Damien stood beneath the inky sky, adorned with numerous colorful crackers bursting off in celebration. The pack members around him reveled in the fire show, their faces lit with awe and joy. However, within Damien's chest, his heart felt like it was bleeding. Frantically scanning the crowd of laughing faces, he searched for his life, his mate.

Amid the vibrant and joyful surroundings, Damien stood in stark contrast, a lonely figure rejected by his fated one. The world seemed to close in on him, suffocating him as people laughed and enjoyed their lives. It was as if the universe mocked him, the only one left alone in despair.

He grappled with a sense of pathetic self-loathing. Thoughts like "If only I had been someone else, she would not have left me" echoed in his mind, tormenting his consciousness. The weight of thousands of degrading words pressed upon him, leaving only the haunting question—what if?

Lost in the abyss of his mind, Damien didn't register his friend Ryan calling him. Ryan, concerned for his best friend and Alpha, observed Damien's vacant eyes, unresponsive to any attempts at communication. Shaking Damien's shoulders, Ryan called out in increasing worry, "DAMIAN, can you hear me?" Just as Ryan feared the worst, Damien snapped out of his reverie of despair.

Responding in a monotone voice that surprised everyone, Damien asked, "Did you find her?" His calm demeanor was a thundering shock to the pack warriors, standing a few steps away, awaiting orders. A man who had lost his mate twice over, exhibiting such silence in the midst of celebration, was a chilling sight for them.

Ryan found himself speechless, unsure of how to reach his friend in the depths of his profound depression. The weight of answering such a question was a burden itself. Regretting the choice before him, Ryan shook his head in a solemn 'no.' The pack, aware of the unfolding tragedy, held their collective breath, awaiting the repercussions of the revelation.

*****************************************

Aadaya stands in the shower, the droplets of water mixing with her tears, a temporary solution to divert her mind from the heartbreak she's feeling. Her eyes have been moist since she ran away, a numbing feeling in her heart. Her wolf, understanding her decision, has left her alone amidst her depressing thoughts.

The ancient Ikanir wolf has been with her through every rejection, recognizing the pain her human goes through each time she denies her soulmate. The bond between wolves destined to be together is a complex weave of lives, some ending happily and others with sacrifices. The Ikanir wolf, mature beyond years, shields the human from the intensity of the pain, knowing the young child wouldn't bear it well, especially considering what she has already endured.

In this life, destined for greatness, Aadaya's memories of past incarnations flicker through glimpses. She knows she haven't always had happy endings with her mate, and it's been an eternity since she's been with him in the materialistic world. Born again and again for a purpose of saving the wolf-kind, while betraying the life with her mate.

As Aadaya endures the pain, the hot water searing her skin, she recalls his eyes, the way they looked at her. After running back from the fair, she finds solace in the bathroom, leaving behind concerned friends. The pack is in lockdown mode, searching for the future Alpha's mate, a fact only known to high-profile pack members.

In the bathroom, Aadaya cries, her friends tried in vain to reach her. Saddie and Chris had briefed her before being escorted out of the pack, not being members of the pack. Aadaya, lost in her suffering, looks at herself in the mirror, trying to find meaning in her appearance. Her onyx eyes, once filled with the sparkle of stars, now reflect the darkest nights, devoid of life.

Leaving the bathroom like a robot, Aadaya walks into chaos. Goosebumps rise on her skin as the cold wind filters in through the open window. Unaware, she walks to her window, where strong winds blow and thundering clouds cover the starlit night sky. Barely any pack members are outside, the weather turning harsher, mirroring the turmoil within her.

The wind howls, making the curtains and window sills rattle strongly. The storm outside mirrors the turmoil in Aadaya's mind as she gazes out the window, unfazed by the rattling windows. Despite the harsh weather, pack warriors stand guard, barely visible in the dark.

Aadaya, clad in a big hoodie and yoga pants, moves towards her closet. The packhouse is enveloped in a depressing silence, echoing the storm outside. As she listens, an eerie silence prevails. Suspicion creeps into her heart, prompting her to investigate. She opens her door quietly, peeks into the dark hallway, and senses an unusual stillness.

Curiosity guides her barefoot steps along the ice-cold marble flooring. The hallway, shrouded in darkness, seems to watch her every move. She approaches a common room, dimly lit by low lamps, with the storm intensifying outside and lightning intermittently illuminating the space.

As she turns to head back to her room, a sudden rattling noise startles her. She swiftly turns around to find a window slightly ajar, shaken by the strong wind. Aadaya closes the latch and hears a loud crash from the stairway, disrupting the eerie silence.

Her instincts lead her upstairs to the fifth floor, the leader's domain. The common room on this floor is dimly lit, with the chandelier swaying in response to the wind. Curiosity pulls her towards the glass door leading to the Alpha's office, separated by an eight-digit code. Light spills out from the partially open door, revealing a portion of the dark hallway.

With her ear pressed against the glass, she hears incomprehensible gibberish yelled from inside. Aadaya looks around and notices a door labeled 'Records.' She enters quietly, closing the door soundlessly behind her. The room is filled with thousands of books and files. She walks to the wall that separates the Records room from the main office, pulling out a few books in an attempt to discover any hidden openings.

After several attempts, a bookcase slides over, revealing a small archway leading into a secret space. Aadaya enters the hidden space, finding herself in a small hallway sandwiched between the bookcases from the Records room and the main office. The light from the main office filters through the spaces between the books. Discreetly, she positions herself where a missing book on the second shelf from beneath allows her to peek inside the main office.

In the room stands a robust man in his 40s, exuding an air of ownership. Though he appears to be an Alpha, Aadaya has never seen him before. His features, eerily similar to Alpha Arthur's, send a chill down her spine. The man, with blond-white hair, shares certain facial features with someone she has been avoiding—the one she fears.

He addresses another person, whose identity remains obscured in the shadows. The man speaks with a loud, domineering voice, "...you will worth when the news gets out...," his anger evident as he clenches his teeth, hands gripping the mahogany table.

The response comes from the shadowed figure, and Aadaya is shocked to recognize the voice of her mate, Damein. "....don't you thinki know that....". His words carry pain, and it pierces Aadaya's heart. She wipes away a tear, realizing that her actions have inadvertently added to his suffering. As she looks at Damein's hunched figure, she comes to the unsettling realization that the Alpha scolding her mate is none other than Damein's father, Alpha Alexander Martinez—the elder Alpha brother of Alpha Arthur and the owner of the pack lands.

A sense of anger wells up within Aadaya as she watches her mate being insulted and degraded by his own father. Despite being an Ikanir wolf, who should be respected by others, Damein accepts the insults with a depressed and solemn demeanor. The room plunges into a gloomy silence, a tense atmosphere hanging in the air, with a strange energy sizzling around them.

Just when a knock sounds in the otherwise silent room, footsteps echo, walking in. The Alpha appears a bit impatient as he asks, "Did you find her?" Aadaya realizes what is happening as she puts her hand on her face to stifle her sobs. Her mate was being insulted because she left him. He was treated like dirt, all because of her. The Ikanir wolf mate, destined for millennia, should have been treated with the utmost respect, yet he was treated as if he were insignificant.

A gruff reply to the initially asked question by the Alpha, "No, sire," makes him hit the table in anger. The table creaks in protest from the force of the hit. The room again shrouds in pin-drop silence. Before the Alpha yells out in anger, "Moon goddess made a laughing stock out of me," as he looks at the ceiling. He groans in pain, "She ran towards the east side forest, joining only two other packs. If she did not enter either, where the heck did she go? Damnit," as he thinks out loud.

A familiar voice of Ryan answers him, "We cannot afford council members against us," offering a sincere opinion. They all seemed to be working together, but at the same time, Alpha Alexander and his Beta, and Damien and Ryan seemed to have a rift between them, as if they were together for political reasons.

Just when the Alpha orders Damien, "Choose a mate," something that surprises and confuses Aadaya. How he is able to order a much more powerful Ikanir mate wolf is surprising. And if they are working together, why warn each other? A tension was there in the room that Aadaya could feel, a strange hatred between them.

A guttural voice of Damien replies, "What did you say?!" His wolf angered by the choice of words Alpha Alexander ordered him with. His power seeping into the room as his wolf dominates his body in anger. Alpha Alexander looked a bit fearful as he stepped back.

Trying to get himself killed, he again speaks, angering the wolf more. "That's not a request," his voice a bit less intimidating but his words his death sentence to himself. Damien steps toward his father, like a predator, with the table in between them. Suddenly, his hand shoots forward, clutching his father's neck as he speaks in his face, "Don't forget your limit, father," mocking his own father. A deep-seated hatred towards his father can be easily seen in him. His hands squeeze his neck a bit, turning Alpha Alexander's face a bit red.

His Beta tries to step forward to help his Alpha, as Ryan stands in front of him and tuts at his action. His voice a mock to the Beta as he warns him, "Don't want to end up in a ditch, do we," as he pushes him away, warning him against taking any actions against them. A tense atmosphere in the office, as they desire for the blood of each other.

Damien leaves his father's neck, as Alpha Alexander falls coughing hard. Damien watches his father for a brief second from above and behind the table before he turns back to leave. Beta walks toward his Alpha to help, as Damien and Ryan pull the door to leave. The coughing Alpha calls from behind them, "Actions speak louder than words, pup, and yours have yet to make an appearance," his voice a warning of what's to come.

Damien stands still at the door, listening to his father. Slowly he turns back to look at his father with those soulless eyes, as he replies, "Don't tempt me, Alpha," as silence prevails between them. Alpha Alexander smirks as he calls, "Don't forget I still am your Alpha, and what I can do? Choose a mate, or I will," he calls as Damien leaves with Ryan, not turning back even once.

...to be continued

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