Chapter Four

“Unbelievable. How long do they expect us to stand here like this? Why are we even here?” Skai complains as she has since the ceremony started, bouncing from one foot to the other on the spot. Serenia chuckles beside her but remains silent, knowing if there is anyone to be reprimanded for anything it’s her.

“Don’t you think it’s important for you to be here to support your sister? She is becoming the future Luna of our great tribe. Isn’t that exciting?” Lady Helda, Skai’s mother whispers next to her with a content but blank smile. She is what Serenia calls a sheep in wolf’s clothing, following the herd rather than ever leading it, she just does what she is told and doesn’t ask questions she doesn’t care to know the answer to.

Simple-mindedness isn’t always the best form of survival, but it seems to be working for Lady Helda, who has always given Serenia the feeling that she wasn’t completely on board with her marriage as she leads everyone to believe.

“Exactly, today is all about Savea and her lies. Why should we have to be a part of it?” Skai grumbles.

Lady Helda simply continues to smile and stare blankly at the scene around her, the trio settling into silence again.

A hushed murmur breaks out over the crowd as the Stewart steps up again.

“Announcing the Raseri Tribe Alpha and leader of us all, Alpha Petr Iversen. Accompanying him are our esteemed guests from the Wolfmane Tribe, the future High Alpha, Kai Pendersen and Beta Niklas Olsson,” he calls out.

“Oh, dear Gods,” Skai whispers next to her. Serenia follows her line of vision to see two men now standing next to Alpha Petr, but her eyes are stuck on the dark-haired man with piercing blue eyes.

The aura surrounding him seems freezing to the touch, a bright blue in competition with his eyes, but the air around him holds an icy feeling that she can feel from the other side of the room.

“Who is that?” Serenia asks her.

Skai blinks her eyes and focuses on her with an almost irritated look.

“Who is what?”

“Are you all right? I asked who is that guy?” she asks again and points to the man announced as Kai Pendersen.

“Are you deaf? The stewart just said, he is the son of the current High Alpha, which means he is the heir. I heard he is close to his coming-of-age ceremony but has yet to announce a mate, it’s rumoured he may be a rogue wolf from birth, and will never receive a mate in this lifetime,” Serenia says.

That’s so sad…it’s one thing to have your fated mate reject you. I feel like it’s an entirely different pain to never receive one.

“I hear the people of the Wolfmane Tribe have begun questioning the Pendersen family and their worthiness to be called the High Alpha family, due to Kai Pendersen’s lack of a mate,” Lady Helda chimes in.

“Why would not having a mate reflect on his abilities as an Alpha?” Serenia asks.

Skai rolls her eyes. “You really are dense. The whole point of the High Alpha family is to be the ones to find the prophesized Luna that will get us home to Idavoll Forest. I know you never really received a proper education growing up, but that is common knowledge to even children.”

“Then, who is the one next to him?” Serenia asks.

This causes Skai to tense up and her normally bright amber eyes to darken.

“That would be Niklas Olsson, the new Beta of the Wolfmane Tribe,” she grumbles.

Serenia gets the feeling she isn’t on good terms with Niklas but is curious about how she is acquainted with him in general, to the point where she could seem to dislike him so much.

“Do you two know each other?” she asks.

“What makes you think that?” Serenia asks with a glare that shoots daggers.

“Well, you’re glaring at him pretty hard, and now at me.”

Her face softens into a scowl, and she lets out a heavy sigh.

“It’s a long story, but I don’t want to talk about it. I need a drink, come with me, Mother,” she says and drags her mother towards the refreshment table.

Being left alone in the corner with the party in full swing now, Serenia feels more out of place than before and decides to excuse herself while no one is paying attention to her, not that anyone would.

She makes her way through the crowd like a whisper in the wind and briefly stops by the refreshment table to grab a glass of red wine before managing to duck out of the ballroom. She is unable to shake the feeling of being watched the entire time until she is no longer in the room, the suffocation disappearing instantly from her chest.

Wandering the halls, she tries to remember where the slightly hidden balcony is located she made sure to take note of the last time she was here for a celebration, Rune’s birthday she believes. After aimlessly walking around a few more halls, she finds it and pulls back the curtains to reveal a beautiful starry night.

Setting her to drink down on the ledge, she leans over and looks up at the large moon, as big and bright as always whenever she finds herself gazing up at it. She thinks back to her conversation with Skai on the house roof when she mentioned how the moon always seems bigger whenever Serenia is there.

Is it really just a coincidence?

Tonight is the official full moon night, which is why the Alpha ceremony is happening on this specific day, even though Rune had his coming-of-age a few days ago.

Maybe I’m finally going crazy, she thinks to herself and quickly gets lost in her thoughts before the looming feeling of being watched comes over her again. Before she has the chance to move, she is grabbed from behind and spun around to be pinned to the ground.

A deep growl brings her to the sharp blue eyes with dark strands hanging in them hovering above her and practically glaring down at her.

“What is your name?” he asks her, his voice deep and heavy.

“S-Serenia Hansen, your H-Highness.” She is barely able to get the words out, realizing her entire body is trembling beneath him, but she doesn’t feel any fear.

What is happening right now?

“Who am I?” he speaks again, this time his voice much softer but still carrying a heavy emotion she can’t put her finger on, but still suffocates her every time he seems to speak.

“The future High Alp – ”

“Not that,” he cuts her off. “Take a second to think about it, about how you’re feeling right now. Tell me again, sweetheart, who am I?”

A shiver slithers down her spine and goosebumps break out over her skin despite the warm summer’s night air. Her mind is in a fog and her heavy breathing is all she can hear, but she faintly feels the voice in the back of her mind, whispering the same word over and over again.

Mate.

It’s not possible…I lost mine.

His lips curl into a smile and she notices how beautiful his mouth is before they utter words that shatter her world.

“That’s right. I’m your mate.”

Her fogged mind instantly clears but is instead filled with a million thoughts that she can’t form into a single sensible thought.

None of this makes any sense to her. She lost her mate when Rune rejected her, the pain she felt was very real and something she can never forget no matter how much she tried.

Did I get a second chance?

“I’m sorry, but I think you’re mistaken,” she says.

Kai frowns and loosens his grip on her. He didn’t know what to expect her to say, but he wasn’t expecting her to say that.

“What in the realms makes you say that? Do you not feel what I am feeling?”

Serenia hesitantly shakes her head. “I’m sorry, Your Highness, I’m not sure what you mean.”

Kai scoffs and shakes his head angrily.

“Please stop calling me Your Highness, and definitely stop apologizing.”

“I feel like you might be angry with me, and I can’t not address titles, I’ll be punished,” she mutters, biting her lip.

Kai feels his stomach flip at the sight of her practically sucking her bottom lip and clenches his hands into fists to control the urges inside him.

“I’m not angry with you, I just wasn’t expecting to finally find my mate, and that is the first thing she says.” He finally lets go of her and sits back to lean against the wall of the balcony, tossing his head back to close his eyes.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, your – uh,” she stops when she can’t find an appropriate thing to call him.

“Kai. My name is Kai,” he says.

Serenia shakes her head. “I can’t call you by your name, I’ll definitely get in trouble if anyone were to hear me.”

“Well, there isn’t anyone here right now, and you’re with me so no one should dare do anything in my presence unless I say so.”

“Regardless,” she says with an exasperated breath. “I really do think you’re mistaken about me being your mate. There is no way I can be, I promise you.”

Kai laughs to himself and shakes his head slightly again.

“And I asked you, what makes you say that?”

She takes a deep breath, knowing what she says next might make him upset or possibly set him off, not knowing exactly who this man is.

“Because I don’t feel whatever it is you claim to feel toward me, and because I already have a mate… but he rejected me.”

Serenia watches as his pupils dilate and his face contorts into anger.

“What did you say?” he asks quietly.

“W-what?”

He closes his eyes and the anger slowly fades from his expression before he opens them again, the rage still evident in his swirling blue eyes.

“Your mate rejected you…is that true?”

She nods her head slowly.

“May I know who it was?”

She bites her lip again and contemplates letting him know, seeing how angry he just became from simply knowing her former mate rejected her.

How is he going to react if he finds out my former mate is the very man he is here to celebrate, and also congratulate on his recent engagement?

Serenia then realizes something very crucial she almost forgot. If she reveals to Kai that Rune is her former mate and he rejected her, it will be revealed to the High Alpha Tribe that the Luna of the Raseri Tribe is not the fated mate of the Alpha.

It isn’t written anywhere that the Luna of a tribe must be the fated mate of the current Alpha, but that is only in cases where their former mate has died. It is clear that Rune’s former mate has not died and was rather rejected, something that also isn’t unheard of in the Raseri pack but considered blasphemy to the Wolfmane Tribe and High Alpha family, especially when it comes to the Alpha and Luna.

We could all face the death penalty if this is discovered.

“He isn’t a member of this tribe, so it doesn’t matter anyways. My reason stands, I can’t be your mate, I’m truly sorry,” she says, thinking quickly enough on her feet she hopes.

He is in front of her in a flash, his movements barely noticeable to her, and grasps her hand. “Feel this and tell me I’m wrong then,” he says and places her hand over his chest.

She gasps at the hard thumping and fast pace of his heart under his jacket, which is quite thick for her to still feel the intensity of his beating heart as if she is holding it in her very hand.

“T-this doesn’t p-prove anything,” she whispers, her lips trembling again.

He doesn’t say anything and takes her other hand to lift it over her chest to feel her own heart in turn. It takes Serenia a few seconds before she realizes what Kai is trying to show her, feeling how in sync their rapidly beating hearts are.

It’s just a coincidence… She tries to convince herself, but the longer she feels their two beating hearts, the more doubtful she becomes as they seem to beat in perfect sync with each other. The confusion from everything happening all at once and the shocking thought of her mate being the future High Alpha overwhelm Serenia and her mind goes blank once again.

“I-I…I’m sorry, this is all too much,” she mutters.

Kai looks disappointed but releases their hand and scootches back a bit.

“Despite what you may think, I’m confident I’m right,” he says, his voice holding the same strength of confidence as his words do.

He gets on his legs to crouch down in front of her and hesitantly reaches out toward her face to caress her cheek.

“It took me a long time to find you. I’ll wait as long as it takes for you to accept me.”

His eyes gaze deeply into hers, looking devastated and torn before he rips himself away from her and walks out of the room.

Once she feels she is alone, Serenia leans over on her hands and tries to even her ragged breathing, feeling the onslaught of a panic attack taking over her. Stumbling onto her feet again, she rushes over to the edge of the balcony and leans over it, gasping in gulps of fresh air as the wind blows her onto her heated face.

After a few minutes, she feels herself calming down and her mind clearing a bit. Grabbing onto the ledge of the balcony she spots her drink in the corner of her eye and grabs it to chug it down before instantly wanting another one.

Returning to the ballroom, she sees it is still quite active but there is no sign of Kai. Rushing over to the refreshment table, she spots Skai and what looks like the man who was standing next to Kai before she left. She remembers his name was Niklas something, and that there is obviously some tension between him and Skai.

Grabbing another glass of wine and taking a big sip, Serenia sneaks off into a darkened corner to watch the animated interaction between the two.

“Enjoying yourself?” A voice creeps up behind her.

Serenia jumps and turns to face the sneer of her elder sister, Savea.

“I didn’t think you would actually show up today,” she adds.

“I don’t really have a choice, do I? Everyone in the tribe who can come is required to, or it’s looked at as a sign of defiance to the newly appointed Alpha,” Serenia quotes as if she is reading straight from their texts.

Savea rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest in a defensive stance, confusing Serenia before it dawns on her.

“Did you think I came here just to cause trouble?” Serenia scoffs. “The ceremony has already started, and you’ve been announced as the future Luna of the tribe. If I were to cause trouble, I should have done it long before now.”

“Exactly, the ceremony is practically over. So, why are you still here? You’re welcome to go back home now, there is no reason for you to still be here,” Savea snaps.

Serenia can nearly taste the jealousy seeping off her sister’s tongue, but she doesn’t understand why exactly she still holds such malicious feelings towards her fiancé’s former mate.

“Savea, Rune rejected me. Remember? I no longer pose any threat, nor did I really, between the two of you anymore. Why are you still so scared of me?”

“I’m not scared of you; I just don’t like you hanging around Rune. It’s our big day, and I don’t like looking at your sad demeanour while we celebrate. Don’t you have a sick mother to take care of or something?”

Serenia took the hint long ago that Savea is aggressively telling her to leave without saying it out loud in fear of someone nearby hearing how terrible their future Luna is to her younger sister. But she is curious to see how far she can push Savea before she cracks.

Before she can say anything more, a deep voice interrupts them from behind her.

“Is this how the future Luna of the Raseri Tribe treats her flesh and blood?”

Serenia and Savea both turn their eyes to the dominating figure of Kai and his tribe member, Niklas standing behind him.

Savea quickly bows herself at the waist and dips her head, but Serenia remains frozen in place, swallowed whole by those piercing blue eyes. She was hoping to be given some time before seeing him again but standing before her once more, she realizes how her body has slightly ached for his presence, feeling a sudden wave of relief wash over her.

“What are you doing?” Savea hisses next to her before pulling Serenia down to bow with her. “Have you gone mad?” she adds.

Serenia squeezes her eyes shut and lowers her head more as she feels him walk toward her. She squeezes them shut even tighter when his finger touches under her chin to tilt her head up slightly.

“Open your eyes, Serenia,” he whispers to her. As if commanded, her eyes flash open to meet his heated gaze.

He grasps her hand and slowly lifts her before bringing her palm to his mouth to kiss the back of it, never once taking his eyes away from hers.

“My Luna will never bow to me. Rather, I should be bowing to her.”

Before Serenia can register what is happening, Kai slowly starts to bend to one knee, and even the eyes of his tribe member go wide behind him.

“Wait, what? No! What are you doing?” Serenia calls out and in a fluster, rushes to pick Kai back up. “Please don’t bow to me, your Highness.”

Kai frowns but stands up. “I told you not to call me that.”

Serenia looks desperately between him and her sister, who is now shooting daggers at her openly.

“This is my sister, Savea Hansen and the future Luna of our tribe,” she introduces her, then adds in a whisper, “I can’t be disrespectful in front of her.”

The frown on Kai’s face deepens into a scowl as he looks at Savea, already disliking the interaction between them before he arrived. Now he can clearly see how much Serenia fears her elder sister. For this reason, he is extremely curious to find out.

She most likely also knows who Serenia’s former mate is.

The scowl on his face is quickly replaced with a grin as he pushes Serenia behind him slightly to put distance between them and bows to greet Savea.

“It is my honour, Savea Hansen. I suspect you’re already familiar with who I am,” he says.

“Uh, yes, of course, your Highness. The honour is all mine, thank you for coming to our small celebration and bestowing your blessing on Rune. Might I ask, what is your relationship with my sister? She has never left our tribe territory; I wonder how you two met.”

Kai’s grin grows bigger. “I wonder why it is she has never left tribe territory, despite being the age to be looking for a mate.”

This catches Savea off guard, causing Serenia to snicker a little at her astonished face. She doesn’t believe anyone has spoken to her like this or could. Who better than the son of the High Alpha, the one person she can never talk back to or disobey?

Is this man really my mate?

She feels a giddy sense in her stomach at the thought. If he truly is her newfound fated mate, she just might have the beautiful life she once dreamed of having.

I might finally be able to escape here.

“Well, that’s merely because her mother has been too sick and unable to leave her bed, there would be no one to accompany Serenia to such events,” Savea explains, though it is a poor excuse to use.

“Are there not two other wives to the Beta? Is your mother not an official wife of the house? I don’t see why she could never bring both you and Serenia to these so-called mate meeting events,” Kai says.

“How is it that you and Rune discovered you were mates?” Niklas suddenly speaks up, moving closer to the small entourage that has now gathered to gang up on Savea it seems, with Serenia being pushed further to the back to observe.

“O-oh, it’s a really s-sweet story. But, uh, it may be a little too p-personal to say here,” she mutters, slowly backing away only to back herself against the wall.

Kai and Niklas remain unmoving, staring at Savea with taunting grins like they know something she doesn’t.

“Well, as the future High Alpha, I am curious to know how the history and bonds between my fellow lower Alphas and their mates. Hearing the story of how you two discovered your bond is a great way for me to really understand the relationship and strength you two share as mates. Am I right?” Kai asks and looks to Niklas, who nods along.

Skai pops next to Serenia out of nowhere and whispers in her ear.

“What’s going on here? You guys are attracting a bit of a crowd,” she says.

Serenia jumps at her sudden presence before looking behind her and seeing that they have drawn attention from a few of the party members who have been waiting to speak with Kai and Savea it seems, being two popular members at this event. Due to that, they seem to have attracted even more people wandering by and slowly forming a crowd.

“This isn’t good,” Serenia mumbles.

“What are they bothering her about?” Skai asks.

Serenia shrugs. “They want to know how she and Rune discovered they were mates.”

“Why do they care to know that so much?”

“How should I know? I’m just as clueless as you, this happened very suddenly.”

Skai gasps a little under her breath. “Do you think they know?”

“Know what?”

“That Savea and Rune aren’t actually mates, of course,” Skai says with a roll of her eyes, taking a sip of her drink.

Serenia shakes her head, “There’s no way. Anyone who dared to speak anything about that was practically threatened with death by Savea and Rune. I’m well aware of how much he didn’t want anyone to know that I was his actual mate,” she says, trying to whisper the last part as much as she can with the growing onlookers surrounding her.

“That doesn’t mean a member from the Wolfmane Tribe didn’t happen to visit our territory since then and happen to hear the rumour. There is nothing stopping someone like that from spreading it around,” Skai says.

Serenia can’t help but feel she is speaking rather specifically.

“Did you…tell anyone outside of the tribe?” she asks her.

Skai nearly chokes on the sip she is taking of her drink and quickly turns away wiping her mouth. “As if, I don’t have a big mouth as Savea does,” she tries to say through a few coughs.

“But why would Savea tell anyone about that? It only makes her look bad, even if it also makes me look bad in the process.”

Skai shrugs but her face is still red.

“When has Savea ever passed up the chance to make fun of you or make you look bad in front of others? She can easily spin the story and say that Rune rejected you specifically for her because she is all he has ever cared about when we all know he sleeps with a different girl every week when she isn’t paying attention.”

Serenia hates to admit it, but her sister does have a point. There has never been a chance where Savea has missed pointing out how much better she is than anyone else, let alone Serenia, just to remind her of how much lower than her she is.

“Anyway, we have to stop this before it gets any worse. She is our sister,” Serenia mutters.

Skai rolls her eyes and grumbles before chugging back her drink and putting it down. She looks to Niklas and lets out a low but quite loud whistle which instantly grabs his attention. One single glare from her is enough for him to stand up straight and the grin to be wiped off his face before he hits Kai a couple of times.

Kai stops and looks to Niklas, who just points back to Serenia and her sister. Serenia isn’t sure what facial expression she is making for Kai to suddenly look so torn and guilty, but it’s enough to make him stop and forget Savea even exists.

“Are you all right?” he asks Serenia.

This causes Skai’s eyes to go wide and her mouth to drop open in shock as she gazes at the close interaction between her sister and their future High Alpha with blatant confusion. She quickly sees the look of desperation on Serenia’s face and reads the heavy feeling in the room before deciding to come to her rescue this one time, too curious not to find out what is going on after they escape the situation.

“We’re fine, your Highness, thank you for your concern. As you can see, my little sister isn’t used to so much excitement at once, she has just recently come of age and hasn’t been properly introduced to such big events,” Skai says with a slight bow. She stands in front of Serenia and blocks Kai’s view of her.

“I should take her home, but please feel free to continue to enjoy the celebration a little longer after travelling so far to be here,” she adds and takes Serenia’s hand from behind. “Please excuse us.”

She whispers to Serenia to hurry along and tugs her away from the small gathering that is now occupying the corner of the ballroom.

Serenia throws one last look over her shoulder long enough to connect her eyes with Kai once more before she is pulled around the corner of the doorway and into the other room. Skai doesn’t release her or stop until they are at the front foyer before letting go of her hand and turning to her with angered shock.

“What in the realms is going on? How do you know Kai Pendersen and why was he looking at you like that?” she asks, her voice cracking slightly.

“I-I don’t want to talk about it, all right? Let’s just go home.” Serenia tries to push past her to the front door, but Skai follows closely behind her.

“We aren’t just letting this go. That is Kai Pendersen, the future High Alpha of our tribe and all tribes. Yet he is acting like a mere puppy at your feet, there is obviously something going on.”

Serenia ignores her and breaks out into the front yard, walking at a fast pace back toward the Omega House.

“You can’t just ignore me forever so you might as well just tell me now,” Skai continues to call after her, keeping a good pace.

Serenia lets out an exasperated sigh and stops to face Skai.

“I have no idea, all right? I’m just as confused and freaked out as you are, and I don’t have any of the answers you want, nor do I have the ones I want. So, please, just stop pestering me about it already,” she cries.

“What do you mean you have no idea?” Skai asks, her irritated mood calming.

Letting out another tired breath, she suddenly remembers the weird relationship she saw between Skai and the Beta of the Wolfmane Tribe.

“Wait, what about you? You’re clearly hiding something with that Beta, why are you pestering me to spill my secrets so quickly? Are you willing to share your own?” Serenia asks with a chuckle.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, we’ve just met each other a few times when he’s delivered some tribe messages and supplies.”

“See, if you aren’t willing to say anything why should I? That’s like handing you the ammunition needed to use against me.”

Skai frowns but doesn’t protest. “I guess you have a reason to think that,” she mutters.

“All right, fine, let’s go up to my room since I’ll probably find you on the roof later,” she adds and pushes past a shocked Serenia into the house. Never has Skai invited Serenia into her room willingly, unless it was to clean it or rearrange her furniture if she felt bored one day.

This should be interesting.