The Chosen Alpha (Prequel to The Female Alpha)

Chapter 15: Entitled Mikalya's P.O.V

"Hey! How'd it go?" Ruksaar bombarded me as soon as I entered the hotel room, just like I had expected her to do.

What I hadn't expected was that Kashmira and her son would be in the room with her, having dinner and gossiping away like they were long-lost sisters. I frowned at the arrangement but didn't comment on it. Ruksaar and I would need to have a long discussion soon.

"It was good." I told her truthfully as I went into the bathroom to freshen up and change. I wasn't used to ghagras and dresses, but Rajasthan had a strict dress code.

"Good?" Ruksaar raised her eyebrows at me as she looked me up and down. "Says the woman who got all sparkly for the date."

"It wasn't a date." I gave her a glare as soon as I saw that stupid smile on her face. "And no, I will not hear any more discussions on this topic."

"Fine." She puffed her cheeks before turning to Kashmira. "Why don't you put your son down for sleep so we can talk?"

Kashmira looked from me to Ruksaar and back before nodding and setting her son, Kushal down on the bed beside her. "I knew this was coming, but I was hoping to avoid it." She sighed and looked down at her hands, her long dark hair in a neat braid that was slung over one shoulder.

"We'll be leaving Rajasthan next week." I got straight to the point, without waiting for Ruksaar. She had a habit of sugar-coating the reality and it often led to confusion and misinterpretation. "We can book you one room at this hotel till the end of this month but after that you're on your own. So you need to start planning and find a job."

"Job?"Kashmira looked at me and Ruksaar in surprise. "I've never worked! How-what am I supposed to do?"

Dear god! Was I hearing her right? I looked at Ruksaar for confirmation and she had the same puzzled look on her face as she turned towards me. So it wasn't just me who thought that Kashmira sounded like an entitled brat.

"Then what do you plan to do to feed yourself and your son?" I asked her, a bit too harshly. "How do you plan to buy things for your son? Pay for his education?"

"Can't I go with you?" She asked in a small voice that would've been inaudible had it not been for our superior hearing.

"You think we've adopted you? Just because you are a Luna?" I snapped. "Ruksaar and I have worked our entire life to get where we are today. We had to do all kinds of odd jobs even when the world believed women are only good for cooking and fucking! We don't need to babysit a little brat and her kid, especially someone who's only going to be a freeloader."

"Mink!" Ruksaar snapped before lowering her eyes. "You don't need to be this harsh. She's only a child-"

"I was only a child too, Ruksaar." I cut her off. "I was only a child too."

Her eyes widened as she realized what I was talking about, but I didn't want to listen to anyone anymore. Putting on my sandals, I went out of the room and slammed the door behind me.

It was past ten at night and women weren't supposed to be out and about at this hour but I wasn't just a woman. I was a wolf.

The streets were empty now, with

not a single woman in sight. Some locals, all men of older ages, had gathered in small groups to

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consume their locally made rice or palm alcohol around small bonfires or in front of the closed shutters of the shops. I pulled my odhni over my head securely and began to run

using the shadows.

It was a good thing I had gotten out of my 'sparkly clothes' as Ruksaar had put it, and changed into a black skirt and a black blouse with a red odhni. The designs on this were cotton embroidery, so it wouldn't stand out. Once I was at the outskirts of the village-town, I ran.

I let my wolf take over and soon the land was blurring past me as I ran with the speed of the wolf. My feet got slowed down by the sand and I wanted desperately to change into my wolf so I could run faster, but didn't want to risk discovers. After running for ten minutes, I turned back and headed back to the hotel before I got too far into the desert. Another fifteen minutes later, I slowed down my footsteps, no longer running with my wolf speed as I neared the town, only to spot someone jogging at the periphery.

"Abhay?" I whispered to myself. My breath was coming in pants and I was sweating. But there was no mistaking the figure that was jogging on the lone path that was the only way in and out of town. I slowed to a stop momentarily before I began walking towards him.

There was no avoiding a confrontation since we were on the same path and he had already seen me, so I decided to say goodnight to him anyway. I needed to get back to the hotel and take a warm shower since the temperature had cooled down significantly.

"Mikalya?" Abhay asked in surprise as he neared me. He was dressed in sweatpants and a vest and a towel was casually slung over his shoulders. He was also carrying a small backpack which, I'm assuming, had his camera. "What are you doing here this late at night?"

Surprisingly, I didn't sense any judgment in his tone; just worry and it helped calm my nerves a bit.

"I was feeling restless." I decided to go with half-truths. "So I came out for a walk."

"You must have gone a long way," Abhay mused as he looked at my sweat drenched form. "Aren't you scared?"

"Scared?" the question caught me off-guard until I realized that he had no idea who I really was. "I guess not. I like taking walks at night."

"Here," he offered me his towel. "I haven't used it yet so it's clean. Right now, you need it more than I do."

"Thanks..." I took the towel from him

to wipe my face and instantly, I was swarmed by his scent. Masculine and spicy. A surprising combo fore

someone who can't stand spiceret

Hmm maybe it was his cologne or just the deodorant he was using? Whatever it was, his scent helped calm my nerves. "I'll wash and return it tomorrow."

"Do you...wanna hang out?" Abhay asked in his familiar nervous tone. "I've got wine..."

"Damn!" I smirked at his blush. "Lead the way."