Funny Ways

"Wait, you two..." Queen Jana comes closer to us and closes her eyes for a second. She has always been a bit of a witch just like her twin sister, "I can feel a bond. But you two..."

"Alright, I think this is something we need to discuss in private. King Eugene? Please, come with us," King Erik says to my father. My dad comes up behind me immediately, helping me walk to god knows where while my wolf keeps claiming that Cain is hers. Just like Asheron was hers.

‘But what does that fucking mean, you crazy wolf?!’ I yell at her inside my mind. She’s just repeating the same thing.

Once I’m in a room with just Cain, his parents and my father, I can finally blink and think a little clearer. Cain seems to wake up from his trance too and he shakes his head.

"Why do I feel like... like Georgie is... mine? My wolf says she's my mate," he says, his scared eyes rising to my father and his. Everyone looks at him as if it's obvious, "But she already has a mate. Asheron. Hello? What am I missing here?”

My father looks down at me now, and I can only lower my gaze in shame.

"Asheron is dead," I blurt out in a whisper, although it feels like the words are being ripped from the depths of my soul. I hate saying them, "I hadn't told you because I can't talk about it yet, I'm barely dealing with it."

Cain's eyes widen in shock, and he looks upset. Although they didn't spend much time together, his brother Justin and Asheron are the same age, so they were very close for a while.

Cain sighs and nods.

"Mom, do you really feel a bond between us?" He asks, looking at her as he raises a hand to undo the first three buttons of his shirt as if he can't breathe. Queen Jana nods, and I close my eyes again.

This can’t be happening.

'Go to him, let him hold you. Let him comfort us and make us feel better. He is our mate, too,' my wolf tells me, and I can feel that she really wants to go and let Cain hold us, but I can't... I don't want to.

And I’m a little angry at my wolf for being so willing to forget about our REAL mate. Asheron.

"I don't want this," I say quietly, drawing everyone's attention, "I-I have a mate already, I can't disrespect him this way. No... no, it's not possible."

Asheron would be so hurt, so angry.

"Georgie," my father says with a tired sigh, but I shake my head and turn to leave. Josephine is waiting outside the room for me and she follows me as I escape, helping me when she finds a lonely hallway and pulls me towards it.

As soon as we’re alone, I grab her and I bury my face in her shoulder. Jos doesn’t even ask questions, she just holds me.

{ Cain }

I stay in the same spot, frozen and confused, just looking at the door where Georgie just left through, running dramatically.

My mouth is still open in disbelief, but luckily, as soon as she disappears, the cloud in my head begins to dissipate little by little.

I don't understand what the hell is going on. I just arrived in Kallistar after almost six years of being away and now it turns out that my best friend in the whole world is... my fated mate?

The same girl who has been fated to Alpha Asheron since she was fifteen? What kind of sick plot-twist is this?

"I'm so sorry, Cain," Georgie's father says, "Georgie has been struggling a lot since Asheron died. She hasn't been herself since then... I've only seen her happy when she talks to you. And today, on our way here to see you. She truly adores you, I'm sorry she said that."

I don’t know what the fuck to say, I just nod and keep trying to make some sense of this mess.

Fortunately, my mom is not as dazed as I feel, so she gets into Queen mode. She calls my aunt Julia so she can clarify this mess and she somehow manages to bring back Georgie into the room.

Georgette Colucci looks just as regal as always, if not more. She is the embodiment of everything perfect. Perfect long brown hair, perfect olive skin, perfect light green eyes, perfect body, perfect life, perfect mate, perfect future.

And I don’t say that only because she’s my best friend. Everyone thinks the same thing: Princess Georgette has just been blessed by the Moon Goddess in every single way possible.

That’s why it’s so shocking to hear that her PERFECT Alpha died. Because Alpha Asheron was just as perfect as her, if not more. That fucking asshole.

So why the fuck would the Moon Goddess now hate Georgie so much that she decided to… make me her new mate?

I don’t get it. And apparently, Georgie doesn’t get it either.

She refuses to meet my eyes and that is making me feel caged. For the first time in a long, long time, my wolf tries to overcome me and gain control over me.

He's telling me: 'Grab her. Kiss her. Reassure her she's ours. We'll make her feel better.' But I can't. She's throwing some serious stay-away-from-me vibes. She and her dad talk in hushed tones while my aunt arrives and when she does, she asks us to get closer to her.

"Hi princess Georgie," she tells Georgie. My best friend tries to smile but fails, "I know you must be very confused, can I try to make sense of what's happening?"

"Please, Julia. I need to understand," she says.

My aunt Julia is a witch. She’s the one who told everyone that Georgette and Asheron were fated mates years ago and changed everything.

That news is what finished the never-ending feud between the Blues and the Colucci pack.

My aunt comes to us and grabs both of our hands. She stays like that for a few seconds and I don't really know what she's doing but I do feel something going on in my head.

I'm so damn tired, this kind of stress is the last thing I need right now when everything is already changing and shifting enough for me.

The one good, safe thing was supposed to be Georgie. Hang out with Georgie, talk to her, have some innocent fun… not this. Definitely not this.

"Alright, guys," my aunt says a few minutes later, with a heavy sigh, "This is… insane, so bear with me. This a second chance mate situation, a chosen mate situation and a fated mate situation, all at once.”

What in the fuck is that supposed to mean? I swallow and look at Georgie, but she’s still ignoring me.

“Both of your wolves already had a sense of familiarity with each other, they already loved each other... in a friendly way. But this time you're both in a vulnerable situation so your wolves want to have comfort in each other. They’re choosing each other,” she continues, “But that doesn’t even matter because you already had a bond in place, guys. You are a fated couple. This was always meant to happen, one way or another.”