Chapter 1 Chosen Mate

• Magnus’s POV
• “Have you considered taking a chosen mate, Magnus?” my mother inquired, making me roll my eyes. Your age is 22. Choose a fierce she-wolf to be Luna.
• I kept chopping my meat without looking at my mother.
• Skol roared. He loathed the idea of selected mates. We awaited our match.
• “Leave him alone, Mira,” Gabriel, my mother's new partner, urged. “He already told you he wants to wait for his fated mate.”
• Gabriel received a little nod from me.
• I didn’t like him. I had nothing against the guy, yet something about him never felt right with me.
• My mother married him two years ago. He wasn’t a Lycan like my mother and myself. I never understood why my mother wanted to marry him, but it wasn’t my concern, so I never got involved. I tolerated Gabriel because I had to.
• Some of our pack members scowled at the fact that Gabriel was only a werewolf and not a Lycan like my mother and me. Technically, that was true. What my pack members didn’t know was that Gabriel possessed Lycan DNA, but his Lycan never woke up.
• It didn’t matter to me anyhow. He wouldn’t be able to become the Alpha of my pack even if he were a Lycan.
• Something was wrong with Gabriel today. He appeared distant and a bit scared.
• “Gabriel, honey, stop worrying,” my mother muttered as she clasped his hand in hers. “Everything is going to be okay.”
• Gabriel looked up at her and grimaced.
• “How can you say that?” he replied with a trace of irritation in his voice.
• What the heck happened?
• “What the hell is going on?” I inquired before my mother could say anything else.
• My mother and Gabriel gazed at each other. Gabriel groaned, ran his fingers through his hair, and glanced down at his plate.
• My mother stared at me, and I raised an eyebrow at her.
• “Gabriel’s fated mate is dying,” my mother whispered, causing my eyes to widen.
• I looked at Gabriel. I was so fucking bewildered.
• “I thought that you didn’t find your fated mate,” I murmured, choking back a snarl.
• I despised wolves that betrayed their fated mates. A partner was a gift from the Goddess. A partner was meant to be adored and treasured. What the heck was he doing here with my mother if his fated partner was out there somewhere?!
• Gabriel glanced up at me and took a long breath.
• “I did find her,” Gabriel murmured. “I just never marked her.”
• My perplexity evolved into a surprise.
• How the heck did he manage to hold back from marking his mate? I was so fucking convinced that I would sink my fangs into her neck as soon as I met her.
• “I was young and stupid,” Gabriel groaned, staring back down at the table. “I thought that my Lycan would surface. I waited for it to happen. I was the only one with Lycan genes in my pack, and I imagined that once I received my Lycan, I would be able to accomplish so much more than simply be a Beta of my pack.”
• Gabriel stopped talking and groaned.
• “I met my mate,” Gabriel said. “I promised her that I would mark her as soon as my Lycan appeared. Except it never occurred. I grew more and more frustrated. I became so fucking mad. I spent my days intoxicated on whiskey laced with wolfsbane. I was continuously furious. She continued asking me to mark her, but I never did.”
• Gabriel stopped talking and stared at my mother.
• “So you don’t have a mate bond with her?” I questioned.
• “No,” Gabriel answered as he stared at me. “I wouldn't be able to mark your mother if I did.”
• Chosen mates and second mates might also mark each other. The mark wasn’t as potent as it was when it was bestowed by a fated mate, but it still possessed power.
• “But you are bound to her, aren’t you, Gabriel?” my mother remarked with a tinge of bitterness in her voice.
• I furrowed my eyebrows. What the hell was she talking about? How could he be linked to a lady he never marked?
• “I am,” Gabriel murmured.
• “How?” I questioned, narrowing my gaze at him.
• “I have a child with her,” Gabriel replied, glancing at me.
• My eyes expanded.
• He had a child?
• “I got her pregnant when I still thought that I would mark her,” Gabriel confessed. “I left her when my child was 2 years old.”
• My eyes expanded even more. The little respect I had for Gabriel crashed to the ground.
• “I feel so fucking guilty,” Gabriel murmured as he ran his fingers through his hair. “I haven’t seen my daughter in 15 years, and now…”
• He stopped talking and took a long breath.
• “You have a daughter?” I questioned, attempting to disguise my mounting wrath.
• “Yes,” Gabriel nodded. “She is 17 years old. Her name is Selene.”
• “And her mother is dying?” I said, straining my fists.
• “Yes,” Gabriel answered. “She has cancer. She contacted me a few days ago, imploring me to take Selene in when she dies.”
• “You are going to do it,” I said.
• It wasn’t a question. It was a freaking order. He would do it. He wouldn't just let a 17-year-old girl alone. He had done enough harm enough.
• “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Magnus,” my mother remarked, making me snarl.
• “Why the hell not?” I said, furious at my mother.
• “Gabriel and I aren’t that young anymore,” my mother lamented. “I’m not sure that we could handle a 17-year-old girl.”
• I grumbled and stared at Gabriel.
• “You are not leaving your child alone again,” I replied. “What pack is she in?”
• “My old pack, Riverstone,” Gabriel remarked.
• I knew about that pack. I visited it five years ago with my father. It was just a few months before Dad died, and that trip was one of my best memories with him.
• “Don’t make the same mistake again, Gabriel,” I murmured as I rose. “You already left your child once. Don’t do it again.”
• I stepped away from the table.
• I needed to get away from them.
• I was so fucking angry with Gabriel.
• How could he do that to his fated mate and his child?!
• I would adore my fated partner more than anything else in the world. She would be so fucking adored and protected.
• I would never do what Gabriel did.
• Never.