She's My Beta and My Mate

Chapter 2: The Beta

Zariah

“Now reach all the way down, lock your hands around your feet, and feel the stretch in the back of your knees," Trainer Joe says. I do as he says and rest my sweaty forehead on my knees, happy that our training session is over. I love training, but I am ready to head home. With the ball coming up, I have a lot on my mind, and getting ready for battle just isn't something I want to think about.

Trainer Joe leaves us in this position for a minute or so before he says, “Sit up, take a deep breath, and go in peace."

I fill my lungs with air and let it out slowly before wiping my brow with the back of my hand. I can't wait to go home and take a shower, find something to eat for lunch, and then go check on how the decorating is going for the Moon Goddess Ball. I'm sure Luna Theresa will make the ballroom in the pack meeting house look absolutely beautiful. Micah's mom is a gifted party planner. But I want to be a part of all of this. After all, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event for most of us.

At least… most of us won't attend a Moon Goddess Ball where we will have the opportunity to meet our mate more than once. Sure, we might be chaperones for our children, but that's not the same thing.

I stand up, gather my mat, sweaty towel, and water bottle, and look around for my best friend. Alice waves at me and bops over in my direction, her blonde ponytail swinging. How she has that much energy after the session Trainer Joe just put us through, I don't know, but I am astounded.

“Hey," I say, falling into step beside her. “How are you not covered in sweat?"

“I don't sweat; I glisten," she says, giggling. She waves at a few of our friends, and we leave the gym, headed in the direction of our houses, which are on the same block with just a couple of houses between them.

“I thought Trainer Joe was trying to kill us today," I mumble. “But I'm glad he showed us that defensive move, the one where you twist behind your opponent. You can do that in your wolf form as well."

“Maybe you can," Alice says, rolling her eyes. “I couldn't even get it in my human form."

I think perhaps the reason she is not sweaty is because she was not doing anything....

“Who were you partnered with today?" she asks me.

I try not to make a face. “Eli," I tell her, biting off the sigh that threatens to come out of my mouth.

“Lucky you," she says sarcastically.

“I know." Eli is Alpha Micah's best friend and the guy that he wishes was his soon-to-be Beta. Eli's a great guy. It's not his fault that Micah wishes he could replace me with him. Still, being partners with him today rubbed it in a little that Micah doesn't want me as his Beta. Eli is a huge dude—muscular and tall. He's also really funny. We could probably be friends if Micah and I could be friends.

“I just don't get it," Alice says, looking around to make sure no one else can overhear. We are on the sidewalk, and there's no one else around. It's a nice fall afternoon, and a few brightly colored leaves flutter to the ground around us. We can see other people out and about in the distance, but no one is within hearing range. “Why is he so sure that you won't do a good job?"

“I don't know," I admit. “I wish he'd at least give me a chance before he labels me a failure. My dad has been training me to take his place my whole life. And not just when it comes to fighting either."

My dad had been teaching me about all of the duties of a Beta, and there are a lot of them. Essentially, you have to know how to be an Alpha so you can lead the pack when the Alpha isn't able to, but you also have to be able to do all of the jobs that the Alpha doesn't want to do.

I was ready for that—for all of it.

“Well, anyway, he needs to stop picking on you all the time," Alice says, and I totally agree, though I keep my comments to myself. I know it doesn't do me any good to say how I feel about Micah anymore. No one wants to hear about it.

I change the subject. “I can't wait to go shopping for our dresses for the ball." I grab her arm and squeeze.

“I know! I can't wait either!" she says. “Gosh, can you believe it! We might finally find our mates. It'll be so much fun to see everyone finally paired up."

I let my mind wander for a moment, thinking of all of the guys in our pack, the guys we went to school with that were a bit older than us, our age, or maybe even a year younger. A lot of them are very attractive warriors now. Many of them would make good husbands.

“I wonder what it's like to feel the mate pull," Alice continues. “To find that man that you love more than anything and to know that you'll be together forever. I've never really felt that way about anyone, you know?"

“Yeah, I know," I say, but I don't think that's actually true. I think maybe I have felt that pull before… though I would never say it out loud. A familiar face comes to mind, but I push it away. It's stupid. I can't let myself think of him like that. I can't let myself think of him at all.

“Do you think the new healer will come?" Alice asks, jarring me out of my thoughts. “He's cute, right?"

“Yeah, James is cute," I tell her. “But healers don't usually have mates," I remind her.

“I remember," she says with a sigh. “Well, I gotta find someone. And it better not be Eli." She groans, but I kind of wonder if maybe she picked him to complain about because she really likes him.

Sometimes it's easier to complain about a guy than admit that you like him....

“Hey, wouldn't it be crazy if you and Alpha Micah are mates?" Alice says, grabbing hold of my arm and laughing.

My eyes bulge out of my head as I turn to look at her. “Don't even joke about that!" I tell her.

Alice stops laughing. “I was just kidding, Zariah," she says.

Luckily, we are right in front of my house now. “I've gotta go. See you later," I tell her, storming off. I don't want to talk about the Moon Goddess Ball anymore. I don't want to talk about mates anymore. I don't want to talk about Micah anymore. I don't want to talk about anything anymore.

I walk into the house, breezing right past my mom who shouts out to me asking how training was, and I head upstairs, ignoring the tears that sting my eyes.

No, Alpha Micah is not my mate.

He's not even my friend.