ESMERALDA’S POV.
Today is a very special day for me. I am finally turning nineteen and it is all I have longed for all these years. Why? Because all the women in the pack meet their mates on tier 19th birthday, meaning I will finally meet my mate today as well.
My two friends, Kate and Hannah have both met their mates already as they are older than I am, Kate by two years and Hannah by one. They were lucky enough to be one of those people that meet their mates on their 19th birthday. Kate was mated to my brother, Cole, the future Beta being our father’s eldest and only male child, while Hannah was mated to a warrior, Orion. They both happen to have one of those cute relationships that will make you envy them and yearn for your own relationship with your mate.
I have just one wish for my mate though, for it to be Anthony—my fiancée, and future Alpha of our Pack, the BloodMoon Pack. We have been engaged for nearly two years now, due to my parent’s wish for me to marry him but I never minded because I have always admired him.
He is around the same age as Cole, my older brother, and his best friend—making him two years older than I am. He did not find his mate so far, and I could only hope that means we are meant to be mated. Anyways, we will find out today and I am a bundle of nerves waiting for that to happen.
“Anthony is finally coming back,” My wolf, Rae, said in my mind excitedly as she wiggled her tail.
Alpha Anthony, my fiancée is the unofficial Alpha of the pack, though the official ceremony is set to take place alongside our wedding set to take place in two weeks. He has been away for two months though for a war at a pack down south, and after reigning victory, he will be back at the pack house today.
My lips curled upwards into a grin due to her words, my own excitement impossible to miss. “I have missed him so much, I cannot wait to see him,” I answered back, as I trudged my way back to the pack house, after an intense training session. On my way back, the young wolves scattered around gave me nods of acknowledgement, given I am their training instruction alongside being the Beta’s daughter and the future Alpha’s fiancée.
I love the fact that I get to be my own person regardless of my background though. I love being a warrior, and I am pretty good at it if I say so myself.
The air in the pack house is just as lively, with everyone looking forward to the return of their Alpha. I made a beeline to my room to shower and get ready, for they will be here soon.
As I scrubbed my body under the shower, I realized my excitement was mixed with a bundle of nerves though. For as I stared at the mirror on the opposite wall in the bathroom, despite the fog in the air, my hand made its way to my belly, where I stared at it with a soft smile on my face.
Another reason I cannot wait to see Anthony is to tell him that I am pregnant. I found out a few days ago after going to the doctor, whom happens to be a close friend of mine, Davis, because I had an upset stomach recently. After taking a blood test, I found out I am almost ten weeks along.
To say I was scared would be an understatement. Being pregnant without being married is a crime in my pack, and I was scared and in denial as such for I can recall every time we did the deed, he always uses a condom. There’s no possibility of the father being someone else for I had only ever been with him, he is my first and only.
Then I remembered a time about two months ago, he drove me home after a cocktail party for Kate’s birthday, and we did it in the car. It is the only time he did not use it but I did not give much thought to it because it is just one time. Besides, he said it was okay because we are getting married later anyways and I believed him, refusing to think deeply into it.
But one time is all it takes to have a child it appears.
Still, I hung onto his words. We will be married soon. I just need to tell him and it will all be alright. So, upon stepping out of the bathroom, I put on my best dress, a pretty white floral dress that Anthony got me before he left for the war and headed downstairs to welcome them, because noises suddenly came as I descended the stairs, which could only mean one thing. They have returned.
I hastened my steps, my slanting upwards into a wide grin. The sound of footsteps reached my ears, just as I reached the bottom of the stairs where familiar faces of my family and the Alpha’s family, along with a handful of pack members there welcomed me. I could not focus on them though, rather on the figure standing in the middle of the room. My grin widened. Anthony.
Just as I made a move to step further and go to him, he suddenly shifted, and that was when I noticed it—the woman he is holding in his arms!
ESMERALDA’S POV.I thought seeing Anthony with that woman in his arm could somehow be a misunderstanding of some sort, perhaps, there has to be.However, the words that escaped his lips chased away anything related to that thought.“Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Claire,” He paused, as the place quietened down, wanting to hear what it is he would say exactly. His next words hung thickly in the air, “She would be,” he looked down at her, his lips slanted into a warm smile. “My Luna.”I felt my heart drop to the pit of my stomach, my toes curling as I felt breathing become such a difficult task. That sentence, I feel as though it ripped my heart right out of my chest with it.Silence ensued, thick with tension and wariness, as if they all shared the same sentiment as I. However, the one that found the strength to break the silence was Anthony’s father, “Anthony, what is this nonsense you are spewing?” His tone was anything but calm, the fury behind it impossible to miss.Ant
ESMERALDA’S POV.I find it weird now that I have thought about it. If Anthony truly is my mate, something I have no doubts of now, then why can’t he feel it? I am sure what I felt was true, I indeed felt the mate bond so…what is up with his reaction?Is he truly indifferent? Does he really still want that woman over me, over his mate?“She must have done something to him,” My wolf said, tried to reason. She sounded so certain, I could not help but listen and try to make sense of her words. “Maybe she used witchcraft on him or something?”“Witchcraft?” I shook my head at my wolf’s thoughts. “She is human, you can tell as well. So, that is out of the picture.” There is no doubt she is human, I would have been able to sense if she is a witch, we all would.Before my wolf could say anything further, I decided to return back home, as I have been out in the woods the entire day and it is getting late. It is best if I return home now. Instead of going to the pack house where I have been stay
ANTHONY’S POV.Claire is my mate; she has to be.I fell in love with her at first sight. She is beautiful, and the moment I saw her on the battlefield despite the chaos surrounding us, I felt the bond between us. Even in her weak and fragile state, she is still the most beautiful woman I have ever seen and I felt pulled towards her. I knew then she is my mate, and I want no one else.It is only right I bring her back to my pack and make her my Luna.Even though everyone is against my decision apparently, I have no regrets. I know what I feel for her. They may not understand it now, but they would later on. A mate is always the best thing to happen to happen to a wolf, and to an Alpha wolf, a Luna, a fated mate is not just the best thing to happen to him but to the pack as well.So, this is ultimately for everyone as well. I will still choose Claire as my mate over and over again if I have to.At night, I was prepared to mate with Claire for the first time ever. With the whole turmoil
ESMERALDA’S POV.I watched every emotion display across Anthony’s face, every bit of it since I turned around and met his gaze.Confusion was the first emotion to flick across his features, followed by surprise as his lips parted slightly and his eyes dilated. My best guess is, he has finally figured out that there is a bond between us.I felt it when he was following me around, I could tell it is him from the scent. I was simply taking a stroll in the forest to clear my head and decide when I would leave the pack when I heard it—the snap of twigs as someone’s presence became known, and as my steps hastened, so did his.However, at a point, I realized there is no point running away. I am not guilty of anything after all, and the only reason I did so was to avoid talking to him lest he decides to bring up the mistress issue again and heaven help me, I might do something I certainly will not regret.The look I saw on his face though, somehow lit up what I thought had diminished or shoul
ESMERALDA’S POV.I felt as though I am floating, I could not exactly feel myself bounded to anything, but rather, I was free. I tried to move my body, open my eyes, or shift my finger at the very least but none of that worked. Instead, I felt unable to do anything, and wherever I looked around, I could only see darkness nothing else.I tried to speak to my wolf through my mind, but I could not do that also. It felt as though I am in a different universe from the one she is in. I could not even feel her. My reality began to blur out though and before I know it, I had lost the ability to think all together. In the distance though, I heard muffled, unfamiliar voices. My skin, it felt a bit chilly, but the same time, bound to something incredibly warm. I could not decipher a single word though as the darkness took me with it, and the only thing I could decipher, the pain that took over my body.The next time I felt myself awake, I could actually open my eyes, though it proved to be a diff