Chapter 3: The Mating Ceremony 3

I

Jerome let out a wicked smile as he watched Natasha’s eyes well up. "Someone, save me…"Natasha cried in her thoughts. Her mouth was covered too well, so no sound could escape from her lips. His grip on her was too strong. There was nothing she could do. Her fate had been decided; she was about to be raped by the man she was going to be a contract mate to.

Natasha mustered up all her strength into words as she mumbled loud enough for Jerome to understand that she wanted to tell him something. Jerome let go of her, certain that she was about to offer herself willingly to him. “What was that you said?” Jerome said with a sinister smile.

“Let go of me, you bastard!!” Natasha yelled out and spat on his face. She still had more fights in her than she thought. “How dare you!” Jerome said. “You will pay for that, you vile thing.”

“I believe she asked you to let go of her,” a voice said from a distance. Jerome paused, and both of their attention turned to where the voice came from. Standing there, shrouded in darkness that covered the upper part of his body, was a man. Neither of them could see his face, but his presence alone had a certain aura to it.

“This is none of your business. There’s no use playing hero. This ungrateful bitch is mine. It would be best for you to leave,” Jerome said to the mysterious man.

“And it would be better for you to let go of her this instant because I will not say it again,” he replied.

“You bastard, do you have any idea who you are talking to? Leave now, and I will forgive your disrespect,” Jerome fired back. The mysterious man gave no response and remained standing where he was. Jerome, seeing that he was intent on staying for the show, turned back to Natasha.

In a flash, before Jerome could lay a single finger on her, the mysterious fellow took a quick sprint, seized Jerome as if he were thin paper, and flung him away. Now standing in front of her, Natasha recognized who he was. He was the same man Natasha had encountered earlier at the ball, Alice’s mate.

“You bastard!” Jerome screamed at him. He stood up and rearranged himself.

“I advise you to leave to avoid any more ruckus,” The stranger said ever so calmly. His composure only infuriated Jerome more. No one dared disrupt him from having his way. He lunged into the air and shifted into his wolf form. Jerome charged toward William in his wolf form, but William didn’t budge. He stood still and firm as if he had some sort of trick up his sleeve, which, as it turned out, he certainly did.

However, it wasn't in his sleeves or a trick but in a dirty right hook. The stranger landed a solid punch on the fully grown wolf, sending him flying to the ground as if it were nothing. Natasha's jaw dropped. She could not believe what she had just witnessed. Did he just one-punch a fully transformed wolf while in human form? Natasha's eyes repeatedly shifted from William to Jerome, who was passed out on the ground in his human form, and back to William again.

The stranger squatted in front of Natasha and stretched out his hand to her. “Hey there, are you okay?” he asked, with a genuine smile on his face. Natasha took his hand and rose to her feet. Her brows, thick but delicately winged, drew together. "Who," she asked, her eyes widening in curiosity, "are you?"

“I am William, Alpha of the Twilight Pack,” he replied politely with a silent bow. Natasha's jaw dropped once more in shock. At the mention of his name, it all finally began to make sense.

In the whole of Hayden, there were only two people known to be capable of such a feat as he had just displayed. The first was her grandfather, the first and only hybrid in Hayden's history. His strength was unrivaled in all of Hayden, and she was in the presence of the second person. The second person was Alpha William of the Twilight Pack.

Alpha William was a werewolf with quite a reputation. Being the youngest Alpha, holding held a seat on the Alpha Council, a prestigious council consisting of Alphas who governed the affairs of Hayden. But all of that is meager compared to the fact that he is rumored to be the reincarnation of the legendary Lycan King, Lycaon.

Natasha had heard but only stories and rumors of him. As their paths had never crossed before, now she knew that those stories were indeed true and not just made-up rumors. That was the only way she could explain such a feat he had just shown before her very eyes.

“Hello?” William said, waving his hand over her face, which jolted her back to reality.

“I’m so sorry,” she stuttered, still struggling to compose herself.

“Yeah, it's fine. You sort of zoned out on me,” he said, “…again.”

Natasha gulped, swallowing the embarrassment she was feeling. “Thank you for saving my life. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up when you did,” Natasha gratefully recomposed herself.

“Don't mention it. It was my pleasure,” he replied.

“So now that you know who I am, I would like to know to whom I owe my gratitude for the opportunity to knock the lights out of that old fat,” he said, pointing to Jerome, who was still passed out. Natasha couldn’t hold back her laughter. “Believe me, I have been wanting to do so for a while now.

“I am Natasha Smith, of the House of Thorne,” Natasha said.

William's face lit up in surprise. “You mean, you are…”

“…The granddaughter of the great Algernon Thorne,” Natasha rolled her eyes.

Shocked by her intrusion, “I was going to say, daughter of Leah the legendary Vampire Slayer,” William said.

“How did you… know?” Natasha stuttered.

“Know what, who your mother is? Come on now, who doesn’t know the tales of the greatest and fiercest heroine in Lycan history, with a legacy that is second only to that of the Lycan King himself?”

Natasha froze. Never had anyone addressed her mother in a positive light. “How did you know…?”

“Ooh, that. Let’s just say I am kind of a big fan,” William said goofily. “So, of course, I know the last name of the human she got mated to.”

“Wow,” Natasha said, in astonishment. Every word he spoke sounded so foreign and blissful to her ears.

“Your mother saved my life a long time ago, and now I am glad I could return the favor,” he said.

“Alpha William, I…”

“William, call me William,” he said.

At that moment, Natasha felt drawn to him, even more than she had felt earlier at the ball. But she knew she couldn’t have him as her own, as he was already mated to another. If only Jerome were half the man he was, maybe she wouldn’t mind being his contract mate.

Natasha took a deep breath. “William, thank you for saving my life, but I think it’s time you returned to the ball. The names of those who have found their mates will soon be called,” Natasha said. The sadness on her face was evident.

“Yes, that’s true. And how about you? Aren’t you heading back inside too?” William asked.

“There isn't much need for that,” Natasha replied.

“Whatever do you mean?” William asked, confused.

Natasha let out a sigh, not knowing where to begin. “It's too long of a tale to tell,” she said.

“You can summarize it,” he said, not relenting.

Realizing he wasn’t going to budge, Natasha knew she had no choice but to talk. “This is my third year of attending the mating ceremony, and I’m still without a mate. So my grandpa arranged for me to become Alpha Jerome’s contract mate. So whether or not I return to the ball doesn’t change the fact that I will still be his mate, even though he just tried to rape me,” Natasha narrated, trying hard to force a smile.

“Wow, what an interesting coincidence,” William replied, stroking his chin and pacing around.

“What?” Natasha uttered, disbelieving her ears at his response.

“I mean, what are the odds?” he said.

“The odds of what exactly?” Natasha asked, still confused.

William halted, breathed in, and said “Natasha, this is the fifth year in my search for my mate,” William said.

Natasha had to admit five was a huge number, but he was a man, so he still had five more to keep searching without being frowned upon by society, and luckily for him, he had found her tonight. She, on the other hand, had run out of time. Natasha understood he was trying to cheer her up and encourage her, but if she were to be honest with him, their situations were far from the same.

“Ooh, well I’m glad you finally found her,” Natasha replied politely.

“That’s the thing, Natasha, I haven’t,” William said.

“Wait, but Alice…” Natasha stuttered.

“Alice isn’t my mate. She is to be coroneted by the end of the year as my Luna if I fail to find my destined mate soon.”

Natasha couldn’t understand what he was trying to say. She could have sworn he said he was already mated to Alice, but thinking back, it was Alice who said so, not him.

“Wow…”

“I know, right? Two unmated wolves meet on the night of the mating ceremony, the night both of their fates are to be decided. Very poetic, isn’t it?” William said.

“It sure is,” Natasha said. “But still, we must go now before we are seen together like this,” she said as she turned to leave.

“Perhaps there’s an answer,” William said, drawing her attention back.

“Whatever do you mean?”

“A way to solve both of our problems,” he said.

Natasha pondered for a second, wondering what he could have in mind. But in the end, she knew that anything was better than remaining the way she was: mate less or a contract mate to Alpha Jerome.

“I’m listening,” Natasha replied, intrigued.

“Going back into the ceremony, we can pretend to have found each other as our other's destined mate. With you in my arms, the Alpha Council and all of Hayden will think I have found my Luna, and I will not have to be mated by their choice. The same will apply to you. You will appear to be mated to the Alpha of one of the respected packs in all of Hayden…”

“And I will not have to be Jerome’s contract mate.”

“Exactly.”

“This is an absurd plan,” Natasha protested.

“I find it quite brilliant. It is the perfect cover while we both continue our search for our respective mates. If the both of us still haven’t found our mates by the next mating ceremony, then we can decide to make it official.”

“But if this is to work, we must appear to be madly in love and display a connection that could have only been blessed upon us by the moon goddess. Any slip-up and we would be caught. The risk of that happening is way too high,” Natasha said.

“I agree, but the fate that awaits us if we don’t far outweigh any risk. So frankly, what have we got to lose?” William said.

William was right; nothing could be worse than her current fate. Natasha glanced at Alpha Jerome, who remained passed out, and the thought of spending another second as his contract mate sent waves of disgust crawling up her spine.

“Either way, I am going home tonight with a person to whom I am not destined. At least now it’s a person of my choice,” she replied with a smile. “Let’s do this.”