Chapter 8 - Diana
“Mates who are both from an alpha bloodline are rare,” Kaleem mumbled to himself after we moved to a secluded area tucked between two buildings.
I nodded. “I know, and if you and I ended up together, we’d eventually have a pup from two alpha bloodlines who’d be capable of challenging anyone. He’d be able to state a claim to the Bluemoon Pack if he wished.”
The only wolves I knew to have been born from two alpha bloodlines were the five wolves who oversaw all wolf matters globally. They were our private leaders, and they were the absolute strongest among us.
Since it was more popular these days, choosing a partner through mutual attraction could happen between members of strong bloodlines who merely like each other. But an alpha sharing two powerful lineages comes with complications.
“After my grandfather lost his Luna, he met someone else,” I began to say, and Kaleem stepped away, listening but also deep in thought. “My grandmother had my dad shortly after the Luna died, so it would have been a scandal within the pack.”
“You’re right,” Kaleem grumbled. “Colin would fight my claim to you as your mate and you as mine. He’d see our union as nothing but a play against him.”
Kaleem ran his hand over his mouth, and I could see the wheels turning in his head as he pieced everything together. Anyone can challenge an alpha to take over a pack, but it wasn’t often a normal werewolf did that. Those born from an alpha bloodline were powerful, so it would be a suicide attempt by a normal wolf to step out of line.
To everyone, my Dad had challenged Colin as a normal, brave, and foolish wolf, but Jackson, Colin, and I knew my father had a legitimate claim. He was the second son of the past alpha, and if anything were to happen to Colin or Jackson, the pack would pass on to him.
Like my father had attempted, he’d voiced his claim to the pack and challenged Colin.
If Kaleem and I had a son, he’d be able to state a claim to the Bluemoon Pack if he wanted to and perhaps even join both packs together again. He could put an end to this senseless feud.
“My dad challenged Colin a few years ago,” I finally revealed, and Kaleem faced me in seconds. “He lost,” I said with a broken smile. “Dad, Jackson, and I are the only remaining wolves of our bloodline, so Dad being Colin’s half-brother, is the only reason Colin didn’t kill him. We’ve, however, been outcasts within the pack since. They treat us like trash without knowing the true reason.”
When Kaleem stepped forward and held my shoulders, I didn’t move away. Thinking of Dad, remembering his fight with Colin and the treatment we’d suffered for years, I didn’t have the strength to fight Kaleem.
His hands were so warm, his eyes filled with regret and compassion, and I wanted his comfort. Goddess, I wanted it. I was so exhausted.
Colin despised my father because he was a constant reminder of their father’s betrayal.
“Why didn’t you tell me all of this from the start?” Kaleem asked, and I stared at his chest while trying to find the right words.
“I was worried you’d reject me after discovering who I really am,” I admitted and some of the weight I’d been dragging around for years lifted.
He started shaking his head, and I held my hand up to stop him before he could speak.
There was no point in having secrets anymore, especially about how I felt. The cat was out of the bag, and everything else could be emptied as well. This was who I really was, and it felt amazing that someone else, Kaleem, now knew the truth.
Now I wanted him to know exactly what he did to me those many years ago.
“We’d only known each other for two weeks, Kaleem, but it felt like forever. I felt whole with you. I-I knew I’d lose you. I knew it would happen at some point when the truth got out, but I still couldn’t stomach the thought of you rejecting me, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”
“But here we are anyway,” I stepped away, and his hands fell to his side. “I didn’t pick Colin and the pack over you. I picked not leaving my Dad.”
Kaleem frowned. “Mathieu? Diana, Mathieu would have been welcomed with you,” he said with frustration. “Both of you would have had a place here. Goddess, I wish you’d told me all of this sooner.”
“But he wouldn’t have agreed to leave the pack. Dad never would have agreed,” I replied. “He loves the pack too much, even now despite how they’ve treated us, and he’s all I’ve ever had. I couldn’t leave him even if it meant giving up my own happiness.”
Kaleem said nothing in response, and we stood like that in silence for a few minutes. I’d had years to think about this, while knowing the truth, but everything was being dropped on his lap at once.
But if I stopped now, we’d never have this conversation again. I didn’t want to have this conversation again.
Kaleem and I together meant far more than just being from enemy packs. It meant the potential for real change that could be good or bad. Back then, we’d already had one war going on over territory, and our bond would have made things worse.
Now, I didn’t even want to think of potentially rekindling our mate bond. We were stuck yet again amid a delicate situation. My pack returning to Wolfcreek, and jeopardizing that in any way was the last thing I wanted.
I’d kept my truth a secret in the past in hopes that perhaps I’d be wrong, that maybe, just maybe, Kaleem and I stood a chance. But then he did the one thing I’d been horrified of doing myself, he rejected me.
A bad taste rose in my mouth, and my fury returned as if it hadn’t left. “I was going to tell you the truth that day, the day we met before your pack was attacked. But before I could, you gave me a choice to pick you or my pack, and that’s why I’ve hated you for all these years.”