The Alpha's Princess

~ Asteria (POV) ~

“Happy birthday, Asteria.” I heard my father’s lovely voice. I quickly ran out of my room and hugged him.

“So how are you feeling, my angel? Did your wolf talk to you?” he asked me while caressing my hair.

“Yes, her name is Ashlin,” I smiled at him and said. I was really waiting for my eighteenth birthday because I wanted to talk with my wolf and finally she spoke to me early in the morning.

“Sounds good. You’ll find your mate soon, but be careful with boys,” he frowned at me and said. I know he’s not happy with the fact I’m going to be with my mate after I find him. I smiled at him and nodded. I know how much my father loves me, so I always listen to him.

After having a funny conversation with him, he left saying that he should meet our alpha. I looked at the time and found it was already ten in the morning and today was Sunday, so I was going to my favorite place. I changed into a short floral dress with straps and tied my hair into a low ponytail. I walked out of my house and went to the flower garden that was situated at the end of our area. No one comes to this flower garden because they thought it’s a bad sin, but I will never think flowers are bad sins.

As I approached the flower garden, I felt a strong scent. A scent mixed with orange and chocolate. What was that? I’d never felt something like this before.

‘Our mate...he’s here.’ My heartbeat stopped for a second as I heard my wolf’s happy giggle and then it started to beat so fast. My mate? Happiness and impatience grew hard inside of me, and I wanted to see him. I wanted to know his name.

‘We are so lucky, Asteria. He’s so strong. I can feel him.’ I bit my lower lip and I didn’t know how to react. My mind was filled with my wolf’s voice and what she said.

Forgetting all the nervous feelings I was feeling right now, I entered the garden. I looked around for a while and saw a figure who was standing under the big chestnut tree. My mate... I couldn’t see him clearly, but he was familiar. I walked towards him slowly and stood a few steps away from him. Then he turned to me.

Damen Phoenix? Our alpha’s son? Is he my mate? My mind was filled with countless questions. I bit my lower lip and looked into his black eyes. My heart was beating ridiculously fast. He was so handsome, and most importantly, he was the most handsome guy in our pack. Tall, strong, muscular body, sharp jawline, thin lips, silky jet-black hair—simply he’s just amazing. I have really liked him ever since I was a kid.

I knew I was blushing, but I didn’t want to hide it from him. He was my mate and he was the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with.

“So you’re here.” As soon as I heard his voice, my wolf howled from happiness. She was really happy because of our mate. I smiled at him and nodded. I watched his face for a while, but it didn’t show any happiness. Maybe he was training and he was tired now.

“Asteria Griffin. You like me?” Why is he asking that? I really like him. He’s my mate.

“Yes.” I smiled and nodded at him. Then he let out a chuckle and sighed. I think he’s so tired because of training. I really feel upset for him because he is a busy guy and he has so many things to deal with. It’s okay; I’ll be his strength from now on. I’ll help him with everything.

“So you’re going to become Luna of this Blood Moon pack?” I watched his face for a while and smiled shyly. I didn’t know how to react or answer his question.

“I, Damen Phoenix, reject Asteria Griffin as my mate.” His words stabbed straight into my heart. It hurts… Did my mate just reject me? Maybe I heard him wrong.

“Ahhhh.” Unintentionally, I screamed while clutching my dress at the same time. I felt my wolf’s pain. She was crying and whimpering from the pain. My legs went numb and my whole body began to shake.

It hurts. Please, moon goddess, make it stop. Tears came out of my eyes and I felt a suffocating feeling inside of my chest.

“Wh...why?” I finally managed to ask him. As I looked up at him, I saw his eyes were somewhat red. I didn’t know how to understand his intentions or what’s going on inside of his mind.

“Weak and pathetic. I want a she-wolf with alpha blood to be my Luna. You’re such a failure.” That’s all he said. He just turned and left while leaving me here with a heart-throbbing pain. Is this what I got for my eighteenth birthday? Is this my gift? I slowly sat on the ground and looked up at the sky. My mate just rejected me just because I don’t have alpha blood in me.

‘Ashlin… Are you okay?’ After spending more than three hours here, I finally asked her.

‘We have it…we have what he wants. We have everything and we will be a perfect Luna, but why?’ Her broken voice made my heart shatter into pieces. I stayed silent because I didn’t want to hurt her.

I slowly got up from the ground and walked out of the garden. The sky was getting darker and ready to welcome the night. It had been hours since he rejected me, but the pain was still here, and that made my wolf become numb. She didn’t even have the strength to speak to me.

I slowly walked towards my house and found my father was waiting for me with a smile. I forgot all the pain and smiled at him. I strode towards him and hugged him so tightly.

“Get ready. In a while, angel, we have dinner with Alpha Kalen and his family today.” My heart shook with horror. A dinner with Alpha Kalen and his family? That means Damen will also be there. No, I don’t want... I don’t want him to reject me again.

“Can I not go there, Father?” I asked him because I was scared to face the same thing again.

“It’s your birthday, we should go there.” I simply nodded at him and entered the house. My mind was a mess because of this sudden dinner. We’ve never had dinner together, but why today?

There's one thing that I couldn’t understand, and it was Alpha Kalen and Luna Martha. They secretly treat me well and I don’t know why. The way they look at me with love and care has been a real puzzle to me ever since I was a kid. Why do I feel like they are hiding something important from me?

~ Damen (POV) ~

It was her birthday. I found out that she was my mate two years ago. My mind was a mess because I liked her, and at the same time, I was scared to be like my uncle. I saw his pain after he lost his mate. It was all because she was weak and delicate. Asteria was weak too, but she was a gorgeous woman and I liked her ever since I was a kid. She was my crush and I still like her, but she’s too weak to be our Luna. She could easily get killed by our enemies. I didn’t… I didn’t want her to die because I liked her and I would go insane if I lost her.

I got up from the bed and changed into my clothes. My heart was hurting because I was going to reject her. I went out of the house and walked towards her favorite place. It was Sunday and I knew she was going to be there in a while. Every Sunday, I also came here and watched her secretly. I wanted to let go of her and forget, but I failed, and I’m still failing.

Two years passed, but yet I’m not ready to hurt her feelings on her birthday. I knew this day would come soon and she’d recognise me as her mate, but still I couldn’t make myself do this. I approached the flower garden and my mind started to show me how I saw her in this place. She was simply an angel. Blue eyes, long black hair, cherry lips, and a pretty face. Most importantly, she’s innocent.

‘We can’t do this, Damen. She’s ours. We can protect her. This will hurt her more than we could ever imagine.” It was my wolf Derek; ever since we found that she was our mate, he was obsessed with her. He keeps telling me that she’s strong and she’s special, but no...she’s just a normal and innocent girl.

‘You want her to get killed, Derek? You know they always attack our Luna. Our Luna should be strong. Asteria is just too delicate and innocent. You think that at least she could even hurt someone? No...she’s just a woman with kindness,” I explained to him as he howled from pain.

‘But I want her... I want my mate. I love her.” I felt the pain in his heart and not only his—I also loved her.

‘I know. But we should protect her,’ betraying all my feelings, I said with a sigh. Derek was whimpering inside of me.

I suddenly felt a familiar scent of roses and vanilla. My heart filled with a strange feeling and I knew she was here.

‘Damen…we can’t do this... I can feel her wolf. She’s happy because we’re here.’ My wolf never acted like this. He was the most dangerous and heartless wolf in our pack, but look at him now.

I clenched my jaws as I felt her scent near me. Without caring for my wolf, I turned to her. My heart stopped for a while as I saw her beauty. Why is she so beautiful today? Wearing a floral frock, she held the aura of innocence. She started to blush as she saw me.

‘Gorgeous.’ I heard my wolf’s voice. Of course she’s gorgeous.

“So you’re here,” I said as she nodded at me with a breathtaking smile. My heartbeat went crazy because of her smile. She was happy.

“Asteria Griffin, you like me?” It was a useless question because I was going to reject her, but deep inside of my heart, I wanted to know it. I wanted to know her feelings towards me. This was the first time we were talking to each other, but we had watched each other ever since we were kids.

“Yes.” She nodded and smiled at me. I watched her sparkling blue eyes for a while and chuckled. I’m glad that she likes me. Then she watched me with a worried look on her face.

‘She’s worried about us. She thinks we’re tired and busy.’ My wolf’s happiness was glued in his voice. Is she really worried about me?

“So you’re going to become Luna of this Blood Moon pack?” I asked as she bit her lower lip and smiled shyly. I felt the burning desire in me to ravish her here and there. I wanted to give up on everything and take her with me somewhere far away.

My mind imagined so many lovely things with her, having kids and becoming a father while she was their mother, but everything was just an illusion. If I make her my Luna, they will definitely try to kill her. I’m not that strong to accept my mate’s death.

“I, Damen Phoenix, reject Asteria Griffin as my mate.” Finally the words I decided to say from two years ago came out of my mouth.

‘Noo…don’t…she’s our treasure.’ My wolf howled from pain as he spoke with his broken voice. I looked at Asteria’s face and saw the hurt and disbelief in her eyes. Then she cried from pain as she clutched the dress she was wearing.

Not only her, but I was also in pain, but I endured it. I watched her body begin to shake. She’s hurt... My eyes turned red as I saw her pain. She was the girl I secretly liked and loved ever since I was thirteen years old, she was the girl I always dreamed about, she was the girl I wanted to be my kid’s mother—but her life is more important to me than my dreams and desires.

I’m sorry, Asteria. I will kill myself if I lost you after you became my wife and my Luna.

“Wh..why?” Finally she looked at me and asked. Her eyes were filled with tears, and her face was pale.

“Weak and pathetic. I want a she-wolf with alpha blood to be my Luna. You’re such a failure.” I wanted her to hate me, so I just told her that and left her alone in that garden. I forced myself not to look back because I knew I hurt her beyond the limit.

‘Bastard...how could you? She’s ours to love and cherish, not to hurt,’ my wolf shouted with fury.

I went straight home and entered my room. I sat on my bed and started to pull my hair as if I was a crazy man. I wanted to feel the pain, I wanted to feel the same pain I gave her. I took off my shirt and strode into the washroom. Then I grabbed a razor and cut the side of my torso.

‘The thing you’re doing will never take back the pain you gave her.’ I heard my wolf’s voice again and I stopped what I was doing. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw a mess. I was a fucking mess. Then I saw the bleeding wound on my body, but without caring, I took a cold shower.

After that, I climbed onto the bed and closed my eyes to sleep.

‘Damen, help…’ I heard her voice and I was in my wolf’s form. I followed her voice and ran into the dark forest while knowing that it was a forbidden place for us. Then finally I stopped in front of a white she-wolf. Her eyes were blue, but those were filled with hurt. Soon after, she collapsed onto the floor while giving me the best view of a man who was holding a silver dagger with blood dripping down from the dagger. Noo…

My eyes snapped open and I immediately sat up on the bed. My breath became heavy and my heart felt suffocated. It was the same dream I'd been seeing for two years. This was the main reason I was pushing Asteria away from my life. Shit…

“Brother, mom asked you to come for dinner. It’s already six-thirty in the evening and we have guests, so she said, ‘Wear something nice and come down.’” I heard my little brother’s voice and I sighed. Guests? Suddenly?

“I’ll come in a while.” I spoke as I got down from the bed and walked into the washroom. I wanted to shower again because I was sweating. After taking a shower, I changed into black sweatpants and a black shirt. Without even wiping my hair properly, I went downstairs.

As soon as I saw the guests, my whole body froze. Asteria? Why is she here? Don’t tell me she told my parents that I rejected her as my mate. Horror took over me as I looked at my mother. She would kill me if she found that I rejected my mate.

“You’re here. Let’s have dinner,” mom smiled at me and said. Then Asteria’s eyes fell on me, but within a second, her eyes left mine and looked down. My heart was covered with a bitter feeling and I wanted to go and grab her chin to kiss, but I caused all of this.

While having dinner, she didn’t even look at me for a second. All she did was focus on her food without even looking anywhere.

“Asteria, you’re eighteen now. Did you feel anything about your mate, or you already found him?” My mom’s words made my heartbeat go crazy with terror. I looked at Asteria and found she was looking at me with hurt-filled eyes.

“No...I haven't found him yet.” She looked at my mother and smiled. I…I thought she would tell my mom that I was her mate...but she just simply said that.

‘No...we are her mate.’ I heard my wolf’s sorrowful howl and I clenched my jaws. I was also hurt because of her words, but I made her like this.

“You didn’t?” My mother’s shocked-filled voice came out, then she watched Asteria for a while, and her eyes fell on me before moving to my dad. My dad also had a puzzled expression on his face, but I couldn’t understand why.

“Oh... Hope you’ll find him soon.” I watched the way my mom forcefully smiled. Her voice was somewhat broken. What the hell is she hiding?

After dinner, Asteria and her father left. As soon as she left, I felt empty. I was the one who pushed her away, didn’t I? So there was no point in regretting it because it was all for her own safety.

I waited for a while and went to meet my dad because I wanted to talk about the training that was going to happen tomorrow.

“She should be his mate, Kalen. Didn’t Cassiopeia swear that? How come something like this would happen? I don’t understand.” I stopped in front of the study room without entering. Why is mom crying? About whom is she talking about? Cassiopeia… Cassiopeia is a witch, right? What the hell is this? They are probably hiding something from me. Shit…