03

AURORA:

I made my way to my room on the first floor and heard Lola speaking to Linda again in a mocking tone.

"Wait a minute. Don’t tell me you think Aurora is a priestess. Hahaha!" Lola laughed heartily. I glanced back at her as I stood in the corridor that led to my room.

Lola was clutching her belly. However, I caught sight of the little pup she was carrying in her womb, unaware of her pregnancy.

A vision occurred to me, and I stilled as I saw my older brother, Kaleb, fụcking Lola in his room.

"Damn it, Lola! You're Kaleb's mate!" I growled. Lola stilled and turned to look at my face in horror.

"How did you know?" Lola asked, looking frightened, and I laughed, walking back to the living room to meet her.

"Do you believe now that I am a priestess or not? Oh no. Poor pup that you are carrying in your womb. Unfortunately, Kaleb is not ready to accept you as his mate. He is fụcking you for free and looking for a higher-ranking she-wolf since you're an Omega like me."

I smirked, and the color drained from Lola’s face as she appeared as though she had seen a ghost.

"How did you know that Kaleb is my mate? Did you catch us mating?" she asked, panicked. Linda’s eyes widened in shock when she heard Lola’s inquiry.

"Wait a minute, Lola. So all those times you claimed that brother Kaleb asked you to bring his meals to his study, you two ended up fụcking?" Linda looked shocked because Lola hadn’t told her this deep secret.

"Yes. Beta Kaleb is my mate. But he said that he would make us official once he becomes the new Beta after his father," Lola said, her tone confident, crossing her arms over her chest.

"And you believe him?" Linda asked, shocked.

"I don't have a choice. Kaleb is my mate," Lola said, her pride wearing off.

"And the baby? Does he know that you are pregnant?" Linda asked, her voice trembling as I stood watching them.

"No, no. I am not pregnant!" Lola cried out, and I laughed.

"Well, you are. Get ready for Kaleb's rejection, and do not say that I didn't warn you. It's best that you run away with your baby, or he will kick it out of your womb once he finds out. You know how furious brother Kaleb can be," I said with a smirk and walked back to my room.

"I don't believe anything that Aurora says!" Lola shouted, but Linda tried to pacify her.

"Lola, Aurora could be a priestess for real. She knows that my father is desperate for a son, and now she says that he will bring his mistress home," Linda said. Both of them were doubting me.

However, I went to my room, shut the door, and asked Malani, "Are you a priestess for real?"

Malani laughed and replied, "Haha. I am not. But it's part of your gift to see the visions. My duty is to guide you and strengthen you."

"Alright. But I will learn not to tell everyone what I see before they suspect that I have you. My family wouldn’t change even if they learned about you. They might become worse," I said, my voice quavering. Malani advised me,

"Have hope," she said, and I felt better.

Climbing into my bed, I rested my head on the white pillow to sleep. However, while I lay asleep on the bed, Malani stayed awake, keeping guard and watching over me.

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ALPHA XANDER:

"What took you so long to arrive, babe?" I asked my girlfriend, Quincy, as she arrived at my father’s Alpha mansion late.

"I’m sorry, babe. Something came up at home. Aurora stole these lovely jade earrings that you bought for me on my 19th birthday," Quincy said, showing me the earrings on her ears.

"Aurora stole from you? How dare she do that? Did you punish her?" I demanded firmly, pissed that someone dared to steal from my girlfriend.

"Of course, Alpha Xander. We had Aurora punished," Beta Adrian Stanley said. He was my father’s Beta and Quincy’s dad.

"Good. Let's go in. The birthday celebration has already started, and I just stepped out to find out what was wrong," I said, and I led Quincy back into the house.

However, I drew next to Quincy and sniffed her neck, and she froze.

"What's wrong, babe?" Quincy asked me, shocked by my behavior.

"Nothing. Just that you smell so differently today. Like jasmine," I said, because that was my mother's scent, and she was named Jasmine, too.

"Oh, really?" Quincy asked, purring before a deep scowl settled on her face.

"What's wrong?" I asked her before we walked into the hall, her family following behind us.

Quincy shook her head and said, "Nothing. Actually, I just remembered that I bought a new jasmine perfume at the market today, but I didn't know if you would like it. I mostly love to wear a marigold scent," she said, and I nodded.

"I know. It's just that this jasmine reminds me so much of my mother. You know how much I have missed her," I said, taking Quincy’s right hand into my palms, as I breathed in more of the jasmine scent.

"You should wear this scent often. It has a calming effect and I love it. Come on, let's go in," I said, before taking Quincy inside the celebration hall.

"Alpha Xander, about your mother—when will she recover?" Quincy asked, as the Luna position is still vacant. My mother is mentally ill and cannot function as the Luna, so that allows my younger sister, Bailey, to fill the Luna position.

Bailey found her mate two years ago and is married with two pups. Her mate is Steven Edmond, my Gamma, so he allows Bailey to fill my mother's role.

"Let's not talk about my mother. Today is about me and you. I want to marry you, even if you are not my real mate," I whispered into Quincy’s left ear, and she blushed.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Let's join in the activities first," I said, before holding her right hand, as it held so much of the jasmine scent that I liked.

"Attention, everyone," I said to all gathered in the banquet hall—both elders, young men, and beautifully dressed women in the hall who had come to witness my 27th birthday celebration.

"Thank you all for taking the time to come and celebrate me as your future Alpha," I said, and my father smiled at me proudly.

"I promise to lead this Autumn Pack well, and I have also made up my mind to choose Quincy Stanley here as my chosen mate," I announced, and everyone clapped. However, my father’s deep voice boomed from the front seat where he sat in the celebration room.

"No way, Xander. You cannot crown an ordinary woman as your Luna. She will become mental like your mother. Only your real mate is allowed to sit in that Luna’s chair or wear the Queen’s crown," my father declared, and I scowled.

I knew that my father and my mother dated in the past, and they gave birth to me and my sister before my dad officially became the Alpha King. When he crowned my mother as his Luna, she ran mad immediately.

To this day, there has been no cure. We have invited many healers and herbalists, and they said only the new Luna can cure my mother. So far, I haven’t found my real mate. This has held me back from making Quincy pregnant because my father is against it. In fact, he believes we are under a curse, and if I don’t find my real mate—unlike him, who rejected his own real mate for my mother—then I will not be able to have an heir.

"Dad, this is bullshit!" I snapped, anger boiling through my veins.

"I have announced Quincy as my chosen Luna, and no one else is fit to wear the Luna's crown but her. I am ready to marry Quincy. If you are afraid that she might run mad or fall sick like Mom, then she will not wear the crown, but she will be my wife," I declared, and my father scowled.

However, before I could finish my statement, the high priest walked in.

"Wise one," we bowed to him, for he was over 100 years old. Yet he appeared ageless and fit—walking without a cane and possessing a youthful glow.