*Past-30 Years Ago*
*RITCHIE GOMES' POV*
The Enigma family. Me and my wife, Alice.
Our love story started in high school. Like any typical story, we were rivals in school rankings. From academics to sports.
But they say you can't choose who you love.
She wasn't my mate. But I still marked her because my heart had already decided to love her for the rest of my life. Because of the bite mark I gave her, she was forced to marry me.
Our first year of marriage was beautiful.
Everything changed when Alice's mate came into our lives. The one chosen by fate. The owner of the end of the red string tied to her.
August. An Omega.
He was a "green tea" type. A worthless pretender who played the victim. And Alice? She was blind, believing his fake tears.
I wanted to just let her go, like she wanted.
But in the end, we couldn't change anything. The mark on her neck was permanent. That bond was stronger than the red string of fate tying them together.
"What did you do to August again!" Alice yelled, grabbing my collar.
I removed her hand. "Just believe whatever your lover told you. You wouldn't listen anyway." I said emotionlessly.
"No one told me anything. Because August is missing. So where did you hide him! Bring August out! Where is he!" she screamed angrily.
"Stop blaming everything on your husband."
We both turned to the voice. Ashton. Alice's older brother. Also an Enigma.
"Ashton! What did you do!" she rushed at her brother.
Ashton easily dodged every attack from Alice. Then he caught her hands and positioned himself behind her.
"Whatever I did, it was what was right and proper." Ashton whispered to Alice.
"Right and proper? What do you know about right and proper!" tears fell from her eyes.
"Was it right for Ritchie to mark me? And what's proper? That I reject August? But did you even think about me? How I feel? What I want?"
Ashton let go of Alice.
Alice dropped to her knees, burying her face in her hands and sobbing.
Me, because I loved her, could only let my body walk toward her, kneel, and hug her.
If only I hadn't been so greedy. Then maybe I wouldn't have marked her. Maybe she would've been happy with the one she loved.
But it's in our nature, we Enigmas, not to care about things. What matters to us is being physically with the one we love. It doesn't matter if they love us back. It doesn't matter who gets hurt.
That's why they call us _lunatics_.
But we Enigmas have weaknesses too, like everyone else. Like me. It hurts me so much to see the one I love the most cry. And Alice... she's blind to the truth. The only truth in her eyes is August.
Two weeks after August disappeared from our lives, Alice was rushed to the hospital. She drank poison, Ashton said.
I was in a meeting abroad for a major project. For a new suppressant. One of them was the patch. Not like before when it was injected, which ruined the health of Omegas. All just so they wouldn't go into heat and get killed by an Alpha driven mad by the scent they released.
As soon as I closed the deal, I flew home immediately. When I arrived at the hospital, in Alice's room. Ashton was updating me through texts about everything, so I knew she was stable.
There was a *secret* between Ashton and me. Only we knew. Ashton was my true mate. He was at the end of my red string. But we both rejected each other the moment we found out. First, I didn't love him. Second, there was no place in this world for two people of the same gender to love each other. Yet many still hope for the day they'll be accepted. People whose red string leads to someone of the same gender. Good thing the red string can be rejected.
"Do you want to see the baby?" he asked.
"Later. I want Alice to see me first when she wakes up." I said, holding Alice's hand.
None of us expected that. Even Alice probably didn't know she was pregnant. She wouldn't have drunk poison if she knew. Plus, she had no symptoms of pregnancy. She never vomited or felt dizzy. And she still had her period every month. According to Ashton, the doctor said Alice had *Uterus Didelphys*. She had two uteruses, that's why it happened.
What I was grateful for, aside from Alice's life being saved, was that the baby wasn't affected by the poison.
"The doctor said Alice will only wake up tomorrow because of the anesthesia, so you can see the baby first." he persuaded.
"Don't pressure Mr. Gomes. Let him rest beside Mrs. Gomes." my assistant Samuel, a Beta, said.
"I suppose." Ashton sighed, like there was still something he wanted to say.
*ASHTON POV*
How far can a person who loves go?
It can be positive or negative. To let go or to be selfish. Either way, it still hurts in the end.
Even if you force yourself to be happy just because they are happy, even if it hurts. Even if it's jealousy-inducing. But it hurts twice as much if they aren't happy with the one they chose to love.
Yes, I love Ritchie. But what chance do we have against what this world calls "right and proper"? If only this world accepted people like me who love someone of the same gender. I would fight for him. I wouldn't have rejected Ritchie so he wouldn't get hurt because of Alice.