The Moon Goddess' Chosen

395 Rana’s Proposal

“I’m not sure if we met the same person, but I did meet a... Riverwood. She just wasn’t speaking to animals though,” the man responded dejectedly.

“Are you okay, Cirrus?” the king asked, concern seeping into his voice once more. The gloom and depression that hung about his brother were not lost on him. He’d noticed it for a while. His eyes were glazed over as though his mind were somewhere else and it was only getting worse. The will and fire he’d witnessed from him for the larger part of his life were gone from his eyes. He was a walking husk of his former self, “What happened to you?”

“Let’s just say... I lost everything, Hamedale,” the man responded to him.

As the king led him up, a voice reached them, “Your Highness, I’ve been looking for you. Your majesty, can I take him off your shoulders?” Rana asked the king, bowing to him.

The king searched his brother for an opinion and when Cirrus nodded to confirm it was okay, Rana looped an arm over his shoulder and took over the role of a crutch, “The hunters are waiting for you, your majesty. Lady Jeanie and the noblewomen of the Sirius empire have also arrived.”

“Thank you, Rana. Today marks the start of a new era,” the king walked off, brimming with so much pride and excitement that it made the prince smile, not for the reason behind it, but because he hadn’t seen his brother this excited in ages.

When the king was gone, Cirrus wiped the smile off his face and asked his beta alpha, “Do you feel the same way as he does?”

“My Lord, you know I only feel the same as you do... which I cannot understand at the moment,” Rana said to him, “Did something happen?”

“Yes, Rana... I was stripped of my purpose, but now that I think back on it, that was nothing in comparison to what she did after. She granted me a mate almost immediately after,” the man replied.

.....

“That’s amazing. Where is she? Your mate must be powerful indeed and worthy of being your Luna,” the man replied, ecstatic. The prince smiled at his enthusiasm, but wouldn’t mirror his emotions.

“Quite the opposite actually, Rana. She was an average wolf. She was beautiful and I could tell from the moment I met her that she was kinder than any creature I’d ever met. She reminded me so much of Lady Jeanie,” the man spat.

“If you speak so highly of her, my Lord, then why do you sound so sad?” the beta alpha replied.

“I might have been a bit harsh in how I spoke to her. You just heard that she was a normal wolf. To grant me a mate that’s not even a delta. The nerve on that goddess,” the man cursed.

Rana gasped at the man’s words, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Cirrus was appalled by the beta alpha’s reaction, “I thought your emotions were the same as mine. What’s this?!”

“Your majesty... with all due respect, and I mean that since you’re the person I respect most in the world, you’ve done, perhaps, the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard you do,” the man chuckled at the end, finally making it to his room.

“I was not the one that rejected the other,” the prince huffed.

“Rejected by your mate? Wow, you might be the first. You also must have been more than a ‘bit’ harsh. What did you expect her to do when you were a ‘little’ harsh to her? Have you even thought about it one bit?

Have you put yourself in her shoes at the moment? A stranger you’ve never met shows up and is supposed to be your mate, then they treat you like gravel just after laying their eyes on you. What else was she supposed to do?

At that moment, you were the one person that could cause her the most harm in the world, so she had to protect herself from you. I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t want to ever see you again,” Rana voiced his concerns.

The memory of her last words echoed through the prince’s head, ‘... and I honestly hope I never see you again in my life.’ “She’s not as smart though. Anyone would want a royal to be their mate. The power that comes along with that is just...”

“Anyone like that would be shallow and not worth your time. The woman you just walked away from didn’t care one bit about your title. She rejected you because of the kind of person you showed her you are. Royal or not... she knew what she wanted and that wasn’t what you showed her,” the beta alpha continued.

“Women throw themselves at my feet because of my title. What’s one less average wolf?” the prince spat.

“Oh, dear. Where is your head, my Lord? Didn’t you take the hint when you had to have your bath by your lonesome when you returned from your trip?” the beta alpha helped the prince to his bedding and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“So that wasn’t a mistake on your part? You did that intentionally, didn’t you?” Cirrus narrowed his eyes at the prince.

Rana stared at the prince before him, mystified, “Yes, I did and not because I was trying to displease, but simply because there are no women allowed to spend their time with someone other than their mate. Didn’t you hear the king’s new orders?”

“WHAT?”

“Oh, dear... You’re so clueless...” Rana took two steps forward and pressed his forehead to his alpha’s, transferring a plethora of memories of the prince instead of explaining it all, which would take forever.

By the time the last of the memory transfer was done, the prince had a mortified expression on his face, “My days just keep getting better and better...” he screamed sarcastically, falling back into the soft covers.

A moment of silence took over them before the beta spoke up. His tone was inquisitive, almost as if he was only now coming to terms with what the prince had just disclosed, “Sooo... you actually met your mate?”

“Yes, Rana. What part of that do you want me to spell out?” the prince replied, irritated.

Rana didn’t seem to notice as his curiosity had grown stronger than the fear of angering his prince, “And you’re very fine with having her out of your life. Nothing wrong with your wolf or anything...”

“What do you expect me to do, Rana?” Cirrus forced a yell out of his weakened body.

“I expect you to look for her, your highness... and apologise,” the beta alpha sighed, “I can feel the emptiness within you. It exposes the sadness you’re trying to ignore. I propose you go out and look for her. I could come with you. She might turn out to be much more than you judged her to be.”

Rana’s words hit home. They gave Cirrus the encouragement he needed to sit up from the covers. They gave him the courage to look past his over-bloated ego. He wanted to know more about Jane Riverwood. ‘Is it just me or has Rana been talking back at me?’ the prince regarded his beta alpha, ‘What is the world coming to?’