The Unchosen Mate

"I'm sorry, Milena," the man standing in front of me said with those pleading but traitorous eyes, "but I'm choosing Valerie as my mate." Those words cut like a knife through me. The color in my face must have evaporated too as he spoke to me, and to everyone else there at the court, where every member of our pack was gathered.

Tonight was supposed to be a very special occasion as Darren, the son of the current alpha, announced his mate to the whole pack.

"N-No," I replied, my voice shaking and my eyes started to get blurry from the swelling tears. "You can't be serious, Darren. I am your mate! You know it too! We both felt it when we were under the moon's guidance... So what is this? W-Why are you saying that she's your potential mate too?" I asked, looking at the woman beside him who I knew was a daughter of an alpha from another pack. She was beautiful and looked very regal in her dress, but she was staring at me like I was a disgrace.

"Because she is. I felt the same thing with her too." Darren's answer just confused me more and I found everyone listening and looking at me like I was the villain in this story. "Just like what happened to us last night, I could also sense Valerie as my true mate."

"But that's impossible!" I said indignantly. "I was your potential mate first!" I could hear the whole pack murmuring to one another and I knew that they were not on my side right then. Some of them were even laughing at me.

"Just give up, Milena," said Darren's mother, who was also looking at me like I'd committed a crime. "Alphas can have more than one potential mate," she said, looking down on me. "Sometimes a very dominant alpha could have a lot of potential mates, though that phenomenon is very rare. This only goes to show that my son is indeed a very special alpha in the making. And when this happens, he can just choose his true mate."

I looked straight into Darren's eyes. I could see the sadness in them as he looked back at me, but that was it. It wasn't enough for him to choose me. "Then choose me. Please. You know that I've always loved you, Darren." There was a moment of silence where everyone was just staring at me. Darren looked at me as if he was already mourning our relationship's demise, and I couldn't even hear the next words he uttered properly. He was going on about how his decision was based on the pack's future, and his parents were talking about how half-breeds would spoil their family's lineage. It was just too much, even the crowd's jeers, that made me run away.

I'd always believed that he was my true mate. I could just feel it in my bones, in my soul, and in my heart. How could he be not, when everyone else had shunned me? No one had ever shown me the kindness that he did, and he didn't even need to. He was the only one in our pack who was nice to me. It's as if he was the calming light in my dark and stormy life. I couldn't think of a reason why he was so kind to me, so in my heart his kindness came from him being my true mate. And on that fateful night, I was proven right.

So how come he was telling me and the whole pack that I was not his true mate? Why was he accusing me of bewitching him to make him feel that we were true mates? Everybody was looking at me after he said those words. Their eyes were murderous now. But out of all those stares, his stare was the most painful for he was looking at me like I was an evil witch. Perhaps even the devil. And it felt like he was throwing daggers into my heart.

I could feel this intense series of pain rising through my chest, and I knew it was my wolf inside of me that was hurt too. Hurt that the man that I was in love with, the man that just last night made me the happiest, was now against me, with another woman beside him. This whole night was a nightmare, and I looked at him helplessly, wishing that he would take back what he said. But he didn't.

Tears clouded my eyes, and memories from when we were kids appeared in my mind as if to taunt me. I scanned them one by one, searching for one core memory with him that I could remind him of, remind him that even from the start, it was me and him, who were destined to become true mates. Not this other nonsense.

But, like everyone said, I was weak. I couldn't do a thing to save my life.

I was an orphan. Everyone else avoided me because of my lineage. I was a half-breed, and in the world of the werewolves, half-breeds were looked down upon. A weaker being, a subspecies. My mother was a witch whom my father fell in love with despite the stigma that such a relationship held. His true mate had died young and they never had a child, so when he met my mother it was like a second life for him. But my parents died young too. My mother died when I was a toddler, while my father died in a war. He fought gallantly and defended our pack valiantly, which got the respect of the whole Spirit Walker pack, the reason that they still took me in, even though I was a half-breed.

A family took me in out of respect for my fallen warrior father, and even though they didn't treat me as their own; they have given me a room to live in and fed me. They even sent me to school, but they never felt like a real family to me, because just like everyone else in the pack, they hated that I was part witch. Uncle Finn and Aunt Julia wouldn't even want to be in a room with me for too long because according to them, I might put a jinx on them. Even her sons wouldn't get close to me too and never talked to me if unnecessary. That hurt a lot since they were my age and they would play together while I just watched from afar. But I got used to it and it became a little more bearable because of a boy named Darren.

He was the son of the pack's beta, and his uncle was the alpha. Darren was a bright, jolly kid who everyone wanted to play with. We had known each other since we were five. He was the only kid that would play with me. He would come to the playground where I would linger if my house was too much for me, and he would notice me and wave at me despite his friends laughing and making faces at me. There was this one time when some mean kids put bubblegum on my hair, and then I had to cut part of my hair with the bubblegum while crying because I knew my hair would not look nice anymore. Darren saw me crying behind the swing and took a glance at my ugly hair and told me he would come back to help me fix it. When he came back, he had a wig with him and told me to wear it until my hair grew back again. It was the first time someone helped me and I was confused by it.

"Why are you nice to me?" I asked him after he shooed the other kids away because they wanted to pull the wig away from my head. He even warned them that he'd beat them up if they would not leave me alone.

"Why not?" was his answer. "You belong in our pack."

"I have witch blood so I am weak," I told him in an attempt to make him realize that he might regret siding with me. "They might hate you too if you keep doing this."

He just smiled at me. "I'll just beat them up."

"They said that my wolf would never show up," I said to him, recounting my greatest fear to the only friend I had.

"That's not true. It might take a longer time for you but it will show up to you. I promise you, Milena. Your wolf is there," he said confidently, pointing gently at my heart as if it was actually there. And just like that, we became best friends. Darren was my only friend, and while I was still bullied and people were still prejudiced against me, it was not that painful anymore. Darren was there beside me like a shield, and that's how I started developing feelings for him. From a crush, it became full-blown romantic love as we grew up, although I was too scared to confess to him at first because he grew up to become this handsome young man that everyone in the pack was fond of, if not looking up to. And fast forward to that fateful night when I finally turned eighteen, I finally transformed into my wolf form as I looked into the full moon. Darren was there too in his wolf form, and our eyes met.

Just like that, we knew that we were mates. There was no doubt about it. So why was he saying that I wasn't his mate? How could this have happened?

"Milena! Come back here!" Angry pack voices called after me as I ran away from the court, but I did not even look back at them. I felt so betrayed by Darren to even bother listening to the members of our pack calling my name anymore. Not even Uncle Finn and Aunt Julia beckoning me to come back changed my mind for I just want to get away from Darren and that girl beside him as far as possible right now.

Throughout my life, I had cried for a lot of reasons, but this was a different kind of crying. The pain in my gut while I ran as fast as I could was intense. And as I headed to the path back to our house I suddenly took a turn towards the only place I knew no one would find me, perhaps except Darren. I went to the place where we met as our wolves for the first time. It was on top of a hill to the east of our town, just outside the fence of a farm that Darren's family owned. On top of the hill was a giant willow tree where I spent my youth, hiding from my bullies because the playground became too small as years went by.

I sat at the foot of the tree and stared at the night sky, weeping. My throat and cheeks were still painful from my sudden outburst earlier. And as I wiped my face and tucked my long hair into place all I could think of was Darren. The man who was supposed to be mine, or so I thought. Darren choosing another girl over me to become his mate was the end of the world to me. I never imagined that he would have another potential mate, but I do think that his mother was right, that sometimes an alpha would find more than one potential mates. I had heard stories about those alphas, for they were quite rare to they become the talk of the pack. And it only proved that Darren was indeed the rightful successor to his father, who was now old enough to retire.

When we were kids, it was his uncle that was the alpha. But when Darren was fifteen, his Uncle's mate died along with their unborn child, forcing his uncle to step down and Darren's father to take the spot vacated by his brother. But because of this change, Darren was suddenly put into the bright spot. As his father became the alpha, he was now expected to replace his father when the right time comes. I saw how that pressure got to Darren, especially when he was suddenly taught and trained by the elders of all the things that a future alpha would be expected to do. In our pack, the family of the alpha are usually trained in combat more than anyone else, aside from the rigorous teachings that is being instilled to them like the traditions, rituals, and laws that they need to learn before assuming the role as the pack's alpha.

It was tough for Darren, as he was forced into those trainings and lessons all year long in his young age. There were times that I could tell that it was becoming too much for him, like when he suddenly disappeared during one of his important tests where he was about to fight one of the pack's generals. He did not show up and everyone went crazy searching for him.

Luckily for us, I knew where he'd gone. It was the very same spot where I was right now. He climbed the willow tree and slept on one of the tree branches. When I saw him, I climbed up too and woke him up.

"Darren, why are you here? You have to go back to the court," I told him as he blinked and scratch his eyes. "Everyone is searching for you!"

"Oh, for goodness sake, you scared me, Milena," he said calmly. "Just let them be. I still don't want to go back."

"But why?"

"I'll just embarrass myself there," he said. "I know that I can't still defeat that general."

"And so? You could just try again," I insisted. "Bailing out will not solve this, Darren."

For a second I thought he got mad at me for lecturing him, but he just laughed. "I really can't slack off, right? Not with you becoming my conscience."

"Because you're being stupid. Who'll become the next alpha if you keep doing this?"

But instead of answering that, he poked my cheek and started climbing down. "Why do you keep on believing that I'll really become the next alpha? Not even my teacher thinks that. He says that they might find another one because I'm still weak."

"Because you're kind and fair," I told him. "And don't listen to your teacher when he says that. he doesn't meant it, Darren. He's just strict to you because he wants you to take your training seriously."

"I don't get what you first said. How can being kind and fair make me an alpha? An alpha needs to be strong."

"Well, you're the only one who befriended me," I told him softly when we were both back on the ground. "I want the next alpha to be like you, who doesn't discriminate and bully people like me. That's why you have to be the next alpha, Darren. Don't worry, if you want to become stronger, I'll help you. We'll train a lot more. Just don't give up, okay? I know that you want to become the alpha. What you really fear is disappointing your parents. But you'll be just fine. I'm your best friend. I'll help you no matter what."

"You really know how to say the right things, Milena. I'm really lucky that I have you so stay by my side," he had said and my teenage heart was in a high. And then that spot on top of the hill will become our refuge for the next years. We will kiss under the tree and spend our free time there. We secretly dated and that made me the happiest—secretly because I didn't want to burden him of dating a half-breed because even with him by my side, I was still bullied by everyone else.

I was still considered an outcast despite Darren always siding with me. No one has even let me join their wolf training, the training we start as teens to control our inner wolves. But as my wolf wasn't even manifesting yet to me, I was just on the sidelines. Darren believed that if I could join the wolf training, I might be able to finally manifest my wolf because up until I turned seventeen all I could sense from my wolf was its low and faint grumbling, a huge contrast to Darren who wolfed out when he was just thirteen. But still, with Darren's help and encouragement, I remained hopeful that I would wolf out too.

And it happened when I turned eighteen. I was actually waiting for this day for my whole life since I was already expecting my wolf to come out. Just a week before I already managed to sense and contact my wolf, who growled at me when Darren came to visit me and told me that the girl from the other pack turned out not to be his mate. Again. I was so happy that Darren, who was two years older than me still couldn't find his mate and it just made me believe more and more that I was his mate. So when I successfully turned into my wolf that night under the moon on top of the hill where we use to meet, I was in high spirits. And then another wolf arrived and I just knew who this wolf was. His eyes were a giveaway.

As he prowled majestically towards me, my wolf was starting to feel this weird but intense emotion like it was hot and Darren's scent was the trigger. Meeting halfway with our eyes close to each other we realized that this was it — the mating bond. We were actually true mates.