She-Alpha

Chapter two

We enter the packhouse, hand in hand, with a Beta walking after us as if he were a bodyguard.

I can feel eyes turn to look at us. And it goes in an order similar to this: faces, locked hands and then necks. Immediately, everyone checks to see if we marked each other because that'd be the only true indication of whether or not we were actually mates.

I could see my parents standing next to each other from afar with my brother, all seem to be occupied with another one of the guests.

"They're busy." He announces the obvious.

"I can tell. That's fine, though. We'll just go stand near."

When my mom catches sight of me, she smiles at my dress before her eyes reach our interlocked hands and for a second, she's confused but the next second, she's beaming with happiness. And due to the bond between her and my dad, he immediately realises and turns to look at her. My brother is the only one talking to the guest, now.

My dad and mom both approach us before Ares removes his hand from mine so he could shake my dad's hand into a hug and gives him a little pat on the back.

"Ares, son, how've you been doing?" My dad starts initiating small talk, and my mom is looking at me with an expression I cannot fathom.

Is he your mate? She asks in my mind, and I smile at her, giving a small nod. Only her enthusiasm could make me feel like a teenage girl inside.

Once I confirm it to her, my father pauses in his conversation with Ares for a second, turning to look at her, then at me and then back at Ares. It's obvious he read her mind because there's no way my father would leave a conversation in the middle to do such a thing.

My brother approaches, shaking Ares's hand and greeting him. Ares greets him back, not knowing that my parents know.

"Congrats, Ivor. Can't wait for our Alpha meetings in the future." Ares says, giving him a good pat in the back and my brother is happy. He's staring at Ares with a completely different expression than my father was looking at him a minute ago. Ivor was looking at him as if Ares was the person he hoped to become.

I'm confused at this. As all of them seem to know who Ares is. All of them but me.

"So, Ares," my dad interrupts the wholesome moment between my brother and my mate. "I haven't seen you or Aionar for most of the ceremony I was beginning to think you weren't going to come."

"Of course not, I wouldn't miss Ivor's ceremony for any reason." Ares jokes, giving Ivor a pat on his shoulder before he turns to my parents.

"Actually, Zen, I've been meaning to introduce you..." Ares turns around to me where I've been standing in silence for the entire exchange, "to my mate."

My dad fakes a disbelieved expression and my smile grows even bigger at his acting. "What?! You're Ivy's mate?"

Ares and I nod at the same time.

My mom reaches out for my hand, squeezing it. I know she's the only one who truly feels happy for me. She'd always tell me about classic stories of mates meeting each other, and she would recite her first meeting with dad every time Ivor and I would be sent to bed. It was super cute hearing her fantasize over such a thing I'm now getting to experience.

"Wait what?!" Ivor says in disbelief, looking at my neck immediately before giving me a weird look.

"Finally, we can celebrate Ivy for this outstanding piece of news." My dad jokes with Ares, and Ares laughs with him oblivious. He didn't understand the immediate offense my father lays down on me. They keep joking and laughing.