Chapter 5

"How?" was all I could ask because I was scared for some reason. "There is an ancient ritual that one of our elders can still perform to find out the truth about your claim, Milena," said Darren's father. I couldn't look him in the eye because he looked so much like his son and it was painful. Because how could Darren suddenly believe that I tricked him? I didn't see him for just a day and this had already happened? And why am I the one that has to prove my claim? Why are they suspicious of me when they'd known me since I was a kid? They'd probably just met this Valerie woman yesterday. Shouldn't she be the one who needed to prove that she had a mating bond with Darren? "Ancient ritual? What is that?" Darren finally spoke, who sounded relieved. "It's an old ritual that we used to perform back when witches were out and about," his father replied to him. "But actually, we don't have to reach that point if we can confirm that Milena here indeed uses dark magic." "What? Sir, I'm telling the truth, I had never used any form of magic!" I insisted but the alpha wasn't even looking at me anymore. He was now looking over my shoulder and when I looked behind me I saw Uncle Finn, Aunt Julia, and even Devon at a distance, all looking grim for some reason. Perhaps they are scared that they might get involved in this mess. "Finneas, Julia. You are Milena's adoptive parents. Come forward." They all walked towards us and the crowd went dead silent. Now everyone's attention was on them. "You have been living with Milena for the last eighteen years. So you must have seen at least one instance of her showing her magic if Milena is indeed capable of magic," said the alpha. "Tell me the truth. Have you seen her perform any sort of magic? Does she possess witch powers?" The couple looked at each other first before answering, while Devon was just staring at his shoes. "N-Not that we know of," said Uncle Finn, which surprised me so I stared at him in disbelief. I could not believe that he was actually telling the truth when he could just have lied to finally get rid of me. "Are you sure, Finneas? You could be punished if we found out that you're lying." "It's the truth," said Aunt Julia instead. "We have never seen her do any magic. If she did, then maybe she did it out of our sight." "That could be the case," said the alpha. "Then we would proceed to the ritual," he added, dismissing my adoptive family. I wanted to thank them for telling the truth, but they walked away so fast. And then someone from the pack's generals took me by the arm and brought me over to the alpha's house. In there, I was asked to just tell the truth by the people there, as they still think that I tricked Darren. They told me to wait as they prepared the 'potion' to use for the ritual. "Ironically, this potion was taught to us by witches years and years ago," said an old woman known as Lucia. She was one of the elders of the pack and was the one concocting this potion that they'd use today. "We have to mix your blood and Darren's to find out if you are actually mates. If the potion turns black, you are not mates. But if it turns pink, then you are indeed his mate." I stared at Darren again who was in the room too with Valerie still on his side. We all watched as Lucia made the potion from some ingredients that she kept here at Darren's house. I was so tense while I waited. Everyone in the room too was watching closely, especially at me and I think I knew why. They were afraid that I might actually have witch powers and then manipulate this potion. "We have used this potion before, when a stranger tricked the alpha's grandfather that she was his mate too. This potion had saved the then alpha from getting hoodwinked by some werewolf hybrid who could charm any werewolf in wolf form," said Lucia. "It can detect any kind of magic that has tampered the mating bond of two werewolves, so even if you did use magic, it will still be able to tell us if you are not the true mate of Darren." "Thank you, Elder Lucia," said Darren, who was the most pleased about the potion. Valerie looked apprehensive though, but her parents were nonchalant. Darren's parents were already impatient, so when Darren and I finally mixed our blood in the potion, I literally held my breath waiting for the result. I prayed hard that it would turn pink, so when it did, I let out a loud sigh of relief while everyone was just there, too stunned to even speak. I guess the result was not the result that they expected. "This is impossible," said Darren's mother. "Is this potion really trustworthy? This half-breed's power must have successfully overpowered it! Milena couldn't be my son's mate! I will not allow it!" "I'm sorry, madam, but the potion is accurate. She is really your son's mate," said Lucia. They exchanged more arguments, but I couldn't even hear them now because all my attention was on Darren. He was now more confused than ever, his hands on his head. I walked up to him to embrace him out of joy that the potion confirmed that we were mates, but Valerie stepped forward and blocked me. "You! What have you done to the potion?" "What? Haven't you seen Elder Lucia make it in front of all of us? I haven't done a single thing!" "Who knows, maybe your spell affects Darren's blood!" "Enough, Valerie," Darren finally said. "Stop accusing Milena. We already proved that she did not trick me. I'm very sorry, Milena," he said to me with pleading eyes. "I was confused. I don't know what's happening anymore..." "I forgive you, Darren," I said immediately because there was no way that I was going to blame him for something that I knew wasn't his doing. And this wasn't the first time that we had a misunderstanding. "But what about her? If I am your mate and then she's also saying that she's your mate, then shouldn't you investigate her too?" "You! How dare you say that to my face!" "Enough, girls," said Darren's voice and we all stopped and looked at him. He was also trying to calm his wife and Valerie's parents, who were obviously against me. This was quickly getting out of hand, so the alpha had to do something already. "Let us fix this peacefully. This is an important matter that we have to think over, as my son is going to be our next alpha. Now that we have confirmed that my son has two mates, he will have to choose between the two." I looked at Darren, who was looking at me too. He still looked confused while Valerie and his mother were on his side, talking to him. I guess they were trying to convince him to choose Valerie over me. So when the moment finally arrived, I was no longer surprised by his choice, although I had hoped that he would still choose me. "I'm sorry, Milena, but I'm choosing Valerie as my mate."