008 - A Beta's Fate, An Alpha's Destiny

DOMINIC.

"Are you crushing on me, Sofia?" I didn’t know where the question came from.

Her eyes widened before she was able to hide her shock. "No. But I have limited options. I don’t know any other Alphas or Betas. I just want to be sure I won’t be abused."

I could hear Sofia’s heartbeat and I knew she was lying. 

"I thought you hated me?" I chuckled.

"I don’t hate you. I just… I just didn’t like that you played me for a fool that night. If I hated you, I would never be here alone with you."

"So you like me?" I was pushing my luck.

"Oh, Goddess, I didn’t know conversations would be so hard with you!" She exclaimed in exasperation. 

I snickered and let go of her hand. And for some unknown reason, I suddenly felt fucking empty without her hand. I turned my body slightly to look at her, and before I could stop myself, my hand was already reaching for her face, my knuckles trailing her cheek, slowly rubbing her soft skin. "I hope you’ll find your mate once you turn eighteen."

"So you don’t have to be forced to claim me?" She said, rolling her eyes at me.

"No, not like that. I just don’t think anyone would be good enough for you, except your mate."

"Don’t make me cry." She bit her lower lip as she looked straight into my eyes.

I tried to smile and lighten the mood. "You can cry. I have broad shoulders and a comfortable chest, I could…"

I was not able to finish my words when she suddenly leaned forward and slammed herself on me — her face and hands were on my chest, and I almost fell backward from the impact if I wasn’t able to balance myself.

Her whole body shook as sobs escaped her throat. My arms coiled around her petite frame as my hand cupped the back of her head, holding her in place. And I just let her cry, but my heart was grieving with her. 

Alpha Females. I never really cared about the Claiming. I saw it as it fit and was never bothered by this tradition. I even wanted to claim one for myself. But it was only now that I realized, while Sofia cried in my arms, the other side of it — the Alpha Females who didn’t want to be claimed.

Fuck! I didn’t want her to be claimed by someone else.

I had no idea why Alpha Darvin wanted to send his sisters to the Claiming. 

But maybe claiming Sofia wouldn’t be bad at all if it meant I could save her from her worst fears. Maybe we could make it work. 

⇜ ♡♡♡ ⇝

DARVIN.

I leaned my body against the tree as I lit my cigarette. My eyes roamed around the forest grounds. Felix, Katya, Nicole, Zahra, and Leandro went inside the pack house to have their own group while the rest settled on the big bonfire inside the forest just south of the pack house. Everyone was seated around a bonfire that the Beta lit up and was enjoying alcoholic drinks except for Sofia and Luna Nadia. 

My heart clenched at the sight of my sisters.

Everyone was getting mated, but not them. And I didn’t miss the pain in Katarina’s eyes. She was the oldest of the unmated females around, but she was still mateless. But she should have expected it. She had met all the males here at some point after she turned eighteen. So nothing should come as a surprise tonight.

But of course, I would be lying if I said that was the only reason Katarina was gloomy tonight.

It was all my fault. But I was left with no choice. If there was anything in this world that meant to me, it would be my sisters and my pack. The pack would always come second before them, but this time, I was trying to save both.

I have acresia. And my time was ticking.

Acresia is a rare wolf disease that deteriorates the immune system of a wolf. It is a rare disease, but not unheard of. It only affected males, and it skipped generations. So when my father’s wolf was diagnosed with this disease, we both thought I was spared the same fate. But the Goddess played me well.

My father gave me the Alpha post even before I turned eighteen because his wolf was dying and soon no one would be able to sense his wolf and it would mean the pack would be deemed weak and vulnerable to attacks.

And it was for the same reason that I was doing what I needed to do. 

My Alpha aura was dwindling, and my wolf, Titan, was getting weaker every day. There were days that I couldn’t summon him anymore. I would soon be just like an ordinary human, and I wouldn’t be able to defend myself. What more of my sisters and my pack?

And as much as I trusted my Beta, I promised my father I would do my best to produce an heir to be the next Alpha. We both wanted the pack under our name for more years to come. But with my situation now, it would be impossible.

My only hope was that Katarina would be mated as soon as possible, but she was turning 21 soon and hadn’t met her fated mate yet. So I have to take action.

Riley was my first choice. Our packs were just next to each other. He would be able to take care of Katarina and take care of my pack until the rightful heir could claim back our pack. But he was so smitten with Andrea by then that when I made the suggestion a year ago, he just laughed at me and told me he never wanted an Alpha Female. And I knew he wasn’t lying.

So my search for the next Alpha continued. 

Lucas’ territory was nearest to the pack, but he was betrothed to Alpha Vesmont’s daughter, and we lost contact over time. 

And then Aeon came. Technically, not him. Alpha Argon, Aeon’s father, saw my sister at one of the balls we attended and asked if I would be willing to mate my sister to Aeon. But Aeon would still have the last say because he said his son was refusing every female after the Clair Montrell incident at the Claiming.

I said yes to Alpha Argon. Maybe, despite the distance between our packs, he could make it work. More importantly, I knew him, and maybe he would consider my conditions for mating with Katarina.

But then he refused, stating Katarina didn’t interest him at all, which was no surprise. Despite doing the majority of what his father desired, no one could force him when it came to females.

But I have already made my decision. I wanted Aeon for Katarina and for my pack. So I decided to finally meet him and lay down my proposals.

Maybe out of pity or because he valued our brotherhood, Aeon agreed. He would claim Katarina, but it would all be business - he would mark her, but there would be no mating unless it became consensual.

Aeon would be the Alpha of my pack, but he would let Katarina make most of the decisions. And I couldn’t be more pleased with that. Everything was settled, and Katarina agreed after I revealed everything to her.

Nothing could get in the way now. And I would be happy to step down before my wolf abandons me for good.

I let out a sigh before my eyes shifted to my youngest sister, Sofia.

She stood up from the bonfire where the younger ones were crowding in. She walked deeper into the forest line on the other side. I knew she wanted to be alone. We just had one of our regular conversations this morning, and what she revealed to me still got me thinking.

She had no idea my wolf was dying, but she had sensed my aura fading and asked me why I was keeping my Alpha aura low, which was unusual for Alphas. We could disguise our auras if we wanted to - and that’s how I explained it to her.

Months ago, I told her that once she turned eighteen, we needed to search for her mate. I was giving her three months before I entered her for the next Claiming. She didn’t take it well and tried to run away. 

I knew I should explain to her why, but I didn’t want her to worry about what would happen to her when I lost my wolf. Especially after she found out later on that our father took his life because of the same sickness. 

But this morning she came to me and asked if I was okay if it was someone and not an Alpha that would claim her if she couldn’t find her mate on time. A Beta, to be exact. I told her yes. An Alpha or a Beta, as long as it was someone who would vow to protect her when I couldn’t anymore.

And then she dropped the bomb. 

She wanted Beta Dominic. And I couldn’t answer her because the Beta was aiming to be mated to Alpha Jacob’s sister. So when I said no for that reason, she said it’s either we wait for her mate or it’s Riley’s Beta and walked out on me.

Sofia knew what she wanted. And all the time, she would work hard to get it. 

Unlike Katarina, Sofia was tougher and had the courage to disobey me. And I knew I couldn’t bend her.