Three Years Later
~Akira~
Akira walked the short distance from the cabin she now called home, to the pack house.
Everything seemed to have become different in the pack. Life had taken a better turn for the omega. She now stayed at a cottage with one of the kind-hearted elders in the pack. He took her in two years ago, when he witnessed the way she was being treated by the alpha's chosen mate - Clara.
To her surprise, the alpha had let her go, but under the condition that she would still serve him.
The man treated Akira like a daughter, which baffled Akira because she was still an omega, but he was once a gamma.
Alpha Cole remained as he was, evil and cold-hearted. Akira relieved the memories of her rejection constantly, and his ill-treatment only made it worse.
For a while after the rejection, she still held the thought that he would come to his senses and take her, but he didn't. Instead, he increased his harshness to her.
Clara did not make it any better. Once she found out Akira was the alpha's fated mate and that he rejected her, she made Akira's life a living hell.
Akira presumed that she would treat her better, knowing that the alpha was all hers, but it only seemed to fuel her anger.
Perhaps, Clara was jealous of the fact that the moon goddess didn't originally choose her to be her boyfriend's mate.
As for her friend, Rebecca, she was joined with her mate, and they were expecting a pup soon. They hadn't spoken frequently in the past years, and Akira felt alone, as she had predicted. It was a good thing the man came to her rescue. But he, himself was not much company.
He was not the kind of company Akira wanted. She longed for a mate, and even if she did not get one, she still longed to feel the presence of her wolf. She still felt hollow and incomplete without her wolf. Everyone her age had gotten one, but she.
And for the young alpha, Luca, she had not met with him again after that night. He had come to her pack for compulsory pack business several times, but in none of those times, had they met.
She thought about their encounter often, and also wondered if he thought about it too.
There was to be a meeting at the pack house, and Akira was required to go prepare the place for the meeting. It seemed important, as even the man she stayed with, was to be in attendance.
As Akira began cleaning, Clara walked into the room, as if she always watched out for when she was around.
Clara pointed around the room, "Make sure this place is sparkling. We are expecting an alpha for a very important business, and I do not want a filthy girl like you to ruin things for us," she taunted.
Akira ignored her and continued with her cleaning. It only fueled the witch's anger. She still referred to her as a witch, because there was no other name suitable for such a foul-mannered woman, and Clara never failed to live up to the name.
She snapped, walking over to Akira, and taking the broom from her. "Dumb bitch! I am talking to you!"
Akira rolled her eyes, feeling tired of the lady's bull crap. In the past, she would have cowered in fear, but she was no longer that girl. She knew she did not depend solely on the alpha now, so she did not have to take all of their mistreatment.
"I heard you," Akira said nonchalantly, "but how am I to do that, if you're holding my cleaning material?" she asked with a raised brow.
Clara's next reaction brought her much satisfaction.
She growled and dropped the broom, stomping away afterward. Akira was gladdened, to have finally been able to know the right buttons to push, on the evil witch.
***
It was now evening, and Akira sat outside the cottage, listening to the calming sounds of the nature that surrounded her.
Her peace was interrupted by someone calling her name in the distance.
"Akira! Akira!" Madeline, a fellow maid in the pack house, came running to her. "Akira!" she called again breathlessly, even after getting to her.
Akira watched in confusion as the girl bent over, trying to catch her breath.
When she had successfully done that, she looked at Akira, fear evident in her eyes. "The alpha sent me to come get you. Your presence is needed in the meeting."
On hearing the message, Akira too, became shaken with fear. She thought she was summoned because of the earlier altercation she had with Clara.
'What have I done?'
Although Akira had gathered some ounce of courage in the last year, she still feared the ruthless alpha Cole, immensely.
Akira stood up and they began walking to the house.
She swallowed an invisible lump in her throat before she spoke, willing her voice not to communicate her fear. "Have you any idea, what I am needed for?"
Madeline shook her head. She was as clueless as Akira, in the matter.
Akira prayed to the goddess in that moment, that whatever was coming to her, was going to be something she could handle.
They got to the alpha's office, where the meeting was, and Madeline parted ways with Akira, wishing her the best of luck. It was surely needed when being summoned by the alpha this way.
Akira knocked twice on the door and waited for a response before she opened it and let herself in.
The room fell silent after she entered, and Akira took that moment to glance around. She noted the presence of Alpha Cole, the man she stayed with - Gabriel, and the presence of another older man she did not recognize.
Clara was absent. 'Thank the goddess '
But as she set her gaze on the last person in the room, a quiet gasp left her throat.
Alpha Luca.
Her eyes remained set on him, she was unable to look away, after not seeing him at all in the last three years.
He stared at her in the same manner, and it was like they were the only ones in the room. She felt the urge to run to him and wrap her arms around his body, but she refrained from doing so, as it would be considered inappropriate. And the manner in which they parted the last time, Akira was not sure he shared the same enthusiasm.
"Akira," the bass voice of her alpha called.
Akira snapped out of her daze and turned her attention to the rest of the men in the room. It was then she began to feel the palpable tension that surrounded her.
Gabriel's eyes darted around, and he was unable to fix his eyes on her for long.
'What is this meeting about?'
Gabriel stood, and Akira thought he intended to leave. "Akira, this is alpha Luca, and that is the ex-alpha James, his father," he introduced.
She already knew who Luca was, so she took her time to look at James, and was able to note the obvious similarities between the man and his son.
The man's next words caused Akira to turn to him so sharply, she might have cracked her neck. "Alpha Luca has chosen you as his mate."