The Alpha’s Substitute Mate

Lance ( Flashback)Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

I grew up in a large and wealthy pack. We had staff of omegas (paid, of course) that took care of all the domestic work in the house. They cooked our meals, washed our laundry, they even came into my bedroom every day to pick up my dirty underwear and socks. Added to the fact that I am the last child of an Alpha. Well, let’s just say I’ve been pretty pampered but that doesn’t mean I don’t have common sense.

Then Bella showed up, the chosen bride in a disastrous alliance marriage to my brother, Arden.

Arden was my brother, and I will always love him but let’s face the fact that he was an asshole. He hated Bella immediately he laid eyes on her and found out that she was his fated mate. It was obvious that he wasn’t ready to get married but our parents had forced him to get married using the throne against him. And being the Alpha was the only thing that truly mattered to him. So the right opportunity offered itself when Bella was offered as a gift to Arden as part of the treaty alliance. So he treated Bella like a piece of shit.

I’m even ashamed to even go into the details of how ruthless he was to her. I believe any other woman would have been broken, but Bella wasn’t any other woman. She had balls of a solid rock and a heart of a warrior. She packed her bag and walked right out of the front door after rejecting my brother.

And I went with her, along with her personal maid Violet who is now my mate. That’s how the three of us ran away from home to start our own pack.

With the few of us in the house and so little money, there was no way we could employ omegas to do our work for us. Bella insisted that we all had to share duties until the day we could afford to live in luxury again. That meant I had to learn how to cook. I can do all the house chores but I can not cook to save my life.

Though my mate tried her best to teach me some basics, I still managed to burn the toast, scorch hot chocolate, undercook the eggs, and make soggy macaroni and cheese. As it turns out, the only thing I can cook that is at least edible is pancakes with strawberry toppings and maple syrup. And only if you give the ” just add water” instant mix.

I always get breakfast duty every Saturday morning, making pancakes for the four of us. I had a bandana tied over my messy hair and an apron was tied around my waist as I poured circles of batter across the griddle. Vi usually helps me by chopping up some fruits and maybe popping some sausages in our oven. I didn’t see Vi or Bella that early morning so I decided to handle the whole process by myself. So I cranked up some music and set about dancing my way through the breakfast prep. The really bad mistakes I encountered were some pancakes that slipped off the spatula when I tried to flip them, the ones that stuck to the pan because I didn’t add enough oil, and the ones that got a little too brownish on the bottom. I added all those ones to my plate, I’m not ashamed of eating my mistakes.

My mate Vi came breezing in the back door like a breath of fresh air. Literally, she is that ray of sunshine, always optimistic, always happy, bright, and cheerful. She has this unique blueish iris, pouty lips, luscious gold crazy curls, and a nose that turns up a little bit. She had a basket hooked over her arm which was piled with fruits she picked from the garden. She gave me her megawatt smile ” Good morning, love! I’ve got fresh strawberries to go with your pancakes today. I hugged and kissed her cheek ” Good morning my lady!” she smiled and showed me the three quarts of plump, fragrant berries. She put them in the sink to wash and then went back for the rest of the vegetables.

” Yum, I love strawberries.” I reached around her and picked a strawberry out of her bowl and then ran away before she could swat me.

She frowned a little, ” Lance I have been noticing something odd about Luna,”

“Huh?” I popped the strawberry in my mouth and savored its sweetness ” What do you mean?”

” I saw her crying a couple of times in the garden whenever she was sketching and also I stole a glance at all the pictures she had been painting and they were all pictures of your brother.”

” My brother!” I scratched my head and adjusted my bandana. “That’s not possible. I don’t think she still has feelings for Arden.”

She turned and leaned against the sink. ” I know what I saw and it wasn’t Alpha Arden but Malcolm. And it is not like she was just painting a picture of him, it’s more like she’s transferring their memories into painting… I think she misses him.”

” Really?” I turned away from her to flip the last batch of pancakes. ” That’s weird. Could it be that she has some kind of connection with him?” I glanced over my shoulder, ” Do you think that he might be his second chance mate?”

She shrugged her shoulders ” I don’t know Lance, I don’t even know what to think anymore. But what I know is that she deserves to be happy and loved right.”

” Yes, she deserves the best.” I carefully levered my finished pancakes into the insulated hot pot to keep them warm for serving.

After breakfast, I sneaked into her room, searched her cabinets, and saw all the paintings. Vi was right, they were all pictures of Malcolm. And there was one she painted the two of them kissing under the moonlight. I didn’t want to ask her, I knew time would tell. If Malcolm doesn’t come for her anytime soon, I know she will definitely make a move.

I wasn’t that surprised the day Malcolm showed up in the hotel. In fact, I was more than happy knowing that Bella, was still a member of the family with my brother Malcolm as her second fated mate.