Claimed by the Alpha

Chapter Thirty-One

Troy's POV

I found my folks in the living room of the Beta suite. I took a deep breath in and let it out before I walked in to talk with them. They sat comfortably on the couch and the sight annoyed me more than it probably should have. I could smell their scent, more importantly, my mother's, all over the suite as if she had made a point to walk into every room while they waited.

    "It's a good thing I no longer need to bond with my mate. Your scent is stinking up the place," I said and plopped into a chair. To the outside world, I had a normal loving relationship with my parents. That wasn't the case when we were behind closed doors. My dad had been strict in raising me to be the perfect Beta. He was good at his job, but he was so stiff. He and the former Alpha worked together the way Alpha and Beta should, but they weren't friends. Their relationship was strictly professional and my dad treated every relationship that way. Even the one he had with my mom. I don't even think they loved each other. It felt like a business transaction. A way to give the pack a Beta heir.

    "Don't be rude," Mother said. "We wanted to talk to you about the dream."

    "I figured as much," I sighed. "I take it you believe that Chandra is the wolf from your dream?"

    "Yes," she said, excited. "And since you and the alpha were away that means that hasn't marked her yet."

    "Mother, I know what you're about to say-"

    "You have to mate and mark her, Troy," Father said.

    I clasped my hands together and lowered my head. I knew that was what they were going to say. Even though I was an adult and their Beta, they still found it necessary to dictate my life. I let them meddle in my life before and that cost me three mates. I was done.

    "I'm not going to mate with the Luna. First, Kai would probably kill me. Second, she is destined to be the Luna. I'm not going to take that away from her. Third, I have Paige. She is my mate."

    Mother rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "First," she repeated in the snarky tone that she used when she was annoyed with me. "Kai will not kill you because he will have found his mate after and that's what he's always wanted. "Second, why haven't you mated and marked Paige if you feel so strongly for her?"

Because there are rules to follow," I cut her off before she could continue. "I'm not going to lose another mate listening to the two of you."

"And third," she continued as if I hadn't just spoken. "I am not doubting that Chandra is destined to be Luna. She is destined to be the Luna of all Luna's. After you mate and mark her that would make you Alpha. A King."

I couldn't believe the words that had left her mouth. For years they had pushed me to mate my chosen before time even going as far as using their manipulation to get my mates to believe that we would be able to break the curse. Now they wanted me to basically dethrone my best friend.

"Is that what this is about? Power? Being the Beta of the most powerful pack in the country isn't enough for you?"

"This has nothing to do with power," Father said in his stern voice. This is about breaking a centuries old curse that we have had to suffer through. If you so happen to end up as a king, then so be it, but some of us would like to be able to meet our mate."

"I'm not the wolf in the dream. Chandra is and whoever her mate is. Besides, you're mated and whoever was supposed to be your fated is probably mated. If this curse gets broken you'll never meet them." They shared a look that had me sitting up in my seat. "What?"

Mother looked back at me. "Your father never marked me."

My jaw fell and I stared at them in shock. It didn't make any sense. She needed to be marked in order to get pregnant. I would wonder if they were my biological parents, but I was the perfect blend of them both. I had my mom's dark hair and small nose. My dad's light eyes and strong chin. There was no way they couldn't be my parents.

"How?" I asked.

"Like Kai, I've always wanted my fated mate," he said. "When Alpha Jackson marked Luna Tiffany while they were mating, I felt the pull to mate and mark Amy, but right before I could sink my teeth in her, I sunk them into my forearm instead."

"We thought he just needed more time, but then I got pregnant without being marked. I had already had my first heat, but as you know usually I would need his mark. Turns out I didn't."

My brain felt like it was going to explode. As much as my parents had drilled into me about that stupid dream, they never once told me that they weren't marked. It was more information than I could take, but my mom wasn't finished.

"Don't you get it now? You and Chandra are meant to break this curse. Why else would I have gotten pregnant with you without having your father's mark? Why would the Goddess give me a vision of the curse being broken when I was pregnant with you?"

I shook my head and looked up to the ceiling. What they were asking of me was a lot. I would have to betray three people if I were to go through with what they wanted.

"Do you feel anything for the Luna?" Father asked.

"Protective," I mumbled. "I don't feel any sort of romantic or sexual attraction towards her. I feel like I want to protect her from everything that could cause her harm."

"Fated mates are protective of each other," Mother insisted.

"Alpha Jackson has instructed Alpha Kai to mate and mark her before her next heat. You have until then to do the right thing," Father said. I looked back at them as they stood from the couch. "I'm counting on you, son."

He turned and walked out of the room. Mother followed him. I didn't get long to sit in my thoughts before I picked up Paige's scent. I had been so distracted by everything that I hadn't noticed when she came home. I jumped out of my seat when she stepped into the living room. Her face was pale as she looked at me."

"How much did you hear?" I asked in a rush.

"You told me how the girls before me died. You told me how your parents manipulated you guys into marking each other. You told me how to prepare for when they requested me, but you didn't tell me everything. Tell me now."

I didn't want to keep anything from her anymore, so I did. I told her everything I had revealed to Kai and Alec. Her legs gave out from under her and she sunk to the floor. I dropped down in front of her and reached for her. I breathed easy when she didn't pull away from me like I thought she would have.

"So, Chandra could be your mate?"

"That's not possible," I denied.

"I heard what your mother said. Chandra is definitely the wolf from her dream. She's special. I've always known that. Even before she got her wolf, but after it was the way Athena responded to her. Athena would gladly die for Imara. Imara is more than her best friend. She's her Luna. Always has been. So there's no doubt that she's the wolf, but you could be too. You could be the other half that we need to break the curse."

"Do you want me to take Chandra?"

"No," she cried. "I want you to choose me. I want to be your mate."

"You are my mate." I grabbed her face in my hands and made her look at me. "You are my mate."

"But not your fated."

"I don't care about that. I spent more time with the others, but I've never felt for them the way I do you. If I wasn't so afraid of what could happen I would take you right now and mark you. For now, we have to wait for Kai to mark Chandra and then it's you and me for the rest of our lives."

"Promise?" she whispered.

"I promise. You're not going to get rid of me that easily." I kissed her. I tasted the salt from her tears that fell on her lips. She opened for me and I took the invitation to deepen the kiss and I took it.

She was it for me. I didn't give a damn what my parents thought. We had spent a week together and she opened up to me. She let me in. She trusted me and I wasn't going to break that trust. I had chosen my mate and I was going to honor that choice.

A/N

Guys, the way my hands hurt, but I couldn't stop writing this. I want to cry, but I hope you liked it. NC