My Orphan Mate ✓

Chapter Two

*picture of Lyra

LYRA
________

Two years after having no choice but to accept the Alpha's offer, I found myself huffing under my breath, scrubbing a dirty cloth against the windowpane. From my spot, I had a clear view of the infamous three sisters who also lived at the alpha's residence.

Every muscle in my body tensed as I fought the urge to roll my eyes when I noticed the eldest sister Jasmine's arm glide slowly up the alpha's. A smirk curled on the redhead's lips as she turned her head just enough to meet my gaze, an unmistakably cruel glint flashing in her eyes. Even with the distance between us and the window separating our worlds, a shiver crawled down my spine. I turned back to the glass, wiping at the already spotless surface with unnecessary force. 

Moments later, Jasmine's attention shifted back to the alpha, who was showing the sisters how to swing a golf club. Every Tuesday afternoon, he took them out to flaunt his so-called skills, something I had never pretended to care about. The alpha caught on quickly enough and decided it was best for me to stay behind at the pack house during their lessons. 

According to him, living in the pack house meant being on the front lines of pack life, and the girls residing here were supposed to help me "find my footing." The only thing I'd learned, however, was just how sly and spiteful they could be. 

They girls in the house had grown up serving the alpha and his family, and my sudden arrival must have felt like a betrayal to them. I could see it in their eyes, and they'd all assumed the alpha would choose one of them as his Luna, until I set foot in the house. I was merely an outsider clinging to the edges of a life that was never meant for me, and they made sure to remind me daily. 

I wanted to escape desperately, to explore a world on my own now that I was eighteen, but I remembered the alpha's words. How he'd filled my head with warnings about rogues being slaughtered on the outskirts of our lands. He claimed it was the fault of our neighbouring pack, the one that supposedly despised us to the core. 

I must have drifted too far into my thoughts, because the sudden commotion downstairs jolted me back to reality. The golf course outside now stood empty, and moments later, the sound I dreaded the most echoed through the house. The alpha called my name. My stomach twisted instantly. 

At first, I thought I had imagined his voice calling for me, but when he called again, louder, I jumped into action and hurried from the window toward the stairs. 

At the bottom, my gaze locked onto him immediately. Gabriel stood there, tall and immaculate in a black suit. He really was a handsome man, the kind most women would dream of standing beside. I just wished he'd found his actual mate, so he could stop tormenting me.

Even now, I still didn't understand why he'd given me that ultimatum. It wasn't like I was the prettiest wolf in the pack, or anything special.

"Ah, Lyra," he said when he finally noticed me, his voice dropping with feigned affection. "There you are, darling." 

He crossed the space between us quickly, grabbed me and pulled me roughly against me.

"I always miss you during these practice sessions," he murmured, his breath hot against my ear. "You never let me show you my skills." 

A shiver ran down my spine, though, not from desire. Alpha Gabriel always made me nervous, but not in the way he wanted. His power and dominance pressed against the air itself, suffocating in its intensity. From the moment I'd arrived, he'd made it clear. I was his.