CHAPTER 3

(Aurora's POV)

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

"Wait a minute. Do not tell me that Aurora is now a priestess. Hahaha!" Lola laughed heavily, and I glanced back as I stood in the corridor that led to my room.

Lola was holding her belly. However, I caught sight of the little pup she wasn't aware she was carrying.

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 as she turned to look at me in horror.

"How did you know?" Lola looked frightened. I laughed and walked back to the living room to meet her.

"Do you now believe 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; she appeared as if 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 Beta 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 will make us official once he becomes the new Beta after his father," Lola said, crossing her arms over her chest.

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

"I do not have a choice. He's my mate," Lola replied, 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 pregnant. 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. You know how furious Beta Kaleb can be," I said with a smirk and walked back to my room.

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

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

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

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

"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 of you. They might become worse," I said, my voice quavering, and Malani advised me.

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

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

***

(Xander's POV)

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

"I am 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 jade earrings on her ears.

"Aurora stole from you? How dare she do that? Did you guys punish her?" I asked firmly, as I was pissed off 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 has already started, and I just stepped out to find out what was wrong," I stated, and I held Quincy's hand and led her back into the house.

However, I drew near 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 different today. Like jasmine scent," I said, because that was my mother's scent, and she was called Jasmine too.

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

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

Quincy shook her head and replied, "Nothing, babe. Actually, I just remembered that I bought a jasmine perfume at the market today. But I did not know if you would like it. I mostly love to wear marigold scent," she said, and I nodded.

"I know; it's just that this jasmine scent reminds me so much of my mother. You know how much I have missed her," I stated, taking Quincy's right hand once more as I sniffed more of the scent.

"You should wear this often. Come on, let's go in," I said, before taking Quincy inside the celebration hall.

"Babe, about your mother, when will she recover?" Quincy asked, as the Luna position was still vacant. My mother was mentally ill and could not function as the Luna, so that gave my younger sister, Bailey, the chance to fit into 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 allowed 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 right 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 everyone gathered in the event hall—elders, young men, and beautifully dressed women who had gathered to witness my 27th birthday celebration.

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

"I promise to lead this Autumn Pack well, and also, I have 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 mentally ill like your mother. Only your real fated mate is allowed to sit on that Luna's chair or wear the Queen's crown," my father declared, and I scowled.

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

Up until this date, there has been no cure. We invited many healers and herbalists, and they said only the new Luna can cure my mother. So far, I didn't have a fated mate. This has held me back from making Quincy pregnant because my father is against it. In short, he believes that 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—I will not be able to have an heir.

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

"I announced Quincy as my 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 go mad or get sick, then she will not wear the crown, but she will be my wife," I said, and my father scowled.

However, before I could finish my statement, the chief priest, Wise one Jeffrey Miles, walked in.

"Wise one," we bowed to him, because he was over 100 years old, yet he appeared ageless and fit, walking without a cane and having a youthful exuberance.