Alpha’s Unwanted Mate

Book 2 Chapter 8

Axel pov

I picked Grayson up from middle school after I called Jade, shivering in disgust still from having to listen to her sugary-sweet voice pressed against my ear. I tried to be vague so she’d give me information, and I was glad to have been given a name. She said her name was Jade Thomas-Allen. She said her sister’s name was Colette. So that would make her Colette Thomas-Allen. Honestly, I was surprised Jade was talking to me like that, I assumed if they were sisters they’d be more the same. Then again, Julien was the opposite of me as well.

I sat outside of the middle school waiting for Grayson to come out while I scrolled through the yearbook from last year. I had borrowed it from the office before I left school. There she was, Colette Thomas. She was frowning, probably because she was forced to take a picture. Her hair was down and long, flowing down her back and her hood was pushed down. I could already tell by our five-minute talk that she was used to being alone and hidden.

I was mad at myself for never noticing her before. I’m sure I’ve had classes with her all my life since she’s from the Blood Moon pack. So she’s a werewolf, not a human. She was beautiful, I couldn’t deny that. I never thought I’d ever be interested in someone else, but my dreams and then seeing her, I couldn’t help how beautiful she looked when her hood fell back, her pure white long hair flying into her light violet eyes.

Grayson slammed the door and I jumped, shutting the yearbook and throwing it in my backseat. I looked at him and smiled. He was a cute kid, his hair was dark gray like Alice’s, reaching to his chin and messy and wild. He had chocolate brown eyes like Ulric, his father. I always thought he was the perfect combination of the two. He was short for his age, and use to get picked on before Lexi became his best friend. Even though she’s in high school now, no one dares pick on the Alpha princess’s best friend. “Wanna go to a party with me?” I asked him.

He stared at me with wide disbelieving eyes. “You? A party? Who are you and what have you done with Axel?” He asked with a grin. I shook my head at him, messing up his hair even more. “Where is this party at?” He asked me, buckling himself up as I drove to a store.

“It’s at the Blood Moon pack, so we better hurry or we’ll be late. I already let your mom know, she’s fine with it if you are. We’re just going to buy something at the store to wear since the packs are a few hours away from each other.” I said to him.

He nodded, not even replying to me as he pulled out his phone to text Lexi. He was always talking to her. “You’re going to make Zain beat you up one of these days if you’re not careful,” I said with a chuckle. I didn’t know very many people of the Blood Moon pack, but I did know about Lexi and Zain. They had been engaged since birth and the two were inseparable. I never thought arranged marriages were that great, but those two were adorable together, very much in love even at such a young age. I had heard from Zain once that his parents had been in an arranged marriage to each other as well before they discovered they were true mates with each other, apparently it was pretty romantic. It didn’t matter. The Moon Goddess was very selective with her True Mates now, something I wouldn’t be surprised of given what I’ve heard about my parents and even the rumors of what happened to Alice’s parents.

It didn’t matter to me, I refused to be with anyone. My father’s blood ran through my veins, I wouldn’t risk turning into him. “It’s fine, Zain knows I’m not a threat.” He whispered softly, interrupting my thoughts.

I glanced at him sharply, watching as his body language dropped into sudden weariness. “You okay? You secretly have a crush on her? Look buddy, I’d say go for it, but the way they are together, I don’t think you have much of a chance. You’re still really young, you’ll find someone else.” I said softly to him as I pulled into the parking spot.

He shrugged. “Yeah, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” He said, grinning at me. I could see he had pain in his eyes, but I didn’t push him. He was still so young, I knew he’d be fine.

We bought new clothes and changed fairly fast, buying some cologne and dabbing it on. I asked Grayson if he wanted to get his hair styled but it really wasn’t either of our thing so we both denied it. Soon enough we were back on the road towards the Blood Moon pack. This town that the schools were in was around an hour from the Blood Moon Pack, whilst it was around two hours from my pack. We made it there fairly fast considering. There wasn’t much conversation in the car, I could tell Grayson was deep in thought over something and I wanted to change the subject in case he was thinking about Lexi.

“So, do you know of a girl in the pack named Colette Thomas?” I asked him casually.

He looked at me in surprise, barking out a laugh. “You’re telling me we’re going to her birthday party, and you don’t even know who she is?” He laughed at me.

I frowned, scratching my head. I didn’t even think of that. I knew the party was for Jade, but since they were sisters there was the possibility of them being twins. The party was for both of them it seems. I almost chuckled out loud at myself. I was even looking in the yearbook at her picture, I should have noticed her sister’s picture next to it. It seemed I really was more interested in Colette than I should be. “I met her today, for about five minutes or so. She dropped her sketchbook and I figured I’d return it to her. I don’t really know her very well.” I muttered to him.

I knew how it sounded. It sounded stupid to me too. It was just a sketchbook, sure I looked at it and she’s an amazing artist, but I was fairly sure it was just a practice type sketchbook based on how many pictures were crossed out with an x and redrawn over and over again. I don’t know what was wrong with me. I should just give it to Grayson to give to her since he seems to be so close with that pack, but there was something about her, something that made me want to see her again.

Maybe because it’s because he’s just twelve, but he seemed to believe what I said, even though even I could hear the false tone in my voice. He shrugged, smiling slightly. “Well, that makes sense if it’s about the sketchbook. You’re not the type actually like someone. But for the record, I’m glad you’re not interested in Colette.” He said as I parked the car.

I frowned, scratching my head. “Why? Is there something wrong with her?” I asked.

He frowned at me, opening his door. “No, not really. I mean she’s the complete opposite of her sister. Where Jade is high class and all about fashion and looks and such, Colette doesn’t care about any of it. She’s way cooler in my opinion, but she’s always off alone somewhere trying to be invisible. The thing is, Jade and Colette are the Betas daughters. They’re also Engaged. Jade is engaged to Alpha Colt, and Colette is Engaged to Beta Emmett.” He said with a shrug. “Well, see you inside.” He said with a wave. I waved back weakly at him as he bounced off towards the celebration building and ran through the doors.

Engaged? She’s engaged? To Emmett? I said to myself, staring down at my hands. Why was this bothering me so much? I wasn’t interested in her anyway, I wasn’t interested in anyone. But despite that, I couldn’t stop myself from imagining it. The picture of Emmett and Colette together, hugging and kissing, smiling, and holding hands. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. I was here to return her sketchbook, that was all. I wanted to ask her why I kept dreaming about her, but now that I knew she was engaged I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to ask her. What if she thinks I’m hitting on her? She already seemed to think I was friends with her sister and somehow trying to trick her.

I grabbed her sketchbook and held it close to my side as I got out of my car.

More than once I turned around towards my car, the sounds of the party filling the air as people went in and out of the building. Everyone who walked by gawking at me didn’t help my conviction to go inside either. My mind was blank, the only things flashing over and over were ‘Colette Thomas-Allen’, and ‘Colette is engaged to Emmett’. Finally, I stopped my weird back and forth shuffle, nearly running into an older woman as I realized something. What if Grayson was wrong? What if she wasn’t actually engaged to him but he just assumed she was? I barely knew Emmett, but he was quiet and proper, always had a book in his hands. As for Colette, she seemed like she was always drawing, a quiet fiery girl that didn’t particularly match Emmett very well.

With those thoughts, I decided to finally enter the building. Everything was brighter than I figured it would be. Clearly a girl designed this party, pinks and whites everywhere, not exactly something I could see Colette liking. Then again I barely knew her, maybe she did like these things. The building was crowded, but that was to be expected considering they were the Betas daughters. I didn’t see Julien anywhere but it didn’t surprise me, he was probably out with some girl right now.

Everyone was dancing and swaying to the music, twirling each other and giggling. I walked steadily towards the boosted platform, knowing that I had to properly greet the Alpha and Luna before anything else. I might not be the next Alpha to be, but proper Alpha rules we had to announce ourselves in case they feel my Alpha blood and think that I’m an enemy.

Everywhere I stepped people moved away from me, pausing what they were doing to gossip and talk about me behind their hands. Was it that strange that I was here? Everyone from both packs was invited, and Jade herself invited me. I assumed she was a white-haired beauty like her sister, but so far I hadn’t seen either of them.

Finally, I made it to the top of the platform and I could immediately find the Alpha and Luna. Alpha Tate was tall and intimidating, looking almost an exact clone of his son, except Colt had light blue eyes where Tate had hazel eyes. Tate wasn’t as mountain-shaped or muscular as my father or his cousin Ulric, but he was still a very strong presence. Though no one could argue that the most fierce and intimidating presence in the room was coming from Luna Adaline. She was positively regal-looking as she sat nice and neatly in her chair, her back straight and her light brown hair falling waves down her back. She had the lightest blue eyes I’ve ever seen, almost white as she glanced at me, making me shiver from the power radiating from her.

Instantly I bowed, before even looking around at who was near them. “My name is Axel Knight, it’s an honor to meet you,” I said to them clearly.

Luna Adaline stood up and walked over to me, surprising me by hugging me. “I never met your mother face to face, but she was a good friend to me for the months I talked to her on the phone. I’m so very sorry for your loss. I had heard you were the image of your mother. Whilst I’ve never met her face to face, I’ve seen pictures, and I can definitely agree with the rumors. Welcome to the Blood Moon pack, I hope you enjoy the party.” She said softly. Instantly I wished she’d hug me again, something about how motherly she felt made me take a deep breath, trying to blink my tears back before I ended up crying like a baby in front of these strangers. What was wrong with me?

She smiled at me and took my hand, walking me over to the others seated. She pointed to a long black-haired beauty with light green eyes sitting next to Alpha Tate on one side, and a tall handsome blood red-haired man, long hair braided down his back and brown eyes. “This is Alpha Tate’s sister, Caileen, and her husband Brandos, my brother. They are the future Beta Emmett’s parents.” She said with a smile. I nodded my hello at them, my mouth going dry as I remembered what I was told. ‘Colette is engaged to the future Beta Emmett.’ So these were his parents.

She pointed to the two men sitting next to her empty seat. The taller one of the two had short black hair and chocolate eyes, a nice smile. I couldn’t help but notice his arm was around the shorter man’s shoulders. He had chin-length light gray hair and dark blue eyes. They both had a friendly smile, and the taller one had a dominating aura as he squeezed the shorter one tighter against him. “The black-haired one is Lyell, the light gray-haired one is Alarick. They are the Betas of our pack, and also the parents of Jade, the future Luna, and Colette, the future Beta.” She said with a grin.

I nodded firmly as I held out my hand, shaking theirs. She introduced me to the Gammas, a tall dark gray-haired man that looked strangely just like the Beta Alarick, making me think they were possibly twins, along with his wife, Lilian, a short younger-looking woman with long pale blond hair. I talked to them for some length of time, mostly because I have known Zain, their son, for so long because Grayson always was with him and Lexi, and I use to always give them rides.

It was fun talking to the adults, but I was here for a reason. I knew I could have just handed her sketchbook to one of her fathers, but I wanted to see her myself. I was determined at this point, I wasn’t leaving till I had a proper talk with her.