Against the Odds

Aya’s P.O.V:
It’s been two days since the battle ended. Two days since we won the battle and saved our lands from being tainted by those evil bastards. Two days since my mother nearly had her head ripped off by a wolf and still survived the attack. Two days since I first transformed into my wolf.
Never in my life had I imagined that I would ever transform before my eighteenth birthday. Several members of the pack even had their doubts that I’d ever transform into a wolf at all, considering the fact that I was only a half-breed, a half-human, half-wolf hybrid. And there had been instances in history where the child born from such parents had never been able to transform even though tests had shown that the wolf genes had been the dominant factor in them.
But something had happened that day. When I’d seen that wolf jump on to my mother’s back like a coward from behind her, I had lost it. A red haze had taken over me and I didn’t remember much else of how I got to my mother, except that I had made it to her just in time and that once I had, I had transformed into a wolf and I had been able to rip that bastard off of her before he could severe her head.
The transformation however, had been like nothing I had ever imagined it would be like. My mother wasn't usually the type of woman who was used to freely discussing everything that a girl needed to know, that much I had learned at a very young age. Whatever girly details that I needed to know always came from Ruksaar and Belle with the occasional input from Mira while mom always shied away from the topics. I didn’t really blame her though, we had a huge pack and she had the responsibility of nearly four hundred and twenty nine wolves on her shoulders. But the topic about my transformation into a werewolf? Well, that was one thing that my mom had explained to me in vivid details. She had explained how the transformation worked, how the bones in our body shifted and how there was a blinding light engulfing our body as the human melted away and made place for the wolf. She had made me want to become a wolf desperately.
My mother had never once lost faith in me. Even though I’m half human, my mother has always been confident that I will turn into a wolf on my eighteenth birthday. She had herself turned into her wolf counterpart at the age of fourteen, under some dire circumstances and she always told me that I shouldn’t have to go through that. Her confidence in me had always surprised me, especially since I had always seen her as this huge figure with a huge responsibility. I still remember listening to the stories of her youth, about my dad, as I lay next to her on the bed with her arms around me. She might be busy the whole day, but mom always made time to tell me stories at night.
I specially loved the stories about my mom and dad; how they met, how they fell in love and how excited my dad had been to meet me. But when mom would talk about the time he had died, she would get all sad and quiet. It got better with time but I don’t think she could ever love anyone the way she loved my father.
But now there was Rhys Valkyer. My mom’s second mate and an Alpha wolf. It was difficult to picture someone else in my father’s place, especially Rhys since we hadn’t exactly gotten to a great start. I’d even been the one to shoot the guy with a silver bullet when we first met. But I think he has grown on me, on all of us for that matter.
Especially during the battle, I’d been able to see a new side of Rhys. He’d been with my mother every step of the way and he’d been there to catch her when that wolf had nearly ripped off her head. Even now, during my mom’s recovery, he had never once left her side. I’m glad she has him now. My mom can get too worked up sometimes and she often forgets to take care of herself. At least now I’ll rest assured that she will always have Rhys by her side to take care of her.
So with Rhys looking after my mom, I left her room in peace and headed back to mine to get some rest. She had finally woken up after two days of being in a coma and no matter how much I’d told myself that I was a big girl now and I won’t cry, I’d simply burst into tears as soon as I’d seen her wake up. I had been so scared for her as I had watched over her helplessly while she healed. Rhys has been a great help and has assured me that she will wake up soon, but I couldn’t help but worry.
He had worried about her as well; I’d seen it in his eyes as we had waited for mom to wake up and yet, he had made sure that I never missed a meal and that I was properly rested. I’d bonded with him on some level over the past couple days and I think we had come to some sort of an understanding. He was my mom’s second mate and he planned to stick around. I couldn’t exactly consider him a father figure since he was much too young for that, but I guess he could be like an elder brother or an uncle? Both of those relationships sounded extremely awkward but we were wolves, we lived for centuries and maybe someday, it wouldn’t be so awkward between us.
“Hey, choti (little one)!”
I stopped just a couple doors away from my room as Kushal jogged over to me from the direction of the kitchen. “Hey!” I called out to him as he came to a halt in front of me and panted to catch his breath.
Kushal and I had been best friends ever since we were in diapers. He’s two years older than me but that hasn’t stopped us from being friends. In fact, we are the only two wolves that are similar in age. Everyone else is either wayyy older or wayyy younger. He also acted like my older brother at times, sticking up for me when I needed him and also scolding me whenever I did something wrong. And judging from the way he was looking at me now, I’d guess he was disappointed in me about something.
“What is it?” I asked frowning. What could I have possibly done wrong to make him feel disappointed?
“Have you been avoiding Zyane recently?” Kushal asked outright and the guilty look must have shown on my face because Kushal pointed an accusing finger in my direction. “You have, haven’t you? But why?”
“You know why!” I snapped at him impatiently. I’d told him all about the mating bond and about Zyane’s little escapade near the Jharna. I was actually surprised he was even asking me why.
“Choti, how many times do I have to tell yo that running away from your trouble don’t always end well?” Kushal shook his head in exasperation. “The guy looks miserable! At least talk to him.”
“But how?” I asked. “I don’t even know what to tell him! I can’t just go up to him and tell him, ‘sorry dude, I don’t feel the mating bond, so you can go your merry way. Bye!’”
I waved my hands in the air in a mock gesture of goodbye while Kushal sighed.
“Look, whatever problems you guys have, I’d like ou both to just solve it yourselves without getting me involved.” He said. “I can’t be your middle man or your messenger anymore, this is getting too personal. The next time he asks me about you, I’m sending him your way straight up, so be prepared!”
With that, Kushal stomped back the way he had come from, leaving me dumbfounded and weary. Just great! Now I’ll have to deal with the devil face to face. What could possibly go wrong?

*****

“I’m coming!” I called out as I stepped out of the bathroom and reached for the door. But as soon as I opened it, I regretted not checking who it was beforehand.
“Can I come in?” Zyane asked from outside the door with his hands tucked inside his pockets in a nervous gesture.
I sighed. It was finally time to suck it up and face the music.
I moved out of the way to let him into my room and closed the door behind him to give us some privacy. Zyane walked in nervously and took a look around the room before he settled for the seat on the windowsill. For once, he wasn't wearing the turban kinda think that the Arabs like to wear and I could see that his hair was a dark brown in colour and he wore it a bit longer than Rhys did. He also didn’t look as old when he was wearing the turban-thing and the moustache didn’t bother me as much. Overall he looked younger and different, but the fact remained that there was still nothing between him and me.
“Do you...feel...anything at all?” He asked hesitantly, but he cut right to the chase. No greetings were spoken and no pleasantries were needed.
“No.” I told him frankly. “Is that normal?” I asked a little hesitantly. It wasn't easy learning that I was different but to find out that I was a freak on top of everything else...that wasn't something I was looking forward to.
“In a way, yes.” Zyane said with a sad smile. “It’s just that, the roles are reversed in our case.”
“What do you mean? How so?” I asked frowning.
“You really don’t know much about the mating bond or about mates, do you?” He asked, but there was no mockery in his voice. Just genuine curiosity.
“No, I don’t.” My mother thinks that I’m too young and I believe the same as well. I’m not even legally an adult yet so thinking about mating and settling down with someone or even having pups was out of the question for me. I wanted to live my life freely, to explore the world and become my own person. There’s so much out there that I haven’t seen, so much that I haven’t discovered about myself and about the world. I don’t want anyone tying me down before I have had my opportunity to do everything that I wanted to do.
“Would you like to know why you can’t feel the bond between us?” Zyane asked then, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Yes,” I said instantly, eager to learn more about it. “I would like that.”
“Well,” Zyane scratched the back of his head awkwardly before explaining. “You see, there is usually some difference in power or ranking between a mated pair. The male is usually of a higher rank than the female, which is usually why the females are the first to feel the mating bonds and the attraction is almost instant. But sometimes, if the male is a lot higher in rank, like if the female is a normal submissive and the male is an Alpha or a beta, then it is possible that the male won’t feel the mating bond at all. It’s simply because of the rank difference...at least that’s one of the reasons the mating bond doesn’t come into play. But I think, in our case, it’s the exact opposite.”
I frowned at Zyane’s statement. “But how?” I asked him. “What are the odds of me being stronger than you? I’m just a normal juvenile wolf with no ranking in the pack hierarchy yet. The only duties I’ve ever received are for patrolling the borders.”
“That might be true,” Zyane told me. “But you are strong. You just haven’t grown into your powers yet. I’m pretty sure that one day, you’ll become a strong Alpha and lead your pack with grace, just like your mother does now.”
“Thanks...I guess,” this time, it was my turn to be awkward. An uncomfortable silence descended upon us as Zyane and I stood staring at the floor, unsure of what to do next. That was until he suddenly spoke up.
“Reject me.”
“What?” I stared at Zyane dumbfounded as he made the request. Reject him? What did he mean?
“Reject me.” He repeated. “End this bond between us before it starts suffocating me and I do something stupid once again.”
I didn’t need a reminder of how the first time of him being ‘stupid’ had gone down. It had left me traumatized and Zyane had ended up spending two whole days in the dungeons without food or water or any kind of contact with any other wolves. I could only imagine how that would’ve felt. Wolves are social creatures, to be without contact with anyone from our pack drives us crazy after a while.
“Are you sure that is what you want?” I asked him, even though I knew he must be going through hell right now.
“Do you see yourself mated to me in the near future?” His sudden question threw me offguard.
Did I see myself mated to him in the near future? Do I see myself mated to Zyane at all? The answer was simple and yet, it was the most difficult answer I ever had to give.
“No, I don’t.” I told him sincerely. “I just can’t see myself mated to you in the future or ever. We just don’t work.”
Zyane nodded his head like he understood what I was trying to tell him even though I didn’t quite understand everything myself. I had turned into my wolf counterpart before my eighteenth birthday, maybe that’s why the bond never came into place? But at the same time, I felt myself cringe at the thought of mating this early in my life.
“Then you have your answer.” He said at last.

Zyane’s P.O.V:
As a teenager, I had once heard my friend joke about how we could just reject a potential mate if she wasn’t up to our standard. I mean, Mother Nature had given us so many options to choose from so why not settle for the best out there, right?
Even then, Rhys would scoff at us and tell us to be thankful for the fact that we had been given a choice at all. But then he’d go and take part in every kind of debauchery possible. I hadn’t been one to complain about Rhys’s lifestyle because me and my friends would do the same things and then some. But as we’d all left our teenage years behind, our views on having a mate had changed drastically.
Today as I stood in front of my potential mate, waiting for her to reject me. I knew this was punishment for all the hearts that I’d broken, all the sins that I’ve ever committed.
“Alright then, here goes.” Aya told me in a strong, confident voice and I braced myself for the words that would tear my heart out of my chest and shatter it into a million pieces. “I, Alaya Carnell Raichand, reject you, Zyane Hudson, as my potential mate, from now on and forever.”
The words felt like a physical blow as the mating bond snapped in half and degenerated. My wolf whimpered inside my mind and I bucked under the force of the roaring pain inside my head. But it was finally over. My one sided mating bond with Aya was finally gone.
“Zyane?” Aya’s concerned voice was right next to me. “Are you alright? Did I do something wrong?”
“No.” I told her through gritted teeth as the pain reduced to a dull throb. “You did everything right.” And my wolf will forever blame me for breaking the bond between us.
But that was alright, it was better than knowing that the person I considered my mate felt nothing for me in return. This was for the best. “Thank you, Alaya Raichand. It was nice meeting you.” I told her truthfully and opened my arms for a hug.
It was an awkward embrace but I was glad she didn’t reject it. And as she came into my arms, I memorized the shape of her as I held her, took in the milk and saffron scent of her soap before letting her go. The way she was now, it’ll forever be branded into my soul.
And as I left her room, left her forever, I knew that a part of me would always belong to her. And when we meet again, in a month’s time, I was sure that I wouldn’t feel this ache in my heart where she was supposed to be.

----End----