章節 13: CHAPTER 13. I'M JUST A SURROGATE, NOTHING MORE.

{For this part, listen to Someone you loved by Lewis Capaldi}

Alessia laid on her bed, weeping in Said's embrace all night long. She felt broken, torn, abandoned and dejected. This man is her mate, someone she had always longed for. She had thought that he meant everything he said to her before she had moved in with him. She was happy to live with her mate although it was scary leaving everything she loved, cherished and had known at home, she was still happy. But now, he just told her that he would be getting married to another woman. How could she ever live with seeing another woman stand beside her mate? How could she live with the fact that she wasn't good enough and would never be? Did she ever offend Selene to be given such cruel fate? She has seen humans falling into a depressed state after breakup, she has heard them describe the pain of breaking up with someone they loved especially if they didn't want to. They didn't even breakup, but what she was feeling was worse than what those humans describe mostly because of the bond. The tears streamed down her face as she cried uncontrollably, her sorrow echoing through the night. The weight of her emotions carrying on until the first rays of sunlight peeked through the window.

As the first ray of sunlight peeked through her window, Alessia became aware that she had been crying all night, and she realized that she had unintentionally kept her younger brother awake the whole time. She felt really sorry for him. She desperately tried to hold back the streaming tears and succeeded. With the back of her palm, she wiped away the tears on her face. She then looked up at Said's tired and sleepy face, her voice was filled with genuine remorse and guilt as she said, "Oh, Said, I'm so sorry for keeping you up all night." It was a poignant moment of vulnerability and regret, where Alessia realized the impact of her emotions on her brother. Said looked down at his sister with worry written over his face he replied "Don't worry about me Alex, I'm fine. You're supposed to be worrying about yourself. How are you feeling?" He asked her. "Light" she responded absentmindedly, "But I'll be fine. You need to go home before mom starts looking for you and don't tell her about this." She said seriously. "I won't tell her." He promised and with that he left. She stayed in bed feeling really lazy and weak to stand up. She slept and woke at noon. She was really hungry and needed to take her bath but she was feeling too heartbroken to do anything. "Why should he be able to go about with his daily activities and I don't? Nope, Alessia you need to put your shit together, you can't always act pitiful. You'll take your bath, get dressed, go down, prepare your meal, eat and head to the garden." She said to herself.

Meanwhile, Dylan couldn't sleep throughout the night because of Alessia. Apparently, he could feel her grief and pain through the mate bond. He needed to rest badly because his schedule the next morning was really tough, but he couldn't. Realizing that it was daybreak already, he got off his bed, took his bath, dressed and left. On his way out, he wanted to check on Alessia, she actually stayed up all night crying because of him. But he changed his mind and left. Through out the day he wasn't himself and Diane noticed it immediately. She waited for the perfect time to speak with him. So Dylan was to meet with the alpha Blue Moon pack Seth Reece for reasons unknown to her. He was currently discussing with his beta Adrian. When Adrian left, she walked it. "Alright, spill it." She said. Dylan looked at her and replied "there is nothing serious to spill." "But there is something to spill right? So spill it." She said. Dylan sighed and looked out his office window "I told Alessia last night that she wasn't my Luna because she isn't fit to be my Luna and I'll have to perform my duty as an alpha to the pack by providing them a powerful Luna, so I'll be marrying someone else. And I couldn't sleep all night because I could feel it through the bond that she was grieving all night." He said. He wasn't a long talker but with Diane, he had no choice. "You're kidding right?" Diane asked shocked with what she was hearing. "I don't have a choice." He responded. "Do you? Do you really not have a choice?" She asked him fuming with anger. She walked out of the office slamming the door. 'I need to go home' she said to herself and with that, she was on her way home.

Alessia brushed, took her bath and got dressed. She wore a stunning white gown with a high slit that adds a touch of allure and sophistication. The fabric drapes gracefully, accentuating her figure in all the right ways and a pair of perfect heels which added complement to her ensemble, adding an extra dose of elegance and height. With their sleek design and just the right amount of sparkle, they complete the whole look flawlessly. She had a thing about dressing in white whenever she was grieving. She tied her champagne blonde hair into a loose ponytail. She applied her pink gloss to her lip and decided to go with the necklace and earring her mom gave her for her birthday party.

As Alessia was about to leave her room, she noticed something on her table. Curiosity piqued, she walked over and discovered a covered plate of food that Said had left for her. How thoughtful of him! The plate was carefully covered, keeping the delicious meal warm and enticing. The aroma wafted up, making her mouth water in anticipation. "Thank you" she whispered. After eating, she left her room and went into the garden.

So, as Alessia made her way to the garden, she encountered some of the pack house staff. But here's the twist, they were acting all cold and indifferent towards her. But she didn't let it bother her and decided to carry on with her garden tour. She continued strolling around, taking in the beauty of the surroundings. Just then, Diane approached her. Diane asked how she was feeling, mentioning what she heard from her brother. Alessia reassured her, saying, "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm doing great." "How could he do something like that?" Diane asked feeling really disappointed. But before she could respond, they suddenly heard a car honking at the gate. The staff at the gate went over to check who it was. And then he declared "it's the alpha, Blue Moon pack, Seth Reece"

With that the gates were opened, welcoming him inside. Immediately his car drove in, Dylan's drove in too.

Seth Reece got down and waited for Dylan to get down. Dylan got down and was about to take him inside the pack house when Seth spotted Dylan's sister Diane and another woman. His attention was fully on the other woman. He had never seen anyone as beautiful as she was in his life. "Who is she?" Seth asked Dylan pointing towards the woman. Dylan didn't reply and Seth took it that Dylan didn't know who she was, probably she was just a friend of Diane. He walked over to them. "Good day Diane" he greeted. And he turned to look at the other woman. Looking at her up look, she looked even more charming and gentle, her beauty was just out of this world he taught to himself. "Hey, I'm Seth Reece, Alpha Blue Moon pack" he introduced stretching his hand out for a handshake. She took his hands and replied "I'm Alessia Am.." She paused 'I'm not yet married to Dylan.' "I am Alessia Arthur" she corrected herself. "Arthur? Are you Dominic Arthur's child? If you are which is your mom?" He asked eargerly. "Yes, I am Dominic's daughter and Ophelia is my mom." She replied surprised that he was interested. He was still holding her hands when he said "so, you're the rumored daughter of Dominic who hasn't had her wolf?" He asked. She was stunned in place 'rumored' she asked herself. Sensing her discomfort Seth added "not like I mind, I like my woman that way because only then can I get to play knight in shinning armor and she damsel in distress as it should be" he added. She smiled at him 'it would've been better if it was her mate saying this to her not someone else' she thought. "Well thank you" she said with a sweet smile on her face. She withdrew her hand from his gently. "Are you trying to hit on her?" Diane asked Seth. "Yes, is there a problem?" he asked. Alessia suddenly understood why he was being friendly, so turns out that he saw her and liked her. "Oh no, I actually have a mate" Alessia said to him. "Oh" he said. He wasn't expecting her to be mated. "Who is the lucky man?" He asked. "Oh trust me he doesn't consider himself lucky." Alessia replied without sparing Dylan a glance. "Who is your mate?" Seth asked shocked. "I'm her mate" Dylan replied. All along he have been standing silently, monitoring their conversation with a dark gaze. Now Seth understood what was going on. "Can I have this one?" Seth asked Dylan. "No" Dylan responded. Alessia rolled her eyes inwardly. "Aren't you planning to marry my sister and make her your Luna? So what do you need a mate for?" Seth asked him. Dylan's gaze turned darker again and sharper. Seth was scared for his life 'what did I do wrong?' He asked himself.

Alessia hearing what Seth said could hear her heart shattering into piece. She looked at Dylan and said "Dylan, we need to talk." And she walked inside the house, all the way to the library with Dylan behind her. "Sit" she commanded. He raised a brow at her but still sat down. "We need to talk about us." She said. "We are mates" he responded. "Not to me, because mates don't trick each other or hurt each other" she responded calmly to his utmost surprise. "If we are going to live together, we need rules. You're not to be in my shit, we will avoid each other at home except from the days when our canal desires say otherwise, we will perform the mates rite but it will be after the wedding and I will bore your kids" she said with a determined look on her face. "I can agree with that" He said. "But if they will be like me, without a wolf, weak and never enough for you and I don't want you making them feel bad about it, so they will have nothing to do with you, they will be mine. Your children will be the one you have with your Luna, they will take after you" she declared. "This is all I have to say to you. So incase of next time, I'm not your mate, I'm nothing to you but just a surrogate, nothing more."