The Desert Alpha's Mate

CHAPTER 2- THE CHOSEN ONE

Eleanor could feel the mixed glances of the people she was with on the train. Some were curious, and some were just disgusted by her appearance. She was already used to being stared at by people she barely even knew. It was not new to her. Pretending to be oblivious to those glances, she fixed her hair to hide her pointed ears. Some of her hair with gray strands fell off from her tie. She heard murmurs but she didn't pay them any attention. Fishing out the eyeglass from her bag, she wiped them clean and put them on. She didn't even need those eyeglasses because her eyes were perfectly fine, she just used them to hide her two gray orbs that were adding to catch the attention of onlookers, but even then, her eyeglasses couldn't even hide the gray streaks in her lashes. She turned her side and looked out at the window. Her attention was caught by a little boy in the reflection of her window. The boy was staring curiously at her, while his mom was busy with something on her phone.

"Miss," Eleanor heard a little voice coming from the kid that was sitting beside her.

She turned to look at the little boy. "Are you an elf?" the boy innocently asked.

"David! Hush!" the boy's mother who overheard what the boy had asked her, scolded her kid, "it was rude to ask the lady like that!" She said to the boy named David while glaring at him, "I'm sorry, Miss," the boy's mother turned to Eleanor and apologized.

"It is okay, Ma'am, no harm done. I get it a lot," Eleanor said to the woman, smiling. Then she turned her gaze to the little boy who was still gawking at her with curiosity in his eyes. "No, I am not an elf, David. Just like you, I am a human too. I just have a rare condition that makes me look a bit different," she said to him, giving him a genuine smile.

"Oh, shoot," David mumbled, "I thought you were a real elf, with magical powers and all," the boy continued, disappointment written all over his face.

She laughed faintly at what David said. "Believe me, David, I wish I was too," she whispered to the boy, giving him her cheeky grin.

David just stared at her in awe. "Can I touch your ear?" the boy asked her without hesitation, already raising his hand halfway up.

"David!" David's mom blurted out, shocked at what his son asked Eleanor. "I am so sorry, Miss. It was my fault as a mom, I didn't teach him manners," David's mom apologetically said again to Eleanor.

As she was about to respond, the train had already stopped at the station. David's mom abruptly stood and hurriedly dragged poor David with her, she mumbled a fast apology again to Eleanor, before hurriedly getting off the train.

Eleanor saw David waving goodbye at her while his mom was dragging him away. She couldn't help but smile at the boy's innocent actions. She lifted her hand to wave back at the boy with a small smile. "Cute," she thought to herself while watching David and his mom until they were out of her sight. Letting out a deep sigh, she straightened in her seat. In truth, she was more offended by David's mom. Eleanor knew that his mom acting sorry towards her was just a façade. She could feel the disgust coming from the woman, and her interaction with David's curiosity made his mom mad.

As the train moved on, Eleanor was comfortably ensconced in the far corner of the carriage. Her gaze shifted from the station where David and his mom got off, to the view rushing through the window. She was alone, but she was used to it. Although there was little time left to reach her destination, the steady motion of the train made her eyelids heavier.

As she closed her eyes, someone sat beside her. She didn't even bother to fully open her eyes when she decided to take a peek. An old lady sat in the seat vacated by David and his mom. Shrugging her shoulders, she didn't pay any mind to the old lady. Hugging her bag tightly, she turned to the other side, facing the window, and decided to continue her nap.