TWICE MATED

Not what it seems

ANAIAH'S POV

The ballroom was perfect and I just knew that this was the night that I had been waiting for. This was something that I had been looking forward to for the longest time. I had convinced myself that meeting my mate was the change that I needed in my life and that everything that was going wrong in my life would get better the day I met him. Something in me told me that tonight would be the night that I finally met my mate. I had never been big on attending these functions because I didn't care about the alcohol and I was a little antisocial, but tonight I was willing to put all that aside because I had a good feeling about the night ahead. All I could do was hope that I wouldn't regret my decision to attend the party, but the only thing that could make me regret this was if I ended up not finding my mate tonight.

This was a night that every female wolf had been dreaming about, but I think that my dreams were more than anyone else's. I had the worst position that any wolf could have in the pack. I was not only an omega but I was often called a slave to the omegas because they could always have their way with me. The fact that I was an orphan made it easy for me to be a victim of the pack bullies. This was the reason why my whole life was riding on me meeting my mate tonight. He was the only one who could rescue me from the life that I had been cursed with. Alpha Michae didn't care about how we were treated, it's not that he didn't know how we were being treated but he just didn't care and he made that clear by never involving himself in matters that involved omegas. The only good thing was that once I found my mate, I would no longer be obligated to serve him and if I did I would be solely doing it as a choice.

Meeting my mate tonight would mean a lot more to me than it would ever mean to any of these female wolves. They probably just wanted someone who was going to keep them company but I was searching for family. I was searching for a particular feeling... a feeling that I had never felt before. I was confident that my mate would be the final piece in my incomplete life. I just knew that having him in my life was what I had been missing. I had to believe that this was true and I had to believe that all these things were going to happen to me tonight because without that hope I had nothing.

I didn't have any specific expectations when it came to the kind of man I wanted as a mate. I just wanted a mate and to me how he looked didn't really matter. I hoped that he would feel the same about me once he met me because looks didn't matter. What mattered was that we would have found each other and we would then have the opportunity to start our lives together. However, I couldn't help feeling like the dress that I was wearing wasn't good enough. I didn't really have anything other than this dress that had been passed down to me by another omega. I had never seen the importance of looking good because my job was behind the scenes. I was never invited to any party, so I never needed any type of fancy clothing. I prayed that the moon goddess would bless me with a mate who didn't think looks were everything because they were not to me.

I figured the moon goddess would probably mate me with someone who was in the same class as me and that was the reason why I was focused on the peasant side of the room. My mate had to be somewhere there. If I was even spotted looking around in the direction of the alpha. I would be accused of bewitching him or trying to seduce him.

However, I started making my way over there when a strong masculine scent hit my senses and it was hard to resist. it was as if this wolf was calling my name without even using his mouth, it was as if he was calling my wolf by her name. What I knew for a fact was that I was now going in the wrong direction and no matter how hard I tried to stop myself from looking over to the rich side of the room I just couldn't resist. I just had to see him, I had to find my mate.

I tried to find where this sweet masculine scent was coming from but I was met with a bunch of disapproving eyes. those that saw me watched me in disgust and I knew some of them were silently praying that I would speak to them, but it wasn't them that I was after. my mate was on their side and I had to find him, he probably wasn't anything like that and he was probably searching for me too. my heart was pounding so hard as if it was also trying to break out of my chest just as my wolf was, I couldn't believe that this was finally happening and I couldn't wait to see how my mate looked.

Even though I didn’t want someone who was way out of my league as my mate, I found myself changing course and heading in the direction that the call was coming from. I passed through the crowded hallway until I finally found myself looking at the alpha prince who had just recently taken over the pack as the alpha. Was he the one for me or had I just dreamed up the whole thing? I didn’t have the best impression of the alpha and that was the reason why my first assumption was that I had made some kind of mistake and that he wasn’t my mate. I couldn’t even picture a man like him accepting a woman like me, I couldn’t picture myself standing by his side as his luna, not after the way he had been treating the omegas in this pack.

How could an omega like me be mated to a man like alpha Michael? The goddess had to have made a mistake. It’s not as if I didn’t want him, it was just that I didn’t know what was going on in his mind. I wasn’t sure if he would want me, as a matter of fact, I knew that he wouldn’t be acceptable to him, he was going to look down on me and call me the ugly names that everyone else was calling me. Why couldn’t I be mated to someone else?

I had heard horror stories from other omegas about how he had been treating them and they were enough to be wary of him. My judgment of him wasn’t all because of the stories that I had heard about him, but it was also because of the experience that I had with him. The fact that he was the alpha of the pack but he was never ready to hear the complaints that the omegas had in the pack was another thing that concerned me about him. He didn’t seem to care about anyone except for those that he deemed important to him and if I hadn't been important to him before, why would I suddenly be important to him? How would I suddenly be important to him?

He didn’t look that impressed to see me as a matter of fact, he kind of looked disgusted by me. He looked at me as if I had chosen him for myself by myself. I wished he knew that if I had had a choice in the matter, I would have chosen another omega or someone who wasn’t even from this pack. However, we all knew that things didn’t work like that. The moon goddess never mated anyone to someone outside of the pack, no matter what position the wolf was in.

I suddenly felt small and insignificant, the dress that I had on suddenly felt too heavy even though it was just a simple strapless black dress. This dress was the only thing that I had to wear for the night, it was the only thing that I thought was good enough for me to wear as I attended this party and the fact that he was looking at me as if I was some homeless person who just gate crushed his party was making me feel some type of way. I looked at myself as if to check if I was qualified to even speak to the man and that killed my self-confidence. How could I be mated to the man who looked at me as if I was some disgusting thing that came off the bottom of his shoe? I had never heard of the moon goddess making mistakes, but I was certain that she had made a mistake by mating me with that man. It's not that I didn’t want him, I just felt like I was way too small for him. Maybe in time I would finally measure up to his standard and be the woman that was perfect for him, but he would have to accept me first.

I watched him from a distance as he went about his business for the day and I couldn’t help wondering if he had noticed that I was there. I wondered if he had noticed that I was here as his mate and not as the omega. I suddenly wanted him to notice me but then again, I guess that was the natural reaction that any female wolf would have after meeting her mate for the first time. When we finally locked eyes, he whispered something to Luke who in turn looked in my direction and seemed a little disgusted. He looked back at him and they continued whispering, it almost seemed as if they were having an argument and I was sure Luke was telling him that I was way beneath him to be his mate. When Michael stood up to walk away, Luke held him by the hand, probably in an attempt to stop him from leaving. What the hell were they talking about? I stood at the corner of the room and watched Michael disappear out of the ballroom. What did his reaction mean? Did it mean that he didn’t want me? He obviously knew that I was his mate and I figured that was the reason why he acted the way he did. Maybe he didn’t want me, but could I really blame him if he didn’t?

After realizing that Alpha Michael was my mate, I no longer felt the need to stay at the party. I just wanted to go to my room and cry myself to sleep because I felt like his reaction was a sign that he didn’t want anything to do with me. I knew deep in my heart that he would never accept an omega like me and that was the reason why I was so upset. However, I couldn't just excuse myself from the party because it was forbidden for omegas to do so. We had to stay and clean up after everyone left. As if the moon goddess could already hear my prayers before I even prayed, there was a call for our attention and the room grew quiet.

“Alright, everyone…” Luke said “ we will have to cut this party short because it has served its purpose” he announced. Although everyone else in the room seemed puzzled by what he was saying, I understood it perfectly. It was a custom that the virgins in the pack would present themselves before the alpha before the party ended and the fact that that wasn’t happening gave me hope that he had seen that I was his mate. Luke had announced that the ball had served its purpose and its sole purpose was for the alpha to finally meet his mate and I was finally there.

“You can all go home now, the party is over. I expect all the omegas to remain behind because they know their jobs”, he said

“Anaiah…” he shouted my name and it echoed through the room. I started trembling and I almost fell to the ground because of how nervous I was.

”You need to come with me,” he said and I wondered what I had done wrong.

I could feel the stares from all the women that were around me. They were probably asking themselves the same thing that I was asking myself. Why was Luke asking to see me? What did he want from me? As the ballroom started emptying up, I started making my way to where Luke was standing. I wasn’t even sure of what I was supposed to say to him when I got there. I didn’t understand what this was all about.

“You..you asked to see me” I whispered with my head dropped. All the other male wolves that he was with started laughing at me.

“Come with me,” he said after giving me a disgusted look. He led the way out of the ballroom and to the pack house. I nervously ran behind him because he was walking so fast. I wanted to ask him what this was all about but I knew that the answer to that was either going to be. He was obviously not going to tell me anything because he didn’t believe that I deserved any explanation concerning what was happening.

We got into the pack house and stopped by the alpha’s door. Now my heart was pounding so loud and I was certain that Alpha Michael could hear it from his side of the door.

I finally decided that now was the time for me to show some boldness and just ask what was going on. “What is going on here?” I asked and Luke ignored me and knocked on the door and then he opened it.

“Go on,” he said and I took a deep breath and stepped inside. Going to see my mate for the first time wasn’t supposed to feel like this. It wasn’t supposed to be this nerve-wracking. I took a deep breath and then proceeded to sit on the bed. I figured I was nervous for nothing. Michael was my mate and showing him that I was nervous was probably a very bad idea. He was used to strong women and it was best if I allowed myself to be comfortable in my own skin. After all, he wouldn’t have called me here if he didn’t want me, as I thought. I was here because he wanted me and I wanted to embrace that.

“Mate…” I whispered instinctively as he entered the room, coming from the bathroom. He was wearing his bathrobe and I must admit that I had never seen him in that light. He looked so handsome with his hair dripping wet, I wanted to run to him and embrace him but I was afraid of being rejected.

He didn’t say a word to me as he proceeded to drop the towel that he had around his waist with his back turned to me. He put on his shorts and then came to sit on the bed next to me.

“How are you, Anaiah?” he asked me and I blushed. The fact that he knew my name gave me hope that he possibly wanted me.

“I am fine…” I said shyly and he sighed and reached for the big cup that was next to his bed. He took a sip of the contents and by the look on his face, it was clear that whatever was inside was bitter.

“Drink this,” he said and I shook my head. Why would I drink it after he just made that face after drinking it?

“I am fine thank you…” he cut me off by shoving the cup in my hand and that friendly expression that he had on his face disappeared within a second.

“I wasn’t asking you, I was telling you,” he said as he forced me to drink the cup. I realized at that moment that this wasn’t what I was hoping it would be. This wasn’t what I had been hoping it would be, this man hadn't accepted me and here he was trying to kill me.

The liquid that was forced down my throat burnt as it passed through my throat, causing me to cough a little bit. I started coughing up blood immediately after that and by the look on Michael's face, this wasn’t the result that he wanted from this. What had he hoped would come from him giving me this poison? He had also taken a sip of it but why didn’t it have the same effect on him?

“H..help me” I groaned in pain and he jumped up from the bed and stood by the door as if he was afraid that he would be contaminated by whatever it was that he had put in my drink. I fell to the floor and watched him open the door and peek outside. He ran back into the room, leaving the door open, and he picked me up and ran out with me. I was now drifting in and out of consciousness, I was in too much pain and even keeping my eyes open was a challenge for me.

“Damn you, Kyle, why didn’t you tell me this would happen?” he mumbled as he put me in the boot of his car and closed it. I heard the engine of the car rev up and he sped off. All sorts of thoughts were racing through my mind and I could already see myself being buried alive. Was this really how I was about to die? Was this the end of my life? I could only hope that he would take me to a doctor, but if he was taking me to a doctor he wouldn’t need the car, he was definitely going to bury me alive.