Mated To A Rival Alpha: C2-3

Chapter 2-3

[Seven Years Ago]

[Incayon Pack, Obren Kingdom]

As they waited for the one who would have her first dance, a girl stepped forward. She was equally as beautiful as the birthday girl, but she didn't come close to the girl of the day's beauty.

Master could sense that the girl was a royal, but that did not concern him. What he wanted to know was what would happen. He could see the stars in the birthday girl's eyes and he felt jealous, to the point that he let out a growl.

Raqeeb had to hold his Master's arm back, to stop him from going into the dance floor and making a fool of himself. Maybe he wouldn't, but that was a gamble that Raqeeb wasn't willing to bet on.

"You look so beautiful, my love. The stars are bright for you tonight. Happy birthday, my sweet Rania," the girl said when she got to the birthday girl, one that they had now learned was called Rania.

"Happiness looks good on you, my beautiful," the woman said and the master let out another low growl. 

At that, Rania turned to where the growl had come from, her entire being alert, like she was trying to look for the threat. However, when her eyes settled on Master's, she just sighed, before she went back to focusing on the woman with her on the dance floor.

"What does that mean?" the master whispered at Raqeeb who had seen the interaction, however brief it had been.

"She doesn't think of you as a threat. All is well," Raqeeb said like that was supposed to make the man feel better. 

Perhaps it did because, for the rest of the evening, the master didn't say anything. Instead, he and Raqeeb went to sit in a corner and watched Rania dance the night away and enjoy themselves.

"Master, I think we should leave too. We already know where she is and if you're impressed with her, we can come for her some other day," Raqeeb said hours later when everyone was slowly dispersing.

"I will be back for her. Not anytime soon though. I still have things to sort, before you can drag her to my palace," Master said.

Raqeeb didn't say anything. 

He understood what the Master meant and he knew that they would come back when the time was right. What mattered was that the master had found what he was looking for and nothing would stop him, not even time.

"Shall we?" Master asked once they were outside and he had created the portal.

"Yes, Master Seto," Raqeeb said, before going through.

However, they had failed to see the beautiful girl in the night, who had been watching them the whole time and had followed them. Or maybe the Master had seen her and figured this wasn't the time.

"So, he has a name, huh? Master Seto… Where have I heard that name before?" Rania asked as the portal disappeared.

"What are you doing out here again?" the girl from before asked, bringing Rania back to her reality.

"Just getting some air. Let's go back in. It's time for me to meet the unmated males and find my mate," Rania said with a prolonged sigh and the girl just smacked her head as if it wasn't that bad.

"You're always pessimistic."

"Just being realistic, Dalrae. Come, let's get this over and done with," Rania said before she walked back into the hall, while her head was filled with the name Seto. She would probably look into the name later.

'Was that the Kaisei Seto?' Rania thought to herself as she went back in.

Would she be okay if she knew that she was right about the man she had just seen?

 *******

The night was beautiful, with the moon shining, and the beautiful sounds that came from the orchestral band in the pack lands. What made it even prettier were the people who had shown up to the annual Incayon mating ball. 

They were here to celebrate their friends and hope their enemies got ugly mates, but then, in a pack where beauty was something worth noting, it was impossible to find an ugly mate.

When she had come back to the ball, after seeing Master Seto disappear, Rania had gone to mingle with people, because she knew she needed to be there, given she was the reason this ball was held here and on her birthday.

She had to get a mate today, and get over it.

She never cared for birthdays; always thought they were a waste of time, however, tonight, something about that changed, when she caught a whiff of her new favorite scent.

She had found the one meant for her, her soulmate and she was so excited and anxious about the whole thing. It was understandable though, considering she had been hoping for this for months since she had gotten her wolf.

"Dalrae! I saw him! I saw him today!"

An overly excited wolf shouted at her best friend who was just watching her, a genuine smile plastered on her face.

"Hey, hey Rania, calm down yeah? Who did you meet that got you this excited?" Dalrae had said to her best friend who looked like she had the whole world in her hands right at that moment.

"Him, Dalrae. I met my mate!" Rania whispered, afraid that if she spoke out loud, she would scare him and he would leave her. They had both heard of werewolves being rejected by their mates, and while it was not right, the alphas had no right to intervene.

Wolves had the right to accept or reject their mates, and the goddess would always give them other mates. After all, the trick was to keep the werewolves functioning. They were her people, so it was understandable.

Rania, in her state, hadn't even thought that it was possible for her to be rejected. So, she rejoiced at the idea of having a mate. She was happy and everyone in the pack could feel it. Anyone could tell that the future alpha had gotten her mate.

Some were happy for her, while others were expectedly envious, but they were not envious of Rania. They were envious of the alpha's possible mate. People wanted Rania for their children, because Rania was the perfect girl.

She was diligent and did everything gracefully, not to mention she had a beautiful heart. Rania was love in every aspect.

"Oh, Rani! That's great news!" Dalrae jumped along with her best friend.

She was truly happy for Rania. She knew how much this night and the new revelation meant to her friend, which was also why she wished for happiness for her.

Her friend deserved to be happy and she would always be there for her no matter what happened in the future. They had promised never to leave each other, even if they had their mates.

"Where is he?" Dalrae asked, curious to see who had made the ever quiet and lethal Rania transform into this carefree bird who only seemed to be thinking about her mate. It was a pretty sight, no doubt, but just like everyone, she wanted to see who was lucky enough to be mated to Kim Rania.

"He's with the warriors. However, let's continue with the celebration, I'll go to him later, I don't want to scare him with my excitement. He may even reject me if he sees how happy I am. Goodness, Dalrae, I feel so happy!"

"Okay, love. We don't want you fainting before you meet your mate, okay. So, relax and act naturally. This is your birthday and we're going to celebrate it like we always do!"

"You're right, I need to act natural! Act natural, yeah," Rania repeated it to herself almost like she didn't want her mate to catch her off guard.

Tonight was her night and she would be happy about it.

She would try and enjoy it to the fullest, but would it be worth enjoying?

A few hours into the long night, Rania excused herself to use the washroom. She hadn't seen Dalrae in a while and had assumed that her best friend was in that direction too. Besides, that is where they always were, considering they were loners.

It was crazy how powerful they were and didn't have people in their circle. However, they couldn't be blamed. Their parents had protected them too much that they literally didn't know how to interact with anyone other than themselves.

Passing through the drunk teens, Rania scowled at their behavior, but didn't worry too much because no one would be hurting anyone anyway. Those who had found their mates were already bonding with each other.

It was expected anyway.

When Rania got to the hallway to the washrooms, she caught a thick whiff of two very familiar scents. One belonged to her best friend and the other belonged to her mate, or rather, the man she had just realized was her mate tonight.

"Oh no," was all Rania could manage when she saw the sight before her. The scent of her mate filling her nose, made her feel a tinge of desire in her undies, but she knew this was not the time for that.

********

[Seven Years Ago]

[Incayon Pack, Obren Kingdom]

When Rania got to the hallway to the washrooms, she caught a thick whiff of two very familiar scents. One belonged to her best friend and the other belonged to her mate, or rather, the man she had just realized was her mate tonight.

"Oh no," was all Rania could manage when she saw the sight before her. The scent of her mate filling her nose, made her feel a tinge of desire in her undies, but she knew this was not the time for that.

She had always wished to do so many things with her mate, but at this point, that was an impossibility. Life was making a fool out of her and doing the worst in its wake, and Kim Rania never had a choice there.

'Dalrae?' Rania asked herself as she walked closer to the couple that seemed to be sucking each other's faces off. 

Rania faltered for a moment there, but she had to keep going. She needed to see for herself if this was what it was. She knew there was just no way her Dalrae would betray her. It was just impossible, but was it?

She hoped that it was a lie, probably because of the dim lighting in the hallway. She contemplated turning on the light, but then what use was that? Rania was an alpha wolf, so there was no way her best friend and her mate didn't realize she was close.

Even with their heightened senses, they continued what they were doing, as the disbelief in Rania just magnified. Of all the people she had expected her betrayal to come from, Dalrae had never even been one of them.

Her best friend had betrayed her? That was unrealistic.

Maybe she was helping him, but helping him do what, when they seemed to be sucking each other's faces off? Unable to stomach the disgust, Rania made a move to walk back to her ball.

She didn't know what she could do at this point anyway. Maybe she could use the washrooms at the main house, that way, she wouldn't have to run into the two of them again.

However, just as she was about to make the first step, she heard Dalrae use their secret code, and in a tone that Dalrae knew Rania would recognize once and for all.

"Listen," Dalrae had said.

It was clear she wasn't talking to the man she was with, but she was talking to Rania. However, why would Dalrae want Rania to listen to them? Surely she wasn't going to be that cruel to her best friend, no?

"What?"

"What?" Rania asked, unsure of whether she was responding to Dalrae's request or she was just thinking out loud at the sight before her. Maybe she was hallucinating, but what if she wasn't? What if this was her new truth?

"Rania! Not another step, my love. See what this stupid bastard is up to!" Dalrae shouted at her best friend who seemed to snap out of her trance. It was then that she realized what was happening.

Dalrae wasn't sucking faces with her mate. She was determined to put an end to the warrior. There was only one possible reason in the world that could have Dalrae going so harshly after her future alpha. 

The warrior had betrayed Rania.

"Fuck."

She wasn't sure whether she wanted to save Dalrae from a murder row, or if she wanted to save her mate from being murdered by her best friend. She was caught at crossroads, but for now, she would turn on the lights.

The moment Rania's fingers hit the switch, and the lights came on, she switched them off instinctively, as if not believing what was happening or rather what had happened to her mate.

"Damn," Rania said. 

She should have intervened earlier, but her broken heart was making everything seem like it didn't matter when all in fact did matter. Whatever this warrior had done, must have not pleased Dalrae, because the woman had knocked this guy senseless. 

Carefully, she flickered the switch on again, this time, ready to see what was happening. From where she was standing, she could finally understand why it seemed like her best friend was sucking faces with her mate.

"A little help here, please?" the warrior said, snapping Rania out of her trance.

Alpha warriors were possessive of their mates, and expectedly, Rania's first instinct should have been to protect her mate, but she didn't rush to save him from Dalrae's fury, no. Rania walked her pace, watching as her mate took punches.

"Are you still asking for her help? Oh, the audacity you got!" Dalrae said to the warrior as she landed another punch at Rania's mate. 

Looking at Rania's heartbroken face, Dalrae whimpered for the first time in the night. She wanted to hug her friend, but she was covered in the warrior's blood. She made a mental note to hug Rania after she was done with her bastard mate. 

Rania looked at the spectacle before her, her hopes shattering before her with every punch that Dalrae landed on her mate. She had only ever wished for someone to call hers, just like every wolf her age, but she never got the chance.

Somehow, happiness had taken a liking to evade her. It was almost as if she was cursed to be alone, but was she, when her beta was always hovering around her?

"Y'know, he knew he was your mate. He decided to get it on with that stupid omega bimbo. Of all the creatures he could have gone to, he just had to choose the mannerless one. Also, Rani, since you're alpha and all, maybe you can command him to not heal, right?"

A pissed Dalrae was dangerous, but a pissed Rania was lethal to life.

"Why?" Rania finally managed out and Dalrae and the warrior looked at her.

"He slept with someone else even after knowing he was your mate—"

"You're way too powerful for a warrior like me. I don't want a girl who can't be controlled, I want a submissive and ain't no submissive alpha, so yeah—" the warrior said, but he was instantly shut by Dalrae's fists on his abdomen.

"See, I just need permission—" Dalrae said angrily. She couldn't believe that this wolf still had the audacity to talk to Rania like that. Dalrae may have been fifteen, but she could handle herself pretty well.

"No, I'll deal with him," Rania said to Dalrae who looked worriedly at Rania. She knew the woman had a terrible temper, worse than hers. So, if Rania was going to handle this alone, she could as well get the coffin maker a call to give him the order.

"On your birthday?" Dalrae asked skeptically. She knew this wasn't about to be the fairy Christmas, instead, it was about to be Halloween.

"Yes, Dalrae. Don't worry, we won't be calling the coffin maker today," Rania said.

"What's your name?"

"Reece, and I reject you, alpha Rania," the warrior said and it took everything in Dalrae to hold back.

This warrior was cruel, too cruel. He hadn't even known Rania and he was already rejecting her. What the fuck was the society coming to? Was it now wrong for a woman to be strong and want to be loved? Goodness!

"I accept your rejection—" Rania said, having been tired from all the emotional turmoil she had had to deal with in the past few minutes. 

She hadn't expected that she would lose her mate on the very day she found him. Maybe she was meant to be alone, truly, because why else would someone reject her without even trying to know her? What could be reason enough?

"What?" Both Dalrae and Reece spoke at the same time, before Dalrae smashed the warrior's head on the wall, rendering him unconscious. He would need that anyway, for ruining a night they had been hoping for several months. How could he be so heartless? 

Dalrae wanted to punch him a little more, but Rania knew she wouldn't be ruining anyone's night either. So, she dragged her best friend back to the party, to enjoy whatever was left of the night. 

Her heart was broken, but she could deal with that at a later time, besides, she had her wolf already.

"Let's go for a run, Dalrae," Rania said to Dalrae who instantly agreed.