Mating The Alpha

Moon's POV

I look at myself in the mirror for the umpteenth time unsure of whether to pack my hair into a bun or just let it fall across my shoulders. Actually, I should not be thinking about what I want but what Aiden would like. Does Aiden prefer me with a bun or with my hair loose?

I groan in frustration and run a hand through my hair. How am I supposed to know what Aiden likes? After a few minutes of contemplating what my dear Aiden would like, I finally settled on letting my hair down, hopefully, Aiden will find me charming.

I spin in front of the mirror and blow myself a kiss. I nod my head in satisfaction at how stunning I look. I am ready to confess my love to Aiden.

Today, I have agreed to let Aiden know that the Moon Goddess has destined us to be mates and live together happily.

I smile and skip out of my room. I walk down the stairs towards the pack dining hall where Aiden and probably everyone else are. It is time for lunch so everyone is most likely in the dining hall satisfying their hunger and thirst.

I come to a stop in front of the door and attempt to push the door open until I hear snickering noises coming from behind. I turn around to gaze at the culprits and realize it is just Diana and her goons, the queens of the pack. When I mean the queens, I sort of mean the bullies of the pack.

"Look at you, looking so dolled up. I wonder why." Diana says with a light chuckle, the rest of her friends laugh at her words and I scrunch my brows in confusion at her, why is she always so mean to me?

"Go away, Diana. I am not ready for your bickering." I say with a frown on my face. I am sincerely always so tired of her, she is always on my neck and it can get frustrating most of the time, although today I will not let her get to me, not when something great is about to happen.

"Excuse me? Did I just hear you tell me to get lost?" Diana asks walking towards me. The clicking noise of her heels makes me grit my teeth and clench my fist in anger.

"You know I never said such Diana. Please just leave me alone." I say attempting to walk away from her but she grabs me by the wrist and pulls me away from the door.

The only reason Diana still picks on me is because she is a stronger werewolf than I am. No matter how much I try to stand up for myself, Diana is always strong enough to pull me down.

"You did." She yells at me grabbing me by the collar of my dress. Oh my goodness, she is only going to make my dress look rough and it took me years to make that dress look neat and presentable, Now it is about to get ruined all thanks to Diana.

I think the best thing to do is to try to calm her down and boost her ego by pleading, yes. The only way to get through Diana is to plead for mercy.

"Please Diana, just let me go. Today is not just the right day for you to torment me." I say with pleading eyes. Diana scoffs and rolls her eyes at me.

"Why? So you can confess your undying love to Aiden?" She snaps at me. Wait, how did she know? I do not remember telling anyone about it. Oh no, I probably made it so obvious that she noticed.

"I can not let you do that Moon. No, when I clearly emphasized that Aiden is mine. Stay the hell away from him you hag." Diana growls at me angrily. I bite my lower lip to hold back the tears that threaten to fall from my eyes. Diana is right, she did make it clear to me that Aiden is hers but as long as Aiden did not agree to that then I refuse to back off plus the chances of Aiden liking me are much higher than the chances of him liking Diana. He has always shown interest in me and we have always been friends since we were young.

Suddenly the dining hall door flies open wide and no one other than the topic himself, Aiden steps out of the dining hall looking effortlessly gorgeous. His hair is styled perfectly and his eyes are on me.

A frown appears on his face as he walks towards Diana and me.

"Oh, hi Aiden," Diana says letting go of me and arranging her hair to appear attractive in front of him meanwhile she is a real devil inside.

Surprisingly, Aiden ignores her. He walks towards me and pulls me by the wrist. He grabs my hand and leads me into the dining hall. A huge smile spreads across my face as I watch him lead us to a table where some of his friends are sitting. There is an empty seat beside him, Aiden settles down and gestures to me to sit beside him.

I carefully sit and flash him a grateful smile.

"Thank you for saving my life back there." I say pausing to wink at him. A confused look appears on Aiden's face. He raises a brow at me and asks "What do you mean saved your life back there?"

I am about to reply but Aiden beats me to it. "You know Moon, I think this is the perfect time to make something very clear to you." He says. I nod my head and gaze at him excitedly. I think he is about to confess his feelings for me.

"What? You can tell me, I am all ears." I say.

Aiden sighs, he places his hands on my shoulder and gazes at me. "Moon, you need to learn to stand up for yourself. Especially in front of people like Diana and her dumb friends. They will keep treating you like trash if you do not learn to stand up for yourself." Aiden says. Oh, that was what he wanted to say? Aiden can be very overprotective of me sometimes. That is the more reason why I think he likes me and it is why I am going to confess my feelings to him today.

"Focus Moon!" Aiden snaps at me, his harsh tone jolts me back to reality. I roll my eyes at him and nod my head with a small shrug.

"It is not like I can not stand up for myself, I can Aiden. I just like it when you defend me." I say smiling cheekily. Aiden nudges my shoulder and a serious look remains plastered on his face.

"I am serious Moon, what if I am not always around? What would you do then?" He asks.

"You are always going to be around Aiden. It is not like you are going somewhere else anytime soon. Calm down and believe in me. I can handle Diana myself anyways." I say. My last statement is a lie though, I can not handle Diana myself. I do not think I can handle anything myself.

"Can we talk about something else, please? I have something else to tell you." I say. Aiden raises a brow at me but nods his head and gestures to me to go ahead.

I gulp a lump down my throat and my entire body shakes in fear. I look around to see if anyone is looking at us and surprisingly, a few people in the dining hall have their eyes in our direction. I clear my throat and shut my eyes close.

"Aiden, I love you and I want you to be my mate."

Moon's POV

Immediately I utter those words, it is as if everyone in the dining hall heard it because they all turn to gaze at me like I have two heads, Aiden gazes at me in that manner too and I start to wonder if I might actually have two heads. Surprisingly one of Aiden's friends sitting among us bursts into laughter. He clutches his chest tight and laughs causing everyone to gather around our table. Why is he attracting so much attention and most importantly why is Aiden not saying a single thing?

I turn to gaze at him with a raised brow and it only makes him chuckle nervously and wave it off.

"Wow, you really got me there Moon." Aiden says shaking his head at me. Wait, he does not think I am serious?

I shake my head in disagreement. I need to make it clear to him. It is either now or never.

"I am serious here Aiden. I meant what I just said." I say rising to my feet and feigning confidence meanwhile inside of me, fear is eating me up very slowly.

"What do you mean you are serious? Moon, can you even hear yourself?" Aiden asks glaring at me in disbelief. I nod my head in agreement and shrug.

I gather all the courage in me and repeat myself. "I love you Aiden, I have always loved you and I think, I mean I know we are meant to be mates. The Moon goddess has destined you as mine." I blurt out. I pour out all my feelings and the only thing I get from Aiden is a loud scoff which makes me stagger backward. My heart races extremely fast in anxiety. My mind tells me to turn around and leave before things get more complicated than this but I do not listen, instead I push further.

"Accept me as your mate Aiden. You and I both know that we are meant to be." I say. I hear laughing noises coming from the people watching us but I ignore all of that and stand my ground.

"No Moon." Aiden deadpans. I stagger backward and almost trip if not for my fast reflexes that make me hastily grab the wall for support. I raise a brow at Aiden and ask "No? No what?" It can not be that he is rejecting me, no that can not be the case. Aiden can not be rejecting me right now.

"I said no Moon. Has something gotten into you? Where did you get the courage to say such crap? You and I are only friends, nothing more." Aiden says.

I blink twice to see if I might wake up from this nightmare but nothing happens. I hope that the floor opens up and swallows me but none of that happens either. I pinch myself to see if I might wake up from this horrible dream but I only feel the pain that comes from pinching myself.

I am not dreaming, this is reality. The reality is that I just got rejected by the one person I thought was actually my mate.

I clear my throat and manage to ask "Why?" My voice is shaky and full of doubt. I really can not believe it. My chest hurts and my wolf howls in pain.

"Why?" Aiden chokes out a bitter laugh and shakes his head at me. "Why? Moon, it is so obvious that you and I are meant to be nothing more than just friends. Why would you even go as far as thinking that you and I could ever be mates?" Aiden asks. I shake my head in disbelief and slowly walk away. I bury my hands in my face and burst into tears as I run out of the dining hall. I accidentally trip on someone's legs causing everyone in the dining hall to burst into series of laughter. I look up to gaze at the culprit and it is no one other than Diana, she laughs at me and it makes my heart throb in pain.

I rise to my feet and slowly walk out of the dining hall with my head bent low.

I successfully make my way upstairs and once I get into my room. I throw myself on the bed and burst into tears. I run a hand through my hair and cuss under my breath. Aiden is right, I am so stupid to have ever thought that someone as good as Aiden would be my mate. Why did I ever expect so much from him? I do not deserve him at all.

I cry my eyes out and I eventually fall asleep.

The next days are a horror for me, no one seems to have forgotten that I asked Aiden to be my mate. I knew it would take a long while before people stopped talking about it but it has been days now, almost a week and I am still mocked about it. Worse of it all is that Aiden is doing absolutely nothing about it. I once caught him laughing at an insensitive joke that was thrown at me.

I feel stupid and embarrassed, I can not even face Aiden anymore, the slightest glimpse of him makes me run far away.

Today, just a few minutes ago, I saw Aiden with Diana. They were both laughing about something and I could not help but wonder if it was about me.

I stride the quiet streets and allow the cool breeze to calm every one of my thoughts. I decided to take a walk outside of the pack house, although I had to return before nightfall. I only needed some fresh air outside, at least no one outside knows that I got rejected by Aiden, this makes me feel a bit free.

I walk past a bunch of grown-up men arguing about something.

"Hey, You!" I hear one of the men yell. I turn around to gaze at them and ask "Me?"

The last time I checked, I did not know them from anywhere.

"Yes, you." The same man yells walking towards me. I gulp a lump down my throat and shiver in fear. I attempt to turn around and run but the man gets a grip on my wrist and pulls me close to him.

I have heard stories of people from my pack complaining about how dangerous it is to leave the pack house by this time but I felt so suffocated, I needed some fresh air to calm my thoughts.

I spit in the man's face and that is enough for him to loosen his grip on me. I take that as an opportunity for me to start running. I pick up my pace and start running until I accidentally collide with something hard. I groan in pain as my body collides with the floor. I slowly open my eyes and I come in contact with an unfamiliar pair of yellow eyes.

I slowly rise to my feet ignoring the pain. I look up to gaze at the muscular man standing a few feet taller than me. He gazes at me and a small smile spreads on his lips as he utters the word "Mine."

Moon's POV

Mine? Did I just hear him call me mine? I gaze at him with my brows scrunched at him in confusion and although I do feel a deep sense of connection and familiarity as I stand close to him. I am about to say something but the group of men I walked past earlier appear right in front of me. I hastily dash behind the young man for safety.

"Hey, it is Alpha Liam." I hear one among the group of men whisper to his gang.

Alpha Liam? Is it the same Alpha Liam I know? Alpha Liam of the Blood Moon pack? I sneak a glance at the young man and he has a poker face on.

"Stay away from her now!" The young man says in a commanding tone. Surprisingly for me, the group of men bow their heads in respect and hastily scurry off. Wow, did they become scared just by the sound of his voice?

"Are you alright?" He turns to glare at me with a concerned look on my face. I nod my head remaining fazed at what just happened.

"I am Alpha Liam and I am deeply sorry about bumping into you earlier." He says with a small smile on his face.

"Alpha Liam of the Blood Moon pack?" I ask with a brow raised at him in curiosity. He nods his head in agreement and mutters "I see that you have heard of me."

"Of course I have. I am from the Silverstone pack, I have heard a lot about you." I say taking a few steps backward. The Blood Moon pack is a rival pack to our pack. Our Alpha has told us several times about how ruthless and manipulative the Alpha of the Blood Moon pack is. We have also been warned to never associate ourselves with them. Judging from the few minutes I have spent with Alpha Liam, he does not match the criteria of a ruthless and manipulative Alpha.

"Oh, I see. The Silverstone pack? What a shame." Liam says shaking his head in disappointment.

"A shame that?" I ask.

"That my mate happens to be from a rival pack." Liam replies with a stern look on his face. I sigh heavily, did I just hear him address me as his mate? How and when?

"I am sorry but I am a little bit confused here. At first, you addressed me as yours which I chose to ignore because I thought that I probably misheard you but now you just called me your mate. That is not a coincidence right?" I ask.

Liam shakes his head in disagreement. He smiles at me and says "I can feel this connection with you, I know you can feel it too. This type of connection only means one thing." He pauses to clear his throat "A mate Bond."

He is not lying though, I feel this sense of deep connection around me and as much as I want to deny it, I am very sure that it is evident.

"I think you might be getting ahead of yourself. How can you be my mate when I know nothing about you? We have never even met before." I say.

"Exactly, that is why Fate brought us to each other." Liam says. I roll my eyes, I just got rejected by Aiden and now the supposed ruthless Alpha of the Blood Moon pack claims to be my mate, is this some kind of trick just so he can infiltrate our pack and destroy every one of us?

"I am not falling for that. Also, fate did not bring us together. We only happened to meet by chance. I needed fresh air so I went outside for a walk." I say.

"It is dangerous to go outside for walks by this time. Did your Alpha not emphasize deep on that or was he too stupid to remember to warn his pack members?" Liam retorts with an irritated look on his face. I scoff and shake my head "Actually, I was the stupid one for not listening." I say.

Liam sighs, places his hand on my shoulder, and says "I can feel that your wolf is troubled. What happened?" He has a concerned look on his face, although his concern is mixed with worry.

"Nothing, why would I even talk to a stranger that I know nothing about aside from the fact that he is manipulative and ruthless." I say.

Liam chokes out a small laughter and I can not help but admit to myself how charming his smile is.

"Those are all just rumors. You do not think I am ruthless, do you?" He asks placing his hand on his chest in fake hurt.

I shake my head in disagreement "No actually. Even though we have only just known each other for like ten minutes or less." I say.

Liam nods his head. He turns to me and grabs my hand. The feeling of his touch on my skin makes electricity course through my veins and the butterflies in my belly rise. I suddenly feel safe and warm knowing that I have his hands intertwined with mine.

"How about this? You tell me what is bothering you while I walk you back to your pack house. How does that sound to you?" Liam asks. It sounds nice actually. I think what I needed was some company, all I needed was just a friend.

"Okay, fine but you have to promise me that you will not mock me for what I am about to tell you." I say as we slowly walk. His hands remain intertwined with mine and he strolls beside me while sneaking glances at me.

"I promise. Before you talk about any of that. I just realized that you never told me your name." Liam says with a questioning look.

"Moon." I reply.

"Very beautiful name. That was my mother's name." Liam says with a sad smile. The smile on his face makes me understand that his mother is probably no longer alive.

"Anyways, back to you! What is that you think I would mock you for?" Liam asks changing the subject. I am glad he did because I am not really good at giving condolences to people.

"Apparently, I have this friend. His name is Aiden. I thought he was my destined mate so I confessed my love to him right in front of everyone at the dining hall." I say using my other hand to cover my face to hide the embarrassment.

"He rejected you? That is great." Liam says. I glance at him in shock and he has a big smile plastered on his face.

"I mean if he had accepted you then I would have never met you, Moon, it is sort of a win for me." Liam says. I scoff and shake my head at him but at the same time, I can not help but smile.

Throughout my years of living, I have never felt loved before, Aiden's rejection made me feel worse and it made me believe that I could never be loved but hearing Liam talk today, makes me feel happy.

I think I might be able to give love another chance.