I was exhausted - it was a feeling I was well acquainted to since I found Moon Winters, my mate, my Celeste. I wondered how all of her names meant the same and if that held some significance.

It could, after all, she was so fucking special. No one doubted that she had been specially crafted by the Moon Goddess and sent on the Earth for a purpose.

My heart ached - all I could do was think about her and how she slipped right through my fingers and I couldn't do anything about it. Not just her, everything had slipped through my fingers now - my happiness, my sanity, my reason and my will to anything.

I wanted respite - I didn't want to be the Alpha King Adrian for a few days till I could gather back my scattered life.

It would be easy for everyone to think that my life was handed to me on a silver platter, but I remembered struggling with my life ever since I was born. I was an orphan, an omega, who was looked down upon by everyone. My father had been a pack guard who had lost his life while serving and my mother had died giving birth to me. I had to do everyone's dirty work and was expected to obey everyone's commands.

I was different from everyone since childhood, and that led to me being bullied, teased harassed every step of the way. I had known what poverty felt like, I knew what hunger felt like, I knew what it was to wonder if I would stay alive the next day. No one remembered that my father was a martyr or my my mother was the one who had raised everyone in the pack.

The Alpha and the Luna were kind to me, always, but there are bad people and good people everywhere. Just like that, there were people who were kind to me, but there were people hell bent on making my life living hell.

Our Pack WereFang had highly trained warriors and the trainings that were conducted were the hardest of all. The Alpha saw something in me, and was grateful to my father who had saved him, so he always let me train with the warriors.

I always beat them all.

I trained hard for forty years, defeating everyone in my way, and finally when the time came to participate in the Kingdom Games, I defeated Moon's Grandfather and was crowned the Alpha King.

You would think I was finally happy, satisfied, not having to worry about my next meal or bullying.

No, I wasn't happy at all.

While struggling all my life, I had always remained assured that only one thing would make me the happiest in the world.

My mate.

Even in hunger, even during the bullying, I had always imagined that my angel would come, the most beautiful she-wolf in the world, and she would scare all my demons, all my troubles away. She was my key to happiness and my will to live with her forever.

Mates came easy to Werewolves, and many people I knew found them the moment they turned eighteen. But mine never came, even though I kept longing for her. I didn't even know if she was somewhere out there, waiting for me to find her.

Then I became the Alpha King, and I secretly searched for her for years, hoping to find her somewhere. But I couldn't even feel her presence.

And my life remained to be a disappointment for me.

There came a time for me when my urges became so strong that I had to tie myself down to a woman. I didn't want to fool around with women who meant nothing to me; so I married the woman who had been the closest to me since childhood, who had been the kindest to me, and who stood by my side through all my struggles.

Delia.

At that time, it was something everyone agreed upon. The Kingdom needed a Luna Queen and Delia was a kind woman. There was a grand ceremony for our marriage and even though no one was rejoicing, we were all at peace that all the sides were satisfied with her.

She had assured me that she had found her mate and he had rejected her and ran away somewhere, hurting her. She told me that he pride would never let her go back to him, but I knew if it ever came to him coming back, she would go back to him.

She was my source of temporary happiness.

I remembered how I had locked myself in the room and cried all night when I had given myself to her. I couldn't even bring myself to mark her let alone make her my mate. I couldn't breathe then, my chest ached and I longed for my woman, my real mate to be here with me. I couldn't show that to Delia, I couldn't let her know because I knew she would be hurt.

Years and years passed yet she was never found, and I had given up all of my hope. I had accepted that my life would remain the way it was - unsatisfied. And all of the time, I had to remain strong, sharp and alert because my Kingdom needed me. I had to keep up a facade of being content, and ignore how Delia had changed over the years.

If there were people who had destroyed their love life with their own hands, they were my Alpha Prime and Beta King. Many a times, I had told them that they were incredibly lucky to find their mates while I had been yearning for one all my life. But they had their reasons. There had been prophecies about both of the, and the Pack Astrologers had warned them beforehand.

None of us could do anything about it.

It hadn't taken long for power to corrupt her mind. All of her kindness had lost over the years and she had started to make me wonder if I ever really knew the woman I had married. But I still put up with her, because she had been there with me when I had nothing, and she deserved me when I could give her everything.

Then came the period of war, when I had lost people I held dear to me. There were misunderstandings, chaos, and when finally Elise had come to me with the truth, chaos had erupted. I had led wars before, but none of them were of a scale so large that it had wiped out an entire species out of existence. Our close friends, the PureBloods, were no more and the Vampires had changed. The vampires who had never interfered with our business and maintained peace with us as a community had suddenly changed. There had been some power struggles in that kingdom, but something had changed them and we could never get to the bottom of it.

It had all started with Lazarus Vamp coming into power.

Decades passed and again everything seemed to become slightly normal. There were innocent killings, for ones who trespassed from here to there, and investigation went on about what was wrong with the Vampires.

We found nothing.

But then, Lazarus's daughter had come into our territory, and was smitten with Jason. Jason refused her advances, all the time, but then she did something - some witch's potion that had drugged Jason to the point of him wanting to mark her. It all happened in one night and then she had died. Cassandra Vamp had succumbed to his mark as told in Jason's prophecy.

The first woman who bore his mark would be killed. Something had happened during his birth which caused some poison to form in his fangs, which would affect the person he marked first.

Cassandra was handed back to her father, respectfully, and he was told of what had happened. But he had held it in his heart and wanted revenge, which was why he had tried to kill Liana - it was Liana who was supposed to die and not his daughter.

Now he won't have any trouble in marking his Luna and he was overjoyed, only to realize that she was nowhere to be found. No one in the Kingdom knew of this prophecy except for his parents, him, Ace and me.

We were still searching for Liana, when out of nowhere, Delia told me she was pregnant, and I had been overjoyed. The possibility of her getting pregnant by me was low, but it was there, and now I finally had someone to look forward to, someone to call my own, and someone to love with all my heart.

My life had started to look up and I spent time with Delia and my pup, forgetting all the troubles.

And then, my life had started to look up in another way, too. I had finally found the one I had given up searching for. The circumstances were not favorable. If I had found Moon at a time when things were normal, I'd have left her in a heartbeat.

Well, not in a heartbeat...but you get my point. Dealing with my feelings for Moon would have been easier, but then, there had been a child involved, and my wolf had been very attached to the child. He wanted his mate and his pup, both, but that wasn't possible, morally.

I knew she would bring chaos, which she did. The same people who had agreed upon me getting married all those years ago, now called me a fool for not giving them their real Luna Queen. I was losing their respect which I knew was going to happen either way. If I had left Delia for Moon in her state of pregnancy, everyone would have scorned me for being immoral, and her for being a homewrecker.

I did the next right thing, but it costed me the one I had longed for my entire life. She was an angel alright, a feisty one and a very strong one. That woman maddened me - I lost all of my senses whenever I was around her. My only focus was to have her close to me and give her what she deserved.

It had hurt me very much, whenever she had rejected my advances towards her. I admitted that only happened when she drove me insane, and I lost all reason. All my life, through all my struggles, I maintained my cool and kept up a facade.

But she tore it all down within seconds.

The month that followed after I first met her was full of me personally spying on her. I was on the human side of the MoonLine to check up on my business and it gave me the chance to keep an eye on her. And the whole time, the Vamp King managed to remain out of my sight.

She's so fucking beautiful, and I fell in love with her more and more everyday. Oh that woman was a bitch sometimes and knew exactly what would hurt me, but her smile was so contagious that it lit up my heart. She helped people left right and centre, had never moaned that she was alone in the world and was so fucking appreciative and grateful for everything. I had seen her visiting her grandmother's grave, crying every time she did, and it broke my heart.

During those time, the urge to be with her used to be so strong that I had even thought about leaving everything and settling with her in the human world. A relatively peaceful life, and my most precious Moon with me.

Right in front of me, her body developed and sinful thoughts which had never left my mind turned dirtier. My wolf was a nasty, horny animal who couldn't think of anything else but mating. Well I was too, but there were times when I just felt like staring at her and holding her close to me.

She was so close, yet so far.

I had treated her like shit despite what I felt. My concept of self-control vanished and like an immature guy, I just wanted a reaction out of her. She never listened to me, even when it was for her own safety, and since she had teamed up with Liana, they had become the constant sources of headaches for us.

The most surprising discovery was knowing that she was a hybrid, and I was so ashamed of myself for not being able to feel that earlier. I really didn't deserve her. For someone whose entire life had been uprooted and upturned, she was doing so well. She held her own, even when I tried to seduce her, and she was the one who reminded me of my wife and my child when I wen out of bounds.

I was in awe of her every time she defied me. After centuries I had someone who didn't bend to my every wish and put me in place.

I wanted her so much, so desperately, it brought tears to my eyes. I remembered the night Moon mostly taunted me about, when I had to sleep with Delia because she was feeling insecure and it was harming our pup. I had vomited all the contents of my stomach right after, and then when I had realized the pain it has caused Moon, I had ran to my room to repent the entire night. Obviously, I didn't let Delia know. She had been acting weirdly ever since I found Moon and I didn't want to harm my child.

Moon always managed to use my guilt against me whenever she wanted to turn things her way. I was an asshole to her most of the time and deserved everything that she threw at me, but I couldn't help it - I tried and tried to get a reaction out of her, as if I was some teenager.

With a semi maintained around her, I knew the only way I could get her to react to me was to seduce her, and it was a dirty trick but it worked all the time. I couldn't help it that sex was always running on my mind whenever she was around me, all I had to do was pass on some on the images to her and she'd get all wet and aroused and riled up.

I remembered the meeting and a smirk crept up my face. What did she think? Our mark would never be defeated by that leech, no matter how attracted she was to him, at least not until they completed their blood rituals. And I knew he would never be able to affect her like I did, getting her so wet without touching her at all on his own. It needed complete trust from both the sides and he was one lying bastard.

Moon, that little bitch, wasn't innocent at all in all of this. I knew where her mind was swayed all the time and even she was thinking dirty all the time. I could always see it in the way her eyes darkened, how I could constantly smell her arousal when she was around me and how her body swayed towards me. She bit her lips, swayed her hips and did everything that I could swear she only did when I was around. It always drove me to the point of insanity. Then she would push me more with Celeste, her wolf, seducing me and my wolf through our link.

She felt so good in my arms, and I cherished the moments whenever I held her or had her on my lap. When she went through her heat with me, it was the highlight of my life.

But whenever I wanted to slow down and make love with her, she used to flip me and started riding the hell out of me.

My girl liked it rough.

And now she was with Aiden, that sickening Vampire whom I hated with all I had. That fateful day when my world fell apart, he had whisked her off with him and gave her what she wanted; complete attention, loyalty and some semblance of normalcy. None of which I could give her.

He was making her happy, and I couldn't fault him for that - he was her mate after all. I could feel it every time they kissed or made out. I felt that ache in my chest, a knife embedding itself deep inside my heart.

And the last few days, when she was definitely in her heat, were the hardest for me. I vomited many times a day, had to sit back from my duties because of it. I was sick and heartbroken, always wondering what I ever did to deserve this. I cried all day, imagining the things they were both doing together. I had thought I would die if they didn't stop, and the death would be slow, painful and torturous.

I stubbornly held to the belief that Moon Goddess had sent her here for a reason and perhaps Moon would be our salvation. Perhaps she would be the one get to the bottom of what was exactly happening in that kingdom and finally restore our peace. I was just paying the costs and it was all going to end soon.

She would finally realize that she is with an asshole and would come back to me and we would live happily ever after. I even imagined what our child would look like. I wanted a daughter, a little angel, just as beautiful as her and just as brave as her. I would finally have the happiness that I was deprived of since birth.

I sighed.

The pain wasn't there today, which meant the effects of her heat had faded away and they were away from each other. I wondered how long it would take for her to find the truth to all that was happening in the Vampire Kingdom. I hoped it wasn't too late, once after the blood rituals, things would become difficult for all of us.

The mark wouldn't let her complete the ritual, anyway.

"Alpha King."

At least they could leave a guy to wallow in self pity alone.

"We found her, and her mate." my guard said and I sighed outwardly.

"I don't want to see her, exile her and her mate to the other side of the world with humans for two centuries. Give them enough money to cover the basic expenses for the first two months. Tell them about the consequences they will face if they step in the kingdom before the time period."

I dismissed him them, lying on my bed, still feeling exhausted. But I knew a few moments later that Jason would barge in-

"You let her fucking go?! Just like that?" he growled, as he barged in with fury.

"I don't have it in me to face her and punish her. Now go away, Jason. Even you know I should have been prepared for something like that. I cheated on her, too."

"But what Delia did was fucking different, Adrian!" he bellowed, "She killed her own innocent child just to make you believe that the baby was really yours and to make you feel guilty! She kept fooling you so that you remained trapped with her when the child really belonged to her mate."

The day I Moon had run away with Aiden, and I had walked out of the room without looking back at her, the child that I had come to love had died. No one knew how or why, it just died. The next few days, Delia and I spent in sorrow, both of us weeping for the loss. I had realised that Moon had been giving me the right warning and I felt so guilty for not being able to stay away from her.

That day, so many hearts had been broken, and all because I couldn't keep it in my pants.

Only a few days later, a man barged into the my house screaming that someone killed his baby.

It was in that moment Delia came rushing out, her face red and her gaze guilty. Yet, her mate had forgiven he because she was a victim too. Yes, Jason was wrong when he said she killed her baby - she didn't do any of that intentionally. Delia was greedy, manipulative, yes, but never so malicious that she would kill her own child mercilessly.

The punishment was in fact, more than what they deserved.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore, Jason. You can go away and just let me fucking be." I gritted.

"Goddess, till when will you keep moping? You are an Alpha King -"

"Just for some days," I interrupted him, "I wish I could take a break from all of this. I don't expect you to understand, Jason, but please leave me alone."

He was out of the room in the next moment.

I was left in peace for a few hours and I didn't take those precious hours for granted.

To calm my mind, I thought about Moon and the things I would do for her if she ever came back to me.

"Sir, Alpha Killian and Luna Selena are here to meet you from the WereFang Pack."

I sighed. Definitely Jason called them here. It was dinner time almost and I felt guilty for being the reason they were disturbed.

The door opened before I could say anything else and the people whom I considered to be my mother and my father, all my life, stepped in.

My heart lurched at the sight, making me want to cry like a little boy in their arms - and I had never cried in front of anyone when I was a little boy.

I got out of my bed and hugged both of them immediately, loving their warm embrace.

After my mate, Moon, Jason knew only they could comfort me the best. I owed my entire life to them and loved them with all my heart.

"My son," Selena said, tears in her eyes, "I don't like watching you look so defeated. Come let's get you seated. We've been hearing a lot of things from everywhere but we would like to hear from our son's mouth." Her tone was scolding.