Reborn: The Rejected Luna

#3 - His Mate?

"Of course you will sweety, once you turn eighteen."

Romaldo watched as a simply dressed girl got pulled away further from his ride. The market place was crowded as usual but his eyes easily stayed on her as she walked further away into the crowd.

He wasn't one to do a double take on any female, especially one that didn't fit any of his tastes.

He could not even tell what she was wearing, but he found himself unable to look away. Something about her had roused a weird warmth in his chest and a deep curiosity to find out who she was. He felt it way before he decided to stop his car abruptly in the middle of the crowd.

His wolf that usually minded his own business, not caring about anything at all when he made such trips around his packs, was suddenly wide awake. But just like Romaldo, his wolf didn't utter a word but merely observed the sight with intense curiosity.

At some point the girl stopped and talked with a woman that looked like her mother. She seemed to want to go somewhere but the woman stopped her and for a moment they argued. Romaldo kept staring out at them, forgetting about his immediate surroundings and the longer he stared at her the more intrigued he became and the more uneasy his wolf became.

A second later her hands went to her throat and she seemed to be failing to breathe.

At the sight Romaldo panicked and felt a strong urge to be by her side. It was like he felt her lack of air in his own body and he wanted to fly to her side, to help her breathe. He unconsciously reached for his car door ready to step out but someone spoke, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"If you stare into that filthy crowd one more second, I'm never talking to you, ever again." His fiancèe warned. She was sitting right across from him in the car looking beautiful as always, except for the usual scowl on her face that she had whenever he was visiting some of his not so well to do packs.

"What's so special out there anyway? You have this weird look on you." She narrowed her eyes at him and he shifted in his seat uncomfortably, but said nothing.

"Yeah brother, you look like you just spotted your mate or something." His sister grinned mischievously while his fiancèe glared at her.

"Imagine you finding your mate in the lowest ranked pack in your territory. Wait...Imagine you finding your mate at all." His sister burst out laughing and he instantly stiffened.

"Imagine that."

Romaldo and his wolf were caught off guard by his sister's words. And a bitter taste filled his mouth instantly.

"Drive!" He growled at his driver as though he had not been the one to command him to stop in the first place.

"Mate? Is that what she was? His mate?" His hands balled up into fists at the thought. The weird feeling still lingered in his heart and he hated himself for indulging in it.

"Why? Why now?" He sighed inwardly. This is something he didn't need, not when everything was beginning to fall in place.

"So what was that all about?" Nykka, his sister, asked the moment they started moving, a mischievous grin on her lips.

His younger sister, though younger, was one of the few people that could read him well as well as his late mother.

He could tell that Nykka wasn't really interested in what he had to say though, but she was very interested in riling up his fiancèe.

The two never got along from the moment Romaldo introduced Vieva as the girl he intended to marry. That was two years ago and Nykka didn't take it well and still hoped he'd change his mind.

But his mind was made up the day his mate took her last breath right in his arms. Even when he had begged her to stay with him, she still left and died and left a big hole in his heart with a wolf that was on the verge of insanity. Right then, he made up his mind to never let himself suffer such pain ever again. He worked hard at getting better and up again. He worked at keeping everything together and keeping him and his wolf from going insane. With a lot of hard work and intense pain he made it and from that moment he never wished for a mate. He never wished to ever go down that road ever again.

That's why Vieva was his best choice for a bride and queen, even if their relationship was more political than romantic.

"Nothing." Romaldo mumbled the answer to his sister's question.

"It didn't look like nothing to me." Nykka pressed him and he could see Vieva getting upset and he didn't want that.

"A second chance mate is--"

"Stop it, Nykka!" Romaldo growled and his sister flinched before glaring at him.

"Yes alpha...Your highness" She said bitterly and turned to stare out of her window too.

Romaldo regretted snapping at her but he did not bother to apologize either, because even if he did not want to, he was distracted. His mind kept drifting to the strange girl at the market. He wondered if she was really his mate. And if she wasn't, he wondered who she could be to affect him the way she did.

A hand slipped on his thigh startling him, and when he looked up Vieva was eyeing him seductively but he was strangely not interested. And he fought a growl from escaping his throat too. His wolf that was always indifferent to Vieva was now growling at her touch. He didn't like it and it took Romaldo to keep him in place.

"How long do we have to be in this god forsaken place?" Vieva sat back annoyed. Romaldo knew that it was because of his lack of interest in her advances but he didn't bother to comfort her either.

"You are welcome to leave." Nykka quickly replied earning herself a warning glare from Romaldo. His sister didn't miss an opportunity at taking a jab at his fiancèe even if it meant putting her own misery aside.

He did agree with her though, and if Nykka hadn't said it, he probably would have eventually. Vieva was to be his queen, but that was one thing he couldn't stand about her...her snobbish attitude.

"Stop the car." Romaldo commanded and the driver swiftly brought it to a stop.

"Why are we stopping?" Nykka frowned at him but he ignored her and stepped out of the car.

"Try not to kill each other while I'm gone." His eyes darted between his fiancèe and sister in warning.

"You are leaving me?" Vieva whined while Nykka just rolled her eyes at his fiancèe's behaviour.

"I need air." Romaldo said, when in essence he wanted to put a distance between him and his fiancèe. His wolf was suddenly being weird and agitated at the sight of her.

"We can go for that run together and get plenty of air while we are at it." Vieva flashed him a sexy grin but he was surprisingly not interested and his wolf totally agreed with him.

"I'll meet you at the castle." He said, closing the car's door.

"Wait, the castle? Rom?" Nykka rolled the car's window down and stared at him incredulously. "You honestly don't intend to run across the entire northern territory, do you?"

"That's how much air I need." He smirked at his sister who remained speechless for a change. But she was right to be concerned because the northern territory, his territory, was like one huge country that stretched for miles on end and right now he was at the edge of one end while his castle stood at the opposite end.

It was subdivided into smaller territories of more than a hundred wolf packs that he ruled. That was besides his own pack, the Crystal Moon, the largest and deadliest of them all, making him the alpha king of the entire northern territory.

"What's up, alpha...King?" Ken, his beta, appeared at his side the moment he stepped out, ready to take his orders.

"Get them home safely." He nodded at his car. "I'll meet you at the castle."

"Yes alpha." Ken replied but a mischievous grin appeared on his lips right after.

"What?" Romaldo almost growled at the other person who understood his decisions well and was allowed to question him.

"What did she do this time?" Ken nodded at his car, meaning Vieva.

"Nothing. I can't stand being near her right now, that's all."

"Well that's a first. I wonder what happened." Ken gave him a thoughtful look.

"It's a long story." Romaldo replied and with that he shifted into his wolf and let out a mighty howl before disappearing into the dense woods.

It was time he paid someone a visit. Someone he had not seen in two years.