After I left Seleste, I just drove around for hours. I parked and went to my quiet spot in the woods, but it did not have the same calming effect it usually had. I can’t explain it, but ever since I rejected Seleste in this spot, it feels depressing to be here. The moon used to shine the brightest in this spot, but the moonlight has become dull here. I came here for peace, but peace did not find me here. There is so much going on in my head. Convel is mad at me. I snapped at Shana for no real reason. All because she tried to stick up for Seleste. My friends are avoiding me. I don’t know how it got to this point. This is all Seleste’s fault. Why did the moon goddess pair me with her? Why couldn’t she be different? Things would be like this if she was the type of mate that I needed. Then I would not have rejected her. My friends wouldn’t be mad at me and we would all be happy.
“Trevor, this is messed up thinking, even for you,” Convel says. “How can you blame mate for you letting your pride lead you down the dark road you choose to travel down This was all you?”
“But she caused it by being petty when we fought. I know she is jealous that I will be alpha and she will still be a Gamma. I can tell that she wants to control things. Remember, she tried to tell me how I could be better. That is not her job or place. She is not better than me.”
“Dumb dumb, that is absolutely her job as a trainer to instruct and help us improve. Did you learn nothing about the leadership of packs? Every position has a specific role to play.”
“I don’t care what role she has, no one gets to tell an alpha what to do.”
“Trevor, you do realize that our mate could be an alpha in her own right. She has the power and authority in her blood. She doesn’t need you for that.”
“She will never be alpha of my pack. I knew she was trying to undermine me. I need to get rid of her before she tried to take my pack from me.”
“Really Trevor, I can’t believe you really believe that about our mate. It’s almost sad. You need to go back and do the research of our pack and the connection between the founding families of our pack. Our mate’s forefather was a founding member of this pact.”
“So Convel, you think since her family was a founding member of this pack, she has the right to challenge my authority or undermine me? I am the rightful alpha of this pack. Not her. She has to go and I’m going to get rid of her tonight. She will not be my Gamma. If she stays in this pack, she will be just another wolf, nothing special.”
“First, our mate could never be just another wolf in any pack. Second, I can’t believe that you can be so caught up in your own ass that you purposefully miss the point of our entire conversation. There is no reasoning with you, so once again, I am done talking to you until it's time for me to leave.”
Of Course, that mutt blocked me again. Why does Convel keep talking about leaving me? He is so dramatic. He’s not going anywhere. We are joined for life. Now that Convel has stopped talking to me again, I can focus on getting rid of Seleste. Since I already rejected her, it should not be hard. I just have to make her want to leave. Once she is gone, the guys will start looking up to me again instead of always talking about how great she is. It seems like everyone likes her more than they like me. They all think she is so great. How can I lead my pack if everyone looks to her for everything? I am the leader of this pack, and it’s my job as the leader to eliminate every threat. The first thing I will do is strip her of the Gamma position, then I will take away her training position. I can use my new mate as an excuse to get rid of Seleste. Since Shana now knows that Seleste is my fated mate, I can convince her that Seleste is a threat to her safety. I just have to convince the rest of the pack. I know, I can tell them, that Seleste has always had a crush on me. Everyone in the pack always thought we would be mates because of how close we used to be, so it should not be hard to convince them. Once I establish that she had feelings for me, I can convince them she would not be the right person to be in charge of keeping me and my mate safe since she is jealous of Shana being my mate. When I openly flaunt Shana in front of her, it should trigger her wolf, which will help me convince my dad that Seleste needs to leave our pack. I think I have the perfect plan.
After a couple of hours, I left this spot and went back to the packhouse. My parents were eating breakfast when I walked into the house.
“Looks like you had a long night.” My mother says with a smirk. My dad just looked at me and kept eating.
“He’s an alpha male. I knew he would not hold out long. No alpha can stay away from his mate long after he accepts the bond. I’m just surprised he made it home at all. I’m guessing you are tired. Go get some rest, son. We have a long night tonight.” My dad says.
I don’t bother correcting my parents. It is better if they assume I was mating with my mate. It’s a good thing I did not fully walk into the kitchen with them or I would have had to explain why I had been out all night but did not smell like my mate. I rum up to my room and quickly got in the shower. After the shower, I did what my parents said and got into my bed. I am feeling exhausted and emotionally drained. It’s a good thing is no training scheduled for today because of the preparations for the big party tonight. I just don’t have the energy for it, anyway. I’ll just nap for a couple of hours, then get up and catch up with the guys.
My mom just woke me up. I slept for most of the day. Now there are only a couple of hours before the party gets started. I check my phone. I’m surprised that the guys have not tried to call me today. It’s Ben’s birthday. We usually hang out on each other’s birthdays. I thought we would have done lunch together or something. Maybe I should call him and see what he is doing.
“Hi, Ben, happy birthday. Tell Rose I said happy birthday as well.” I say when he answers the phone.
“Thanks, man. Can you believe I’m 18 now?” Ben says excitedly.
“So have you discovered your mate yet?”
“Actually, I have and it was amazing. It is the best feeling in the world. I cannot describe how happy I am and how much in love I am in such a short time. There is nothing better than being with my mate. She is the most beautiful female in the world.”
He talked for a couple of minutes about how wonderful his mate is and how glad he is that the moon goddess gave him the perfect mate.
“Congratulations man. So how did you discover her and who is it? Is it someone from our pack?”
“Sorry Trev, I thought you knew. It's all over the pack. Well, our group of nine met up for breakfast this morning at the dinner. You know it's Seleste’s birthday as well.” He says hesitantly.
I cringed a little when he said her name. I don’t know why I know Seleste is not his mate.
“Yes, the three of you.”
“So I walked into the dinner. Seleste, Mona, and my twin were already there. I smelled the most amazing smell I have ever smelled before. It was like chocolate-covered strawberries. I was on autopilot. I get to the table and the smell was coming from Mona. The moment she looked up at me was magical. Although her birthday is not until tomorrow, her wolf recognized mine as her mate. I immediately grabbed her up in a hug and man the sparks I felt from hugging my mate were awesome. Nothing compares to being with my mate. I can’t wait until we can have our mating ceremony so we can fully mate and mark each other.” Ben goes on and on about how great it feels to touch and hold his mate. I never got close enough to Seleste to touch her, so I don’t know what that feels like. I’ll admit that I’m a little jealous that I will not get to experience that. Even after I mark Shana, we will never have that connection. I will never feel the sparks like that.
“Ben, I am so happy for you and Mona. You guys are perfect together. I’m sorry that I missed the birthday breakfast with you guys, but it probably was for the best since it was also Seleste’s birthday. I would have felt awful pushing her out of her on birthday breakfast just to hang with you on your birthday.”
“Pushing her out? Why would that even be an issue? It’s not like you guys are never with us as a group. Anyway. It was a perfect morning. Anyway, Mona is going to help Seleste get ready for the party tonight and I’m going to hang out with them while they are getting ready. Honestly, it is so hard being away from her for more than a few minutes, so I’ll even play dress-up with them just to get some extra time in.” Ben says.
“I didn’t realize it was like that between mates. I don’t feel the urge to be around Shana all the time. I’m happy seeing her for a couple of hours a day.”
“Not bring up a sore subject, but Shana is not your mate, so there is no genuine bond there. If you had not rejected your true mate, you would understand how I feel. Honestly, I’m really sad for you, that you will never experience what it's like to be with your true mate. I wish you would reconsider and give your mate a chance. The moon goddess knows what she is doing. She made you just for each other.”
“Don’t start Ben. I have already rejected her, and she already accepted. It's only a matter of time before I mate and mark Shana. I will be just as happy with her as you are with your mate.” I say.
“Sorry to tell you this, but the bond that you will have with your chosen mate is only a fraction of what you would feel with your fated mate. There is no comparison. Don’t worry, I will not lecture you. I know you think you know what you are doing. You already know that I don’t agree with you, so I will leave it alone. I will see you at the party tonight. It’s my and my twin’s birthday and we plan to have a good time.”
“Okay Ben, I will see you tonight,” I say, ending the call. I can tell that he is eager to get with his mate. I really am happy for him. I wonder if anyone else in our group will end up being mates. That would be awesome. That means that we could all remain together as a tight group. Everyone except Seleste, that is. It is still my plan to get rid of Seleste out of our pack. It should be easy to convince everyone that Mona would be perfect for the gamma role since she will already be the beta female. I think I will suggest that Talia take Seleste’s place as the pack trainer. I think I have the best plan. Things are definitely looking up for me and my pack. I will have no one to challenge my authority.
I want to meet with my father about the announcement at the party. I can’t tell him my full plan. He will not be happy about my replacing Seleste as my Gamma. I can’t wait to see her face when I announce her cousin as my gamma instead of her and appoint Talia as a trainer.
I link my dad to see if he has a few minutes to meet with me about the party tonight. He says he can meet with me right now, so I get up, get dressed and run downstairs to my dad’s office, which will be my office soon. As I get to the bottom of the stairs, I realize I must have been more tired than I thought after staying up all night. Running down the stairs took a lot out of me. That’s a little strange considering how good a shape I’m in, but I’ve been a little off since I rejected Seleste, and I have not slept in two days. After tonight, I’ll be able to rest and relax. All of my trouble will be over. I’ll be able to push Seleste out of the pack, with no one knowing that she was my fated mate.
“I have told you that things will not go how you think, but you won’t listen,” Convel says while yarning. “I’m too tired to deal with you right now. I’m going back in my dark corner and wish for the day I no longer have to deal with you. I heard your thoughts about our mate. I will never forgive you for hurting her like you are planning. You will deserve every bad thing that’s going to happen to you. You couldn’t even wait and let her celebrate her birthday in peace.” Convel cuts the link before I can reply. I don’t care that it is her birthday. I need to get my pack in order. My pack will be the strongest with me as the alpha.
There will be no one to take the limelight from me. I will be the strongest wolf in the pack and everyone will respect me the most, not some female gamma.
I get to my future office door and knock to let my dad know I was here. He asks me to come on in.
“Hi, son. How was your nap? Looks like you slept the day away. You must have had some night.”
“Dad, I will not have that conversation with you. That is just not going to happen.”
“Oh, loosen up, son. We are both mated. I know alpha wolves are more possessive and attracted to their mates than other wolves. It is rare for mated alpha wolves to be away from their mates for any length of time, at least until after they mark them. So I wouldn’t be surprised if you move Shana into the packhouse sooner than later.”
“We haven’t talked about her moving in yet. Everything is so new for us.”
“Remember son, as an alpha, we feel things a lot stronger than others. I’m not telling you to rush. I just want you to be aware of how things work for us with our mates. The bond between an alpha and their mate is the strongest bond there is. They are in sync in every way. Even our heartbeats regulate to beat as one. Well, I know you didn’t ask to meet me to talk about mates, so what’s up?’
“Well dad, I just wanted to talk about officially announcing Shana as my mate and future Luna tonight at the end of the party since everyone from the pack will be in attendance. I would also like to announce my Beta and Gamma tonight as well.” I say, holding my breath. I don’t think there is any reason my dad should object to my request since we know he is going to hand the alphaship to me as soon as we have the mating ceremony.
“That sounds like a good idea. I will also announce that you will take over as alpha after your mating ceremony. Next Saturday is a full moon, we should have your ceremony then. It will be a good time for the pack. I think several of your friends have found their mates as well, so we can host the ceremony for all of you.”
“Thanks, dad, that will be great. Also, I wanted to see where you and mom were with planning the mate ball? I still want to have it. We still have a lot of wolves who have not found their mates, plus it will give me the opportunity to meet and build alliances with other alphas.”
“Your mother has it set for 3 months from now. That will give us the chance to send out all the invitations and prepare the pack and the town for all the extra guests we will have. I will get with Seleste and the Elite 12 to go over security.”
“Ok, dad. Well, I’m going to go relax and get ready for the party. I will see you and mom there.”
“See you later, son.”
I took everything in me not to cringe when my father said he would get with Seleste about the security. Why does everyone turn to her for everything? My own father included. He is the alpha. Why does he need to consult with Seleste? When I become alpha, things will change. For one, Seleste will not be taking a lead role in my pack. No one will have that kind of power in my pack but me.
I spend the next hour thinking about how nice it’s going to be after tonight. All my stress will be done. I pick Shana up early so we can arrive at the party together. We stop for cocktails first so that I can talk to her and let her know what my plan for tonight is. She agrees that it may be difficult for my mate to see me with another she-wolf. She is worried about being attacked by my mate if we push things too far. O don’t believe Seleste will attack her. The one thing good I can say about Seleste is that she is a champion for the wolves in the pack. She would never purposely hurt someone weaker than her. She will leave before she hurts Shana. That’s what I’m counting on. I guess there was some benefit in the years I spent as her friend; I know how she thinks. She teaches the warriors to study their opponent, and I have studied her. I assure Shana that she will be perfectly safe. My goal is to force Seleste out of the pack, not cause harm to anyone. Shana does not understand why I am pushing things this far since I have already rejected Seleste and chose another mate. She said she does not see the point in going this extra mile. She seems to think that my being with her is punishment or payback enough for Seleste. Good thing I’m not with her for her thinking. She does not understand how I feel or how badly Seleste hurt me. I simply just don’t want her around me, reminding me she could challenge me for my title and win. I will not live with that over my head and the moon goddess thought I would mate with someone who could be a threat to my rightful title as alpha. After a couple of drinks, Shana agreed to go along with my plan and tell my dad and mom that she does not feel safe with Seleste being responsible for protecting her since Seleste is obviously in love with me. I wish I could get the guys to assist me with this, but I know they never go against Seleste unless she does something drastic. That’s why I will parade Shana in front of her to get her to act out in anger. Once she loses control, all it will take is a couple of words to convince my dad and the guys that she needs to leave the pack for Shana’s sake. I don’t see how anything could go wrong.