Chapter 4

"What if the number 8 was actually a big 0 wearing a waist trainer?"

Dre, the top epsilon looked up at Adam in pure confusion.

"Think about it." Adam continued and Dre shook his head and then went back to what he was doing.

They were resting against the kitchen island, Adam munching on an apple having those what-if thoughts, and Dre going through his phone. Izan walked into the kitchen putting on sweatpants and no shirt, a small towel hanging around his neck.

He went to the refrigerator and picked a bottle of cold water then chugged it down. "How was the night?" Adam asked and the alpha shrugged.

"No craving?" The top epsilon studied his friend's face. Izan pinched his thumb and forefinger together leaving a little space in between.

"What's up?" He asked his friends.

Adam threw an apple at him which he caught easily. "Normal A being stupid," Dre said and Adam threw a banana at him making Izan chuckle.

Meanwhile, Astra was on her way downstairs when she heard the voices in the kitchen and she recognized two of them. She wanted to turn back and go to her room but she needed to get some water in her.

It was past seven, still early in the morning. Astra was still in her nightdress as she strolled into the kitchen. Izan's jaw dropped at the sight of her.

In anger.

Normally, a person's jaw would drop in surprise and tick in anger. Izan was both surprised and angry but the anger outweighed the surprise.

What the fuck is she thinking showing off her body like that? That dress is too sho–

No Izan, you don't care.

He slammed the refrigerator door shut as he went to the sink.

"Good morning." Astra greeted politely.

"Good Morning pretty lady," Adam smiled at her and she stared at Dre who was too involved in his phone.

"I know you can hear me and even if you can't, I know you can smell me, why are you ignoring me?" She asked Dre softly.

Dre looked up from his phone to look up at the female that had spoken and he was taken aback. Since when did they have maids that were drop-dead gorgeous? Her morning hair was so rough yet she looked like she had woken up from a beauty sleep and that baby pink dress...

Damn.

But then, his senses came back that a maid had spoken to him rudely. "You're too forward," he said with a small frown.

"And you're impolite," she replied calmly.

Dre's frown deepened and he was about to say something but decided against it going back to a more important issue which was his phone. He would deal with her later.

Astra gave a small sigh and made her way to the sink just as Izan was leaving. His arm slightly brushed hers and the hairs on his body stood straight.

His wolf groaned as her scent filled his nostrils. They wanted more of that scent, that earthy-sweet fruity spice and this made Izan realize that whenever she was close by, he could literally taste cardamom on the tip of his tongue.

"Izan?" Astra called softly, trying again. Maybe yesterday just wasn't his day or the week just wasn't his week so that could be the reason for being a jerk. It happened like that sometimes, especially if one was having a bad day or week.

The Alpha's body went rigid and he stopped walking which made Dre look up in curiosity. This woman here had dared to call Izan by his name. She must be the goddess herself.

"Who's she?" Dre asked Adam.

"His second chance mate, dingbat." Adam's reply made Dre wheeze, his phone almost falling out of his hand in disbelief as he stood upright.

"No way, you're kidding. He can't have a second chance mate. Isn't that why he made the sacrifice?"

Sacrifice? Astra's brain turned wheels.

"What is it?" Izan growled at her.

"Can I ask you a question?" Astra asked.

"No." Yup, still a jerk and will always be, she concluded.

He was about to walk out when she hissed in pain making him turn around to look at her.

Her skin which was already pale had suddenly gone paler.

Astra closed her eyes as she bit her lip.

"Uh Izan?" Dre called looking at Astra's arm.

There on her arm was a big red purple mark and it looked like it was burning. Adam touched it and she shrank away making her way to the door.

Izan caught her wrist and turned her around to face him. "What's wrong with your arm?" He asked looking at her arm before looking at her face.

"Why? do you wanna act like you care now?" She spat in his face. Izan frowned, growling lowly then let go of her wrist and walked out. Astra took one last look at Adam and Dre before she walked away. When she got to her room, she locked the door and breathed in relief.

Rude or not, she didn't mean to tell him off like that. She just didn't know what to say, she didn't know how to tell him she had no idea what was wrong with her arm. She raised her dress and looked at her stomach. There was another big bruise there and it was hurting her.

Astra was in pain and she didn't know who to turn to. She began to feel nauseous, quickly ran into the bathroom, and threw up in the toilet.

Astra then sat on the floor as she sobbed. What was wrong with her? Why was this happening to her?

Two days later, she had gotten worse.

It seemed she hadn't foreshadowed her suffering because if she knew she would end up like this in so much anguish, she wouldn't have told him off.

She hadn't stepped out of her room. She could barely walk and had barely eaten but she didn't care because what was wrong with her was too unbearable for her to remember food. She whimpered in pain as she coiled into the sheets. It felt like something was moving inside her trying to chomp off parts of her but was also taking its time eating her heart.

Her heart raced as her stomach turned. She stood up and ran into the bathroom again throwing up water as she hadn't eaten and soon, she might just vomit her intestines. Her feet felt numb and she could feel her heart being split in half.

"Aine, what's wrong with us?"

"I don't know, I've never experienced this before. I don't know what this is," her wolf replied in equal pain whimpering as she cried.

Then she heard growling behind her door before it was kicked and someone stepped in. Astra was too weak to open her eyes or make out the owner of the deep voice that rang through her ears.

"When last was she seen?" Someone asked.

"About two days ago."

"Was food being sent to her?"

"N-no-no alpha."

Astra heard a roar before someone was thrown across the room. "Contact the pack doctor immediately."

Astra didn't know how long it took for the pack doctor to appear but soon enough, the doctor was checking her.

"Alpha, there's something very critical wrong with the Luna."

"Just get it over with, I don't have all day!" Izan snapped.

"If I may ask Alpha, how did you know she was in this state?"

"It was like her heart came to me. I could feel her," Izan said slowly looking at the sleeping lady on the bed.

"Well she's already half dead," the doctor said pitifully.

"Excuse me?" Izan frowned.

"Did you reject her, Alpha?"

"I did no such thing."

"At this rate, it would be better if she's given a quick death because if not the poor lady would die of slow and excruciating pain, she would feel like she's being eaten from the inside."

"Why would she feel that? I didn't do anything to her." He insisted and the doctor looked at him.

"Alpha, your wolf is rejecting her."