Chapter 011

"What are you talking about, dad? And what do you mean by you haven't been left with no choice?" Ash asked after a short, heavy silence.

"Alpha Cameroon wants you to be married to one of his twins because both of you haven't found your mates yet," Grill said, making Ash's heart explode. He was aware of the fact that one of the twins had always had a crush on him, but he never expected that she would ask her father to intervene.

"But I already said no to her when she proposed to me; what do you mean by I'll have to marry her?" He asked in disbelief. The day he got out of jail, he found Larissa waiting for him at the gates, saying that when he heard from his dad that he was going to be released, she went there as soon as possible to pick him up. He refused, telling her that he could go home by himself, but after she insisted, he drove with her, and although she did all the talking, he tried his best to ignore her. It was two days later that she asked him if there was any chance they could meet because she had something important to tell him.

He drove to the location she had shared with him as soon as possible, but what he never expected was for her to propose, which he refused. He had no feelings for her, and he was not ready to lie to her. He was patiently waiting for his second chance mate because he knew she would come as soon as possible.

"Yeah. I know of the fact that you rejected her proposal," Grill said, and when he looked at him in shock because he hadn't told him before, he explained, "Alpha Cameroon told me. He had learned from his daughter that you rejected Larissa, and he said he wouldn't stand anyone breaking his daughter's heart.

"And if I don't marry her? What will he do?" Ash finally yelled, losing his voice.

"Then I'll lose my position, and we will end up being banished." His father said

"What? That's ridicilous. Dad, I don't see the reason why he threatens you with that beta position. If he had someone from the start whom he could give the position to why did he chose you in the first place. Aren't you guys best friends, or is that how best friends treat each other?" Ash asked all the questions he had in his heart at once without letting his father respond to any of them.

When his father failed to respond to him but bowed his head, sighing, he made his stand clearly: "I don't care, dad. I am not getting married to that girl." He made his choice, stomping out of the room in anger, but his father's next words stopped him.

"Then we are going to lose everything. He kind of suspected that you'd refuse, so he said my position, wealth, house, and identity in this pack would be at risk. But since you don't want to get married to her, I won't force you. Go and pack your bags; ask your mother and your older brother to do the same, because from today onwards we are banished from this pack."

"What?"  Ash couldn't believe his ears. "Has he forgotten all that he has done to him? "Your sacrifice in making this pack reach the heights it is today? This is not fair, dad." Ash yelled, but then stopped to think deeply. He won't let Grill and his family get banished just because of him. Grill had taken him in and made him feel like his son, and he wouldn't repay him that way. After a while, he looked around and said, although half-heartedly, "I'll get married to her."

"What?" His dad was shocked.

"For us not to be rogues, for you to have your position as the beta of this pack, I'll have to get married to her, won't it?" he laughed. I'll get married to her. I'll head to their mansion right now and tell Alpha Cameroon that I'll go with this arrangement."

"What if your mate comes?" His dad was worried, but Ash never answered him.

"Mate?" He murmured to himself while going out of the house. His mate came when he was eighteen. She was the only daughter of Alpha Kepha of the Roseberry pack, but because he was illegitimate, she rejected him. She didn't even give him a chance to prove himself worthy. She rejected him, and her family agreed with him. What he knew was that she got married to her childhood sweetheart. He had never told anyone about that, and he had sworn never to tell anyone. He had waited for his second chance mate until now, but she never arrived, and he had nothing to worry about. Not anymore!

"Ash, we can talk about it. You don't have to get yourself entangled with someone you don't love for the rest of your life. I have sent letters to some other packs, and I am yet to receive their responses. One of them will take us in, I promise you that." His father said this while running after him.

"What if they refuse? Dad, you know that Alpha Cameroon is despised by many people. Do you think anyone will take us in when they hear that we are from his pack? They'll think we are traitors, and they'll end up mistreating us for the rest of our lives." Ash thought otherwise, completely disagreeing with what his father thought.

"We should hope for the best." His father pressed his lips into thin lines. He, of all people, knew how Alpha Cameroon was despised and that half of the packs he had asked assistance from had vehemently refused to take them in. There were only two packs remaining, and he had no idea if they would take them in or not. Most of the ones that refused were the packs that feared Alpha Cameroon.

Ash stared at his father and then decided to leave him alone. The expression on his face told him everything. There was no hope for them to be taken in by another pack. Ignoring his mother's call asking him to walk carefully and that there was no need to walk in a rush inside the house, he barged to his room and flipped on his bed. Why was it that he was unlucky? First, his father abandoned him because he had some witch blood in him, and after Grill took him in, he thought that his life now would be much easier because he gave him all the love he needed in a father, but when his mate came, who knew his past would haunt him?

Just because he was an illegitimate child, he was rejected. He hasn't told his parents yet and is still nursing his broken heart, and now a person who has been obsessed with him since their childhood is using the power her father held to make him get married to him. "There is nothing I would be losing anyway. I have no mate, so why should I not save my father's position in this pack?" Ash thought inwardly, flipping on the bed so that he would sleep on his back. Camila's wide smile flashed across his mind. He quickly sat down, wondering if he should go and ask for help from Alpha Killan.

He knew for a fact that Apha Cameroon had no say in front of Alpha Killan. He also knew that Alpha Killan would take care of them and would never let them fall otherwise. "No, it won't be good. Camilla would start worrying. I better take care of this on my own," he thought, sitting back on the bed. His father passed across his room, and his heart contracted in pain. It had been two days since that offer was brought to his table, but he looked really gloomy. The wide smile that was always on his face had been replaced by a deep frown.

He had huge eye bags under his eyes, evident enough that he hadn't been sleeping well for the past two days. He barely ate his food, and he spent most of his time in his study making calls or responding to emails on the computer. His father's phone rang, and he watched him as he took it with a glitter of happiness on his face. He saw him bowing his head repeatedly as if the person on the other end was seeing him, and suddenly, the boyish, satisfied smile of intense happiness flashing around his face vanished as suddenly, and a cloud of gloom gradually spread there, darkening his face with such a dark hue that even the orange rays of the setting sun pouring through the open windows in the hallway could not brighten it.

Ash knew what had transpired even without asking. The only pack remaining, of which his father had high expectations that they would be taking them in, had rejected them. When he made to walk out to his father to promise him that everything would be okay, his mother came from nowhere with the same dark expression on her face and hugged her husband, sobbing softly. He had told her. His father had told his mother what was going on. His bedroom window was kicked open, and his elder half-brother walked in with hatred excluding from his green eyes.

"Is this how you repay your father?" he asked, his hands bailed into fists. Not wanting to fight with him, Ash bowed his head in silence. "You have been nothing but bad luck in our lives. I and my father were doing just fine until you and your witch mother came in. You took away my happiness because my father started loving you more than he did to me; kids at school started making fun of me because they all thought that I had a weakling brother; despite me being the firstborn, my father still announced that you would be the heir of his beta position just because you are more composed and calm than I am." His brother ranted.

"Sorry," Ash mummered, not knowing what to say. It was true that his elder brother was abandoned by his friends the moment he walked into his life. At that time, he would approach him, asking if he would play with him, but he would always push him away, calling him a weakling. In their time, witches were thought to be weak people, and that was why his mother had no friends in that pack, and even though he had blood in him, he was still considered weak.

"Sorry? Sorry, my ass! If you are truly sorry, you'll go straight to Alpha Cameroon's household and tell him that you agree to get married to that bitch he calls a daughter!" He spat, walking out of his room through the window once again. Ash walked to the window and sat at it, smiling at the sun. There were a lot of clouds trying to block the sun, but still, the setting sun was able to shoot its rays down to earth. All of a sudden, he wished he was like it. No matter what blocks him from reaching his goal, he will find a way to do it, just like the sun, but he is a human. He roamed his eyes until he could see the people not far from their home. One thing he liked about living in the city was that just looking at the bustling cars and oceans of people on the road was enough to take all his worries away.

It was the end of the day, and people were rushing back home. Most of the offices were closed, and people were running around to make it in time. School kids were also playing around their parents, who were grabbing them by force. The traffic was heavy, and car honks could be heard from every corner of the city. Drivers were raining insults at each other. On the left side, just across the traffic, some touts were shouting, calling for passengers to take their cars. Some touts who were running out of patience were grabbing people by force and pushing them in their cars, not wanting to know where they were heading. As long as they reached the target of the day, they didn't give a damn.

"Ash." A voice called him from behind. Turning to look at the person, he froze!

"Oh God," he murmured, faking a smile on his face.