Fire & Rain

Alpha

*Althea POV*

*After a week*

The full preparation of the Alpha ceremony has been going on for a week now, as Luna said she preferred to hand over the responsibilities to the future Alpha as soon as possible so that she could retire now. She insisted on doing it like Alpha Bryan had always liked it to be so that was why it took a week of preparation and there I could feel Blaze getting nervous as days went by.

As for Blaze, we are still not on good terms, like I was there for him as his mate because we werewolves. We have the power to balance out our mate's emotions, whether it be anger, sadness, or even happiness. And I knew that Blaze was still grieving for his dad, and so was I. So, that was why whenever we were alone in the room, we would sometimes talk about Dad, the pack, or family but never about us. At night, I waited for Blaze to be in deep sleep so that I could move to another room to sleep because I still couldn't forget about that night when he was almost about to rape me. His closeness suffocated me as well as provided me with a sense of peace, if that made any sense. It was confusing because I was also confused. I wanted to be with him so badly because I loved him, but I knew that it was not the same on his side. That was why it was better that I would continue to keep my distance from him. 

I needed to get ready for the ceremony but I did not know what to wear. I was still looking at my wide-open closet in front of me when Blaze came into the room. He immediately stopped when he saw me sitting cross-legged on the bed.

"What happened? Is everything okay?" he asked, concerned.

"Uhmm, yeah, I'm just figuring out what I should wear for the ceremony!" I muttered, and he sighed, relieved, and sat beside me on the bed.

"Can I help you?" he asked and I looked at him, stunned.

"Why?" I blurted it out even before I had time to stop myself.

"Because I want to," he replied, looking at me intensely. As his scent was slowly clouding my mind and by the closeness we were, I was sure that if I didn't react any sooner, I would definitely kiss him. I was going crazy by his scent. I cleared my throat and nodded my head. He immediately gave me a small smile and went towards the closet. I let out a deep breath but he stood up and went in the other direction.

'What the hell is wrong with me?' I wondered when Rayn stated a fact and that left me speechless.

"You are in love with him, Thea!"

"No, I'm not. I still have not forgotten that night, Rayn. Stop stating nonsense." I defended myself but Rayn chuckled.

"He's our mate, Thea. Whatever he might have done, we would always be able to forgive him because we need them." She replied and I stayed quiet. I knew she was right but I also knew that Blaze loved someone else. And after today, he wouldn't need us anymore because he would choose Amelia to marry now. This thought pained me so much that tears had already started to fall from my eyes. I quickly moved to the bathroom so that Blaze wouldn't see me crying. I locked the door behind me, opened the shower tap, and just cried my heart out. After my shower, I came out of the bathroom and saw a white flowy dress lying down on the bed. I immediately knew that it was Blaze who selected that so I took it and went to put it on. When I came back, I saw Blaze all dressed up in a white dress-up shirt and pant, as it was the custom to wear white for the Alpha ceremony but I didn't expect him to choose white for me too. He was looking so handsome and I could feel his eyes on me too. 

"You're looking beautiful!" Blaze said huskily and I blushed, muttering a thank you.

"We need to go together. Are you ready?" He asked and I nodded my head. He made his way towards me but before he took my hand, he said

"Althea, we need to have a serious talk tonight." I looked at him questioningly. When he saw the frown on my face, he said further

"About us!" 

I immediately knew what he wanted to talk about—that he would marry Amelia and that we were going to have to divorce. I gulped down the pain and just gave him a quick nod before he took my hand and we went down. 

'So, tonight is going to be my last night here!' 

We headed downstairs to the backyard, where everyone was already gathered. Blaze walked to his mother in a circle already formed by the pack members, where the handover ceremony would occur.  The priest started reciting some mantras and the pack members had surrounded Blaze and Luna Alaya. The priest then took a sword and cut Luna Alaya's palm and he did the same with Blaze's hand. He then took Blaze's hand and Luna's hand, joining them together. After Luna Alaya had merged her blood with Blaze's blood, the pack wolves howled out loud in acceptance of their new Alpha. After the main ceremony, Luna Alaya kissed Blaze on his forehead as a proud moment for her and Alpha Bryan. She had tears in her eyes as she was trying to hold them back from crying. The priest then asked Blaze if he would want to do the mating ceremony with his mate as well. Blaze looked at me and I panicked. I wasn't sure if I was ready for that. Blaze must have seen my hesitance, to which he replied that he would prefer to do that in private. I let out a sigh but I also felt kind of bad because I knew that there would not be any mating between us. He was going to Amelia tonight and she was going to be the Luna of this pack, not me. All the new relationships and friendships that I made here have come to an end. I would have to leave all of these and go back. 

Blaze was giving some kind of speech to his pack, where he was promising to look after this pack as his father did and for that, he was glad he had his Luna with him now. He locked eyes with me when he said that and I couldn't control my emotions now as tears kept coming out. I tore my eyes from him and just left for some privacy. I went to our room and started to pack my things. The tears kept coming out as the pain kept intensifying. Rayn kept howling in my mind, as she didn't want to leave her mate but I needed to do this for Blaze's happiness. 

I sat down on the bed and all the flashbacks of the moments that Blaze and I spent together as mates kept appearing in my mind and the sadness kept on increasing. The Moon Goddess gave me the power of a healer but despite being a healer who could heal others' wounds, but I wasn't able to heal my own heart.