4

Adam saw Ian's brown eyes shoot fireballs at his sister. As he opened his mouth to say something back to her, Adam grabbed his beta by the arm and dragged him out. Adam knew that if he didn't do that, then war was sure to break out between the two people he loved. He never could understand why his beta and his sister hated each other in such a tremendous way. It was critical to the point that the two of them could never be left alone in a room just for a minute. Adam was sure one would have killed the other.

"She's my sister, you know," Adam told his beta, who was also the only one Adam could call a friend.

"Teach her some manners then," Ian retorted and looked behind them. Adam looked back too and saw Alisha making the 'fuck you' finger at his friend. He grunted and held Ian firmly as his beta tried to free himself.

"Ian, behave. She's just a girl." He told his beta. "Lisha, behave too. Ian is my beta," Adam told his younger sister.

"Good for him," Alisha said with a voice that clearly says that she doesn't care what position Ian held in the clan. Before either of the men could give any reply, she walked past them into the hall full of the entire Colven Pack members.

It was time, Adam thought as he let go of Ian and the door. It was time to have his life take a drastic turn without being asked if it was what he wanted. He sighed audibly to still his racing heart, then he opened the door and walked in. Everyone kept mute as soon as they all saw him. Adam nodded his head to respond to the greetings of his pack members as he walked to his mother to greet. The woman frowned at the open buttons on his shirt but Adam ignored the looks. If he wanted a loose button, then he had a loose button.

"I can't believe that you are 25 years old now and already having a mate, Alpha." His mother said and wiped an exaggerated tear away from her eyes.

Adam rolled his eyes at how dramatic his mother was before he walked to his seat. After he sat down in the golden seat meant for the Alpha, he signaled for the ceremony to begin. It was better for him to know his fate now rather than later. The pack's priest came out, bowed his head to the Alpha, and sat down on the bare floor. He brought out some items and arranged them on the floor in front of him. When he was done arranging them, he began to chant some words. At one point, the priest closed his eyes as he continued to mumble the words.

"Alpha, your Luna is dead." The priest announced.

Everyone in the hall exclaimed in shock. Even Adam sat forward in shock as he heard the man's declaration. His mate was dead? How could that be possible? Why would his mate be already dead? It felt to Adam like the goddess had played some kind of trick on them just before they dethroned her. Murmurs went around the room as everyone began to talk about the fate that had just befallen their Alpha. His mother made a loud shriek and went forward to the priest.

"Priest, check it again." His mother asked the priest.

The priest closed his eyes again and repeated the process he had done earlier. This time, while he changed his words, everyone waited in expectation of what the words he would speak this time would be. After a minute, the priest's eyes began to tear like he was exhilarating himself. By the time he would open his eyes again, Adam saw that they were red as blood. The priest focused the red-blooded eyes on Adam's mother before he spoke.

"The Alpha's mate is dead, my lady." The priest said again.

Adam crossed his hands over his laps as he heard those words again. He watched as his mother, sister, and the rest of the pack looked at him with pity in their eyes. When they saw that he didn't say a word or reacted in any way, they all assumed that he was in shock over the revelation. The women of his pack began to cry in loud exaggerated voices. Adam shook his head inwardly as he thought about how deceitful females were. He knew that they were all feeling happy secretly despite the tears on their faces.

Or maybe they were shedding the tears of joy knowing that they could have him for a little while longer. He knew that some of them would even be thinking that he might just choose one of them and his Luna just to satisfy the pack with an heir. The only people that were shedding honest tears on his behalf were his mother and his sister. The rest, he knew, were fake emotions and he was tired of seeing them already. He cleared his throat and stood up.

"Well, the celebration is over," Adam declared and began to walk away from the hall and his pack members. His beta, Ian, followed him at a close distance without a word. When they got to Alpha Adam's room, Ian closed the door firmly behind them.

"You can display your happiness now," Ian told Adam.

Adam turned back to look at his friend. When the man cocked his left brows at him, Adam bestowed upon his beta the widest grin he could summon at that moment and his beta laughed. He couldn't believe back there in the hall that people were feeling sad for him because his mate was dead when Adam himself was anything but sad.

Why would he be sad over a mate that was dead? A mate he had never met or knew anything about? No, he wasn't sad. If anything, he was more than happy to be free from the mating thing. Not having a mate meant that he could frolic about some more with women. Now, he didn't have to think about getting an heir for a while again.

"You lucky bastard," Ian said with a grin. "I hope I'm as lucky as you in three months." He told Adam and ran a hand through his hair.

"Well, I hope you aren't. That way I can get the women all to myself," Adam told his beta with a smirk. He took off the expensive green shirt he had worn for the ceremony and threw it on the floor. He opened the wardrobe and brought out a tee with the inscription 'I'm free, baby' on it. He rolled the top over his head and turned to face his beta with a crooked smile.

"Where the fuck are you going to?" Ian asked him.

"To party, of course," Adam said and swiped up his car keys.

"Lucky bastard." The beta muttered again and Adam smiled.

Before anyone could spot him, Adam got into his BMW car and sped out of the packhouse. As he drove the six hours drive from the packhouse to the city, he thought about how much of a good time he was going to get with whichever lady he picked up. He turned to the lonely street where the regular club he frequented every time he came to the city was. That was when he saw the completely naked young lady trying to cross the street. Adam applied the brake to his car just in time to stop the car from hitting the naked lady. He shivered in fear as he saw that the car was only a few meters away from hitting the lady.

He peeped at the naked woman from his front glass and saw that she was covered in blood. He looked at her again as he thought that perhaps the blood from her body was just some sort of costume she had on since he could never put it past the people in the city not to do such a thing. When he saw that it was real blood, concern for the young lady filled him up and he unlocked his seatbelt to get to her.