The Alpha's Painful Redemption

Today, I didn’t wake up as the same girl I was yesterday. That girl was unsure of herself, completely lacking confidence, a virgin. My best friend, Demetri Stone wanted to be the first man to ever touch me. I was shocked when he came to me and didn’t believe him right away. Why would the son of our alpha want to have sex with me? “You might find your mate soon,” Demetri whispered. “Freya, you won’t have as much time for me so I want to always hold a special place. Almost as if a part of you will be mine.” When he kissed me the world slowed down, time became abstract. He didn’t exactly make love to me but after a little foreplay, he started off fucking me gently. There was care in his strokes even when they gained speed and were harder. In the morning Demetri was still in his bed with me. He was holding me against him as if I was his and I kinda wanted to be. I had a crush on him for years but I didn’t believe I’d be lucky enough to be his mate so there was no point in telling him or trying to be anything more than a good friend. Not to mention I’d be terrified of the responsibility of being Luna so that wasn’t something I was after. I looked at Demetri as his eyes opened. “Good morning,” I said, surprising myself by giving him direct eye contact and not acting awkward after the intimacy we shared last night. There was no reason to be nervous, not with him. “Morning, Rei,” Demetri said in his sexy morning voice. “We’re going to keep last night between us, right?” I nodded and sat up. “Yeah,” I cleared my throat. “And you were right, I do feel a lot closer to you now.” Demetri’s eyes were on me the entire time I got out of bed and slowly got dressed. “I told you it wouldn’t ruin our friendship.” I was afraid of that. “So you honestly don’t want to be my beta?” he asked, for about the fifth time in the last six months. He’d become alpha within the next few years, whenever his father, Alpha Austin felt he was ready. His inner council was something he was already putting a lot of thought into. I laughed as I shook my head and said, “No, I would hate that and so would the rest of the pack.” I wasn’t exactly well-liked here but it was still my home. Ever since we were kids Demetri always protected me but his special treatment didn’t exactly make things better for me. It gave the other pack members our age a reason to resent me. Whenever Demetri wasn’t around to defend me they were more cruel. Demetri sat up and said, “Who cares about the pack?” He laughed as I shot him a look, questioning his choice of words. “Wait, I said that wrong, obviously I care about the pack but it’s my decision who leads alongside me. Freya, I’d be the best alpha I could be with you by my side. Would it truly be that bad?” I was flattered but I couldn’t accept it. “For me, it would,” I said. “I couldn’t be happy in a position like that. I wouldn’t be fulfilled doing anything other than medicine. On top of that, you know how bad my anxiety gets. I’d had anxiety attacks on the regular trying to live up to the position while knowing that so many of our members think I can’t.” “Alright,” he said and shrugged. “Fine, you’ve convinced me I’ll stop asking but we would have made great partners.” His charming smile warmed my cheeks. I nodded and tied my shoes. Like every pack, ours was psychically linked so we could send telepathic messages to each other. My eyes clouded over as I received a mind link from Demetri’s sister Ashley, ‘Freya where are you? Your birthday is tomorrow so I want to go over the plan for your party tonight.’ Ashley was a year younger than me and a good friend since I was so close with her brother. She was so concerned about my party being perfect because this was my nineteenth birthday, which meant I’d officially be able to find my mate. Demetri smiled at me before I grabbed my bag and left his room with a blushing smile. I looked around quickly, making sure no one saw me leaving. There’s no doubt I’d be shamed by the pack if anyone found out about me having a one-night stand with our future alpha right before I could start my search for my mate. I hoped my fated mate wouldn’t think of me as a slut. It’s not like most people waited to meet their mate before having sex but some people expected it regardless. I didn’t regret sharing my first time with my best friend. I spent most of the day with Ashley and my parents but it was hard to try to get Demetri and our amazing sex out of my head. There was no way I was his first but I didn’t mind it. When night came right before my party began my parents sat me down in our living room. Both my parents had serious expressions on their faces. “Freya, we probably should have told you sooner but you’re adopted,” Mom said, ripping off the bandaid. Adopted…? “You were found in our territory as a baby and no one came for you. The pack didn’t hesitate to take you in,” Dad added. “We wanted a child but couldn’t conceive so Alpha Austin let us adopt you.” Mom nodded and continued, “When we adopted you we had planned on telling you at twelve but the years went by and we hadn’t thought much about you being adopted.” They stayed silent for a little while as I processed what I had been told. I didn’t want to respond quickly because it was hard to believe in the first place. “We love you,” they said in unison, breaking the silence and there was no doubt they meant it.