The Beta's Daughter
TWO | FATED

My heart sank. 12:01. I was officially eighteen, but I couldn't feel anything except fordisappointment. Jacob was struck dumb. He hadn't moved for a full minute now, and I couldscarcely feel the movement of his chest rising and falling.

“Jake?” I whispered, pressing myself closer to him. He sighed

"We're not mates,” he murmured, and the heartbreak in his voice made my chest clench. “I asked mymum how we'd know. She said we just would, that our worlds would change, re-arrange so that youwere at my centre. It feels the same,” he said, choking on the last word. I wrapped my arms aroundhim and furrowed my head even further under his chin.

I still felt safe and at home, but there was no magic spark, nothing mystical or otherworldly. I couldfeel my love for him pounding against my ribcage, bursting like a firework and then fizzling out overand over as the realisation hit me. We weren't mates. We weren't meant to be.

I could feel tears worming their way up to my eyes, my throat burning as it clasped around nothing.I could feel myself clutching at straws, the desperation pounding against my skull as I tried to thinkof ways around this.

“Maybe you're not actually eighteen yet,” Jacob said into my hair, and it seemed that he felt thesame. “Maybe we have to wait until the exact minute of your birth.”

I nodded, but I didn't agree. I could feel somewhere deep inside that we weren't meant to be, thatthis wasn't it. Jacob wasn't the one. The tears started to fall; I could taste the salt on my upper lip,dripping down the sides of my nose and cascading down my chin. I wiped at them with a clumsyhand.

Jacob sniffled above me. When he felt my hand moving he finally looked at me, and he caught mychin with his fingers, wiping my tears away with his other hand. I leant into his touch, feelingcomforted.

“This doesn't change anything,” he said. “I still want you to be my Luna. You belong with me, Ari.”His voice cracked, and my heart tore a little more. It felt as though someone was toying with it,slowly pulling it apart at the seams. My eyes glazed over, and I couldn't replace any words to make thisbetter.

My bedroom door swung open then, slamming so hard that it whacked against the wall. “HappyBirthday!” My parents yelled, with Jacob's stood right behind them. They were beaming, but theirsmiles faltered when they caught sight of us.

“You're not...” My mum managed to choke out, and she shook her head.

“This cant be,” my dad added, looking crestfallen. Jacob's parents hurried in behind them, theirfaces stunned.

“They aren't mates,” Jacob's mum whispered, her eyes immediately filling with tears. She movedover to the bed and took my hand in hers, my mum moving to sit on the other side of me. Our dadsboth clapped Jacob on the shoulder, frowning heavily.

“I know this must be disappointing for both of you,” Jacob's mum began, regaining her poise. “Butthe Moon Goddess has a plan, and she'll have a reason for this. It doesn’t mean anything has tochange between the two of you,” she added, squeezing my hand. She wiped gracefully at her tears,and composed herself.

“Trust in your paths,” my mum added, smiling sadly at us.

"You two look exhausted,” Jacob's dad said. “Why don't you take tomorrow off of training, get somerest, gather yourselves. This is a big shock for us all.”

“I'd like to train, sir,” I mumbled.

“Are you sure?” My dad spoke up. “It's your birthday, sweetie, don't feel you have to-"

“I want to, dad,” I said with a small smile.

"And what's with the sir?” Jacob's dad laughed. “It's Kele to you, and it always has been.” He leantover and gave my shoulder a squeeze. “Ari, you know I think you're a wonderful girl. We both do,”he said, gesturing towards Liliana.

She nodded, smiling sweetly at me.

“If you two had been mated and you were to take over as Luna, we would have been so happy. And,truly, we thought that was the path the Moon Goddess was going to choose for you. But,” he said,dropping his gaze, “she did not, and that is something we all have to live with and adjust to. It doesnot, however, mean that we have any less regard for you. Of course not. We love you as our own,Ari, and it pains me deeply that you are not the one chosen for our son. But you must trust in theGoddess, and I promise you, everything will become clear.”

He spoke with gravitas, and I bowed my head. To receive such praise from the Alpha wasoverwhelming, especially after such an emotional shock.

“You two have an undeniable bond,” my father added. His words brought about a sense ofreverence, too. “Do not let this draw you apart. Use it to bring you closer. Jacob will be the Alpha ofthe Silver Crescent pack one day and Ari, you may be his Beta. Do not let this weaken yourconnection. Everything will fall into place. Now," he said, with a twinkle in his eye. “There's cakedownstairs. It was meant to be for tomorrow, but I don't think anyone will notice if we have somenow.”

Jake and I wiped at our eyes, wide grins spreading across our faces. We both train hard, so we eatwell, too, and cake has always been one of my favourite foods. One of the Omegas took a shine tome after I dried up the clean washing for him, years ago, so he sometimes calls me over with ahushed voice to give me first dibs on something delicious and home-cooked.

Sometimes, he'd go as far to bake something just for me — once it was jam tarts, and another time agiant cherry bakewell. Thinking about it made my stomach rumble, so I leapt up and pulled on anoversized sweatshirt before blowing out the lit candles dotted around my bedroom.

My parents pulled me into a hug, one on either side of me. My mum kissed my forehead, beforesaying “Happy Birthday sweetie” with a smile. As soon as they let me go, Jacob tackled me frombehind and pulled me up into a fireman's lift, toting me downstairs. I laughed and flailed, raining aseries of half-hearted kicks and punches down on him, but there was no real effort involved.

I heard our parents laugh somewhere behind us, and in that moment I knew that everything wouldbe okay.

The cake was delicious, and I could see why my dad thought nobody would notice. It was a huge,tiered affair, and there were several other smaller cakes littered around the kitchen, some half-icedand almost finished, but most of them were complete. We snuck one of the smaller cakes into thepack house's library, which was one of my favourite rooms.

It was right at the far end of the ground floor, past the meeting room and the few guest bedroomsthat were kept for emergencies. I'd never experienced any emergency that had made use of a sparebedroom, but it still seemed like a good idea to be prepared. There were a number of bathroomsdownstairs, too, as well as the kitchen and the large meeting room, which had a small office to theside.

This office was left unused most of the time, as each of the upper floors had private offices for eachof the high ranking wolves. There was also a small but well-equipped gym, which was a little furtheraway from the library, in order to keep it a quiet and peaceful area — as quiet as a house full ofwolves could be, anyway.

It was a room constructed mainly of windows, and warm white and dark wood stretching across thefloor and up the walls. Towering bookcases rested between each of the ground-to-ceiling windows,creating cosy nooks between them. Each of these had a small window seat and a soft lamp, with aview out onto the expansive lawns outside.

Curling leaves of ivy climbed up the sides of the bookcases, and hanging spider plants dangleddown, almost touching the houseplants that grew upwards from their position on the floor. Thewindow seats were draped in blankets and cushions, some worn and fraying at the edges. Many hadbeen handmade, and were passed down through generations of wolves.

There was a large table in the middle of the room, and a collection of smaller desks lining thewindows on the other side of the room. The moonlight spilled in, and several of the lamps wereturned on, as well as a cord lit with glowing yellow bulbs that had been strung up between thebookcases.

My mum and Liliana ran ahead, after making me promise to close my eyes. I groaned but complied,and felt a smile tugging at my lips. I had a feeling I knew what was in store for me, but as much as Idreaded it, I also found it sweet. Their excitement was palpable, and it settled in my stomach,helping to soothe away the aching resentment from not being mated to Jacob.

I could feel his warmth next to me, and he reached over to grab my hand. His eyes were still open,and he whispered, “You're not going to like this,” in my ear. It still made me shiver, and I wonderedif, perhaps, we could avoid our true mates. I dismissed the idea quickly, though, and focused on thepresent.

"Why?" I hissed, trying to peek at him from the corner of my eye without fully opening them. Hedidn't get a chance to answer before I heard it.

Our parents were singing together, an out-of-tune Happy Birthday to You that warmed my hearteven as it made my ears burn. I opened my eyes slightly, and beamed as I saw the set up in front ofme.

The cake had been covered with dripping candles, and the four of them stood behind it, gatheredaround the table in the centre of the room. They smiled warmly at me as Jacob led me in by thecrook of my elbow, and we all took a seat when we reached them. My parents reached across thetable and took my hands in theirs, their eyes kind as they met mine.

We ate until we felt sick, our stomachs bloated. Jacob had cake crumbs littered across his cheeksand chin, and I brushed them off with a laugh. Our eyes drooped, half-lidded under the soft lightingand against the darkness outside. I thought I'd been tired before my birthday began; now, I wasexhausted.

We snuck the plates back into the kitchen. Our parents wished us goodnight, and Jacob and I stayeddownstairs to cover our tracks. They had to be up earlier than us, and I wanted to make sureeverything was clean so that nobody had to do any extra work because of me. Jacob protested,though, and tried to get me to sit down while he did the washing up.

“It's your birthday,” he argued.

“Which is why there are cake crumbs everywhere. The quicker you relent and let me help, thequicker we can both get to bed.”

“True. And you said you wanted to train tomorrow. Now I'll look bad if I don't go, so, thanks for that,by the way.”

I shrugged. “Evil doesn't take a day off,” I said with a snicker.

Jacob rolled his eyes, but let me stand next to him and help do the dishes. We worked incompanionable silence for a while, both too tired to think, let alone form sentences. Eventually,though, Jacob spoke.

“I meant what I said earlier, you know,” he said, passing me a clean plate to dry. “You might not bemy mate, but I still want you to be my Luna. We've loved each other for as long as I can remember. Ican't imagine wanting anyone more than I want you.”

I stilled, the wet plate dripping onto my wrist. Part of me felt the same: Jacob was my home, he wassafe and warm and I loved being with him. I'd spent the best part of eighteen years with him, by hisside every day without fail.

I broke my leg, once, and he was desperate to look after me. Wolves don't get sick the same wayhumans do, and healing my leg was only a weeklong process, but he stood by my bed every day,for as long as he could. He even brought me soup and fresh bread, which I thought was overkill, butthe way he'd smiled down at me had made my heart melt.

When he wasn't being thoughtful, he was making me laugh, loud and raucous. I could see us beingtogether, and everyone in the pack had not only thought we would, but believed it.

But there was another part of me, buried deeper, that made me want to wait. Jacob had been in mylife forever, but so had the Moon Goddess, and my belief in her.

“I don't know what to do, Jake,” I confessed. “I know how I feel about you. But I trust the MoonGoddess, and I have to believe that she knows the paths we're on. She must have had a reason fordoing this. I don’t know,” I repeated. “I think I just need a little time.”

“I'll give you all the time you need,” he said. He put down the sponge and wiped his palms on thebottom of his t-shirt, then turned to me.

“It's a big decision, I know, and I will respect whatever you decide. But I need you to know how I feelso that you can make a well-informed decision. I know it's been a bit of a joke up until now, thisidea. But I would reject my mate for you, Arienne.”