[Seven Years Ago]
[Incayon Pack, Obren Kingdom]
When Rania got to the hallway to the washrooms, she caught a thick whiff of two very familiar scents. One belonged to her best friend and the other belonged to her mate, or rather, the man she had just realized was her mate tonight.
"Oh no," was all Rania could manage when she saw the sight before her. The scent of her mate filling her nose, made her feel a tinge of desire in her undies, but she knew this was not the time for that.
She had always wished to do so many things with her mate, but at this point, that was an impossibility. Life was making a fool out of her and doing the worst in its wake, and Kim Rania never had a choice there.
'Dalrae?' Rania asked herself as she walked closer to the couple that seemed to be sucking each other's faces off.
Rania faltered for a moment there, but she had to keep going. She needed to see for herself if this was what it was. She knew there was just no way her Dalrae would betray her. It was just impossible, but was it?
She hoped that it was a lie, probably because of the dim lighting in the hallway. She contemplated turning on the light, but then what use was that? Rania was an alpha wolf, so there was no way her best friend and her mate didn't realize she was close.
Even with their heightened senses, they continued what they were doing, as the disbelief in Rania just magnified. Of all the people she had expected her betrayal to come from, Dalrae had never even been one of them.
Her best friend had betrayed her? That was unrealistic.
Maybe she was helping him, but helping him do what, when they seemed to be sucking each other's faces off? Unable to stomach the disgust, Rania made a move to walk back to her ball.
She didn't know what she could do at this point anyway. Maybe she could use the washrooms at the main house, that way, she wouldn't have to run into the two of them again.
However, just as she was about to make the first step, she heard Dalrae use their secret code, and in a tone that Dalrae knew Rania would recognize once and for all.
"Listen," Dalrae had said.
It was clear she wasn't talking to the man she was with, but she was talking to Rania. However, why would Dalrae want Rania to listen to them? Surely she wasn't going to be that cruel to her best friend, no?
"What?"
"What?" Rania asked, unsure of whether she was responding to Dalrae's request or she was just thinking out loud at the sight before her. Maybe she was hallucinating, but what if she wasn't? What if this was her new truth?
"Rania! Not another step, my love. See what this stupid bastard is up to!" Dalrae shouted at her best friend who seemed to snap out of her trance. It was then that she realized what was happening.
Dalrae wasn't sucking faces with her mate. She was determined to put an end to the warrior. There was only one possible reason in the world that could have Dalrae going so harshly after her future alpha.
The warrior had betrayed Rania.
"Fuck."
She wasn't sure whether she wanted to save Dalrae from a murder row, or if she wanted to save her mate from being murdered by her best friend. She was caught at crossroads, but for now, she would turn on the lights.
The moment Rania's fingers hit the switch, and the lights came on, she switched them off instinctively, as if not believing what was happening or rather what had happened to her mate.
"Damn," Rania said.
She should have intervened earlier, but her broken heart was making everything seem like it didn't matter when all in fact did matter. Whatever this warrior had done, must have not pleased Dalrae, because the woman had knocked this guy senseless.
Carefully, she flickered the switch on again, this time, ready to see what was happening. From where she was standing, she could finally understand why it seemed like her best friend was sucking faces with her mate.
"A little help here, please?" the warrior said, snapping Rania out of her trance.
Alpha warriors were possessive of their mates, and expectedly, Rania's first instinct should have been to protect her mate, but she didn't rush to save him from Dalrae's fury, no. Rania walked her pace, watching as her mate took punches.
"Are you still asking for her help? Oh, the audacity you got!" Dalrae said to the warrior as she landed another punch at Rania's mate.
Looking at Rania's heartbroken face, Dalrae whimpered for the first time in the night. She wanted to hug her friend, but she was covered in the warrior's blood. She made a mental note to hug Rania after she was done with her bastard mate.
Rania looked at the spectacle before her, her hopes shattering before her with every punch that Dalrae landed on her mate. She had only ever wished for someone to call hers, just like every wolf her age, but she never got the chance.
Somehow, happiness had taken a liking to evade her. It was almost as if she was cursed to be alone, but was she, when her beta was always hovering around her?
"Y'know, he knew he was your mate. He decided to get it on with that stupid omega bimbo. Of all the creatures he could have gone to, he just had to choose the mannerless one. Also, Rani, since you're alpha and all, maybe you can command him to not heal, right?"
A pissed Dalrae was dangerous, but a pissed Rania was lethal to life.
"Why?" Rania finally managed out and Dalrae and the warrior looked at her.
"He slept with someone else even after knowing he was your mate—"
"You're way too powerful for a warrior like me. I don't want a girl who can't be controlled, I want a submissive and ain't no submissive alpha, so yeah—" the warrior said, but he was instantly shut by Dalrae's fists on his abdomen.
"See, I just need permission—" Dalrae said angrily. She couldn't believe that this wolf still had the audacity to talk to Rania like that. Dalrae may have been fifteen, but she could handle herself pretty well.
"No, I'll deal with him," Rania said to Dalrae who looked worriedly at Rania. She knew the woman had a terrible temper, worse than hers. So, if Rania was going to handle this alone, she could as well get the coffin maker a call to give him the order.
"On your birthday?" Dalrae asked skeptically. She knew this wasn't about to be the fairy Christmas, instead, it was about to be Halloween.
"Yes, Dalrae. Don't worry, we won't be calling the coffin maker today," Rania said.
"What's your name?"
"Reece, and I reject you, alpha Rania," the warrior said and it took everything in Dalrae to hold back.
This warrior was cruel, too cruel. He hadn't even known Rania and he was already rejecting her. What the fuck was the society coming to? Was it now wrong for a woman to be strong and want to be loved? Goodness!
"I accept your rejection—" Rania said, having been tired from all the emotional turmoil she had had to deal with in the past few minutes.
She hadn't expected that she would lose her mate on the very day she found him. Maybe she was meant to be alone, truly, because why else would someone reject her without even trying to know her? What could be reason enough?
"What?" Both Dalrae and Reece spoke at the same time, before Dalrae smashed the warrior's head on the wall, rendering him unconscious. He would need that anyway, for ruining a night they had been hoping for several months. How could he be so heartless?
Dalrae wanted to punch him a little more, but Rania knew she wouldn't be ruining anyone's night either. So, she dragged her best friend back to the party, to enjoy whatever was left of the night.
Her heart was broken, but she could deal with that at a later time, besides, she had her wolf already.
"Let's go for a run, Dalrae," Rania said to Dalrae who instantly agreed.