Rick.
As though it were yesterday, I could vividly remember the scene that played between me and Evanora at the hospital.
Tearing me in bits could be the least of my father's reactions if he got to know that I had a girl pregnant. Alpha Ronan wouldn't want to face the humiliation of letting his pack know that his only heir swayed and in turn laid with a girl that wasn't his mate. So, my walking away from Eva at the hospital premises that day had felt like a walk of triumph, an absolute win over a pending problem. On that day, when I reached my apartment and got inside my room, I feigned indifference and went straight to my homework desk.
"How did it go with Eva at the doctor's appointment?" Jordan had questioned.
"We never made it to any appointment," I straightened my posture in the seat to portray seriousness. "Eva had broken up with me. She said it was over!"
" I don't understand…. Rick—"
"Please!" I yelled, shutting Jordan out. "I would rather not have any conversation about it. Not now, not ever. I have moved past it."
Jordan had appeared shell-shocked, his eyes rolling, before he walked out. And that was how Evanora became a history in my life. From then till now neither me nor Jordan had ever spoken about Evanora.
Two years after I finally reunited with my park after the conclusion of my final exam in school. In the estate where my pack dwelled in, my father's aura hung everywhere. As though everywhere was plastered with eggshells, every member of the pack threaded with extreme caution in the estate, due to the fear of doing something that could trigger my father's anger.
Except the welcome-back greetings that I exchanged with my father when I had just returned back home, nothing could have made him speak to me till this time. My father was like that, a very strict Alpha that spoke only when he had something vital to communicate.
"Rick," Beta Chase called behind me. "Alpha Ronan wants you in his room right away."
I dropped the vase of flowers in my hand on the window slab and headed straight to my father's room.
At his doorstep, I paused and knocked faintly.
"You can come in, Rick." He said in about three minutes. At the tone of his voice, I began to feel a shiver in my spines.
Mentally, I calculated my every step, in order not to make a screech with my feet.
"Rick, you don't need to seat," My father said sternly. "The pack is having its major yearly gathering and you could get your wolf…." He paused and shot me a look. "And I shall choose a mate for you on that day."
I felt my stomach turn over, boiling. My father was going to override the cause of destiny and choose a mate for me?
"Leave now!" He ordered and I fledged out of the room.
As the day of the gathering drew nearer, the news of the event began to swell in every corner. Gossips about my father's intended action dominated the major news papers in the city.
One the leading newspaper outlets had read: ALPHA RONAN'S HEIR IS REPORTED TO GET HIS WOLF AND MATE DURING THE YEALY MAJOR GATHERING THAT'S SCHEDULED TO TAKE PLACE IN FEW DAYS TIME. ALPHA RONAN IS YET AGAIN PLANNING A TWIST. WATCH OUT!
In all these, my major concerns were to get my wolf and experience shifting and the power that came with it. I really didn't care what mate my father would choose for me. I had fallen in love once and I doubted if I could ever let myself fall in love again.
Bored with the anticipation of the upcoming event, I decided to go get newspapers to read on the latest public comment about my father and the event.
"Should I come with you?" Beta Chase asked when I pumped into him on my way out.
"Yes. It's fine." I replied, smiling.
At the papers' vendor joint, I quickly grabbed the recently published newspapers, made my payment, and walked away before anyone could notice me.
"Thank you for your company," I said to Beta Chase, at the entrance of the estate. "But, I would like be alone now.
"That's fine."
I settled in the sitting area close to the parking lot and the breeze began to soak me up.
I spread the newspapers by its middle and began page back to the front cover.
Looking at the picture at the cover page, my heartbeat seemed to have stopped for a while. Shockwave captured my entire body that my fingers remained immobile. The picture that filled the front cover was Evanora's. She was standing so elegantly and boldly looking into the camera.
"I'm sorry Alpha Ronan," I muttered to myself. "Your rule is going to be broken for the first time, and by your own son.