Alpha’s Second Choice

Disclaimer: The spelling errors in some of Evelyn’s part are intentional as she is meant to have some speech difficulties.

‘Look at this Tulip, it has a different smell to it’, Daya handed a small brightly pink coloured flower to Lucy.

‘Yes, it does’, Lucy tried concentrating on the smell, it was mild but citrus-like. But the smell was soon overpowered by something else. An irresistible scent of ocean waves with splash of orange bergamot flooded the air.

As Lucy closed her eyes and got lost in the scent, she did not realise she was too far gone before Daya had to rattle her.

‘Come back Lucy’, she hastily said.

As Lucy opened her eyes, Caleb stood before her, smiling sheepishly. ‘Good morning, ladies’.

‘Hey’, was all she replied as she pretended to study the flower really closely.

‘Can I speak to you alone Lucy?’, he asked, scratching his hair with his right hand nervously.

‘I need to go and check on Mina. Make sure her snoring isn’t getting too loud’, Daya excused herself as Lucy threw her the ‘Please don’t go look’. But the pink haired fairy was gone with the wind.

Lucy continued avoiding eye contact with Caleb as she studied another flower closely.

‘Can I have the answer to my proposal?’, his voice rang.  Heat instantly radiated from the centre of her heart and started spreading to the other parts of her body.

Lucy finally stopped what she was doing as she turned to face her silver haired mate. ‘My answer remains the same, Alpha Caleb. Or should I say Royal General?’.

‘Just Caleb is fine’, he responded, pain evident in his few words. ‘Can I at least ask why?’.

‘Because’, Lucy paused as she tried thinking of plausible rationales. None was coming to her head. Somehow, she thought she could avoid facing and confronting Caleb. But here he was demanding answers to his proposal. ‘I am in.. in love with someone else’.

‘Who?’, he asked sternly, as if her reply was angering him by the second. He could surely compose himself well if that was the case.

‘Its.. Um.. Its- Alpha Jayden’, she blurted out. ‘As you would have heard, during your stay in Dark Slayer pack, Jayden claimed me as his mate. And I am in love with him’, she lied through her teeth. Emery was just quiet but sadly howling inside her head.

There was a long dragging silence as Caleb inhaled deeply, trying to keep his calm. ‘I see. So, I am your second mate?’.

Lucy nodded her head outside.

But she wanted to scream NO inside.

She only had one mate and that was him. His scent had been evocatively taunting her. But she still yearned for it.

‘I understand Lucy. You met him first, so I guess he beat me to it’, he joked lightly but a saddened look was plastered on his face. ‘Can I ask you for one last favour? I promise I won’t bother you after that?’.

‘Yes’, a small whisper escaped her mouth. Lucy was afraid if she tried to speak any louder, she would break down crying in front of him and tell him tales of her sad accusations and life of abuse. Which was very ironic to the surrounding around her, a sunny day with a beautiful garden full of lively flowers.

‘Can you give me 29 days to try to win your affection? Even if its just by little? If your feelings or answers still remains the same after that time. I will accept your rejection and walk out of your life’, he was almost pleading by the last few words making Lucy compelled on accepting it.

‘Why specifically 29 days? Are you so confident I will change my decision?’, she questioned.

‘Lucy, my mother is a witch’, he chuckled. ‘And she taught me a lot of superstitious beliefs. As you know, the moon has eight phases in its cycle which lasts for 29 days approximately. I grew up believing that every new moon cycle brought a new hope, a door to a new opportunity and a new change’. Caleb came dangerously close to Lucy as he brought his hands near her face, slowly picking up a fallen leave from her hair. ‘And I trust in moon goddess that if we are meant to be, we will’.

Lucy’s lips parted to say something, but nothing came out.

‘I don’t want to take your silence as a yes’, he grinned tiredly as he placed the leave in the palm of her hands, electric sparks bursting at the point of their touch.

‘Fine, I accept. But please honour your word and leave if my decision remains the same’.

‘As you wish’, he bowed giving her an unpleasant feeling that had started growing in her stomach.

*

‘Silly Alpha King’, Jo thought to herself. ‘A royal kingdom with no healers, what a joke!’. As Jo tried to find her way back to the garden, she realised she was lost. She walked in circles and started getting dizzy.

After walking for what felt like hours, she finally found a small exit when she heard a loud sound of a slap.

Evelyn was on the floor crying as she covered her cheeks with her two small hands. ‘I am soweyyy’.

Jo’s eyes followed to who the little girl was facing. A small crowd of young noble women were gathered judging from their posh dressings and jewelleries.

As one of the women raised her hands again on Evelyn, Jo caught it mid-air shielding the little girl’s body.

‘What are you doing? Let go of my hand’, the vicious woman in question barked at her.

Jo just smirked at her as she harshly let go of the hand, making the woman lose her balance and topple. Evelyn instantly got up and hid behind Jo, hugging her as if her life depended on it. ‘Have you got no shame raising your hands on a little girl?’.

‘That devil is not a little girl! She deliberately spilled hot tea on my dress’, the annoyed noble woman complained, trying to wipe the stain with a small handkerchief.

‘To err is normal. But to forgive is divine. I am sure the tea stains will come out if you wash it. But the abuse you have imposed on her will stain her mind, body, and soul forever’, Jo spoke confidently, her voice not wavering one bit.

Evelyn’s eyes were beaming as she looked at her saviour and hugged her even tighter. She was not mistaken. Moon goddess had been visiting in her dreams and promised that a special friend will soon find her. Jo was her a special friend; she just knew it.

‘Good gracious, I am not going to stand here and argue with a low life. Olivia will hear the last of it’, the woman angrily retorted and left with the posh group.

‘Are you okay?’, Jo asked as she lowered herself down to the little girl’s height.

She nodded eagerly. ‘You saved me. Are you my special friend?’.

Jo’s heart shattered at the little princess’s innocence. ‘Yes honey, I am. You look really pretty in this flowery dress, almost like you are in a fairy tale’. 

Little Evelyn blushed pink from the compliment as she did not know how to accept it. Instead, she tugged on Jo’s light dress.

‘Come with me pretty please’, Jo’s heart melted as the little princess guided her to an unbelievably large spacious playroom.

‘Tis a spare phone. Its for you, my friend’, the princess spoke handing Jo a small device.

Jo inspected it in amazement. ‘I cannot take it, Evelyn’.

‘Pleasuu, it’s a spare one. I already have one too. At least try typing something’, she guided Jo through the device as a small text message box appeared.

‘You can write anything you like!’, her bubbly energy glowed from her small body.

‘Wow!’, Jo said to match her excitement. ‘But I can’t think of anything to write’.

‘Hmm, pleasu type something. Like something to say to my big bowwther Dante?’.

‘Alright, I will write something for him’, Jo finally relented as she poured her current feelings in to the small text box.

‘You need to put haha at the endzzz if sending a scarrry message. Yours is scarrry’, she giggled reading the message her siren friend had written.

‘okay’, Jo added in -haha- after her message. ‘Happy now?’.

Evelyn nodded as she did something on the device. Jo could not comprehend what exactly, she was really not up to date with human technology.

‘Sent!’

‘Nice joke, you cheeky bugger’, Jo placed her hand over her heart.

‘I sent your message to big bowther, and I added your name in the endzzz’, the princess proudly announced as Jo’s world started collapsing.

Jo immediately snatched the phone from her hand and looked at the message again.

I will snatch your crown and kill you, stupid Alpha king haha – Jo

‘Evelyn! I thought we were just playing. Did it really get sent to Dante?’, Jo asked panicking now.

‘Phones are fassst like carz. He would have read it by now’.

Jo started sweating as she imagined possible worst case scenarios. What if the Alpha king got furious for getting called stupid and beheaded her! Her head would be on a big pole hanging on the royal gate as a sign for disrespectful subordinates.

She gulped hard praying for herself.