The Beta's Daughter novel Chapter 2

My heart sank. 12:01. I was officially eighteen, but I couldn’t feel anything except for disappointment. Jacob was struck dumb. He hadn’t moved for a full minute now, and I could scarcely feel the movement of his chest rising and falling.

“Jake?” I whispered, pressing myself closer to him. He sighed.

“We’re not mates,” he murmured, and the heartbreak in his voice made my chest clench. “I asked my mum how we’d know. She said we just would, that our worlds would change, re-arrange so that you were at my centre. It feels the same,” he said, choking on the last word. I wrapped my arms around him and furrowed my head even further under his chin.

I still felt safe and at home, but there was no magic spark, nothing mystical or otherworldly. I could feel my love for him pounding against my ribcage, bursting like a firework and then fizzling out over and over as the realisation hit me. We weren’t mates. We weren’t meant to be.

I could feel tears worming their way up to my eyes, my throat burning as it clasped around nothing. I could feel myself clutching at straws, the desperation pounding against my skull as I tried to think of ways around this.

“Maybe you’re not actually eighteen yet,” Jacob said into my hair, and it seemed that he felt the same. “Maybe we have to wait until the exact minute of your birth.”

I nodded, but I didn’t agree. I could feel somewhere deep inside that we weren’t meant to be, that this wasn’t it. Jacob wasn’t the one. The tears started to fall; I could taste the salt on my upper lip, dripping down the sides of my nose and cascading down my chin. I wiped at them with a clumsy hand.

Jacob sniffled above me. When he felt my hand moving he finally looked at me, and he caught my chin with his fingers, wiping my tears away with his other hand. I leant into his touch, feeling comforted.

“This doesn’t change anything,” he said. “I still want you to be my Luna. You belong with me, Ari.” His voice cracked, and my heart tore a little more. It felt as though someone was toying with it, slowly pulling it apart at the seams. My eyes glazed over, and I couldn’t find any words to make this better.

My bedroom door swung open then, slamming so hard that it whacked against the wall. “Happy Birthday!” My parents yelled, with Jacob’s stood right behind them. They were beaming, but their smiles faltered when they caught sight of us.

“You’re not…” My mum managed to choke out, and she shook her head.

“This can’t be,” my dad added, looking crestfallen. Jacob’s parents hurried in behind them, their faces stunned.

“They aren’t mates,” Jacob’s mum whispered, her eyes immediately filling with tears. She moved over to the bed and took my hand in hers, my mum moving to sit on the other side of me. Our dads both clapped Jacob on the shoulder, frowning heavily.

“I know this must be disappointing for both of you,” Jacob’s mum began, regaining her poise. “But the Moon Goddess has a plan, and she’ll have a reason for this. It doesn’t mean anything has to change between the two of you,” she added, squeezing my hand. She wiped gracefully at her tears, and composed herself.

“Trust in your paths,” my mum added, smiling sadly at us.

“You two look exhausted,” Jacob’s dad said. “Why don’t you take tomorrow off of training, get some rest, gather yourselves. This is a big shock for us all.”

“I’d like to train, sir,” I mumbled.

“Are you sure?” My dad spoke up. “It’s your birthday, sweetie, don’t feel you have to-“

“I want to, dad,” I said with a small smile.

“And what’s with the sir?” Jacob’s dad laughed. “It’s Kele to you, and it always has been.” He leant over and gave my shoulder a squeeze. “Ari, you know I think you’re a wonderful girl. We both do,” he said, gesturing towards Liliana.

She nodded, smiling sweetly at me.

“If you two had been mated and you were to take over as Luna, we would have been so happy. And, truly, we thought that was the path the Moon Goddess was going to choose for you. But,” he said, dropping his gaze, “she did not, and that is something we all have to live with and adjust to. It does not, however, mean that we have any less regard for you. Of course not. We love you as our own, Ari, and it pains me deeply that you are not the one chosen for our son. But you must trust in the Goddess, and I promise you, everything will become clear.”

He spoke with gravitas, and I bowed my head. To receive such praise from the Alpha was overwhelming, especially after such an emotional shock.

“You two have an undeniable bond,” my father added. His words brought about a sense of reverence, too. “Do not let this draw you apart. Use it to bring you closer. Jacob will be the Alpha of the Silver Crescent pack one day and Ari, you may be his Beta. Do not let this weaken your connection. Everything will fall into place. Now,” he said, with a twinkle in his eye. “There’s cake downstairs. It was meant to be for tomorrow, but I don’t think anyone will notice if we have some now.”

Jake and I wiped at our eyes, wide grins spreading across our faces. We both train hard, so we eat well, too, and cake has always been one of my favourite foods. One of the Omegas took a shine to me after I dried up the clean washing for him, years ago, so he sometimes calls me over with a hushed voice to give me first dibs on something delicious and home-cooked.

Sometimes, he’d go as far to bake something just for me – once it was jam tarts, and another time a giant cherry bakewell. Thinking about it made my stomach rumble, so I leapt up and pulled on an oversized sweatshirt before blowing out the lit candles dotted around my bedroom.

My parents pulled me into a hug, one on either side of me. My mum kissed my forehead, before saying “Happy Birthday sweetie” with a smile. As soon as they let me go, Jacob tackled me from behind and pulled me up into a fireman’s lift, toting me downstairs. I laughed and flailed, raining a series of half-hearted kicks and punches down on him, but there was no real effort involved.