Chapter Five

But Xavier was right, many people found their mates during ceremonies like this, and when she finds hers, she may also forget about me. 

But what if she doesn't?

I grew up so close to her that I did not even notice she was in love with me. 

She always visited me, she was always concerned about me, would I just let our friendship go down the drain? 

I cursed myself for indirectly torturing her, I pictured her face when I choose someone else. But what would happen after that?

She may never talk to me again; she may remain heartbroken forever. She may even choose to go back to her pack and get revenge on us.

But what could I do? I was in a huge dilemma of what to choose, I did not even pay attention to anything said or done in the ceremony.  

There was only one thing I had to do.

After I was crowned the new Alpha, Xavier called me in front of the whole crowd of different packs of wolves.

"And so, my son. It has been a long tradition that the newly crowned Alpha chooses a mate during his ceremony, and then celebrates the mated ceremony after. Who would you pick to be with you on the mated ceremony Alpha Lucian?"

There was a long silence soon after.

The silence that came was killing me, I found Aveo in the crowd, she was smiling at me.

Her pack was now full of weaklings, they easily lost battles. Maybe that’s why she was chosen for me.

Nature had chosen me for her, and I could also not find Sazia in the crowd, my first instinct was that she had found a mate.

So I cleared my throat and spoke to the crowd,

"I would love to invite... Aveo from the Ladurgal pack to be with me on the mated ceremony"

The crowd started to cheer and jeer, and Aveo was brought by her father to me. 

Her father seemed to be happier than she was.

I was given the mated string and I bent down on my knees, and Aveo stretched her legs.

I tied the string on her legs and that was it, we were engaged. 

My happiness stopped when I found Sazia standing at the entrance, she had been running fast to meet up with the ceremony.

I could see the disappointment in her eyes and she just turned her back to run away.

Sazia's POV

I was so happy that Lucian wanted to pick me up for his mated ceremony, but before I could enter the venue, the dress I wore split into two immediately.

I had to change dresses if I wanted to be Lucian's mate. 

I hurried back to where I lived and checked out all the dresses available.

Since found none which would suit my taste, I decided to repair my torn dress which took a while. 

I ran as fast as I could back to the ceremony, and I came right in time for Lucian to choose me as his mate.

My heart dropped when he mentioned a different name, from a different pack entirely, I was completely heartbroken.

The worse part was him tying the string on her legs, I was supposed to be there, not that girl. 

Lucian betrayed the love I had for him.

I turned immediately to leave, I was no longer welcome. What was I even thinking? Falling in love with the Alpha's son?

We weren't even mates; I was so stupid. 

I gave him my all, thinking he felt the same way I did. 

"Sazia please wait!" A familiar voice called from afar. 

I removed the tears from my eyes and turned to Lucian,

"What do you want from me?"

"I'm so sorry Sazia."

"For what? You're the alpha, you can be with whoever you want to be with." 

"I'm sorry for giving you hope, believe me. I wanted to choose you but then Aveo showed up, and she was my mate"

"You don't have to explain to me, you can be with whoever you want to be with, I am nothing to stop you, Lucian"

"Please, don't be like this Sazia, you know..."

"You do not have the right to ask how I am to behave. I have one question though if you already had a mate then why did you choose to sleep with me?"

"I met Aveo today, everything happened so fast. Yesterday was a mistake driven by desire."

"A mistake?"

My chest dropped, the best night of my life he said, was a mistake. 

I could no longer bear to look at him again.

So I turned into a wolf and ran away, diving into the thickest forests. 

I did not stop, I just kept running and running and running. I never wanted to see Lucian again, nor the other wolves. 

I only wanted to keep on running to a different place, a place where I could not think of anything again, I kept on running and running without stops, I was so stupid. 

My whole life I saw Lucian as the one. After my parents died, Lucian was the only one who made me smile. It turned out he just saw me as a sister in need.

I kept on moving with no stop, crossing rivers, crossing valleys, I moved with no force until I made up my mind on where I would go to. 

I was going to meet with the great Manzoni!

I turned right and I dived into the forest again, entering the thickest of the wild, crossing trees, and meeting different animals. 

I hid from some, I fought with others, I killed some and I just chose to keep running from others.

I reached a very thick part of the forest, and I beat my chest and screamed to signify my entrance to the house of the great Manzoni.

I turned back to human, trying to move through the thick bushes but someone grabbed a hold of my hands and entered and pushed me into the forest. 

Another person put me in a blindfold and soon, I was brought into a strange shrine. 

"We found the intruder Manzoni," I heard a voice say.

"Who dares to come into the house of the great Manzoni uninvited?"

"I dared!" I shouted. 

The blindfold was soon removed from my eyes and I found Manzoni, she was a lot less scary than I thought. In fact, she looked exactly like I did.

"Identify yourself immediately!"

"I am Sazia, an initial La Chandral at birth, given to Xavier of El Altunia to take care of when my parents died."

"So you are one of us? Then why did you come here?"

"I choose to be melted to a human!"

Everyone was shocked, no one expected it at all, not even Manzoni