TWO

CHAPTER: TWO

ALPHA LEO LANCE

*Flashback*

“Stop it, Dad, I have had enough of this. I have told you countless times that my mate will come when the time is right, and I am not in a hurry to get my mate yet."

"I just turned eighteen, and there is no rush in anything. Despite having a girlfriend, Thea is a good girl, and I love her and she loves me. I think that is all that matters.” I angrily told my dad and stood up, ready to leave, but he stopped me.

“Stop right there, Leo; you might be eighteen and with a girlfriend, but I am still your father, and I deserve some respect, especially from you.” He echoed through the room, and I sighed.

I was eighteen and I still hadn’t found my mate yet. I wasn’t in a hurry though, but my father thought otherwise.

I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration and rested back on the couch. He stared at me with an irritated look before he finally spoke up, “You know you can’t be the alpha of this pack without a mate, right?”

“Yeah, I also thought so too until I saw other alphas without mates and they are doing fine, Dad, what is the problem with me not having a mate? I am only eighteen; it is not like I am twenty-seven or fifty.” I argued back, and he sighed. The look on his face said it all; he was angry.

“Okay, you have to know that this is my pack and I make the rules around here, so until then, I want you to focus on what I am telling you: you will find a mate and break up with Thea.”

“No, I am not doing such a thing,” I said with finality, and his eyes suddenly turned. My father was a good guy, but he was very different when he got angry, and I wasn’t ready to put him in that position.

“You will do as I tell you. I know Thea is a good girl, no doubt, but something you should and must know is that she is not your mate; you need to find your mate. She will be like your second half, and you can’t be more powerful without your mate, so work on that.” He said it in an angry tone, and I sighed tiredly.

"Okay, I just turned eighteen and I can’t seem to find my mate; I just need to focus on doing something else,” I said, but deep down I knew that was a lie; I hadn’t even thought about finding my mate, and I was okay with Thea.

“Okay, you go figure it out because I am not going to stay here and argue with you, but don’t forget what I just told you: I am not always going to be around.” He said that and walked out of the house, leaving me behind with a trail of thoughts.

*End of flashback*

A few months after the conversation I had with my father, he was found dead, killed by a wolf hunter. I was hurt for a few months but got used to the fact that he was gone and I was to assume his position in the pack.

My mind wandered back to Arya. The first day I saw her, fragile, I showed no interest in her and didn’t care about what she did or even care about her world, but whenever I was around her, my wolf would always get excited.

I hated to think for a fact that she could be my mate because she was weak and always lonely. I wanted my mate to be courageous and powerful, not some weakling, but after breaking up with Thea, I knew I had to find my mate, and I knew it had to be her even though I knew she was hiding the fact that she was a half-blooded wolf. I was just glad that she was not some human.

I wanted to ask my cousin Emily about her but thought against it since it would have sounded a little creepy, so I chose to always look around for her and watch her—creepy but worth it.

“Mate” was what my wolf would always growl to me when I was close to her. As much as I tried to ignore him, he got too much and was always tormenting me, but I was able to subdue him even though I could feel his anger within me.

As I slept through that night, I couldn’t help but think about her. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, but all I could see was Arya with her beautiful blue eyes. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t like her, but I loved her eyes; they were beautiful. But she was just not my type; she was shy, weak, and a half-blood wolf.

I groaned and pulled the duvet over my face and forced myself to sleep, but I was awakened by the loud growl of the wolf in my head; he was angry and he was tormenting me.

I got out of bed and walked to the balcony to get some air.

“Can’t sleep?” My mom’s voice startled me.

“God, why do you always have to startle me like that?”

“I am sorry, I just heard the door squeak and I thought I should check up on you.”

“I am okay, Mom. Thank you.”

“Is it about the wolf again?”

“Yes, but I will be fine.”

“Don’t lie to yourself, honey; you have to find your mate as soon as possible, and I know you have something for Arya; she is a good girl and very reserved; I don’t see why you keep rejecting her.”

“She is a weakling, shy, and a half-blood wolf; my wolf can’t be that weak,” I said, and Mom sighed.

“Okay, I don’t understand what your end game is, but you have to know one thing: when a mate has been chosen for you, there is no walking away from that.”

“Yes, but I have seen other alphas having two mates; I can’t be an exception.”

“Yeah, except I spoke to the moon goddess, and she gave me the same answer.”

“Wait, you spoke to her?”

“Yeah, it wouldn’t kill to know why my son is too paranoid and not ready to have his mate.”

“Okay, thank you for caring, Mom, but I don’t need you to look out for me.”

“Okay, it has been a long day, and I will let you rest; don’t forget about what we just spoke about.” She said and walked back into the house; I sighed and walked back to the house and went straight to bed.

I struggled to get some sleep but eventually got some in the wee hours of the morning.

The following morning, I woke up late and freshened up. I had a few errands to run, and since my father owned a company before he died, I had to take up his duties, which is exactly what I was doing.

I had someone watching Arya’s movements—not in a bad way, but I just wanted to know her movements.

At around 5 o’clock, I got a call from him.

“Alpha Leo, it is like I am not the only one following Arya.”

“What do you mean by saying you are not the only one following her?”

“I realized someone was following him, and I had one of my guys check into her; it turns out it is one of Alpha Kai’s people.”

“Fuck!” I cursed as I hung up and took my car keys. I was not ready to let Kai beat me up at my own game; I had come a long way to just give up on Arya, even though I didn’t like her.

"I told you, you got to hurry up and mating her before your competitor does, otherwise he will be more powerful than you!" My wolf said, and I cursed as I drove to the woods.

“Just shut up. I need to concentrate on the road.”

"Yeah, you always have lame excuses, every time I mention this to you."

“Yeah, you just shut up! I need to focus!” I shouted and drove to the woods.

When I got there, I could smell her presence. My wolf was misbehaving, and as much as I tried to keep him intact, he got stronger than me, and I had to let go. I walked stealthily up to her, and my wolf growled at the sight of her. I wanted to pounce on her and make her mine right there, but Kai beat me to it, and I had to back off to fight him.

We ran through the woods fighting each other, tearing each other up, saying, “Get the hell out of here!” I said to her, I knew she could hear me, and I hoped she would heed my words.

I stood there, face to face with Kai, and tried everything possible to calm my wolf before he did something crazy by forcing it to shift into its form, but I guess I couldn’t just do it; he was more powerful than me.

“Always spoiling things for me. What the hell are you doing here? This is not even your pack.” I asked in annoyance, and he laughed sarcastically.

He groaned angrily at me, took a few steps closer to me, and locked his eyes with mine. I could see the anger and vengeance in his eyes.

“I should be asking you the same thing because she is my mate and she belongs to me!”

“No, she doesn’t; she is not some property for you to own, and she is mine,” I said, and he chuckled again.

“Well, what makes you think she is yours? You wanted to bite her and mate her by force! I am not going to let you do that.” He growled as he pounced back on me.

“No, I would never mate her by force, and you know that; I just wanted to be close to her,” I said, trying to figure things out with him, but he was not ready for any of that.

“And so, I’m I; you should stay away from her!” He snarled and pounced on me as we struggled through the woods.

“I can’t do such a thing because she is mine; she belongs to this pack, and there is no way she is going to be yours; I would never watch her become your mate, not while I am alive, not under my watch!” I growled and pounced on him. We fought through the woods angrily until I overpowered him and watched as he ran away.

I was hell-tired as I got back to my car.

Now that that sounds like the real you, you should make her your mate before he does.

“Just shut up! This is all your fault.” I said it loudly as I angrily drove back home.

Oh, now it’s my fault?

“I said shut up!” I angrily snapped at him, and when I didn’t hear him for another thirty seconds, I knew he was gone. I just needed some time alone to think and get over everything that happened that evening.