The Alpha's Cursed Destiny: C2-3

Chapter 2- 3

CHAPTER 002: FINDING DESTINY

At long last, after years of searching high and low, Tatiana finally found what she had dedicated her life to search for. He stood there like a Greecian God, as alluring as she remembered him last.

She could never forget.

However, it had also been years. How should she approach someone she had yearned for for centuries?

Everything that hadn't made sense over the years was finally unfolding. All her effort to attend the hopeless parties through the years finally paid off. 

She was sharing the same space as him, breathing the same air, and she couldn't have been happier. Even though she felt like a fraud for hiding her scent, Tatiana knew it was finally her turn to be happy. Her heart leaped, and she watched this man in the dark. 

Vampires didn't have night vision as sharp as some other species, so it was kind of hard to see his face, but who needed to see the darn face when she could smell him? His scent always drove her crazy, like it was already doing right now. 

She was elated. However, she had to control herself lest they found out she was a vampire. 

*****

The moon was lighting up the night, so when the man turned to look at who his beta had seen, he saw her. 

It only took one second, one fleeting look, and it was enough for him to recognize her. He knew at that moment that she was the one he had been waiting for this entire time, the woman that was promised to him by the stars.

She was here. 

The happiness in his heart was one of a kind, and even he had never felt it before. Growing up, he always planned on how to meet the love of his life, a moonchild just like him. 

He had always known that no matter what happened, the moon goddess was not going to let him lead a lonely life. The man felt a tingle running down his spine just with one look from her. That was the sort of effect she had over him.

His mate. 

His human mate. 

She was here, and he had always been looking for her. 

He always told himself that he wouldn't take a second-chance-mate because his mate was out there somewhere, and here she was. He was so happy that he rushed to her and hugged the living moonlight out of her, making her gasp in shock from the heat that was binding them. 

Tatiana had never expected that he would be a wolf in this life. She had never expected that he would run to her the way he did. She never thought he would want her, but tonight, all her doubts were thrown out the window when he opened his mouth.

"The name is Xander, Alexander Dreykov. Sorry for ambushing you like that. I've been looking for you for so long. I just can't believe you're here," Xander introduced himself as he rambled on. 

His beta, Elijah, looked at the man in shock. 

Alexander Dreykov never rambled or hugged people out of the blues, and certainly, Alexander Dreykov never got excited because of a stranger. Whatever this woman had on him, it had to be one of those cheap elixirs sold at the taverns the humans called bars.

Damn, if that shit worked this fast, then he needed to get himself a bottle. The wars were draining him, and he needed a release, so if the taverns were the solution, then he would visit them someday. 

"Tatiana," said Tatiana, beaming. "Tatiana Belyaeva." 

"That's a nice name, Tatiana… Oh, this is my beta, Elijah Romanov."

Tatiana turned to smile at Elijah, enchanting as always. "Nice to meet you, Elijah."

Xander's beta, however, didn't return the greeting. His frown merely deepened. "Alpha, we need to leave, right now," Elijah said as he began walking away. 

That was when Tatiana knew that he knew. The beta knew she was a vampire. 

It would certainly herald some trouble in the future but Tatiana tried to push the matter for later on. For now, she would relish the fact that Xander had scowled at Elijah, who didn't even care one bit.

"I apologize for my beta. I'll be seeing you soon, Tatiana Belyaeva. Take care, krushka," Xander said with a dramatic bow as he went after his beta. 

Tatiana looked in the direction they had left but couldn't see anything. So they had only stopped by at the party, which explained why she hadn't gotten his scent earlier. He called her krushka, which meant crush in Russian. 

The alpha had a crush on her because she was his mate, but he didn't know she was a vampire. She wondered what he would do with her if he ever found out. Tatiana, however, didn't want to think about anything other than the man he had been looking for centuries. 

She had gone through hell to get to this man, and now, she had found him. She didn't care what the society wanted nor how it worked. All she wanted was him, and if she had to fight the world for him, then she was very ready. 

She had seen people at war, vampires, and werewolves; she had watched them murder each other out of sheer disgust of the existence of the other. Over the years, she had witnessed so many deaths that it no longer fazed her.

Her destiny was really crazy for pairing her with the wolf, not that she would reject him. Xander's reaction earlier was proof that he didn't know who she indeed was, and she hoped it would stay that way, but for some reason, she was sure that beta knew something. 

Did the beta realize she was a vampire, or was her brain just working overtime? 

Tatiana didn't know, and frankly, she was too happy to care. So excitedly, she went back to the party that she was once bored to death. She was celebrating, and Zhuri could tell the instant change in attitude from her best friend. 

"What got you this excited?" asked Zhuri, which made Tatiana's eyes sparkle. She launched into the tale, and all the while, that smile never left her face.

She had found what she was looking for. After so many years, the Belyaeva woman was finally happy, and she couldn't have wished for a more fabulous night.

*****

As the alpha strutted after his beta, he was happy. He had met his mate after so many years. Finally, he could take a break from everything and focus on the person made for him. He, however, wondered why his beta had been so cold to her. 

He must have known the attraction between the woman and him, so it had to be obvious who she was to him. He had disrespected the future Luna, and Xander would definitely want an explanation.

"Why the attitude?" Xander asked.

"She's a vampire, Xander. That woman is a vampire," Elijah said to his best friend, who just looked at him like he had grown a new head. Xander was the best werewolf tracker, so he should have known if the woman was a vampire. 

Vampires disgusted him, but that woman didn't seem to trigger any reaction from Xander. So he refused to believe that his best friend had sensed that the woman was a vampire. 

"Don't tell me you forgot about—"

Hearing Elijah's words, Xander merely scoffed, cutting him off.

"I'm too happy, please don't spoil my mood, Brother," Xander said as he dragged his best friend into the dark and back home to the wolves.

*****************

CHAPTER 003: THE BETA'S SENTENCE

Three agonizing hours later, Tatiana decided she had had enough of the party. There was no point in her staying at the party and pretending like her mind was elsewhere. She wanted to go home to her safe space. 

She wanted to be alone and think over what had happened today. 

She needed to know how she would present herself to her mate before the war escalated. The vampires and werewolves had been at war for so long, and word had it that Alexander Dreykov hated vampires more than he hated betrayal. 

He had his reasons, though, and yet the fates paired him with a vampire, one he didn't even know of yet. 

Bidding Zhuri and her 'friends' goodbye, Tatiana turned to leave. 

"Do you need a ride back?" Zhuri asked, causing Tatiana to halt in her steps.

The latter cast her best friend a quick smile before shaking her head. She answered, "No, it's fine. I need some time to think."

"Just…" Zhuri hesitated, looking around before continuing, softer this time, "Just be careful, okay? I know you're happy, but he is still—"

"I know, Zhuri," Tatiana cut in, not allowing Zhuri to finish speaking. "I'll text you when I get back."

With that said, the vampiress left.

Left alone on the way home, she indeed had too many things to think about. Tatiana leaned her head against the window of the taxi she had hired, watching as the skies went from clear and starry to a darkened noir, the moon hidden. Not long after, rain rolled down the glass, the droplets racing one another.

She looked to the sky where the moon had been, chewing on her bottom lip. 

Maybe the moon goddess paired them for a reason, but what reason could there be? 

Despite the questions she might've had for the stars, she was met with no reply. But it was alright. She had made it this far, after all.

She would be okay.

Tatiana arrived home much sooner than she had realized, at 53rd Wolf street, the house she had made for herself. She paused at the open gates after paying the driver, not even worried that someone may have broken in. She had broken the locks herself. 

Beyond the gates of 53rd Wolf Street stood a three-story mansion so enormous that anyone who hadn't lived there for years would have a hard time navigating. It was like a wonderland on its own, charming everyone who walked outside the gates by its ethereal beauty. 

The gates were never closed because the owner didn't have anything to hold on to anymore. She had nothing to protect; after all, it was just a house. Anyone who wanted to come and have a look was always welcome. 

The house was a beauty, and leaving it open for people to come and do whatever they wanted should have been a mistake, especially in a world where people were greedy for antiques and hunters were yearning for vampire scores. 

On regular nights, it was quiet and simply dead. There were never lights on at any point in the night. Almost like a haunted house, the mansion spent all the days and nights in darkness, and the owner loved it that way. 

Tatiana was an ancient vampire and had seen more than she could ever care about. She knew there were vampire hunters around, but she didn't care about that. If they wanted her dead, they could try it, but she was immortal. 

They would fail and miserably, but that didn't mean she wasn't worried about someone finding a way to hurt the bastard. If the bastard died, then even she would die too. Well, technically, she was already dead, but she would just make it real this time.

The fact that she lived on Wolf Street despite knowing so well that the wolves hated the vampires meant that she couldn't care less about the consequences. She wanted him, and if she couldn't have him, then at least she would die by his hands.

That was fair. 

Getting home should have been something to be proud of, especially in times like these, but Tatiana wanted to see Xander. Now that she knew who he was, she could easily find out where the packhouse was and how to get there. However, who was to say that the wolves of his pack would be as welcoming of her?

She might have been in love with the man for a whole millennium, but if she were attacked, she would defend herself. Her heart hurt, her brain was fired up, and she was just trying to make it all make sense. 

Furthermore, there was a chance that Elijah had already told Xander that she was a vampire and they could be planning to attack her even right now. 

Just the thought of that sent Tatiana's blood boiling. If that Beta did anything to stand in the way of her and the man she had loved for centuries, she would make sure he wouldn't live to see the next sunrise.

Tatiana grabbed the coat that she had shrugged off when she entered her house. She hadn't been home for even five minutes but she was prepared to leave already. There were too many things to do and finding out whether that Beta would be a nuisance, was one of them. If he was, he would have to be erased from the equation.

Unfortunately, she was stopped before she could make it out the open gates.

"Oi, Tatiana, where in God's good name are you going? You just got back!" a voice interrupted her, causing her to stop in her tracks. The person who spoke reached out, grabbing Tatiana's arm so that she couldn't budge.

Tatiana didn't need a genius to tell her that it was her best friend, Zhuri. Damn, that girl always showed up at the most opportune times.

"I need to kill that Beta. I know he knows I'm a vampire, Zhuri; he will screw me over. I didn't wait for a whole millennium just to have my plan botched by a useless wolf. Let me go," she said as she tried wiggling her way out of her best friend's arms. 

"While that really sounds appealing to me, are you sure you've thought this through?" Zhuri questioned, her grip tightening. "Alexander Volkov just met you, Tati. What makes you think that he will stand on your side instead of his second-in-command? Besides, are you in love with him? Or just the idea of him?"

"Dreykov."

"What?" Zhuri replied dumbly, taken aback.

"Dreykov." Tatiana clarified, "He goes by Alexander Dreykov in this life."

"Oh my cursed life… you will have to explain more later, but right now, haven't you realized that your vampire scent is coming back up? You need to stop this madness and go with me." 

Tatiana's nose wrinkled and she sniffed the air, suddenly paranoid after Zhuri had pointed out her scent. And she was right. The mask had worn off.

"We will figure this out bit by bit, but you need to be alive for that to happen," Zhuri said to Tatiana, who was hopelessly looking at her best friend. 

Deep down, she knew that Zhuri was right. If she jumped into the pot right now, she wouldn't survive to see him again. She had to think. 

"But he—"

"Patience, Tati," Zhuri cooed. "All in good time. You know it yourself," she reminded, "you've waited for centuries. What's another night more?"

In the end, Tatiana relented, allowing herself to get pulled back into the mansion by Zhuri.

Maybe having a best friend was not bad after all.