BXBX NOVEL Chapter 165
“Anna, you... Do you want to be an Alpha?” He asked in disbelief.
His twin sister nodded.
“Yes. Why are you asking, Lulu? Am I not a good fit?” She returned the question to her brother.
“That’s not it,” Lucien quickly answered. “You are also an alpha. Naturally, you have the right to fight for the position as well. It’s just that...”
Annalynne knew what Lucien wanted to say without him saying it out loud.
Alpha she-wolves didn’t usually go for the Alpha but the Luna position.
The woman shook her head.
“It is up to us to rebuild this pack. If you are not willing to be the Alpha, then I will.”
.....
“Anna! I am sorry that I can’t be the Alpha, but it doesn’t mean that you have to be in my stead,” Lucien said while grabbing Annalynne’s wrist. “Let’s go. Forget about this competition.”
Annalynne pulled her hand free from Lucien’s grip.
“Lulu, have you ever thought that maybe the Moon Goddess made a mistake with us?”
Lucien furrowed his brows.
“What do you mean?”
“Well...”
Her eyes turned glassy when she spoke.
“You are the male and I am the female, but you have two Alphas chasing after you while I have none. In the end, you, who are supposed to be an Alpha, decide to be a Luna instead. Maybe the Moon Goddess meant for me to be the Alpha.”
Lucien sighed.
“Did Mom tell you?”
Annalynne nodded stiffly.
“Make no mistake, Lulu. I am not blaming you. I wished I could have a romance that is half as passionate as yours. Recently I realize that it is just not meant to be. Not for me.”
Annalynne pressed a palm against the scar on her face.
Lucien pulled her hand away, revealing the three dark-red lines that marred her otherwise attractive face.
“Anna, you are still so very beautiful even with the scar. I will take you to the best plastic surgeon on the continent, alright? We will fix it.”
“No, Lulu, you don’t understand. This scar isn’t distressing me. It is a sign. As an alpha she-wolf, I can choose between beauty and power. Since beauty has been taken away from me, only power is left.”
Lucien sighed.
Annalynne put her arms around Lucien and leaned against the latter’s shoulder.
“Lulu, don’t worry. It is not a war. It is just a competition. Let me give my all. I want to know if the Alpha position is fated to be mine or not.”
Lucien sank his fingers into his sister’s thick curly hair and gently massaged her scalp.
More than twenty-five years ago, the Clearwater family was blessed with twin alpha pups. One was a boy and one was a girl. Both babies were very beautiful. Back then the Elders kept saying that the boy was going to be a mighty Alpha and the girl would marry into a strong pack as a Luna.
The twin babies were supposed to bring prosperity to the pack.
Tragedy struck without warning, and once everything was over, their roles had been switched.
The boy grew up to be a man who was to marry into the Infinite Eclipse Pack as Alpha Ronan’s Luna, and the girl grew up to be a woman who stood a chance to seize the Alpha position in the pack.
What kind of a messed-up fairytale was that?
Unable to change Annalynne’s mind, Lucien was forced to return to where Kendra was.
Kendra gave him a sympathetic pat on the back.
“Lucien, you should not continue seeing Annalynne as a little helpless girl. She is now a woman.”
Lucien furrowed his brows. “She is just twenty-five years old,” he argued.
Kendra gave Lucien a meaningful stare. “I am twenty-four years old. I married Deacon when I was only twenty years old. I got pregnant a year ago.”
“I am really sorry to hear that,” Lucien said. “I wish that things could be different for you.”
Kendra dismissed his words with a wave of her hand.
“I am not trying to switch the focus of the talk to my sad, miserable life. All I am saying is that Annalynne is a woman that can fall in love and can make her own decisions. She has been standing in your shadow until now. It is good that she finally decides to come out on her own.”
“I am his brother. It is my duty to protect her.”
Kendra heaved a long sigh.
“Lucien, oh Lucien. You always want to protect everyone. Including Anna. But just how long do you want to keep her under your wings like that?”
“As long as possible,” Lucien quipped.
“Nope,” Kendra said with a stern tone. “Stop that. Let Anna run free, for Goddess’ sake. Let her live. You can still interfere if she turns out to be a dumbass who is running toward a cliff.”
Lucien stared at Annalynne’s silhouette in the distance. If he stopped controlling Annalynne’s life, would she be able to take control of her own life? Or would she, like Kendra just said, run toward a cliff?
“Come on,” Kendra said while pulling at Lucien’s elbow.
“They have all drawn their numbers. Let’s decide the order of the match.”
Lucien reluctantly dragged his feet to the second leather bag that contained the same numbers as the first one.
Kendra drew a number three.
“First match, the first contestant is number three!” She announced loudly.
A cheer went through the crowd as number three, an alpha in his thirties climbed the steps to the battle arena.
Lucien reached into the bag and drew a number forty-seven.
“Number forty-seven,” Lucien announced while holding the piece of paper up into the sky. His heart lurched to the ground when he saw who number forty-seven was.
Annalynne slowly walked from the end of the crowd to the front.
She gave her brother a bittersweet smile before she too climbed the steps to the arena.