CHAPTER 3

Aurora's POV:

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

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

Lola held her belly. However, I caught sight of the little pup that she did not know she carried.

A vision struck me, and I stilled as I saw my older brother, Kaleb, fụck Lola in his room.

"Damn it, Lola! You serve as Kaleb's mate!" I growled, and Lola stilled as she turned to look at me in horror.

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

"Do you now believe that I act as a priestess or not? Oh no. Poor pup that you carry in your womb. Unfortunately, Kaleb will refuse to accept you as his mate. He fụcks you for free and seeks a higher-ranking she-wolf since you rank as an Omega like me."

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

"How did you know that Kaleb serves as my mate? Did you catch us mating?" She asked, panicked, and 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 had not told her this deep secret.

"Yes. Kaleb serves as 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 serves as my mate," Lola said, her pride fading.

"And the baby? Does Kaleb 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 did not warn you. It serves best that you run away with your baby, or he will kick it out of your womb. You know how furious brother Kaleb can become," I said with a smirk and walked back to my room.

"I do not believe anything that Aurora says!" Lola shrieked aloud, but Linda tried to pacify her.

"Aurora could act as a priestess for real. She knows that my father despairs for a son, and now she says that he will bring his mistress home," Linda said, the two of them doubting me.

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

"Haha. I do not. But seeing visions forms part of your gift. My duty involves guiding you and strengthening you," she said.

"Alright. But I will learn not to tell everyone what I see. Before they suspect that I have you. My family will not change even if they learn of you. They might become worse," I said, my voice quavering, and Malani advised me.

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

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

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Xander's POV:

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

"I am sorry, babe. Something came up at home. Aurora stole these lovely jade earrings that you bought for me on my nineteenth birthday," Quincy said as she showed me the earrings on her ears.

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

"Of course, Xander. We punished Aurora," Beta Adrian Stanley said. He served as my father's beta and Quincy's dad.

"Good. Let us go in. The birthday has already started, and I just stepped out now to find out what went 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 is wrong, Xander?" Quincy asked me, shocked by my behavior.

"Nothing. Just that you smell so different. Like jasmine," I said, because that scent matched my mother's, and people called her Jasmine too.

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

"What is wrong?" I asked Quincy 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 jasmine perfume at the market today. But I did not know if you would like it. I usually love to wear marigold scent."

"I know. It is just that this jasmine reminds me so much of my mother. You know how much I miss her," I said, taking Quincy's hand once more as I sniffed more of the scent.

"You should wear this often. Come on, let us 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 remained vacant. My mother suffered from mental illness, and she could not function as Luna, so my younger sister, Bailey, filled in for the Luna position.

Bailey found her mate two years ago, and she married with two pups. Her mate, Steven Edmond, served as my gamma. So he allowed Bailey to fill my mother's role.

"Let us not talk about my mother. Today focuses on me and you. I want to marry you, even if you do not serve as my real mate," I whispered into Quincy's ears, and she blushed.

"Really?"

"Yes. Let us join in the activities first," I said before holding her right hand, as it carried so much of the jasmine scent that I liked.

"Attention, everyone," I said to everyone gathered—both elders, young men, and beautifully dressed women in the hall who had come to witness my twenty-seventh 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 also, I have made up my mind to choose Quincy Stanley here as my 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 mate may sit on 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 and gave birth to me and my sister before my dad officially became Alpha. When he crowned my mother as his Luna, she ran mad.

Up to this date, no cure existed. We invited many healers and herbalists, and they said only the new Luna could cure my mother. So far, I did not have a mate. This held me back from making Quincy pregnant because my father opposed it. In short, he believed that a curse afflicted us, and if I did not find my real mate—unlike him, who rejected his own real mate for my mother—then I would not produce an heir.

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

"I announced Quincy as my Luna, and no one else fits to wear the crown but her. I stand ready to marry Quincy. If you fear that she might run mad or fall sick, then she will not wear the crown, but she will serve as my wife," I said, and my father scowled.

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

"Wise one," we bowed to him because he had reached over one hundred years old. Yet he appeared ageless and fit, walking without a cane and carrying a youthful glow.