His chosen mate.

Alina

"Do you think he will be smitten?" Anxiety contoured my face as I turned to my best friend, once again asking the very question I had been asking for the last two hours. In response, she only pursed her lips, worried.

We were outside the pack's outer gates, not just me and my friend, but the entire pack.

It was a big day for the pack. A day that the Alpha officially recognised his fated mate and marked her under the rising moon, and under the approving gazes of the pack members and pack elders.

It was tradition.

It was sacred.

Around me, the air was warm and celebratory, but within, anxiety pulsed with my very heartbeat, making it hard to stay put.

"Damn nerves!" I muttered under my breath as I turned to Willow once again, about to ask her the same question, but this time with a slight tweak, just to break the monotony...like, Do you think Asher will like the way I look?

Well, I didn’t get to ask.

"Shhhh." She placed her finger on my lips as she hushed.

"And for the hundred and fifteenth time, you look beautiful, Alina." She sounded annoyed as she assured me, yet there were traces of concern on her face as she looked at me.

She was probably worried that I was about to lose my mind, wasn’t she? Then, her concerns were valid.

I hadn’t lost my mind, at least not yet, but I couldn’t promise not to if Asher didn’t show up in the next ten minutes.

Yes. I was Alpha Asher’s fated mate.

Today wasn’t just important to the Alpha and the pack. It was to me, too.

It was the day I would officially wear my mate’s mark and, under the watchful gazes of every pack member, follow him to the mating tent, strip for him, and submit as he mated with me and placed his mark on my collarbone.

Then I would become the pack’s Luna.

But Asher was running late...

Just the thought of it had me pacing back and forth, and for a moment, the world around me faded as currents of fear shot through my senses, as countless 'what ifs' reeled in my mind.

The pack members already knew that I was their newly crowned Alpha’s mate.

We found out a month ago, on my twenty-third birthday, and we had to wait until another moon for the official marking and mating.

And now, I stood there, dressed in a red-hot dress, off the shoulders, long enough to sweep the very floors, but teasing enough with a bold slit going all the way to my mid-thighs.

The mating rules required I wear something simple, something my Alpha mate wouldn’t struggle with later while under the mating frenzy.

Red was Asher’s favourite colour. The public mating was a tradition, and the dressing details didn’t actually matter, but I wanted it to be special. I took time shopping for the perfect dress, and as I stood there, its warm and rich fabric hugging my skin, I couldn’t help but picture his expression.

At the sight of me, my teasing cleavage, the bold slit, the graceful figure, his eyes would probably darken with desire and impatience, and maybe he would literally carry me to the mating tent.

The thought of it..him pinning me against the temporary bed, our silhouettes visible to the watching pack members- had heat creeping to my cheeks, and for a moment, the anxiety dissolved.

Asher had been away from the pack for three days. He attended a union meeting hosted by the council, and he was supposed to be back before midnight for our mating.

The pack members were already gathered, and we only had three minutes until midnight, and Asher wasn’t here yet.

I knew I had no reason to be anxious, and yet, I still was.

'He will come,' my wolf reassured at the back of my mind, and I nodded. Of course he would. He was my fated mate, after all. He would never miss our mating night.

"Alina? He is here."

I was yanked from my thoughts by my best friend’s excited voice, and for a moment, my heart stilled as I closed my eyes, taking in a sharp breath, inhaling my mate’s familiar scent.

It was a rough and masculine scent, sandalwood and pine, also my favourite. It was Asher.

He had come.

Just like the other pack members could scent him long before he appeared, I did, too. I had a wolf but unlike other werewolves, I couldn't shift into mine. In their words though, I was without a wolf.

My lack of a wolf had never been an issue. I was a warrior in the pack, and I could fight better than most high-ranked wolves.

The thought of my inability to shift into my wolf was always a sour spot, and to will those thoughts from my mind, I fixed my gaze into the distance, where a sleek black Cayenne was approaching.

It was Asher’s ride, and the thought of being in his arms again after three days of separation had my heartbeat practically going haywire with anticipation.

Seconds later, the car came to a smooth halt, and after a few seconds, his Gamma stepped out, probably going to open the Alpha’s door.

The pack members made way for me as I took steady steps toward the car, and for reasons I couldn’t name, my fingers were sweaty.

Right before the Gamma could open the door for him, I signalled him to stop with a wave of my hand. I wanted to be the one to open the door for my Alpha.

And there he was.

The sight of his familiar face brought a delicate smile to my lips.

"Asher?" I called out, my voice lower than it should have been, perfectly highlighting the current mood—mating, marking, whispered promises...

"Alina," he acknowledged, and yet, I picked it. Something sounded off with his tone. He wasn’t even looking at me. His eyes were on the back seat.

There was a she-wolf. Beautiful, composed, dressed in pure white, with a delicate smile playing on her lips as their eyes locked.

The smile I had worn earlier turned stiff and ugly on my lips.

Who is she? I wanted to ask, but Asher didn’t give me the chance.

He stepped away from me, walked to the other end, and opened her door.

She was Alpha-born.

Her aura said it before any introductions.

There was no distance. And their hands—which had held while he was helping her out of the car remained locked as they stood side by side, painting an image that burned my eyes from just staring.

"Pack members!" Asher didn’t spare me another glance.

He turned to address the pack instead.

"Today is the marking night..." he began, and the acknowledgement had fear and hope burning through my chest in equal measures.

Marking night... Maybe I was overthinking. Maybe he was still going to mark me. And maybe she was just a... friend, a guest.

Why did it sound so wrong to call her his friend while they stood so close, though?

"Thank you for gathering to witness such a sacred moment and the beginning of something beautiful."

"I want you to meet someone." He wore a delicate smile—one I had never seen directed my way before.

"This is Alpha Serena..."

"My chosen mate.."