Chapter 4. A New Destiny

Hope's POV

The murmurs increased, and I could hear people talking about my strategies, they were unconventional, but if I was just a wolfless girl facing big beasts, then at the very least I should know how to use weapons and have several types at my disposal.

I still had a few tricks up my sleeve, but it was better not to use everything. Or was it? Well, depending on that maybe I would get to the higher stages faster. I took a mint candy from inside my bag and put it in my mouth, just as I pulled out a canteen of water and drank some.

"Want some?" I offered and my allies accepted, I tilted my head slightly looking at the arena, we would probably have to change arenas, I hoped to stay in the last one, close to the wall and that would be a great advantage.

"Hope Black, your group is going to change arenas." I heard the guard's voice behind me and smiled in a corner. I was right in my assumption.

I stood up, put away the canteen they gave me back, picked up my backpack, put it on my left side and walked to the middle arena. There was someone there that I didn't expect, but good that made sense. Since I had knocked Brook out, I only had one more opponent left.

My opponent was none other than Dylan Miller and his allies were very well-trained Betas and Gammas, it was an extremely difficult fight. I looked back and saw my allies were already wounded, I could smell blood and some of them were looking like they already had some broken bones. I looked forward again and looked directly at Dylan, smiling in a corner.

When the bell rang, I just bowed my head and bowed briefly.

"I give up." My voice echoed, and those who were attacking stopped midway. I had already learned the lesson, that sometimes, even if you win, it isn't worth it.

"I accept your surrender." Dylan's voice was huskier, sounding perhaps like a radio announcer, and I bowed briefly again.

My allies were already injured and one more fight against very experienced people was going to be a slaughter, even if I beat Dylan in the end, it wasn't going to be a quick thing and it wasn't worth the risk.

I saw Dylan approach and extend his hand, in his eyes there was understanding, he knew very well why I had done this and I felt my heart speed up slightly. What was happening? I squeezed his hand, and a small shock went through my body. I widened my eyes and started laughing, pulling my hand away.

"Hahahahaha!" I put my hand on my stomach as a tear trickled down the corner of my eye, that was too funny. It could only be a joke from the Moon Goddess. "Selene has a sense of humor! Hahaha" I said between laughs, he hadn't realized it yet and then I put my hand against my nose and saw his wolf come to the surface.

"Hey!" I jumped back before Dylan could hold me back and everyone heard.

"Mate!" Dylan's voice blended with that of his wolf.

"God! Yes and no." I had to keep my distance from him. A Delta with an Alpha, well not just any Alpha, but pure blood. "You know what the problem is? It's not even the blood issue, it's that it can only be a prank by Fate, him to have broken."

My words were making people confused and so I pulled my shirt lightly, revealing the place where the mark would be, between my neck and collarbone there appeared a shadow, which only appeared if you already had a Destiny, but it was almost gone, and when you just found your Mate the mark was strong, a stain on the skin, but mine was almost gone.

"See, I already have a Mate, before you..." I lifted my shirt.

"How is that possible?"

I took a deep breath. This was drawing much more attention than I expected. I twisted my mouth, but I needed to find an explanation, didn't I?

"Because I didn't accept or reject my Mate, I simply ignored him and he doesn't even know who I am. Which means that if I had rejected and he had accepted you would be my second chance."

It was the only thing I could think of, I had known who my Destiny was since I was 13, but he never knew who I was. It wasn't something I had announced or let the person know.

"That doesn't make sense. Second chances are rare and I am..."I could see the confusion in his eyes.

"Pure blood? An Alpha? Yeah, well, as I mentioned, Selene has a strange sense of humor. My first mate was too, and since I don't have a wolf, then it's easier to deny a bond, and realizing one with me is a lot harder, after all, it's only now become clear. That's why neither you nor I realized it at the time of the introductions and it took a while for it to sink in."

This was not a conversation I wanted to have in front of everyone, especially the Prince.

Not denying or accepting a Mate is a crime, because this way you are preventing a person from not moving on, either to find their second real chance or to choose someone else.

"But if you don't reject him, he will never be able to find his second chance. Alphas always get second chances." Dylan was angry now, I know, there were two kinds of anger, one because I had committed a crime and two because it meant he couldn't have me.

"Well, I just proved that's not true, didn't I?" I smiled, but then took a deep breath, closed my eyes for three seconds and opened them again. "If you want, I can reject you now and you can find your second chance."

"What?" Dylan again tried to grab my arm and I dodged, I knew that the closer, the more touching, the stronger the bond would get and I didn't want that. "If you do this, you will die!"

Fate was a jerk, who would not accept being challenged, if someone rejected his first chance, then he might find his second, but if for whatever reason there was one more rejection, then that person would die and there was no known case where anyone had survived.

"Just like I might trip now and break my neck." I shrugged. "Death hasn't scared me since I was 8 years old when I killed for the first time, or else when I saw three of my friends die, one of them being in my arms. Either you accept it's going to happen, sooner or later, or you stay your life trying to run away from something inevitable."

My life has never been easy, as I said I have been training since I was five, my first missions started when I was 15 and two months before I turned 16, my group of friends was assigned a mission, to kill two vampires that were in town and had already killed 10 people. As I said, I lost three friends that day, plus my first kill was when I was only 8, so I can call Death a friend, can't I?

"Yeah, you're right. But even if you speak the words, I will refuse. After all, as much as I can find my second chance, I don't want to have your death on my hands." I overheard Dylan commenting and smiling.

"I, Hope..." I began, but before I could continue I felt the Prince's aura very close and if I hadn't realized I would be dead now, or very close to it. I jumped forward and spun my body around to stare at who had attacked me from behind.

"So you mean that in addition to having committed a crime, you are committing it again?" The Prince's voice echoed behind me, just a few inches in front of me.