CHAPTER 2

Cinnamon and vanilla.

That's the scent of the sole female alpha that he has been pining for since they were both six years old. His simple admiration for that girl slowly turned into a crush until it developed into love. If Asher could only dictate his feelings, he wouldn't want his heart to beat fast every time Sera was near him. He knows it is absurd to like someone who isn't even his.

Each person in this world has a significant other. That person will accompany them until they take their last breath. Their other half is just waiting for them somewhere in this world. And their only guide is the splash of colors that paint their bodies together with the words that symbolize their other half as well as the deep longing their wolves will feel when they meet their soulmates.

Asher and Seraphine met at the age of six. Sera, together with her single alpha mother, moved to the condominium next door. At first, Asher wasn't interested in their new neighbors. He didn't want to be associated with other kids aside from his brother, Aster.

Ever since they were kids, Asher didn't like to play with other children because they couldn't keep up with his strength and talent. For someone who was born as a so-called "genius" in their family, it was already destined that only a few people could understand him. But Asher didn't mind it at all. For him, being a genius would only help him find the right people he could associate with.

But when he first saw Sera playing volleyball all by herself in the playground, his heartbeat was so fast that Asher thought he would die of a heart attack. Even the wolf inside him was causing havoc and ordering him to approach her. That was the first time the wolf inside him became wild and uncontrollable after meeting another person.

It sounds so fucking cheesy but Asher knows that he fell in love with Sera at first sight.

Following his instinct, he quickly made friends with the girl who always wore a bright smile on her pretty face. Sera was not only a sweet girl. He also discovered that she was a genius just like him and they shared the same hobbies and interests.

For the very first time, Asher made a real friend other than his brother.

At the age of ten, Asher discovered two things about himself.

First, Asher learned that he was an alpha. Second, he discovered that he had the biggest crush on Sera. But to be honest, these things were no longer a surprise to him. His status as an alpha was already a given, considering his possessiveness and independent personality.

Asher's second discovery about himself was something that everyone in his family had known from the beginning. Asher was the type of person who was never willing to hang out with just anyone. If Asher wasn't playing with Aster, then he was obviously staying with Sera. Whenever Aster refused to play with him, Sera would always be there to stay by his side. The more they stayed together, the more Asher’s heart beat for Sera.

On his sixteenth birthday, Asher got his soulmate mark. It was a blue and purple color splashed around the words that appeared under his left collarbone. His eyes widened in amazement when it slowly appeared on his skin as the clock struck midnight.

His mother explained to him that the color, as well as the words that appeared on his skin, represented the purpose of his soulmate in his life. If that was the case, then Asher couldn't understand the role his soulmate would play in his life. The words written on his skin contrasted with the colors that surrounded them.

After his excitement for the appearance of his soulmate mark slowly disappeared, it was suddenly replaced with worry and anxiety. If he already had his soulmate mark then Sera would also get hers two months later on her sixteenth birthday. His mother said that the two people would know if they were soulmates if their marks appeared in the same spot on their bodies. Since Asher got his under his collarbones, then his soulmate should also have the same mark in the same spot.

Asher can still remember how much he wished every day for Sera to be his soulmate. Asher's younger self believed with all his heart that Sera was his soulmate. He could feel it in his heart. Even the wolf inside him was always longing for her presence.

Deep inside, Asher knows that Sera is the one for him.

But the universe had another plan that went against him.

On the night of Sera's birthday, Asher's little heart shattered into pieces. There was no mark like his that appeared on Sera's skin. There were no same blotches of color painted under her collarbones with a few words written on them.

Seraphine Parr is not his soulmate.

It only means there is another person destined for him. That also goes the same for the girl he has longed for since their childhood days. They are not meant for each other.

Asher cannot accept it.

How is that possible? Even his furious wolf feels the same way he does. Is there a possibility that a mistake happened in their fate? Asher knows deep inside that Sera should have been the one given to him in this world. But why did it turn out like this?

The only person he loves the most is not destined for him. There is another person who will love her with all his life. And that person will obviously love her until they die.

Up until now, Asher is still longing for Sera. What can he do anyway? Even the wolf inside him becomes restless every time she comes into sight. Both of them are so much in love with the person who does not belong to them.

Sera has a soulmate. Asher knows it so well. Although she has no mark under her collarbones, she definitely has one hidden somewhere on her body. Sera and her wolf are just waiting for their fated one to appear in their life.

Unfortunately for Asher, he is not the one she is waiting for in her life.