"Remington Greyson... Will you do me the honour and marry me?" The new Alpha of the Locke pack kneels in front of me with a velvet case containing the proposal to any girl's utter and complete beatitude.
But not mine.
My parents - fond of the idea of joining two rather powerful packs - made sure I met someone that I could potentially be mated to. Apparently it doesn't take much to allocate my fate since only three weeks after meeting the guy, I'm already being asked to marry him.
He's an attractive Alpha who just got passed down his title by his father after turning eighteen. So far he's proven to be nothing but congenial, yet my heart tells me no. He is not my mate; I do not belong in his arms and I am not to be claimed or mated to him.
Surprise is most definitely an understatement of what I am feeling at this moment. He awaits my response, all of our parents watching us in awe and absolute delight... Expectation I am not willing to fulfill.
I couldn't possibly marry him, knowing that my true mate is out there somewhere. Someone I am made for; someone perfect for me.
I want to experience the love and bond that having a mate brings you. It's what every wolf deserves, not an arranged marriage.
I glance awkwardly from Nate, to the ring, to both of my parents and his father.
"I- I can't." I stutter, trying to find an answer for the question I didn't at all expect. I hear a gasp coming from my mother's slightly rouge lips as her palm touches them.
Nathan's face doesn't show much negative emotion. In fact he looks rather dismissive, almost happy with my answer.
"This is not what we agreed on." Snaps his father suddenly, making me jump ever so slightly.
This is when my dad interferes. "You heard my daughter, Nick. You can't force her into this."
"We shall see." He gives me an evil, sadistic glance before walking off, heavy footed in the opposite direction. My father on the other hand follows my distressed mother into another room, trying to calm her down.
Nate stays behind and I take that opportunity to whisper the words 'I'm sorry' to him. He grins at me - a geniuine, friendly expression as he takes a step closer to me.
"Don't get this the wrong way but I'm kind of glad you rejected my offer." He says. It hurts me a little because of how he said it but then he continues. "I actually found my mate."
My lips curve into a smile without me iniciating it. "I'm so happy for you. Who is she?" I further investigate.
"She's at a medium rank in the North pack." He explains briefly. "I'm lucky that I get to see her, it wouldn't be so easy if she was from the Anderson pack for example."
His mention of the pack everyone avoided like fire washes slight fear over me. It was also a very strong pack but one you did not want to belong to or definitely not get into conflict with. The Alpha's solution to every single problem was a simple break of the neck if you were lucky enough.
Or so I've heard.
Alpha Daniel is the hot gossip, his identity being a mystery to most, drawing attention and curiosity to his awfully intimidating and valued reputation.
My parents have told me about him too many times for me to ever go near the Anderson pack, even outside it's borders. I don't know if everything I've been told about him is true - I doubted many accusations - but it was enough of a deterrent for me to now be scarred for life.
His presence always intrigued me in defiance of the fact I've never even stood in the perimeter of one hundred miles away from him. It's the things I was forbidden to find out that I wanted to know. I always disposed of the thoughts quickly though; he was a psychopath.
Thankfully, I will not be bumbing into him anytime soon. My mum especially is always cautious of me, warning me about people like him every single day and not letting me out after sunset.
"That is quite lucky." I agree with him, meeting his gaze again. "You just turned eighteen today, took the Alpha role. You'll be visiting all the Alphas during meetings from time to time." I notice.
"Yeah." He nods. "It won't be that often though, there's only around two meetings a year." He explains, my mind lurking on Daniel Anderson and how he'll possibly get a chance to meet him.
"Well I'm sure she is beautiful and will make you very happy."
Nate dazes into the distance and I can see he is thinking about her, imagining her, craving her.
An unexpected wave of sadness sweeps through me. "What would have happened with her if I accepted your proposal?" I ask, curious.
He looks down, deeply affected by the thought that crossed his mind. "I would have to reject her."
Even though I didn't say yes, I still felt terrible. I felt like a despicable creature, knowing I could have ruined someone's life like that. But I didn't so I try to brush the oppressive thoughts out of my mind. I couldn't imagine what that girl could have felt if Nate had to do that, the agony she would be put through.
"How does it feel?" I ask, catching his attention. "To have a mate..." I add after seeing his confused expression as he exits his trance of bliss.
"Incredible. I can only wish that for you soon." He smiles at me, giving my hand a gentle and reassuring squeeze. "I have to go, my father will not be happy if I stay here any longer." He excuses himself. I nod understanding, bid my goodbyes and watch him exit my house.
I breathe in heavily, mentally preparing myself to face my disappointed parents as I begin to walk to the living room which I assumed they were in. They both meet my eyes as soon as I enter, making me feel uncomfortable.
"Why? I thought you two were such a good match." Croaks out my mum, her young face shining from the tears that covered her pale cheeks that reflected the light from the chandelier above her. She was always mistaken for my sister because of the age she looked and her brown hair that was the exact shade of my own. Her eyes I also inherited, a dark hazel colour.
"Mum," I begin softly, walking up to her. "I want to find my mate and be happy. Nathan is not him. He will never be him."
"Remi, we only wanted the best for you." My dad joins in, not taking any sides at the moment but I knew that when it came to it, he would not be on mine. "But maybe we should let you decide what really is..." He trails off, his further statement I could agree with.
"But our pack... You know you're our only child. We need you to take over the pack one day and be a strong leader." My mother expresses her strong hopes for me. She was the Luna of our pack; obviously she thought about what would be best for it. It's what she had to do, her job. I can see why she is upset but what's surprising is that she's taking the news worse than my father is.
"What about my happiness?" I argue my case, making my question sound more like a verbal attack which was not intended; I was just irritated and was struggling to contain my emotions.
"We respect that but-"
"No you don't, not right now anyway." I cut her off, angrily.
"Rem-"
"Don't 'Rem' me." I sass, frowning at them. "Nathan has found his mate, I will not get in the way of that so don't make me." And with that I leave the house, slamming the front door shut loudly.
The temperature outside is crisp, swirls of white leaving my lips every time I breathe out. I wrap my arms around myself tightly, wishing I took a coat to throw over my dress just before I left my house.
Being stubborn, I refuse to come back home so early because of the cold after the intense conversation with my parents, even though my body is shivering. I begin to wonder, however, if those shudders are because of the biting, piercing climate or the unpleasant, eerie feeling that someone is watching me in this maze of darkness. Either way, I liked the sound of neither of these options.
I look up at the only source of light out here; the lamp post is flickering like out of a horror movie. I swallow hard but continue my walk. After a few more moments, I decide I've cooled down and should be returning home very soon. It was getting quite late at night and my parents are already probably eagerly biting at their fingernails in fear of what murderer may kidnap me during this beautiful evening.
There's nothing to worry about; our local area is usually peaceful.
Or so I thought until a warm, masculine and male hand covers my mouth. My eyes widen as I try screaming but my voice doesn't project into the open very far because of the force against my lips.
This person is going to smudge my lipstick, I curse under my breath, not being able to find a way to free myself from him and slowly beginning to accept my fate of being abducted.
I can smell some kind of chemical that I assume he's trying to drug me with.
I struggle against the muscular arm, kicking around and digging my nails into him.
"Already clawing at me? I thought we could wait with that until you're in my bed."
I hear his amused voice - his breath fanning my neck - yet some aspect of it calmed my inner wolf despite the undeniable threat that it contained. Tears were forming in my eyes, blurring my vision until I escape into complete darkness and feel myself go numb.
♡ ♡ ♡
Hey everyone! Thank you soo sooo much for reading this chapter! I'm really grateful that you spent some of your time reading my work.
I really hope you've enjoyed this first chapter where the plot is only just about to begin.
Tell me what you think of Daniel so far! Do you think bad of him or the opposite? (Even though you haven't even properly met him yet but we all know the mysterious stranger behind this is bae)
I would love to hear your thoughts! Please vote and comment, I love reading them so much.
*This chapter was published a little early because I was too excited to start writing this book.*
Until next Saturday,
-A ♡