Their Unexpected Fate (BOOK 3 of His Unexpected Mate)

CHAPTER 6

LOGAN'S POV

13 YEARS LATER, AFTER BAYRON & AMELIA WERE BORN...

    Two years to go, I am finally turning eighteen! I've been longing to reach that age since I turned sixteen. I can't wait to be eighteen and find my mate, feel the magic of mate bond.

    But for now, I will enjoy my life because turning eighteen also means that I will have more responsibility. Father will start to involve me in all his business as the King of werewolves. To become the rightful heir for his throne, to be the next Alpha King. Well, I'm the one who's next in line. It's a shame if I mess it up, and if I did, father would choose Deaton to be the next King instead of me.

    Deaton, my naughty little brother, though he's not so little anymore. He's turning thirteen next month, a month after Bayron and Lia's birthday, which is today.

    After I finished getting ready, I stroll to my bed and fetch Bayron and Lia's gifts. And as I proceed to my bedroom door, it bangs open; luckily, I'm not that close, or else I have to attend a birthday party with a busted nose.

    I scowl at my panting brother, "What the hell, Deaton?!"

    "Sorry, Logan, I was panicking," Deaton says, and he looks uneasy.

    "What did you do this time? To whom did you pull one of your pranks?" Deaton loves to play around. He is always pulling pranks on the people around the kingdom except father and me. He wouldn't dare because he knows where he will end up playing his tricks on me.

    Deaton crosses his arms. "Judgemental much? I'm panicking because I can't find my gifts for Bayron and Lia. I don't want to go there empty-handed."

    I smile at him. "That's okay. Let's share these gifts. Tell them it's from you and me."

    I pass Bayron's gift to Deaton. "You will give this to Bayron, and I'll give this one to Lia." I'm always fond of Lia. She's clever, competitive, confident, and most of all, she's not scared to speak her mind. And I see her like a sister I never had.

    Deaton displays a broad smile as I hand him the gift. So wide that the corner of his lips almost reaches his eyes.

    "Thanks, Logan! You're the best brother ever!" he says in utter gladness.

    "Let's go. We're going to be late," I say, and as we step out of my room, Luca, my bodyguard, appears in front of us.

    "Good afternoon, prince Logan, prince Deaton," Luca greeted us.

    "Hi, Luca!" Deaton greets him back.

    Luca bobs his head with a smile to acknowledge Deaton and then shifts his attention to me. "Your father wants to speak with you, prince Logan. He's waiting for you in the garden."

    "How many times do I have to tell you to stop addressing me, Prince Logan? Logan is enough," I'm not fond of hearing the word prince every time they are saying my name. I already know I'm a prince, no need to emphasize it, and it sounds so formal.

    Luca smiles. "I'm sorry, Logan. Shall we?"

    I nod and turn to Deaton. "Wait for me in the living room." Deaton bobs his head and proceeds ahead of us downstairs.

    As I get into the garden, I see father sitting on one of the garden benches, his cellphone pressed against his ear. And when he sees me, he motions me to sit beside him.

    "Thank you so much for the update, Alexander. I will see you soon." I hear father say, and then he hangs up the call.

    "Ready to go for the Walker Twin's party?" he asks.

    "Yes, father. Actually, we were about to leave when Luca told me that you wanted to talk to me. What is it about father?"

    He takes in a lungful of breath before he begins to speak, "You are turning eighteen soon, and that's the time the mate bond will develop. I will be inviting all the packs in the whole continent to make sure that you will find your mate." I place Lia's gift on my lap and throw myself at him to give him a warm hug as a thank you for making it easier for me to find my mate.

    "Thank you, father!" I squeal from the happiness his news brings me.

    "You're welcome, son. However..." Father pulls away from me and rests his hands on my shoulder, and that move and the word "however" causes my heart to pound in my chest.

    "If you will not find your mate on that day. I want you to marry Lia." I jerk away from him. Lia's gift falls on the ground from my sudden movement, and my eyes squint into a thin slit as I look at my father in disbelief.

    "No," I rasp.

    "Lia is just a friend. A family friend. And you can't do this to us. She has a mate somewhere, and so did I! If I do not find her on my birthday, I will travel around the world to look for her!" I can feel the anger churning in my chest as I spit out every word. This is absurd! An arranged marriage? No way!

    "Listen to me first, son. I already discussed this with Dylan and Cailean for a long time before the twins were even born." My eyes widened, shocked by my father's revelation. How could they do this to us?!

    "That's worse!" I growl. I know I sound disrespectful, but he crosses the line. When it comes to my mate, no one can intervene with that, not even my own father, and he knows that very well.

    "Watch your tone, kid!" he warns under his gritted teeth. His voice sounds like he's controlling himself not to shout at me, and that is enough to prompt me to purse my lips together.

    "I will not take that privilege away from Lia. We'll do the same on her birthday. All packs will be invited, and if she did not find her mate, we'd proceed with the arrangement." Father grabs my arms gently and gives it a light squeeze, his eyes boring into mine.

    "I know the importance of the mate bond Logan, and I want you, Deaton, and all the werewolves on this planet to experience that. I know how it feels to be with a mate, and no word can explain how amazing it feels. Even the word amazing is an understatement," he sincerely states.

    "Since you are my heir, you need to get married as soon as you can, and Lia is the best option to be your chosen mate." He continues, but I keep my mouth tightly shut.

    I look down to the ground where Lia's gift lies. Lia, my childhood friend, the one I treat like my own sister. How am I supposed to look at her straight in the eyes after learning all of this?

    "I have to go. We're going to be late." I don't know what to say nor how to react. What I know is that I want to get away from my father and be alone.

    Father nods and slowly lets go of my arms, with a blank expression on his face. "Enjoy the party."

    I pick up Lia's gift and stand up. "I will. Thank you." I respond coldly and walk away.

    "What happened, Logan? Why do you look so angry?" Deaton inquires when he sees my face. I tried my best to hide the anger, but my facial muscles are betraying me.

    "I'm not going to the party," I tell Deaton and give him Lia's gift.

    "But why?" Confusion is etched on his face as he asks.

    "I need to go somewhere. Just tell them I'm sorry. That I have urgent matters to attend to." I say and yank the door open.

    "Take me to the council," I order Luca when I reach the car, and he immediately obeys without asking any questions.

    I could hear Deaton calling for me as Luca drove away from the palace, but I chose to ignore it and did not spare him a single glance. I just want to get out of this place.

    As soon as Luca pulls over in front of the council's main door, I storm out of the car and run to Alexander's office.

    I'm still boiling with fury deep inside when I open Alexander's door, causing it to almost split in half from the force I applied when I slam it open.

    "Aaah!!!" The blonde girl with captivating blue eyes beside Alexander screams.

    "Logan! What are you doing here?!" he utters in great surprise; then, he drifts his focus on the girl. She looks young, probably the same age as Deaton. "It's okay, Alia. Uncle knows him."

    So Alia is her name, and did Alexander say, uncle? How come he never mentions to me that he has a cute niece?

    I gently close the door behind me as I enter his office.

    "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude," I apologize while approaching them.

    "You scared me to death and almost broke my uncle's door!" Alia huff.

    "I said I'm sorry," I repeat, and I notice annoyance from my tone. It looks like Alia too. She raises an eyebrow at me, and the corner of her thin lips curls up into a smirk.

    "Alia, this is prince Logan, the eldest son of King George. Logan, this is my niece, Alia." Alexander introduces us to each other.

    I extend my hand for a handshake. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Alia, and please excuse me for being rude." Alia accepts to shake my hand.

    "The pleasure is mine, prince," she says with sarcasm. But instead of getting angry, I got impressed and strangely found it cute. This girl is something.

    "Alia, why don't you go and wait for me in the car?" Alexander must have sensed the tension between his niece and me. Well, I could feel the tension in the air as well, and I don't think his niece will back down and treat me politely. He's right to send her out of his office the soonest before we collide.

    "Alright, uncle dear. Just..." Alia glares at me. "... don't take too long. I don't want to miss our reservation," she continues and walks past me.

    I walk her to the door with my gaze, and my lips curve into a smile when she yanks the door close behind her. Attitude!

    "Sorry about that; my niece doesn't know how to socialize with people," Alexander explains.

    "It's alright. How old is your niece?" I ask Alexander out of curiosity.

    "She turns thirteen today."

    "Oh, same as Bayron and Lia," I say.

    "Yes. And we were about to leave to celebrate her birthday when you barged into my office." Alexander utters playfully, but even though he seems fine at what I did, guilt wells up in my gut upon knowing his plan with his niece.

    "I'm so sorry to ruin your plans, but I'm desperate to have someone listen to me. Could you please spare me five minutes of your time?" I beg.

    "Of course. Come here." Alexander wraps his arm around my shoulder and leads me to the couch near the bookshelf.

    "What's bothering you, Logan?" He immediately asks as we take our seats.

    "My father told me to marry Lia if ever we will not find our mates when we reach the right age. I don't think it's fair. Father shouldn't have done that." I whine.

    "Logan, I believe your father's decision is wise. You are his heir, and unfortunately, that fact hinders you from roaming around the world to search for your mate," he says.

    "But I want to be with my mate," I say firmly.

    "And... And I see Lia as a sister," I stammer from the thought of Lia as my future bride.

    "I understand, but Lia is perfect for you. She comes from the strongest pack, and you know well how wonderful Lia is as a person." Now I doubt if I did the right thing by coming here. Alexander obviously agrees with my father's decision.

    I'm about to dispute his opinion but refrain from doing so when I see a glimpse of sadness in his eyes.

    Then, Alexander continues to speak, "It's better to have a chosen mate than to live a lonely life, a life like mine. I always take care of other people, but no one is there to take care of me. And the only person to blame is me. Because I stick to finding my mate in which I never had the time to do so because of my responsibilities." Alexander's sad story makes my chest feel heavy.

    "I..."

    Alexander interrupts me. "You are lucky to have each other if both of you will not find your mates. You will never be lonely. And trust me, Logan, you don't want to end up like me."

    His last sentence goes straight to my heart. How miserable he sounds as he tells it.

    He's right. I don't want to end up lonely and miserable. Maybe I'll try to consider accepting the arrangement. If Lia and I do not find our mates, I will accept the fate my father and Lia's parents created for us with open arms and marry Lia.

*****

    Since I missed Bayron and Lia's party yesterday, I decided to visit them today. To make it up to them.

    I bring for Lia her favorite red velvet cupcakes and for Bayron his favorite blueberry cheesecake.

    When the Triton Moon pack's house comes to my view, I suddenly step on the brakes making the tires screech to a halt.

    I tighten my grip on the steering wheel and take a deep breath.

    "I can do this," I tell myself and press on the gas. I park in front of the pack house, and as I exit the car, Lia comes out of the house.

    "Logan!" Lia squeals and runs towards me. I take a step back when her body crashes against mine and hugs me tightly. My arms suddenly feel heavy as I try to hug her back. I couldn't lift them to do it. Luckily Lia did not embrace me for long. She splits her body from mine and looks at me in the eyes. As soon as our eyes meet, all the muscles in my body go rigid, and this is the first time I feel uncomfortable in front of Lia.

    "I can't do this," I murmur.

    "What's that?" she asks.

    "I'm sorry, Lia, I have to go now," I say, then I proceed to the backseat to get the cakes, and after I hand them over to Lia, I quickly climb in the driver's seat and hit the road.

    I can't do it. I CAN'T!