It didn’t make sense but I didn’t know her.
“Camilla has been in Nolan’s life for longer than anyone,” Luna Natalie smiled at the blonde and her son, “Not fated mates, but mates nonetheless,”
What?
“We are honored and elated to have Camilla follow in my footsteps as Luna and have her and my son’s heir carry on the Hemming line,” Her eyes misted over, it looked like genuine emotion.
These things always got so d.amn emotional for no reason.
“Son,” Alpha Hugo shook his son’s hand.
I didn’t pay attention to the rest. I’ve heard it a million times before.
My attention was on Nolan and Camilla, she didn’t stop touching her stomach. We knew she was pregnant and it seemed like a show at this point.
They seemed to be in love or at least infatuation, but it was rare for such a young Alpha to take a chosen mate, I took over as Alpha when I was nineteen, five years ago, and never found mine. My mate would make me stronger, would make the pack stronger when I found her. But I didn’t need someone to help me. I had my Beta and Gamma for that until she arrived.
I wondered why he felt the need to take a chosen mate instead of waiting for his real one. But the bigger thought was how Willa played into this all or how she thought she did.
The formalities dragged on, I swear some of these people just liked to hear themselves talk.
Finally, when they dragged it on long enough it ended and I was able to mingle.
Mingle was an interesting word to me, most people avoided me. They all stared but gave me a wide berth. I knew part of it had to do with the aura that leaked out of me even when I kept it reigned in, the other part was the novelty of having a prince among them.
Usually, I didn’t mind. It kept people away unless they needed something, or I needed something from them.
“Alpha Nolan, Congratulations,” I shook his hand, he had a weak handshake.
“Prince Alpha Dracos,” He nodded, i.diot. I removed my hand from his grasp.
“Where is Willa?” I asked him, I didn’t have the time nor any want to beat around the bush here, especially when it came to her.
He scanned my face taking a step back.
“Oh,” Realization settled on his face, “You were here on my birthday.”
I nodded once, interesting he would have forgotten that little detail unless he was pretending.
He swallowed. I found it was better to let others do the talking, especially in my presence. They usually gave away everything I needed and more just to fill the uncomfortable silence.
“You didn’t hear,” He looked at me again.
“Obviously not or I wouldn’t be asking,” I fixed him with a bored stare I didn’t have to fake.
“We, well, we decided to go separate ways.” He wrung his hands, a bad sign for an Alpha even though he was only one for mere minutes.
“What does that mean? I don’t appreciate riddles,” His shoulders fell for a split second and I savored it, but I didn’t let him know that. I kept myself composed as I always did, it was second nature to me.
“We rejected each other.”
That took me by surprise, I felt my composure crack for an instant. Willa and Nolan were fated mates and chose to reject each other? That was rare, I never met anyone who did that in my lifetime.
I understood why she would reject him. He wasn’t unattractive, but he seemed aloof, definitely not the dominant Alpha male that I would expect. She was an absolute goddess, gorgeous in a way few were, but also attuned, smart and collected, with opinions.
Again, I was basing this off a few moments when she actually engaged with me. But from those fleeting moments, I knew he didn’t deserve her.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” For him, not her, “Any idea where she is now?” I would leave this monotonous party and go find her, see for once and for all if what I felt was real.
“I don’t know,” He shook his head, nodding to someone behind me.
“I’m still speaking to you,” I directed his attention back to me.
“Yes, sir,” He bowed his head again and I almost smirked, “She left, a few months ago but I don’t know where.”
She left?
That didn’t sit well with me. I know it must be hard to face someone you rejected, especially the Alpha, but if it was truly mutual then why would she feel like she needed to leave?
His leggy blonde Luna came up to him snaking her arms around him.
“Oops, I don’t want to poke you with my bump,” She smiled up at him, “That wouldn’t be good for the baby,” She rubbed her stomach.
“It would be tragic,” I replied flatly before leaving them.
Their brief interaction wore me out and I had more questions than answers now.
If they truly rejected each other months ago, then how was he so comfortable taking a new Luna already? The pain of rejection I heard was immense, and to have her pregnant already.
It wasn’t adding up, but I really didn’t care about them enough to ask for more details.
The only person I cared about in the entirety of this d.amn pack was Willa Balfour and apparently, she wasn’t even here anymore.
(Willa)
I opened the windows to the first breath of warmer air. It still held the undercurrents of winter as if it was reluctant to loosen its hold even though Spring was coming to an end.
The air was refreshing and it let out the heat of the small cottage, the scent of freshly baked bread leaked out and mixed with the crisp morning air.
I paused to memorize this, to capture this moment and commit it to memory. The scent of my mom’s baking, the refreshing air that filtered past the curtains into our home. I knew my son was out playing just beyond my eyesight with my dad.
I could pretend, no, I could have a moment at a time when everything was actually perfect. I savored those and tucked them away, they still seemed fleeting and few and far between.
When I lay in bed with my son, Emmett, I replayed those memories that I collected and savored in the feelings that I recalled when I cataloged them.
My parents and I moved not too far from the pack. Far enough away that no one would find us, not that anyone was looking, but we didn’t know where else to go. The only life any of us knew was at the pack.
I always suspected that no matter how happy my parents claimed to be here, how happy I actually saw them be, they longed to return to where they both grew up. I knew they never had any intention of leaving until they were basically f.orced to at my hand, at Nolan’s hand.
We moved to a cottage that was in my dad’s name, passed down by my grandparents. We used to come here every so often growing up as a weekend getaway, but we made it home now.
It was situated in the first a few miles away from Centuri City, the city closest to my old pack. I needed an escape and I couldn’t have asked for a better one.
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