence swooped into the space and took over. I stared at the Alpha in utter shock. The only thing I could hear was the heavy thump of my heart and my shaky intake of breath.
His green eyes bored into mine and told me that he meant every word he said. Besides, I did not think that the Alpha of our pack would joke about things like this.
I felt my wolf shift again and I got hit by a wave of nausea as my own thoughts began to plague me.
This had to be a dream. It could not be true.
For so long, I had believed that Jean was my mate. I remembered that I had only met him months before my eighteenth birthday and I had felt this strange attraction to him. He had also felt the same way too and when immediately after I got my wolf, I went and lost it tragically in the fire on the day of the accident. Jean never denied being my mate so I went on living like that.
How then could Alpha Nathan claim that I was his mate?
Slowly, sound started to sip back into the world. Murmurs began to multiply until they turned into noise.
"I— I don't understand. How is this true? How—"
"This is impossible!" Jasmine suddenly spat, cutting me off immediately.
The crowd exclaimed and faced her. I furrowed my brows at her. I was shocked by the news too but I did not understand why she was taking it so personally.
Nathan corked his brows at her. "Do you have a problem with it?" He demanded.
She gritted her teeth before bowing to him. Then she began to lay out her claim. "It has to be a mistake, my Alpha. I'm sure that the goddess would never let you settle for less. As it is, I'm sorry to say, but Rainbow is less. She is too below your standards in everything. From her attitude to her werewolf status and to her beauty!" She stated hatefully.
I felt as if I was staring at a different person. I could not understand why she burned with so much hate when she spoke about me. What did I ever do wrong to her? Why was she always against anything that I did?
Nevertheless, I felt anger burning first as a single flame within me and it was slowly growing into a volcanic eruption. It was only a matter of time before I would let it out.
"Just imagine bringing this thing. . ." She stopped and regarded me as if I was garbage. "To important gatherings or balls that will help in the prosperity of our pack, the sight of her mere face alone will bring you shame. You need to rethink this, Rainbow can not be your Luna!" She concluded.
The crowd began to murmur in agreement. They were buying into everything that she was telling them.
This only caused the anger I felt within to keep growing into the eruption that I feared and when I was about to blast at her, the Alpha beat me to it first.
In a flash, Alpha Nathan appeared before Jasmine and grabbed her by her neck. She let out a shocked gasp which came out too short and I settled to call it a squeak instead. She stared at him with bulging eyes. The horror on her face could not be rivalled.
Sudden fear befell his subjects as they went silent immediately. No one dared to speak a word.
"This will be your last warning, child. You have overstepped every limit and the only reason why you're still alive is because my Luna is watching," he threatened.
Jasmine swallowed hard and a frightened whimper escaped her lips.
"If you dare to defame or speak ill of Rainbow again, then I promise you that there will be no stopping what I will bring upon you. If you appreciate your life, you'll stay completely quiet, so that I forget you exist," he concluded.
Then he released her and she fell back into Jean's hands. She immediately broke into quiet sobs and held Jean tightly but he placed her aside as if he was interested in what I had to say next.
Alpha Nathan turned back to me. "I didn't mean for you to find out this way. But now that you know, do you accept it?" He asked.
Then he walked closer to me and stopped a few inches away. His eyes became more intense as he stared at me, almost as if they were glowing. He searched my eyes for an answer as I felt my own heart beginning to pound again.
I looked from Jean to the obviously disapproving crowd. The only reason why they were not protesting was because they did not want to meet the same fate as Jasmine.
I swallowed hard and turned back to Jean. I thought of all the good times we shared and I suddenly thought about what he did with Jasmine today. I remembered all the words that he had hurled at me.
My lips began to tremble and I felt an involuntary shiver seize me.
"Alpha Nathan, I— " I began but he cut me off.
"Call me Nathan," he breathed softly in that voice that suddenly seemed to bring the dead butterflies in my stomach back to life.
I let out a shaky breath. Then I sent another glance at Jasmine who believed that I could never be a good Luna and I suddenly wanted to prove her wrong. I wanted to prove the entire world wrong.
It was possible that I could be a great Luna too. It was possible that I could do the job right without bringing humiliation and shame as they thought. I was going to show them just how well I would do it.
With determination, I stared fiercely at Nathan. "I accept it," I stated firmly.
He smiled and I had to admit that it was the sweetest thing I had ever seen in forever. My wolf stirred as it made tingles scatter across the pit of my stomach and I found myself returning the smile.
Then Nathan raised his head high with pride. "As future Luna of the pack, will you come with me?" He requested in that calmness that he possessed.
He somewhat reminded me of an oasis in the middle of the desert and I immediately wanted to go with him wherever he would take me. I wanted to drink from his oasis and quench my thirst.
Without hesitation, I was about to agree when someone suddenly grabbed my hand.
I gasped and whipped my head behind immediately. Only to find Jean standing there with the most pitiful expression. His face had turned red and he already had tears rolling down his cheeks. I furrowed my brows at him in confusion.
"Please. . .don't leave me. I can't live without you. I need you. . ." He trailed as he struggled to form words. "I know that I'm wrong, I made a mistake. I shouldn't have let Jasmine have her way. I didn't want to do any of this. She was the one who came to me and tried to seduce me. She jumped me and my intoxicated state made it hard for me to push her away," he explained. "I love you, Rainbow. If I didn't, then I would have not gone out of my way to celebrate your birthday party. Remember all the sweet memories that we have had. Remember the good times, Rainbow, I'm not a bad person."
Then he exhaled sharply and sent me his most genuine look. "I know that I have lost the right to demand this of you but I want you to give me a second chance. I promise that I will not give you a reason to complain or cry. I should not have said all that I did today. Just please, don't walk away from me, Rainbow. You're all that I truly have and I'm going to prove it to you. . ." He trailed.
Then I watched him place his hand in his pocket and retrieve a small box. The crowd went silent as they eagerly watched. Then Jean opened it and a small ring rested inside. The gemstone glinted under the sunlight.
He smiled and looked up at me. "This belonged to my grandmother and she made me promise to give it to the girl I love. . .and that girl is you," he revealed.
A shocked gasp escaped Jasmine's lip as she staggered back in horror.
I let out a shaky breath the moment the meaning of his words registered into my brain. I felt my heart skip a beat as I stared at the ring. This was something we had wanted for a while now and I had been the one delaying it because I was trying to get my confidence back.
If he was not being real, why would he bring his family's ring into this?
We used to be happy until Jasmine came. What if the solution to our problem was to get Jasmine out of the picture?
"Rainbow?" I heard Nathan call and I turned to him. He outstretched his hand to me. "Please come with me," he requested and the look in his eyes made it impossible to reject him.
Then I froze. I was torn between the two of them. On the one hand, I was contemplating giving Jean a chance and on the other hand, I wanted to go with Nathan.
Yet was it right to trust a man whom I had just met? I knew absolutely nothing about the Alpha. For all I knew, he was a mystery and he could turn out much worse than Jean.
Jean, on the contrary, I had known for months. In all those times, he had done nothing but be nice to me, except today.
There was a popular saying that claimed the demon one knew was better than the demon one did not know. Yet I found myself wanting to know more about Nathan and what he could offer. So I asked myself one question.
Who was I going to choose?
