The Alpha's Exchanged Mate
The Alpha’s Exchanged Mate – Chapter 42

Author’s POV…

He stood gazing through the window blinds at her. He stood at a distance that was safe, close enough to get a perfect glimpse at her but also far enough not to get noticed, her dark wavy hair blowing with no synchrony as the standing fan was doing enough justice to her. It was doing its work.

She wouldn’t notice he was there. He had never been the one who was good enough for her,

She was walking from the home office today as the Alpha had called her over to tend to some needs of his.

He shouldn’t let himself be distracted by her, but her beautiful, curvy body makes it so hard for him to concentrate. Her straight legs fall out perfectly, revealing their glory under her black straight gown, they were crowned with thin heels, and she could just be called a Luna if only she were. No wonder she had always kept high standards for herself. No wonder she had always thrown herself at the Alpha before he disappointed her by choosing another woman as his Luna, but she didn’t let her hope to die down. She kept on striving to be the Beta mate since that was the closest to the throne. She had always believed she had a standard that couldn’t be fulfilled by being just the mere assistant to the Alpha. She threw herself at the Beta countless times, rumor had it that she even became the Beta’s f**k buddy, but no one could prove it. No one cared to prove it because she wasn’t relevant, especially when the Beta announced his wife to be a different woman, and the realization hits again as she knew she had been once again placed as an option.

She often second guesses herself. Was it that she was never good enough? Was her standard too high?

She turned back and was fortunate enough to catch his eyes on her, she knew he was there, and she smiled.

She is smiling sheepishly at the man she once told was not good enough for her, the man she swore would never have her even in the hades. She was at it again. When he was made Beta, she knew immediately that she needed to right her wrong.

Why did she undermine a fellow human? She asked herself.

Her brain was at it again, about to stoop so low to get what she had always dreamt of.

But this man loved her. This man adored her already. It shouldn’t be that hard, right?

Yes, she had treated him wrongly in the past. Yes, she had spat on his integrity and pushed him to the path of nothingness before her, but she is only human, and what use is life if we don’t forgive people for all the wrong they had done us out of ignorance?

She was going to swallow her pride. She was going to go down to zero just to right her wrong.

It was the night of his formal induction that she decided to take that bold step.

When she saw him entering into the sizzler’s meeting with Alpha Alex, she found it rather strange, but it could happen, considering the former Beta is facing trial, and maybe Alpha Alex needed company.

But waking up to the shocking news that he had been made Beta, her world came crashing down. Her life flashed before her eyes as she could vividly recall the thousands of times she had been so rude to him and had pushed him away countless times.

She knew she would need to do something she had never done before, apologize.

She walked towards him as a lot of people surrounded him, congratulating him, celebrating him, and regret slapped through her eyes. She should be there with him, hand in hand, receiving all the congratulations alongside him. Be the star of the moment, people would say.

“Look there, she is his woman,” she would love being pointed at and addressed as his.

But she had looked down at him in the past as an ordinary omega who would never amount to anything.

It took a moment before he noticed she was standing there.

“Hello,” she said to him so gently, and he smiled at her.

“Hello, Ramona, you look beautiful,” He complimented. She smiled as she felt that the moon goddess was on her side today. She had precisely worn that red dress because countless times, she had remembered him saying red looks certainly good on her.

It is strange that now that she is interested in him, the words she thought she never listened to came from the archive of her mind, and his voice began to register in her head and mind.

“Thank you, ” she replied modestly with a smile. She was still trying to keep it cool. She didn’t want to come off as desperate of any kind. She knew this was her last card in the deck. If she lost this one, there was no other round for her.

“Congratulations, it is a well deserved ordaining,” she finally said to him as they stood staring at each other for a moment. She was gazing at the fact that she had never noticed how beautiful his hazel green eyes were. How come she never noticed his broad shoulders that perfectly complimented his six-foot, five-inch height? How was it possible she never caught a glimpse of his dimples whenever he smiled? His arched eyebrows, his fair spotless skin, how did she never see how devilishly handsome he was?

She knew she had made a grave mistake in the past and needed to right her wrong immediately.

“Thank you, are you sure it was a well-deserved ordination? I can almost swear I have heard you said differently in the past,”

She sighed as she realized this wouldn’t be as easy as she thought, but she wasn’t going to give up just now because she had come this far and had worn this uncomfortable dress just to impress him, and she wasn’t backing up without giving it all she got.

“Can we talk somewhere that is more silent?” She asked, rolling her eyes around to indicate a lot of activities happening around.

“This is my party, I am not sure it would be okay if I just left, like that,”

Damn him! She cursed into her mind. Why does he have to be ever so considerate?

“I am sure they wouldn’t miss you if I stole you away for just five minutes,” she muttered, almost so obviously flirtatiously.

“Hmmm,” he sighed.

“Come one, Caleb,” she said again.

He rolled his eyes. Damn her! He cursed within him. Why does she still have so much grip over him?

“Okay,” he said, and she grinned. It was one of victory. As they walked past the crowd and headed for the garden, the silence grew more, and finally, there was total silence. Apart from the whistling sound of the birds and the creaking sound of the cricket, a pin could be heard, and their footsteps could be heard. Her painful heel could be heard.

They stood before the swimming pool, just behind the house. A howling noise came from the abyss of the night, it wasn’t a full moon, but the toenail shape of the moon was enough to give some of the strongest wolves enough strength to shift and attack at night.

“The night is so calm,” she finally said, as the staring competition was becoming unbearable, and she was failing.

“Yes it is,” he replied briefly.

“Caleb, I know we have had our differences in the past, but now, you are way more superior to me. Now we both work directly under the Alpha, and it wouldn’t be good if we continue in the way we have been known for in the past,” she muttered to him so calmly. He had never heard her speak to him in such a matter before. All he had gotten in the past was a series of retortion and countless mumbling.

“Are you saying all this because I am finally Beta and will now appeal to your sense of higher calling to be either a Beta or Alpha,”

She knew he was not stupid. He would see through her bullshit, but she came prepared, and as she already clearly stated earlier, she wasn’t going down without a fight.

“I am not doing this because you are Beta now, in fact, I still find you relatively unbearable,”

He chuckled, and finally, you could feel the atmosphere getting less tense for them. She smiled.

“But I swore my allegiance to the pack, to the Alpha, to the good of the realm. It would tell if we are not aligned because we need to work hand in hand, I wouldn’t jeopardize my participation for just some childish feud we have,” she paused to observe if she had his full attention now, and she did.

“In the past, I had not seen any need that warrants me tolerating you, but now that you are the Beta. I have to withstand you and I don’t want to make working with you so toxic,” she explained further.

“I have never had a problem with you, it has always been you.” He replied, pointing out the obvious.

“I know that, but I am willing to bury the hatchet now if you are, for the good of the pack,” she said, and he glared at her for a second.

“Come on, Caleb, I am raising the white flag, don’t keep me hanging,”

He stretched his hands to her, and she smiled.

“White flag accepted,” she shook his hands, and for a moment, everything went still as their fingers intertwined with each other.

“Congratulations once again, Beta Caleb,” she said with a smile.

“Thank you, Ramona,”

He called her name, just the way he used to in the past, with love. And she knew she was on her way to winning him back again.

She knew what card she needed to play, and for the first time in a long time, she finally felt in control of her situation. She was going to achieve her childhood dream and marry this man standing right here before her. And she wouldn’t let anything or anyone get in her way, not even herself.