The Mate I Rejected

In The Darkness With You

Ashton's POV

I am the first born and not only that, I am the son of an Alpha so that makes me a leader. I was born to lead my pack and nothing was going to stop me from doing that. When I was seventeen my friends and I decided to go out camping. It was supposed to be a joke but we ended up in the one place we should have never been, the one place we have all been warned to stay from and I went there, something happened and I have kept it a secret from everyone.

It has not been easy, I have had to act and pretend like all was well, that everything was still the same when I knew very well that it was not. The hardest part is having to make up excuses everytime the full moon comes up. I used to love it when the full moon comes because that is when I would get to be free, a time for my wolf run free and now I dread that time. My father has made it clear that I am going to take over the pack wether I like it or not.

Regardless of what it might look like from the outside but I wanted no part of this, I didn't want to take over the pack because I saw what power did to my father, when my mother sister died it only got worse. He didn't have to tell us who his favourite child was, my father had three sons and one daughter but in his eyes, he loved his daughter more than he loved his sons, when she died his heart hardened, it turned to stone and he lashed out on everyone and he took it out on me.

I finally became the man he wanted me to be, a mirror image of him, just as heartless and even more ruthless. I met a witch once and she told me that I would never find a true mate until I meet my match, she said that my destiny is one filled with pain and sorrow. I didn't believe it at first but then as the years grew, the more I knew that she was right. I would never find a true mate because no one would ever truly love someone like me. I am an abomination and that is my destiny.

My father has called a meeting with one of his arch rivals and I personally think that it's a bad idea, my younger brothers also think that it's a bad idea. First of all we both know that if the meeting didn't go well then it could end up in bloodshed which is what I think my father is planning. You see nothing is ever as it seems with my father, he always have a hidden agenda, I know it for a fact that my father has planned something and I am a bit worried about all of this.

The past years have been challenging but I have grown stronger. My father thinks that it is a good thing, well everyone thinks like that. Everyone but me that is. The last few years I have made some discoveries about the thing I am and the stronger I get, the closer I get to self-destruction. I hope and pray that whatever happens today, my father behaves himself. I don't want to find myself in a fight with anyone. This Alpha is different from any other Alpha I have met before.

" Father I don't like this. " I said to my father. I wanted him to know that I don't want this to get out of hand.

" It's okay son, just follow my lead, this is for the good of the pack. " He said. The Crescent Alpha made his way inside, he was alone. A bold move on his part, he is showing dominance, I have once heard my father telling one of his friends that this Alpha was the strongest werewolf he has ever met, well he lost twice to him so he should know. I know that I am strong and that I might be stronger than him but I don't think that I want this Alpha to know that.

Unlike my pack, the Crecent Pack has its own special gifts, it is even believed that they come from a long line of witches, that the werewolf curse began with them, at least that is the stories we heard when we were growing up, it is said that this is the reason why all their male Alpha's and their heirs are always so powerful, that too has never been proven. Telling from his physique, it was very clear that he trained hard, one could only wonder what his wolf looks like.

I could hear everyone's heartbeats raising as he walked into the room. He might be alone but we all know that he could handle all of us. My father called a meeting with his arch rival in the grand room. The room that we discussed important matters only. I never thought a day would come when we would have another Alpha come into this room. My father is an Alpha but he too knows that in this room, no Alpha has power over the other.

But my father still has home ground advantage. There is about six of us in two room with him and every one of us would be ready to jump for him, anyone of us would die for this man because he is our Alpha. You see my grandfather built this table, he believed that things could be different, that if we gave everyone the same voice then there would be peace amongst creatures, so he built this room for that.

My father is not like him at all, my father believes in only one voice and that voice is his and no one elses so he used this room for his own selfish reasons. He was always the only Alpha in this room so that means that no one could challenge him. What he says is the law and we all know better than to go against his wishes. He is a heartless man and it won't matter than I am his son.

When my brother refused to be part of the pack he punished him, he got a witch to turn him into his wolf and then he tied him up in silver chains and left him outside for days. My brother has always been hard headed, he was not willing to submit and my father was not willing to let it go. We were not even allowed to feed him and everytime he went outside, he would strike him. After weeks of suffering my mother begged him to submit, he finally broke and submitted into the pack. That was the harshest punishment ever. Turning on a full moon is painful but doing it when it is not time is twice as painful. As you transition into a werewolf you can actually feel your bones breaking and and forming again, I can assure that it the most painful part of turning.

The silver chains were also a torture of its own because they burn like acid, especially when you have transformed into a werewolf, the more he tried to pull the more it hurt but he didn't give up. I don't know but my mother always had a way of getting us to do what she wants, even if she sometimes makes us think it is our idea.

" Now boys, would you excuse us. " My father said.

" No, I am your second in command and whatever you discuss, I want to be part of it. " I said to my father. It was not even about that, I wanted to make sure that he didn't get out of line, that he did things the right way.

" He can stay, I have no problem and besides, this concerns him. " He said. Now he got me interested, there was no ways I was going to leave now, I had to hear what he had to say. I pulled a chair and I sat down.

" Son you know that you are next in line right?" My father said.

" Yes I do, what has this has to do with anything? " I asked him.

" Well you see there's a war brewing and we are going to need allies. " My father said. I don't know about the war he is talking about but if there is war coming then we are definitely going to need allies, I just don't understand why he would discuss battle strategy with his biggest rival.

" Yes but isn't that something we should be discussing in private? " I asked my father.

" No Ashton, this is my pack and I dont need to explain myself to you, as my son and my second in command, isn't it in my best interests for you to do what I want?" He asked me.

" Forgive me..." I said.

" Now as I was saying before you rudely interrupted me, We have both discussed it and we both think that it would be in the best interest of the packs if we formed a union, a bond so to speak. " My father said.

" What do you mean by that? " I asked him.

" We mean that you will be marrying my daughter and when the time comes, we will bring our packs together. " The Crecent Alpha said. It was like time had stood still, in that moment I felt like everything had been frozen. The Crecent Alpha wants me to marry his daughter. On paper this is a good call for him, he has no male heir and so it was expected that his daughter would marry someone.

I always thought that the person to marry his daughter would be someone from the pack, if anything I thought that she would have imprinted already. At some point in my life I thought that I would one day find someone who will be my mate as I was told that I would never imprint. I can see why they both have agreed to this, like I said, it made sense on paper but reality is so much more different than what any of them thinks.

I have heard about this woman I have to marry and I don't think my father knows what he is about to unleash. We might not be from the same pack but that doesn't mean that we don't hear things about them. The woman is the only child of an Alpha and so she was bound to want to take over the pack, I have no doubts that she is an Alpha and I don't someone like that in my life right now. I have heard that she bows down to no man and that is not going to work with me.

My father is old and soon he will be gone, I will have to take over the pack at that point and when I do, I need a submissive wife and that woman is not it. What is to stop her from exposing my secrets to the world? What if she has already imprinted on someone else? I don't want to be with a woman who's heart will be on the other side of town when her body is here with me.

" No!" I said to them.

" Don't be a fool son, we need them and they need us." My father said.

" Then we can form an alliance, we don't have to get married. " I said.

" Well son there is no other way, this is my offer, you can reject it if you want but bear in mind son, when the war breaks and it will, you are going to regret this day and rest assured that your pack will be the first to suffer. This war that is coming is like nothing you have ever seen before. " The Crecent Alpha said.

" You would do well to remember who you are threatening in his own home." I said to him.

" Threatening? No son, this is a fair warning, you see this war has been brewing for centuries, son there is a lot of evil out there and unless we stand together, we cannot win this, all of our packs are in mortal danger." The Crescent Alpha said.

" How is a union going to stop all of that?' I asked him.

" I don't know how much you know about the Crecent Pack but son, we are more than just werewolves. " The Crescent Alpha said.

" So the rumours about your pack having special powers is true? " I asked him.

" Yes, we have powers that no other werewolves have but my daughter doesn't know this and I would like to keep it that way. " The Crecent Alpha said.

" Let me get this, your daughter has no clue about the power she has?" I asked him because that is exactly what it sounded like.

" It's a bit more complicated than that son but if we are lucky, she will never discover how powerful she truly is." The Crecent Alpha said.

" Son when you get married to her, you will share her powers as she will also have yours, the two of you will be more powerful than any other werewolves that have ever walked on this earth." My father said.

He was not just talking about a marriage to form alliances, they were expecting a full on marriage between the two of us, that means that we would have to get married on sacred grounds, that we would have to join our hands and hearts to become one, after that is done we would be two bodies with one mind and soul, everything she thinks about, I would know and so that means that she would also know my thoughts, I don't think it is going to be a good idea considering that I have secrets of my own.

" I as the Alpha of the Moon Pack asks for your daughter's hand in marriage on behalf of my son. " My father said. He is my father and since the two of us have been spending so much time together, I think it's pretty clear by now that he knows what I am thinking and so he knows that I would have rejected this marriage proposal.

" And I as the Crescent Alpha accept your hand on behalf of your son to marry my daughter. " He said.

My father has spoken and there is nothing I can do about it, the both of them think that this is a good idea but I have my doubts. No woman would want to mate with someone like me. I can only wonder what she will think of me when she finally learns my secrets because once we get married, I won't be able to hide anything from her. When my father said that today's meeting was important, I had no idea that this is what he meant.

" So I guess it's settled then, the will be a wedding on the next full moon. " The Crecent Alpha said with a smile.

" Here's to new friendships. " My father said and he shook hands with the Crescent Alpha. While he was being happy about this whole thing, I couldn't help but feel a bit worried, the full moon is usually the best time for werewolves to get married. Not only would we physically get married but both our werewolves can also be united, we might not imprint but we can mate. I don't know if it the room but my whole has been quiet this whole time.

They shook hands and soon the Crecent Alpha left for his pack leaving me alone with my father. He looked pleased with himself, then again my father has always been pleased with whatever makes me miserable.

" I think that went well. " My father said.

" No father, why did you offer him Bradley or Harvey? we both know that this whole marriage thing is not going to work, she will never submit to me. " I said to my father. We have all heard stories about my bride to be and many have said that she is the strongest of the pack and that she has taken on any male that even looked at her in a certain way she didn't like. I don't think that she is type of woman who would submit to another Alpha male besides her father.

The whole situation was a mess, I never saw this coming, I didn't think that it would turn out like this. I know that I should have mated years ago but I would like to think that was because I hadn't found the right person. In that moment all that I wanted was to get away from everything and everyone and I knew just the place to go to. The one place that no one would find me.

I discovered that place a few days ago, when I turned twenty three I felt like I was doomed because I didn't have a mate, to make it worse, my birthday came on a full moon, when I changed and phased into my wolf, we found ourselves in a place we have never been to before. It was far away from all the packs. I could hear the water but it sounded like it was everywhere. I don't know how but I ended up at a waterfall.

Under the moonlight the water looked like it had a huge light shining on top of it. It was so peaceful. I changed back into my human form and went skinny dipping in the water. Despite it being a cold night, the water was warm. That place brought me peace and whenever I wanted to be alone, I would go there.

I found myself making my way to the water and as I was about to emerge from the trees, I saw someone coming from a different direction. I hid behind a tree. I peeked out and saw a beautiful young woman with long black hair. I watched in silence as she got undressed and went into the river. I watched her and when I was about to turn away and leave, I stepped on a twig and it broke. She heard it. Leaving was no longer an option.

I know that my father said that I was going to marry the Crecent Alpha's daughter but I at least had to know who this beautiful woman was so I decided to let myself known. She finally got out of the water and came closer to me, when I turned around and saw her face, my heart stopped beating for a second. She was gorgeous. It was like I was seeing an angel but of course, she wouldn't give me the time of day. She left me standing there and as much as I wanted to, I didn't follow her.

I could feel that she was a werewolf just like me but I had no idea which pack she was coming from. I don't know what mating feels like but I know that she has entrapped my heart. I think I might even be in love with her, I know it sounds crazy but I have never felt like this about anyone, especially someone I have just met.