Lahat ng Kabanata ng THE ALPHA'S SECOND CHOICE : Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

BETA CADEN“We are due to receive another body soon”Ryker’s words rang in my head. He could be a damn cynic sometimes, but it was just what it was. If Hrolf was anything like his father and brother, we should be expecting two bodies on the Crescent Moon festival. Ryker remained stoic as he watched the bright lights from our position. I could tell a lot weighed on his mind. Today was quite eventful. Firstly, it was the thing with priestess Ama, and the goddess telling him he'd sacrifice something dear to him for the safety of the pack, and that he hadn't gotten what it was yet. I had an idea, but I didn't think it was possible. A lot of things weren't making sense lately. And, there was Aaron, the goddess heavily forbid—his future grand father in-law. There was something about that man that seemed quite off. His personality wasn't likeable, but there was this dark aura around him. I knew Ryker felt this too, he hated the man, I wondered why he wanted to even marry his granddaughter.

BETA CADENI have always masked my feelings, because I hated for anyone to access my thoughts or guess my moves. I could mask anger, irritation, hate, distaste—if I wanted to. However, what I couldn't really mask was desire or lust, or whatever it was that Xaviera evoked in me anytime we were within close proximity. From the first day she'd taken to her heels, to the day we ended up doing dishes in the Kitchen, she had been a person of interest. Whatever it was I felt hadn't developed into something I wanted to name, not yet. But, I have never felt the urge to have a woman in my arms as much as I did her tonight. The mad drive to sample those beautiful lips, have those green eyes drink me in as I explored each part of her mouth, our positions notwithstanding, was something I had never experienced. Even as I drove back to the Manor, I couldn't stop thinking of how luxuriant her hair was, how her eyes twinkled beneath the moon light, and how much I wanted to trace the beautiful outline

ALPHA RYKERI took the elevator located at the farthest end of the mansion with three of my most trusted men; Caden, Calum and Reid, heading for the basement below. The machine beeped, sliding open in its usual noiseless fashion directing us to a long hallway with a door at the farthest end. We strode out, walking straight to the door our feet light on the tiled floor. I checked my wristwatch, I had just fifteen minutes. The ball would begin soon. As I walked, I couldn't help but remember the first time my father brought me down here. He had requested Eileen to bring me home one Saturday, and had taken me on a long silent stroll in the garden. Then, out of the blue, he said he wanted to show me something. He had taken me back into the mansion, through the various hallways upstairs till we stopped at the elevator, then we headed downwards. “Every person of power has one little space, where they work it out, draw information, get answers to political and war issues, or anything relatin

ALPHA RYKERI stood before the large mirror in my spacious closet, going over my look for the last time. My team had done a nice job ensembling and styling my look for tonight. Although Aria had suggested I dress in a blue tux, I loved how good I looked in black, and I could never pass on black when it was an option. Aria had released an update to the press, describing in detail my ensemble for tonight. She had insisted it was important to state how I dressed. Something for the fashion blogs and columns to chew on. My appearance was as important as my leadership skills. I didn't argue with that. I loved to dress, and Aria and her team indulged me.I dressed in a black peak lapel cashmere tuxedo and pants, perfectly tailored. It accentuated my physique; a crispy white dress shirt with a wing collar and french cuffs. I pinned the cuffs with diamond cufflinks from my father's collections. I had declined knotting a tie, and had undid the first two buttons aiming for a hint of causality.I

XAVIERAStillness. That was the first reaction the world offered to this unfathomable revelation. Everything stilled for a few seconds, then continued quite slowly.The moon spilled over us. Snow-like trasculescent flakes dropped from the sky bathing us in its beauty. I however couldn't enjoy the moondusts as I did previous years, being in the centre of it, nonetheless. My mind was too preoccupied to actually enjoy the ‘peak’ of the festival as Adeline would describe it. Turns out our definition of peak had been altered tonight. I stood dazed, unable to process what had just happened, and the implications of what it meant. The man before me seemed equally stunned, but aside from shock, there was hard disbelief. I became very much aware of the continuous gasps and murmurings around us, we weren't the only ones in disbelief. There was also curiosity, and the question they so badly wanted answers to was “who is she?” Who was I?I had been mated to the insanely gorgeous Alpha Ryker of t