Alpha's Wolfless Mate

0.1| Passage of Time

- 20 years later -

[Naeva is 26 and Nyra is 25]

"Emily, think about it before you reject my nephew. He is well settled and is in a good position in his pack. His family is rather small and open-minded. There is no reason to let this end here like this. Nyra will be happy..."

"I already told you the end of the deal. Take it or leave it. I am not negotiating."

Nyra heard aunt Emily talking to a woman in the living room. She was hiding behind a wall and eavesdropping on their conversation ever since she heard herself being mentioned. As the conversation grew, she promptly understood what it was about and lost interest in it.

"Don't be so unreasonable now. Nyra isn't getting any younger and needs to carry out a mateship before she's too old. She's not like us, so a compromise is inevitable. A human in every sense, who would want her if you didn't bend your spine a little?" The woman tried to persuade Emily into agreeing to the mateship of Nyra and her nephew.

Emily rolled her eyes and held up four fingers at her, "Why are you so stubborn? I gave you an amount. If you cannot afford it, then don't even think about having Nyra as your nephew's second mate. That man has a two-month-old baby and his mate just died, but I am not raising the price. However, that's where my generosity ends. The fixed price won't change. That's the least I deserve after raising the girl for 20 years."

Nyra's hands left the wall and she retreated into her room. It was a room that she and her sister, Naeva, shared. Naeva had a good job which required her to leave at weird times and sometimes she did not show up for days. Sometimes Nyra was left alone in the room for three to four days, which made her think it was hers alone.

The two single beds were messy and the wardrobe door had a sock stuck in it. The thin carpet hadn't been cleaned in a few years and the curtains had not been moved for so long that spiders took refuge between the folds.

Nyra fell backwards on her bed and closed her eyes with a sigh. The same thing happened again. Her aunt won't let her have a relatively normal life without looking for benefits from it.

In fact, Nyra knew it was impossible to find herself a mate. Even though her father was a werewolf, Nyra had taken after her mother's human nature. Other than above average sense, she had nothing to call herself a werewolf.

A mateship was the only thing Nyra could get in the werewolf world. A mateship was different from naturally made-for-each-other-kind mates. Mateship happens when two people decide to mate without sharing a spiritual bond between their wolves. It usually helps those who lose their mate early on or need more emotional support throughout life.

Although Nyra had none of that, she wasn't planning on staying alone for the rest of her life. If there was a decent enough man, then Nyra wasn't against it at all. But her aunt wasn't that simple. She wanted to find someone who had a lot of money. It would be a buying game for her. Where she'd get a handsome amount in exchange for Nyra.

Turning over, Nyra buried her face into the cold pillow. She was twenty-five years old already. If she were to pass her twenty's like this, then she'd have to compromise a lot more to find a good partner among those werewolves. After all, humans weren't an option. She wasn't one of them.

"Nyra! Come down!" Aunt Emily's shout sent a shock over her body. She scurried out of bed and left the room in a hurry. Downstairs, she found Emily sitting alone in the living room. The other woman probably left in disappointment.

"Yes aunt?"

"What happened to this month's wages?" Aunt Emily eyed her over the edge of her tea cup. Nyra pursed her lips and took out a thin stack of bank notes out of her pocket. Emily raised her hand with red nails and snatched the money before counting the notes.

"It's only so much this time. If not for your sister taking you out so many times last month, you could have worked many more hours."

Emily complained with a sneer and pocketed the money. Nyra stood silently and said nothing. She wasn't as outspoken and hot-headed as Naeva. Her timid personality was a complete opposite of her sister's confident personality.

Unlike Nyra, Naeva had a wolf, and a strong one at that. It was because Naeva was so strong and stood up against others for Nyra, that the two sisters were able to live just fine for the past twenty years. At least on ordinary days, Nyra was treated a bit better than the omegas in the pack. But when Naeva wasn't around, those around Nyra made good use of the opportunity.

If Naeva was there, then aunt Emily wouldn't have taken all of Nyra's hard-earned money.

"Don't look at me as if I am doing something wrong. Your family died and we had nothing to do with it, but in the end you two were still thrown upon us. Your uncle and I raised you two for twenty years. That is what we should get. Your sister is an ungrateful brat who doesn't know how to repay old debts, so you naturally have to suffer more to compensate for her!" Aunt Emily said with an air of righteousness around her.

Nyra looked away and silently retreated. This is what she always does. She hated violence and loud noises. If possible, she tried to avoid doing anything that might lead to an argument or fight. Even Naeva, who could easily fight everyone who bullied them, had to be careful in front of Nyra.

It was a consequence of the nightmares that plagued Nyra's sleep every night. The screams of that night never left her ears. The scent of blood, the panic in her heart and the screams of her parents. The roars of the beasts tore everyone apart until they couldn't be recognised. They still lingered within Nyra's heart.

While that night turned into motivation for Naeva to become stronger and protect her sister, Nyra did not have a choice, did she? She had no way of becoming stronger and hence retreated deeper into the shell of a weak and timid person. In the end, all she wanted was to have a good life with her sister. But aunt Emily was not going to let it happen so easily.

"Aunt, why didn't you agree to any of the mateships for me?" Nyra asked softly. Although she already knew the answer to that question, she couldn't stop herself from asking.

In their pack, Nyra was considered to be beautiful. She wasn't the most beautiful, but she definitely caught a few eyes when outside. If not for aunt Emily's unreasonable demands for her future partner, then Nyra would have settled down already.

However, mateship wasn't Nyra's ultimate goal. If she could live a peaceful life among the werewolves, then she'd be more than happy to be single for the rest of her life.

But Naeva will eventually find a mate and Nyra won't want to be a burden for the rest of her life. If she can find a good person for mateship, then she'll be able to live among them peacefully and keep in contact with her sister as well.

That was what she wanted.

But aunt Emily had rejected more than fifteen people in two years. Eventually, people stopped coming to ask after word spread that her aunt was asking for such an unreasonable amount of money just to let them have Nyra as their mateship partner.

"Why? You have the nerve to ask me why I did this? After feeding you and your sister for twenty years, I deserve more than this. If you want to have a mate, then this is not a big enough amount. Until someone is willing to pay that much, you will stay here and work. This is a debt you and your sister owe us!"

Emily's words were sharper than a knife wound. Nyra fiddled with her waist-length hair and nodded in response. She had nothing to say to that. Even if she felt it was unfair to her, she did not have the confidence to speak up.

Emily saw her sullen expression and instantly fell into a bad mood. She hated it when Nyra made that face. It made others think she was bullying Nyra for no reason. Emily did not see anything wrong with it, so she simply placed the cup on the table and got up from the sofa.

"Clean up everything while I'm out. I want everything spotless when I return." Emily eyed Nyra with a sneer and left with her curly hair swaying behind her slender back.

Nyra sighed as she picked up the two cups and went into the kitchen. Today's breakfast was especially extravagant because it was her cousin's birthday.

Emily spared no effort in making her son's birthday a special occasion. Not only the people in the house but the entire community would know when it was Tristan's birthday, because every birthday morning at least ten households around then would receive treats.

After cleaning up everything, Nyra changed and went to work with a small bowl of leftover breakfast to eat at work. She had been working at a local convenience store ever since she landed the job two years ago. Seeing that Nyra had nothing special when it came to academic degrees, this was a job she got effortlessly.

"Nyra! Cover my night shift at the counter today, will ya?! I have something going on in the evening!" A colleague rushed over to her as soon as Nyra placed her bag.

Kia, a girl with golden hair and deep brown eyes, had the personality of a pet golden retriever. Give her a treat and she'll cuddle you to near death. Nyra had the fortune of experiencing it first hand. She did not want to cover the s**t but since Kia insisted, she could only nod and agree.

"If I get him to propose this month then I will give you half the credit! " Kia finished off her honey words with a wink at the end.

With a ching, the cash register opened. Nyra's lips quirked upwards in a small smile. Kia was quite a talkative person. It made up for Nyra's extremely introverted personality. The contrast between the two was as big as the height of Niagara falls.

Kia did not mind the quietness of Nyra. In fact, she loved talking. It was already late afternoon and rarely anyone came to the store at that time. Kia dragged over a stool and sat next to Nyra behind the counter. She kept talking about her date with her mate.

"I don't want any credit from you. Just take over your own shifts more often, that will be enough."

Since she had to work late today, Nyra saved up her food to eat later in the evening. She sent a message to aunt Emily saying she would be late. Emily obviously wasn't happy that today she had to cook dinner on her own. Why would she do anything when there was someone else to do it for her? With a pissed off mood, she wrote a passage of hurtful words back as a reply.

Nyra took a fleeting glance at the words and placed her phone aside.

Naeva hadn't called or texted her in three days.

As werewolves, it was very easy to contact each other through mind links. Nyra's lack of wolf meant she couldn't connect with anyone, not even her sister. That was the reason Naeva brought her a phone with the first salary.

Nyra had no idea where she worked and she never asked. However, times like these made her worry about Naeva. What kind of workplace made their staff work so much that they had to stay away from home for so long?

Nyra's mood plummeted another few degrees. She nonchalantly worked for the day and until midnight. Since she took over the nightshift, she was the one responsible for closing. It was a blessing to have a job very close to the house. It was a ten minute walk at most.

Seeing that everyone was sleeping already, Nyra first went to the kitchen and got some of the leftovers from the fridge before running back into her room.

Silence around her was suffocating. It was a dark room with barely anything in place. As Nyra ate on her bed, she slowly looked around. Her eyes were lined red. She sniffed and continued to eat. She missed Naeva. It was hard to live without her sister. Every night Nyra would be afraid of nightmares.

Naeva would normally comfort her, but when she wasn't around, Nyra had a hard time falling asleep. That night was just like any other restless one for her. Her ears seemed to block all the sound around her. Instead, all she could hear was the gut churning screams of prey and roars of predators.

Nyra couldn't have been happier when her alarm went off in the morning. Her condition was a bit special after all. Usually, when someone is plagued by nightmares, they wake up in fright and sweat, but Nyra was the opposite.

She couldn't wake up from that hellish nightmare on her own. If her sister wasn't around, then the alarm would do just fine to wake her up.

With a heavy look in her eyes, Nyra picked up the fallen blanket and tried to arrange the room for once. Her heart wasn't in the chore and halfway through, she left the room as it was. No one was there to scold her anyway.

As work was in the afternoon, she went downstairs to take a shower and prepare everything she was instructed to do.

Twenty years ago, when Nyra and Naeva came to live with their paternal uncle in his pack, the two sisters already knew what their fate was gonna be. Their cousin Tristan, who was the same age as Nyra, was not welcoming towards them as a five-year-old. The adults saw the two girls as a burden they did not ask for. They had to deal with each other anyway. They were not given a choice.

The two sisters had their own way of dealing with the mistreatment of the family. Nyra took it upon herself to be docile and obedient towards them in order to maintain a peaceful environment. As long as she did everything they asked for, there would be no conflicts.

But Naeva was the opposite. She liked to take a stand against her uncle and aunt, who often took advantage of Nyra's personality to make her do all the chores at home.

Ever since Naeva got a job and started staying away from home for a couple of days in succession, Nyra would voluntarily choose to do all the chores without having to worry about a fight breaking out. That had nothing to do with how much she missed her sister though. She loved the quietness but also hated not having Naeva around. Nyra was always caught in a dilemma.

Uncle Gregory was a working individual, while aunt Emily chose to be at home. However, today they were both leaving for some event together. By the time both were ready to leave, Nyra had already made breakfast. Tristan was sprawled on the sofa, switching channels as he lay there with nothing to do.

This was a normal day in the house and that was how Nyra liked it. A little bit of effort and no one has to participate in a screaming match or taunt one another, right?

With his aunt and uncle being out, Tristan did not want to stay home either. How could he possibly miss the opportunity to run free with no one to look after him? He got ready to meet with his friends, leaving Nyra alone at home until afternoon. This was Nyra's favourite time. She made an easy lunch and ate it while watching her favourite show. Being alone was a luxury for her, as no one stopped her from doing anything.

She was halfway through the episode when the doorbell rang. She quickly got up and peeked through the hole in the door to see who it was. When she saw Naeva's face up close, Nyra squealed and opened the door quickly.