CHAPTER 1: FATED MATE

~~~ANYA~~~

“It can’t be…” I whispered to myself. But my wolf surged inside me, whispering one word: “Ours.”

Too many things sifted through my mind at once as I couldn’t concentrate on one thought long enough. My head was troubled with thoughts all mixed up with a heavy dose of boredom. The memory of how I bumped into my mate having an affair with another woman clung to my mind.

Alpha Kane just got back from his trip the previous day. As the daughter of the beta, I have the opportunity to be anywhere around the estate working with the Ridgewood pack for years now.

I turned to look at my father as he lay helplessly on his sickbed. He has spent his whole life devoted to the Ridgewood pack as the beta to the Alpha’s father.

Now, I’m supposed to be the Alpha’s mate. I smelt him the very moment I was close to him. My wolf has strong abilities including being able to smell my mate when he’s close even though I’m still in my human form. And it did, my mate is the selfless Alpha of our pack. I had mentioned this to my dad and my best friend—Talia. They are the only people that I can call family right now. I lost my mom while giving birth to me, and my life has been upside down since then.

“Father, you’ll be fine. I promise.” I smile, even if it feels like pulling the wool over my eyes.

He gave a weak sigh, his eyes glistening. “You shouldn’t be wasting your time on me, Anya. You’re barely in your twenties. You should be out there living your life for yourself now that you’ve found your mate. Who knows if my time is near to join your mother.”

I know. He’s missing her affectionately, and that’s driving him insane. I mean, it’s driving us insane.

“Stop, Father.” I raised my hand to arrange the thick wrap, which could help reduce his shivering, and kissed his forehead. “I’ve got us, Father. The pack is doing their best to make sure you get better.”

“Anya, don’t stress—“ he started but muted when I cut him off.

“You don’t have to worry about anything, Father. I’m here for you, you’ll be fine.”

I can’t lose him now, not when it’s now that I needed him the most.

~~~~~

“What do you mean you walked into his office and found him with another lady?” Talia scoffed beside me.

Finding out that my fated mate is no other than the Alpha of our pack should be a dream come true, but it's the exact opposite for me right now.

“I’m serious, Talia. Just my first day of meeting him, and it had turned out this way. Alpha Kane is every woman’s man. Why did the moon goddess choose him as my mate?”

“Don’t judge him immediately, he might not be who you think he is, Anya—“

“That’s not the point Talia,” I started. “He will be choosing his mate tonight, that’s what brought him back fully to the Ridgewood pack.”

“I know Anya, stop worrying over all these, he’s going to choose you, he’s a strong Alpha you know that, and you’re going to make a strong Luna. Let’s go for a run and cool off, it’s been a while,” she said, dragging my hand in a run-walk motion into the trees.

It’s been a while since I let my wolf out and run in the woods. My wolf—Anisa will love this so much.

‘Yeah, life is boring,’ my wolf rumbled in my head.

‘We’re going for a run, Anisa, calm down.’

I let Anisa pull the shift, feeling my bones snapping and reshaping after so long without shifting. Soon enough, Anisa is shaking out her silver white fur and taking off into the woods.

“She really needs this, Anya, you’ve held her in there for too long,” I turned to look at Talia’s wolf the way she ran in her wolf, and dodged the trees in front of her. “Catch me, Anya,” Talia added while her wolf increased her pace.

‘Catch them, Anisa, go after them,’ I said hurriedly to my wolf from my head as she took their direction impulsively.

Before we could take another turn, we bumped into another wolf who was on a run. The hit was hard but not painful. Anisa growled in my head.

The moment my eyes met his, I felt it. The hair on my body stood all straight, my feet… losing their place.

My wolf went restless, pacing around.

‘Mate. Anya. Mate.’ Anisa growled in my head.

Mate? Alpha Kane? I could feel the mate bond even closer now.

‘It's our mate, Anya,’ Anisa added in my head over again.

I stood there, feeling intimidated by the four-foot ash wolf as he towered over me with his beautiful, white eyes staring into mine. Unknown to me, he had been following my scent and had sniffed his way towards me. His gaze pierced into my soul sending a shiver down my spine.

After what seemed like forever, Kane shifted back into his human form completely naked, and crouched down to meet my wolf. With a passionate look in his eyes, and a smirk that made my heart skip out many beats, he said the words, “Mate,” with a tone of recognition and finality.

He shifted back into his wolf form and immediately spiraled into the woods in the opposite direction. I sat there drowned in awe as he disappeared into the forest. By the time he was gone, Talia came back with a worried look on her face.

“What happened to you Anya, who was that?” she said, looking between the wolf that just vanished into the opposite direction.

“That was Alpha Kane, Talia, help me up.”

“That's a beautiful wolf, Anya, you're such a lucky wolf destined for him,” she said as a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “The mating ceremony is tonight, hurry, let's go back to the pack. Today is your day, remember?”

The thought of seeing him with another lady the previous day lingered in my head for a while before I brushed it off. Maybe he's not like that. Maybe he's not what I think he is.

Talia helped my wolf up as we both hurried back to the pack quickly to get ready for the mating ceremony.

We got to the clearing and every pack member was already there. We could see the flickering flames from a distance of the big bonfire. The beating of drums and the noise from the crowd became louder as we drew closer.

We got to the clearing and I rested my back against an old tree. Talia headed to the dancing crowd as she jumped with excitement. I smiled, watching as my only friend looked so happy today like she was the one going to be mated. Talia is beautiful, she has the beauty and grace of a goddess. I just couldn't help but smile whenever I look at her.

“What is the cursed daughter of the sick beta doing in this gathering?”

I jumped as the familiar voice sliced through my thoughts like a blade. I turned around only to come face to face with Meena—the only daughter of Alpha Jordan of the Bloodfang pack. She's Kael's past lover. She let out an annoying laugh, her crooked smile stretching across her face.

“Did I scare you? You looked surprised. Oh! Surprised to see me right? I saw that coming,” she added, pleased with herself for startling me.”

What the hell was she doing here? For over a year now, I haven't set my eyes on hers. Why is she in this mating ceremony this evening?

I clenched my fist, my nails digging into my palms.

‘Anya, just ignore her,’ I heard my wolf say.

“You look so pathetic in front of this gathering, you know that?” Talia’s voice rang out from the corner as she walked towards us. She stood in front of her with her hands on her hips as her eyes blazed defiantly.

“So good for you to show up all of a sudden this minute, Meena, so selfish of you,” Talia snapped, her tone filled with disdain.

“Oh Talia,” Meena started. “Well I didn't see you coming, long time no see,” she added with a wicked smirk on her face. “So well, poor Talia, you have a chance of being Kane’s mate, unlike the cursed daughter of a beta here.”

“Call her that one more time, and I'll show you what I'm made of,” Talia hissed, as she took a step closer to Meena furiously.

“Lets not make a scene here, okay?” I smiled gently, trying to calm Talia down.

Talia huffed and allowed me to guide her away from Meena. I could feel her anger radiating off her body.

Just then, a loud announcement echoed through the clearing.

“Anya! He's here. Your mate is here!” Talia jumped in excitement as her anger vanished in an instant.

“Mate huh!” Meena scoffed from the side. “Well let's watch and see who the real mate is.”

Yes bitch, my mate is here! I smirked.

“You bitch, we don't care what you think,” Talia hissed. “Alpha Kane is going to mark her today and you'll see!”