Chapter 19

The past…

Theo’s POV

A month had passed since Roman had been kicked out of the pack, things were very weird. We handled matters together and by the law. I could tell the person most upset by this all was Tessa, but she had to understand we did what was right. As pack leaders, our parents couldn’t afford to have double standards not to mention how angry they were. I had different plans for my life, but it appears I was now needed to become the next Alpha, filling Roman’s shoes wouldn’t be easy, but I knew I had to do it. It was the only outcome. Tessa didn’t show any interest in it.

I dreaded today; it was Ayla’s eighteenth birthday. I tucked the dress shirt into my pants then did the belt. I leaned my hand on the dresser and stared straight into the mirror. I was praying she wouldn’t meet her mate; I knew we both had plans to reject our mates for each other, but I couldn’t help but to worry whether she’d go through with it or not. If Roman and Tali, the very two who hated each other’s existence since little were able to fall in love due to the mate bound, how could I be assured no one would come in Ayla and mine plans?

“Theo? Are you ready to go?” Dad knocked on my door causing me to snap out of my trail of thoughts.

“Come on, people we’re running late,” My mother said, rushing down the stairs.

“Coming,” I shouted, searching for my watch then followed her down the stairs too.

“I don’t want to go,” Tessa whined, fixing the belt of her dress.

“So what? You plan on staying home all your life,” My mother complained. It was safe to say Tessa has been acting up lately.

“Am I going to get kicked out for not going?” Tessa raised a brow at our mom, crossing her arms.

“Take your anger elsewhere Tessa, not here,” Mom warned, narrowing her hazel eyes on her.

“Let’s go to that stupid party,” Tessa rolled her eyes and walked past us and to the car.

My parents looked at each other and let out a sigh. I put on my shoes then locked the house and stepped into the car. The first two minutes were quiet until Tessa decided to speak.

“You want Ayla badly don’t you,” Tessa asked in a teasing manner, a smirk on her lips. She knew what she was doing, and she also knew Roman never told our parents, but it appeared he did tell her.

“What?” I cleared my throat trying to ignore this conversation, I looked at my parents, hoping their minds were elsewhere.

“They’re just friends Tessa,” Dad added, looking at her through the rear-view mirror.

“Sure, friends that make out occasionally, but that’s okay, right? Neither of them found their mates yet so they’re free to play kissy-kissy,” Tessa asked, picking her blue-painted nails then looked back at dad through the mirror.

“Theo, what is she talking about?” Mom turned and looked at me.

“I don’t know... “ I avoided looking at her then glared at Tessa.

“Oh you don’t,” Tessa raised a brow at me, she was about to speak when I sighed and decided to handle this myself.

“Fine, yes, Ayla and I have plans to be together but the correct way. When we find our true mates we will reject them so we can be together without breaking the law like Roman,” I explained to them, already knowing they’d hate the plan. Tessa had a small smile on her lips.

“What?!” Dad stepped on the brake and looked over at me.

“That’s insane, the goddess chose someone for you for a reason. You can’t make such decisions for yourself,” My mother lectured me.

“As long as the rules aren’t broken it won’t be a problem,” Dad mumbled, but you could easily tell he disagreed with this plan.

“Snitch,” I nudged Tessa.

“Oh I’m just pointing out some things,” The youngest Santoro shrugged innocently.

“Oh, so you’re Mrs. righteous now?” I asked but got ignored by her putting in her earpiece, putting the volume of the awful music higher.

The car ride was quiet, I could tell the conversation we just had bothered them. I looked over Tessa who had her eyes closed and volume high. I shook my head at her, all this just because I wouldn’t take our brother’s side. I looked at Ayla’s house, the place was packed for her birthday. I took a deep breath and looked out for her, but I couldn’t see her yet. I grabbed the gift and followed my family inside.

“Mohammed, Yara,” Mom hugged the two then my father walked over to shake their hands.

“Oh, you finally made it!” Aunt Yara said with the biggest smile and gave Tessa a hug.

“Congratulations to Ayla,” I said, handing over the gift.

“Thank you, dear, you can set her gift there,” Aunt Yara said and pointed to the table opposite where she stood. I nodded and added the bag to the pile of gifts. I turned around and was about to walk to the food table when a sweet scent caught my nose. Was it roses? I couldn’t tell but it was a strong sweet-smelling scent that lured me in. Without thinking twice, I followed the path, trying to find the source of the scent. I stopped in front of Ayla’s bedroom door, unsure whether I should go in or not. Before I could make that decision, the door opened.

“Mate,” I muttered, looking at Ayla. My mouth hung open, the yellow dress she wore made her beautiful dark eyes stand out, her hair was loose. She didn’t easily let it loose due to the kinks and the pain that came with brushing it all.

“Mate,” Ayla established, her lips curling into a smile. I wasn’t given the chance to properly register what just happened, Ayla pulled me down for a kiss, tugging me into her room and locking the door. I cupped her face, pulling out of the kiss and staring into her dark eyes.

“You’re my mate,” She whispered, the pad of her fingers stroking my cheek.

“Wow… I love you,” I said surprised, smiling as I looked down at her.

I leaned down to kiss her again, her dainty hands slipping down my chest, and began to undo the buttons. I picked her up and carried her to her bed. I wasn’t sure how lucky we were exactly that the goddess paired us together, but I knew I would forever be thankful for giving me Ayla as my mate. There’s no one who would make me as happy as she did, and I planned on making her realize the goddess didn’t make a mistake pairing us together…

Four years later…

It has been four years since Ayla and I mated, I wish I could say life was the best it ever was, but it wasn’t. We moved in together about a year ago and the most time we spent together was at night when we both went to rest. Ayla wanted to walk in her parent’s footsteps and become a doctor, her studies were taking up pretty much all of her time and I knew that was her dream and I tried supporting her. As for me, I was now the alpha of the silver moon. I have been the alpha for the past month. None of this is easy, I regret being the second born. I worry every day I will not live up to the standards of the previous alphas before me. Before Silver moon became Silver moon it was split between Silver fangs and Crescent moon. They might have always been at war but one thing they had in common was great leaders who led them to succeed.

The only reason I became Alpha this soon without more and proper training was that my father was slowly losing it. Little by little he became unfit for the job, unable to focus on anything and the betas made the suggestion of a new alpha. It pained me to see my mother’s illness eating her away and taking down her mate with it even when it was unintentional. When my mother started coughing blood, we all started assuming the worst but even the worse was underestimated. Mom has been diagnosed with an unknown illness, one that didn’t exist in the human and werewolf world. We ran every test possible, tried many cures but all have failed us. Not a single one of us could deal with the fact that soon we’ll be losing our mother, wife, Luna. The worst part is I’m not even sure what to do anymore. And Tessa? We butt heads a lot more now, neither of us could agree on something without having a long discussion about it. I wasn’t sure what was bothering her, me being the alpha or Roman missing.

It was difficult managing the very little time I had free. Taking care of myself, spending time with my family, spending time with Ayla and her family. It was all so stressful; I had no idea how my parents managed their jobs and taking care of three kids. Our pack being twice the size of a normal one and my mate being an absent Luna wasn’t helping at all… I feared having this conversation with Ayla, but I knew I had to do this.