The Alpha's Rejected Mute Mate

ADRIANA POV After making breakfast for the Luna of the Diamond Pack this morning, I headed back to my room. A big smile spread across my face as I glanced at the calendar hanging on the wall of the room given to me at the pack house. Each ticked-off day on the April calendar brought me closer to my special day. Today was finally the 28th of April, my eighteenth birthday! I couldn't contain my excitement. Turning eighteen for most wolves is a big deal. It's when we usually shift into our wolf forms for the first time and meet our inner wolves. I'm even more excited than most, because I've been Mute since I was born. I had been like this since I was a baby, wrapped in the arms of my dead mother. She had been killed by a pack of lone wolves. Lone wolf... A lone wolf is a wolf that lives and hunts alone, outside of a pack, they don't belong to any Pack. This can happen for various reasons, such as being driven out of a pack for multiple good or bad reason, being unable to find a pack, or preferring a solitary lifestyle. Our pack had been getting countless attacks, from Rogue and lone wolves after our previous Alpha died from one of their attacks. Right now, The Alpha both son’s had been trained very hard to become the Alpha's of our pack. It's been seventeen good years… Seventeen long years since my mother died, and things hadn't been easy for me, considering the fact that I couldn't voice out any word from my lips… my thought had been forever imprisoned. I had always wanted to express myself. To know exactly how I would sound. I had wondered if my voice would resonate, like that of distant thunder? Or perhaps light and airy like the cool breeze. I yearned to tell stories, to sing along to the radio, to argue passionately about something. I dreamt of engaging in lively debates, of charming strangers with witty banter, of simply asking for a glass of water without resorting to the frustrating expressions I had become so adept at. When the description becomes too frustrating, I just end up writing it in my book for them to read. My grandmother worked in the Pack house making delicious meals for the Luna but after a back pain causing her constant weakness, I had taken the job to make food for the Luna and live in the pack house only to return back to my home by the weekend to be with my grandmother because my father was a messenger, hardly stays in the pack. I sighed and sat on the bed. In fourteen hours, I would be meeting my wolf, and the first shift is also important because you wouldn't only meet your wolf, but your mate too. Mate… Mate are important for every wolf. A mate is your special someone, picked out by the moon goddess. It is that special person you have connection with. He becomes the most important thing to you. You love them Instantly. You want and need to be with them and protect them. The new Alphas of our pack are twins, Henry and Harold. Neither of them has found their mate yet. Until one of them finds their mate, their mother, Seraphina, will continue to serve as our Luna. Seraphina, their mother, wasn't the same happy Luna they knew anymore. Since their father, the respected Alpha, died, a sadness had settled over her. People whispered about how much she had changed. She used to be so cheerful and loving, a source of warmth for the whole pack. But grief, like a terrible monster, had taken over her life. They talked about how she barely ate, couldn't sleep, and seemed to have lost all the joy she used to have. It was like the loss of their father had broken her spirit, leaving her feeling hopeless and empty. Seraphina's healing was slow and painful. The entire pack watched helplessly, filled with pity and worry. Her absence left a huge void in our pack. Seeing her suffer terrified them. I couldn't bear the thought of losing my own mate, if I ever found one. The image of my happiness destroyed, replaced by the emptiness that consumed Seraphina, was horrifying. • • ALMOST MIDNIGHT ‘It's almost my eighteenth birthday… Finally.’ I thought to myself glancing at the clock which was almost twelve in few seconds. “Happy birthday… Adriana, I’m your wolf, and I have waited for so long to meet you, I have always watched and protected you like your mother had made me promise, you can call me Anasiya… Ana is good.” The voice echoed in my head. ‘You knew my mother?’ I tried to say. “Ofcourse, your mother was a very beautiful woman, strong and powerful. She loved and protected her pup with all her life… I can sense your mate, do you wish to know who your destined mate is, Adriana?” The voice in my head echoed. ‘I have long waited to know who my mate is, just as I have waited long enough to meet you… tell me, who is he?’ I tried to say but the words are stuck in my throat. "Do you know…" Ana, my wolf, whispered, "your mate is one of the Alphas of the Diamond Pack? His name is Harold.” The color seemed to drain right out of me. I felt a coldness spread through me, like a sudden, icy wind. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat echoing the sudden, chilling fear that gripped me. It was like a cold hand had reached into my chest and squeezed. I knew, with a certainty that pierced through the haze of denial, that of the Alpha twins, the one destined for me by the Moon Goddess already had a girlfriend. He had chosen her, bound himself to her, and it had only been recently. The realization hit me like a physical blow, leaving me breathless and reeling. "Do you really think so?" I whispered in my mind, my hand shaking. I was asking Ana, my wolf, but the question hung heavy in the air. She didn't answer, and the silence felt like a heavy weight pressing down on me. A sick feeling rose in my stomach, making me want to throw up. Before I could let that feeling take over completely, the door to my room burst open with a loud bang, the hinges screaming in protest. I turned around, and to my surprise it was one of the Alpha twins _Henry. He had a wide smirk on his face as he walked further into my room. I stood up trying to bow my head in respect but Instead he pushed me on the bed making me bounce severally. I wiggled my head trying to tell him that I was his brother's mate but frustration of trying to explain to him made me even more frustrated. "The poor mute girl is trying so hard to speak," he said, "but it's no use. Look at you, struggling, your whole body trembling. It's… it's heartbreaking. All that effort, and you won't ever make a speech. Why not try something else? Dance, maybe? Move gracefully, seduce… you're so beautiful. I've watched you for ages, the way you move through the pack, those long legs… it's breathtaking. The way you smell, the way you shift your weight… it drives me wild. Let me show you what real expression feels like." He spoke softly, his breath warm on my skin as he began to rain kisses all over my neck, each kiss a claim of possession. ‘No..’I wanted to scream but the only sound that came out was struggling sob… I tried to push him away but he was a lot stronger than I expected. I didn't know what happened next but my nails began to grow longer, my wolf took over my body… I was beyond stunned and left in complete horror when she ripped his throat off, causing crimson liquid to spread through out the room, and then silence. He fell on the floor with a loud thud. The sight of Henry lying in a pool of his own blood was a horrifying scene I couldn't comprehend. My wolf form dissolved, and I found myself back in my human body, trembling against the cold stone wall. Confusion and terror washed over me. I stared at my hands, now human again, tears streaming down my face. My breath came in ragged gasps as I whispered in my mind, "Adriana, what have you done?" The weight of the deed hung heavy in the air, and I was left reeling, my mind struggling to grasp the reality of the situation. The sound of heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway, each one a loud boom that made my heart pound in my chest. I jumped to my feet, startled. The room was a mess, a complete disaster, and it was a terrible reminder of how wild the situation looked. I rushed to the door and slammed it shut with all my might. The old lock protested with a rusty groan before finally clicking into place. I ran a hand through my hair in frustration, which was all tangled and damp with sweat and fear. ‘Adriana, I know you didn't intend to kill him. The truth is, he tried to force himself on you. You were just trying to protect yourself. Why don't you try to explain the whole story? Explain what really happened.’ I thought to myself while goosebumps crawl around my arms. “Adriana, Adriana… are you in there, open the door.” I knew that voice, it was Harold, my mate… But I couldn't answer him. I couldn't let him see me. Because tonight, I had done something terrible. Something I never thought I was capable of. Killing… not just anyone but my mate twin brother.