Chapter 24 Partially Different
~Anna~
Lexy pursed her lips and looked at Gale.
I heard him sigh and said, “Don’t.”
“Why not?” I shouted in his direction. “I deserve to know what’s happening! Why is my mate engaged with someone else? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“How could you keep this a secret from me, Lexy?” I asked, looking at her through tear-filled eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she said, bowing her head. “If you knew, you wouldn’t have agreed to come with us.”
“What am I even doing here then?”
“You’re our Luna,” Gale said in a matter-of-fact tone. “He told you himself and it’s the truth.”
I drew a deep breath to calm my nerves, wiped the remaining wetness in my eyes, and shakily stood.
“Tell me the truth right now or I’m leaving.”
“Don’t!” said Lexy, scrambling to her feet.
She took my hand between both of hers and pleaded, “You can’t leave us. You’re Liam’s mate. You’re our Luna.”
“Liam is engaged, Lexy. She’s your Luna,” I spat.
She looked at Gale again, with a worrisome expression, silently asking for his permission to talk.
“We can’t tell her yet,” he said.
“She deserves to know!” she said angrily, letting go of my hand and stomping her foot. “I’m not going to lie to her, and neither are you.”
“He will tell her himself, just as he promised,” he said calmly. “Anna, for now, just please bear with us. Everything he told you was the truth, though I understand if you refuse to believe it. He brought you back here because you’re his mate, and thus, his fated Luna - not the woman you saw earlier.”
She was beautiful, the most beautiful woman I ever saw. And she seemed to care about him too. They must’ve been engaged for who knows how long and now I came along and ruined it. I’ve lost a mate, the man I wanted to be with. If my second mate was happy with someone else, then I would gladly give him up because no one deserves to be rejected, even if it was by the Goddess’s will that one must let go of a lover.
I forced a smile on my face and looked at Gale. “It’s alright, you two. Even if I’m his mate, I won’t force him to marry me. She seems like a good woman; she’ll take care of your Alpha. It’s for the best that I leave so they could carry on in peace.”
I laughed a little, then jokingly said, “If one of you told me about this back at my old pack, I would’ve understood. We didn’t have to go through all that drama!”
Lexy was frowning, sending a wave of guilt over me. “Lexy, I really am grateful to you for saving me that night. I might’ve died if it wasn’t for you.”
I engulfed her in a tight hug and said, “Thank you for healing Flynn, too. I was really worried after their fight.”
She hugged me back tighter. “Bro needs you,” she said in a low voice. “If you leave, he will – “
“Lexy!” Gale boomed, cutting her off. “It is not our place to tell her.”
She pulled away and glared at him. “I’m telling her a part of it, so she won’t leave. I won’t let bro marry Salina!”
That must be her name. It suited her perfectly; it sounded as graceful as she. Everything would be fine. I had no place here.
Gale sighed deeply then sat on the foot of the bed. “Fine,” he said and Lexy’s face brightened. “But not everything.”
She nodded at him, and with a big smile on her face, she led me to sit on the bed, beside her. Gale lied right next to us with his arms behind his head and his eyes closed, listening to our conversation.
“So… how do I start?” said Lexy and Gale popped an eye open.
“Are you… serious right now?”
She stuck her tongue out at him then said, “Shut up, Gale. I’m thinking.”
“Did he tell you about his first mate?” he inquired.
“He told me he had a first mate,” I replied. “I think he wanted to clear the rumors about him, so I won’t get scared of him. It’s well-known that he killed his parents and mate, but he denied both and told me he might tell me what really happened someday.”
The temperature in the room suddenly dropped, and neither of them spoke for a while. My hand flew to cover my mouth.
Stupid Anna!
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to – “
“It’s alright,” Gale interrupted. “It happened years ago but we haven’t really gotten to terms with it yet. He’s having it the worst among us.”
“I’m sorry.”
Lexy tapped my arm and smiled. “It’s alright, Anna. One day you can ask bro about it,” she said. “Ah! I know where to start!”
“Good,” said Gale.
She rolled her eyes at him before facing me again. They were like… children. If it wasn’t for the current mood, I would’ve laughed at their bickering.
“Bro had the first mate, but she wasn’t from our pack. She belonged to the Blue Moon Pack, the third strongest pack in the continent. More specifically, she was the daughter of the Alpha. There was a meeting between our parents and the Alpha of the pack one day and that was how they met…”
She paused and I nodded to tell her that I was following.
“… But when Liam asked for her hand, her father wouldn’t allow it. My parents and bro negotiated with him, and in the end, he agreed to let Liam marry her on one condition – that his pack would become an ally of the Red Claw Pack the moment he marries only his daughter unless he finds his true mate.”
Gale turned to his side, propped an elbow to support his head, and though his eyes were closed, it was as if he was paying more attention now.
Lexy narrowed her eyes at him.
“Carry on,” he said. “You wouldn’t want to confuse her further, do you?”
“Of course not,” she scoffed. “So, as you can already tell, bro agreed. He was the next Alpha anyway, so our parents supported him. They were happy together and we were all happy for him. I swear you could never separate those two!”
She smiled at that; those must’ve been really fond memories. I wondered if I could make him that happy too.
Her voice dropped as she continued. “Not long after that, our parents died. Then she suddenly fell ill and died too. And the deal had to be honored, for it was bound by the Alpha Word.”
“It changed him,” said Gale in a voice so low as if he didn’t intend for us to hear it.
“We were devastated, and he was never the same since. Then her father came to visit us and demanded bro’s marriage to his daughter.”
“Salina,” I whispered.
“Yes,” she said. “Bro had no other choice.”
“But she isn’t his mate!” I blurted. “Isn’t the deal to marry his daughter, who was Liam’s mate?”
Lexy slowly shook her head. “We misunderstood. We didn’t think too much of it at the time. You see, the deal was that bro marries only his daughter unless he finds his true mate.”
“He didn’t say which,” I breathed, realization dawning on me.
“We assumed he was playing with us and so we didn’t mind it, but when he came that day demanding that bro honor his Word, bro insisted that he’ll look for his mate. In the end, he was given two years.”
“And that’s how you ended up here, and why you should marry him,” said Gale.
“So, the only reason he went through all that was that I could get him out of that deal?”
Lexy bit her lower lip. “Yes, but – “
“You just want to use me.” I got off the bed and paced around the room, taking in all the information they had just told me.
“I think it’s more than that,” said Gale, sitting up.
“Why don’t you want to ally with the Blue Moon Pack?’ I questioned. “The first strongest pack and the third – no other pack would be able to compare to your power. And why do you two dislike her? She’s perfect for him.”
“Her father betrayed our previous Alpha,” Gale explained. “We can’t trust him. And who’s to say he wasn’t responsible for Sarina’s death?”
“We don’t know that for sure,” Lexy said weakly.
Gale glared at her.
“Not yet,” he said then turned to face me.
He took steps towards me with a hardened look on his face and I distanced myself from him.
“This pack will be in danger when he marries Salina. You are his mate and that makes you our Luna, and as Beta, I will make sure that you secure that position. For the pack, and him.”
My back hit the wall and he stopped. His hands balled into fists.
“I’m sorry, Anna,” he said slowly. “But I’m afraid you can’t leave this place. We’ll always be watching.”
After that warning, he left the room. I slumped to the floor, my thoughts a mess. They would do everything in their power to keep me in here.
“Anna?” Lexy asked worriedly.
“Lexy, am I only here because of a deal?”
“I don’t think so,” she said.
“Tell me the truth, Lexy.”
She sat beside me, hugging her knees, and leaning on me.
“Bro is good at hiding his emotions. He never lets me see his vulnerable side. Even when our parents died, and when his mate died, I never saw him get furious or… cry.”
“He was really mad at Flynn that night,” I said, and I remembered how jealous he was of Carson and his defeated figure when I almost left him at home but kept it to myself.
“He was anxious when you went missing, and that was the first time he shouted at me.”
She snickered. “He was pissed when I tried to protect Alpha Flynn. I know my brother; he would’ve killed him then if you hadn’t interfered.”
“I had a feeling.”
“It was really brave of you, Anna,” she said. “You stood up to an Alpha and won. And I was convinced then.”
“Convinced of what?”
“That my bro wants to work things out with you.”
My brain took a second longer to process her words.
“What?” I blurted out, laughing loudly. “That’s – “
“He doesn’t love Salina. He never did and he never will. If he told you that you’re his Luna, I believe him.”
This was too much information to process in one day.
“I’m glad he found his mate. I have a sister now!” she exclaimed.
Then she got up and held out a hand for me to take. “Come on, I’ll show you around. Bro planned to introduce you tonight, but I can tell him to move it to… tomorrow. I trust you’ll be decided by then?”
For now, I could use a distraction. I’d have time to think about all these later. Taking her hand, she helped me up. I smiled at her and she grinned.
Then she linked her arm with mine, and happily skipped as we left the room. She was like a little kid, it was cute. One wouldn’t think she was a skilled healer.
“Will Gale be alright?” I asked from out of the blue.
I should really think before I say something.
“He’ll be fine,” she said. “He’s bro’s best friend since they were little but they’re more like brothers. Gale looks out for him, especially since that happened. He’s a really good person, he didn’t mean to scare you earlier.”
An Alpha with dark secrets, a Beta who was protective of him, and a little sister who could read a person like a book – all three with a shared past only Liam could share with me. A chill ran up my spine at what his Head Gamma might be like. I knew very well what it was like to lose the people I love. Behind the secrets and lies, maybe we weren’t so different after all.
