Chapter 2: Get Mated or Be Sold

After their imprint, Hazel and Asher hit it off as if they were long-lost friends meeting up after a while.

She learned so much about him on the tour, and they both skipped their first two classes as they spent them talking.

"Life has not been easy for me in the last three months," Asher confided to Hazel as they sat in the school park talking.

"My father died some months back, and I had to come back from Europe to take his place as the Alpha. Fitting into school is the least of my problems right now," Asher added.

"Wait! You're the heir to the Red Night clan?" Hazel asked with a tinge of surprise in her green eyes.

"Yeah... how do you know?" Asher asked with raised brows.

"Oh my God!" Hazel mumbled against her hands that were covering her mouth.

She did not know whether she should feel fear or if she should be happy.

She was mated to the Alpha of the most powerful and fearsome pack to ever exist. 

This was a blessing as an affiliation between her pack and the Red night pack would serve as protection to hers.

Throughout the day, they had both avoided the topic of their mating, but the butterflies hovered above them, refusing to go away. They were both painfully aware of one another without even trying.

"...I am happy I have found you," Asher finally stated after a while. "My pack needs a Luna," Asher said to Hazel as he looked into her eyes.

Hazel had never been good with male attention, but rather than feel awkward under his gaze, she felt confident. Her wolf flipped in excitement as she knew this was all she had been waiting for all her life.

The only problem was it saddened her that Maeve hadn't been able to find her mate yet. And their eighteenth birthday was fast approaching...

She raised her eyes to Asher. She wanted to ask if he had a brother or a relative that could be mated to Maeve, but as their eyes locked, all thoughts of her sister vanished.

"I am glad we met too..." Hazel replied in a small voice.

"Good," Asher said, still looking at her intensely.

Looking into Asher's eyes was like falling into hypnosis, and as she was riding the wave of his eyes, he leaned his head down and planted a kiss on her lips.

She was taken unaware and had not returned the kiss, but it felt like heaven to her.

"See you at the ceremony," Asher said, then left for his class.

Asher got up and walked to class in the direction she had earlier shown him while she remained there lost in her own bubble.

"Did you perhaps win the lottery without us knowing?" Keith Thorne, the alpha of the Dark moon pack and the twins' father asked his daughter, Hazel, at dinner that night 

She had been smiling to herself and had been completely lost in thought throughout the day after the kiss from Asher.

"Or in love?" Maria, their mother, said as she dropped a bowl on the table.

Her mother's words caused a huge splash of blush to creep down her cheeks.

"What in the!" Her father exclaimed as he saw her expression.

"I'm not in love yet, but I-" She faltered as she got shy.

"I may have found my mate today," Hazel said, and it was as if she had dropped a bomb on her family.

There were some minutes of silence before the chaos of questions started. 

Both her mum and dad were excited and throwing questions at Hazel.

Maeve, on the other hand, was shocked by the news. 

"His name is Asher, and he just moved to our school," Hazel said, and it was as if Maeve's heart stopped beating.

She had seen the new boy –everyone had. He was hard to miss with his beauty. He had been the talk of the school.

"He is also the Alpha of the dark moon pack," Hazel added.

"What?!" Both her parents yelled at the same time.

Maeve, on the other hand, choked on the food she had been eating. 

Not only was the new boy pretty, but he had a lot of power in his hands. If there was anything Maeve loved, aside from hurting Hazel, it was power. 

At the insistence of her parents and to the disgust of her sister, Hazel told them about the moments she had with Asher. 

She did not talk about the kiss, though. 

"Wow!" Keith said more to himself than to anyone.

Hearing Hazel talk about a boy, especially at this crucial time, was a blessing to him.

He had made a pact with the Alpha of the Wyoming pack that on the day the twins turned 18, whichever of them did not have a mate would be given to the Alpha.

For a while now, he had been scared for them. For Hazel more than Maeve, though.

Hazel had always been the shy one, and he feared that she would end up being the one sold off. 

He loved both his daughters, but he was not going to pretend that he would rather give Maeve away than Hazel.

"I'm so happy for you!" Maria exclaimed. 

Hazel was receiving all the attention as usual, and Maeve's anger grew.

To make it even worse, her father turned to her and said, "I don't have to ask, I already know you don't have a mate, and I am not surprised. I just want to remind you what is at stake, Maeve. If by the ceremony you don't have a mate, you would be sold off, and I will be able to do nothing about it. The ball is in your court, Maeve, and you can play it as you wish."

Maeve honestly did not mind being sold off and was not bothered about getting a mate. She, however, was angry that Hazel had a mate and she did not. She hated the fact that Hazel got everything, and she didn't.

If there was anybody who deserved to be sold, it was Hazel and not her!

"Why do you always have to cause us pain and drama? Can't you just be like your sister?" Maria asked Maeve. 

Maeve set her eyes on Hazel. If looks could kill, Hazel would have been dead. 

"You'll pay. Just wait and see," Maeve whispered in her heart.