Chapter 3

By the end of the ball, Maya, Logan, Melody and Carter were pissed at me. The four of them were in my room, arms crossed, and tapping their feet to a rhythm. It was as if they choreographed how they were going to stand before coming in.

"Are you just going to keep staring at me?" I asked, scrolling through my phone.

"What happened tonight, V?" Maya voiced out her thought.

I lifted my eyes from my phone and to her face. "What do you mean?"

"Don't fucking play dumb with me." She pointed a finger at me. "You," she said, "Who was that man? Your boyfriend we don't know of?"

"Whoa." I dropped my phone on the bed. "Easy there, miss. Caelum is not my boyfriend. Just a friend."

"What about the other guy?" Carter questioned.

"What guy?"

I hoped they were talking about Leonardo and not Mavros. Darn, thinking about Leonardo made my blood boil. Power greedy dick.

"The one you went into your room with."

Maya and Melody gasped. I was fucked. I didn't think anyone would be upstairs because everything was happening downstairs.

"Did you sleep with him?" Maya blurted. From the way both hands rested on her waist, she was dead serious. "Did you?"

I may be Alpha queen, but Maya was my older sister. She could point a finger in my face or smack me, and I'd let her walk away unharmed. Father had made sure I respected her as much as I respected him.

"I did not have sex with anyone tonight." I got up from the bed. "Look, you guys, I'm exhausted. Can we talk about how I failed to pick a mate tomorrow morning? Please?"

"No." Maya's tone was firm. "We are having this conversation now."

"Really?"

"Yes." she confirmed. "Val, this is the second time we've held the ball and you're yet to pick a mate. What's wrong? Is there something you're not telling us?"

There was a lot I wasn't telling them. How could I tell them I was reincarnated and, in my previous life, they split me up for falling in love with a god? A god who was here in the mortal realm because he was in love with me.

"None of them seem to grab my attention." I was truthful. None of the alphas or future alphas had what I wanted. Maybe it was because I was always destined to love someone else. No, no. I shook my head. I couldn't risk going through the same thing again.

"What's wrong with them?" Logan. I thought my beta was supposed to take my side. Apparently, he was aboard the go-get-yourself-a-mate train.

"Have any of you not noticed that the reason they come to this ball is not because they give a damn that I don't have a mate. They come here because they want to be king." Maya opened her mouth to speak, but I motioned with my hand for her to keep quiet. "I spoke to Leonardo Garcia tonight, and he opened the sewer he calls a mouth and vomited these exact words and I quote. 'If you choose me as your mate and we get married, I'll become king and you can help me rule the kingdom as my queen.'" I threw my hands up. "He wants to me to help him rule a kingdom I lost a lot for. Are you now seeing reasons with me?"

"But Valeria, you cannot rule alone." Maya tried to reason. "You need someone beside you. You need a king."

"No." I snapped. "I do not need a king. My brother died in the course of me trying to protect this kingdom and over my dead body, will I let anyone claim that throne. If they want to marry me and be the father of my kids, then come on. But if for one second they think I'll step down from the throne and give it to them, they've got another thing coming."

"V..." Maya reached out to hold my hand and I backed away.

"Please leave my room. I need to rest."

"Valeria." Melody.

"Get the hell out!"

Maya flinched from my outburst. She turned around, and they all left my room. Once I was certain they were out of earshot, I picked up my brother's picture that was on my reading table. I climbed onto the bed and pulled the sheets up to my chest before cradling the picture to my chest.

"They weren't around when I lost you." A tear drifted down my cheek. "And now they want a kingdom you died for. If there was a way to bring you back, I would have given the crown to you and left the werewolf world to live a calm and bother free life with humans." I stared at the picture. "Zayne, I miss you. I miss you every day and it kills me I can't see, hear, or touch you. I want to prank you and see the look on your face when I'm done. I want you to be here when I eventually pick a worthy mate. I want you to be here when I have my first child. Your niece or nephew." A sad smile graced my lips. "You would have been an amazing uncle. A cool uncle."

There were times I took him for granted because I thought he'd always be around. I was so wrong. If he was here, he'd definitely be on my bed and hugging me. It was his way of saying I'm here and I got your back. Losing a father was hard, but losing a twin was harder. We did good and bad things together. Got scolded together and celebrated together. We were that kind of twins.

"Hey."

I slowly sat up on my bed when I heard Aspro's voice. It wasn't surprising that he was in my room. He could have walked in and I didn't notice because I was crying my heart out to a picture of my brother.

"Hey." I wiped at my tears with the back of my head. "What are you doing in here?"

"I came to check up on you and it's clear you're not doing okay." He sat on the bed. He no longer wore the suit. Just a simple white tee shirt and grey pants. "Want to tell me about it?"

"Do you remember the guy you met me talking to?"

He nodded. "Leonardo Garcia."

I wanted to ask how he knew his name, but I figured it was a god thing.

"He's just like the rest. They want me to choose them only so that they can get the throne. They want to rule over a kingdom I worked my ass off for. I lost a lot for this kingdom."

"You don't want anyone to claim it except you."

I nodded. "It's irritating that all they want is the throne. I don't even think any of them genuinely care about me. About this kingdom. They just want to be on the top of the ladder. It sickens me."

"It's in the mortal nature to want to be powerful. To be on top of the ladder, as you put it. No one wants to be the underdog. Even in Alynthi, there are gods who do dirty things just to become more powerful. It's natural. Don't let it sadden you, though. I'm sure someone worthy of being king will show himself soon. Be patient."

After what Mavros told me, it felt as if he was talking about himself. It was as if he was asking me to be patient and wait for him.

"I had a dream." I lied.

From the way he shifted on the bed, it was clear he was interested. He was a good listener; I noticed.

"Tell me about it."

"Well, in that dream, I was in a strange place and the surrounding people kept addressing me as Zariya. It made little sense to me."

He paled.

"Aspro?"

He didn't respond.

"Aspro?" I tapped his arm. It seemed to have been effective in snapping him out of whatever world he was in. "I lost you there for a second. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He forced a smile. "It's nothing. I, um," he intertwined his fingers. "I was just reminded of someone. A friend, to be precise."

Nice one, Aspro.

"Is her name Zariya?"

"Yeah. But she's late now."

"Is that so? I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have said anything about my dream."

"Did you say dream?" it was as though he had just realized something and was about to call me out on it.

"Yeah?" I answered, unsure of where this was headed.

"You couldn't have had a dream about such a thing." He looked into my eyes. "You didn't dream about Zariya. Someone told you about her." When realization dawned on him, his usually sweet expression turned sour. "My brother told you, didn't he?"

"Mavros?" I looked away from his face. "Of course not. He didn't tell me anything."

"Stop lying to me, Valeria." He rose to his feet. "My brother told you about Zariya and you wanted to get answers by pretending it was a dream. Am I wrong or right?"

A bucket of shame was doused on me. I hung my head. "You're right."

"Valeria,"

"In my defense, don't you think you should have told me? I have every right to know about me. About Zariya. You should have told me I was your..." the word remained at the back of my throat, unable to come out.

"How was I supposed to do that? When I first met you as Valeria Romero, you were going through a tough time. I couldn't just waltz in and say we loved each other in your past life. I would have looked like a fool. And now, I just came to the mortal realm today. When exactly did I have a chance to tell you?"

He was right. If he had told me two years ago, I definitely would have thought was insane and inconsiderate. I watched him walk to the door.

He spun. "Valeria, I still love you but I'm not ready to watch you suffer again."

"What do you mean?"

"I only came here today because I wanted to see how you were doing. I also wanted to assist you since you said running the kingdom wasn't easy for you. Now that you know about what happened, I'm afraid I can't stay here."

"You're leaving."

"Yes. I won't come into your life just to mess it up. It's better if we go our separate ways, just like before."

"You're being selfish. I thought we were friends."

"I can't be just friends with you. It's not that easy. I hope you understand."

"Aspro, come on."

"Good bye, Valeria."

And he walked out the door.

<<<>>>

When I went downstairs the following morning, I was told someone wanted to see me. A part of me wished it was Aspro. I was disappointed because it wasn't him. It was none other than his brother, Mavros. He wore a black shirt that hugged his body and blue jeans that suit him perfectly.

"She's here." Logan informed him, getting up from the couch. "Good morning, V."

"Morning." I replied. I faced Mavros. "Hey."

He bowed his head as though he wasn't of a higher power than me. It was smart. "Your highness," I noticed a slight tease in his voice. "You asked me to come see you today."

I did? What game are you playing, Mavros?

"Oh, Tyrion." I walked over to him. He arched a brow at me. After all, I had just named him. I couldn't just call him Mavros. "Come, join us for breakfast. We can talk after I fill my tummy."

He smiled sweetly. "Sounds like a plan."

He followed me into the kitchen. I sat at the head of the table. Logan and Melody sat on my right and left. Carter sat beside his mate whilst Logan's mate, Red, sat beside him. Her full name was Ared, but we all called her Red because of her hair color. She's used to it. Maya joined us minutes later with her mate, Drake. He was a really sweet guy and treated Maya right.

"Good morning." They greeted.

I got up and kissed Maya's cheek. I always greeted her like that every morning. "Morning. Hi Drake."

He smiled. "Hope you slept well?"

"I did." I sat back down.

Maya noticed Mavros, but she said nothing. She sat down just in time for the maids to bring in our breakfast. I thanked them before digging in. As we ate in silence, I felt something try to break the mental barrier I created so that no one could know what I was thinking. It was an ability all werewolves had.

"Tyrion? Really?"

Darn god.

"I had to give you a name."

"It's not bad." When I looked at him, he winked. "I like it."

It was going to be a long day for me.