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“You shouldn’t be so cavalier about throwing away your fated mate,” the Alpha’s words are weighted, but there’s a hint of a lie I can’t quite place and don’t understand.
I shift uncomfortably in my chair, unsure of what I should do with myself and unsure of what I should do with my hands. I can’t bring myself to look at my parents and see the disappointment, again, directed at me. I’ve felt enough of that to last me a lifetime.
“I won’t be taking back my rejection,” Todd growls the words, assured in the decision he has already made.
It has anger boiling inside of me.
“Like we’d take him back,” my wolf scoffs and I agree with the sentiment.
“A rejection can’t be taken back, the words are binding,” as much as I want to shout, I keep my voice low and steady.
“But marking you would cause a bond to form again,” Alpha Thomas points out, the words hard.
I feel the color drain from my face at the thought of Todd marking me. I think I would rather die than be subjected to a lifetime with Todd as my mate. Maybe, one day, I’ll thank him for what he did because I can’t think of anyone less worthy of being my mate. My wolf chuffs in agreement in my mind.
I keep my mouth shut, but I don’t need to say anything because Todd is up and out of his chair, fury coming off him in waves. “I will never allow this mutt to be Luna of Waning Moon,” he spits the words, making them cutting and vicious.
It’s not the first time I’ve heard the sentiment behind them. My heart sinks because I’m sure it won’t be the last either.
Before anyone can say another word or the conversation can continue, Todd storms out of the Alpha’s office. The rage coming off him follows, but splashes against my skin, reminding me that I mean nothing to him. My mate. I don’t look up, but when I’m dismissed, I scurry away, not worried whether my parents are following me or not.
Todd’s rejection feels like a weight around my shoulders, but what makes me bleed is the fact that my parents didn’t say a damn word in my defense. How did my life become like this? Why do they want me to be weak when I could be the strongest she-wolf in the pack? It’s my destiny to be the Luna, not that I would want to be at Todd’s side. Yet they’ve done nothing but beat me down for years.
I didn’t know my heart could shatter into smaller pieces, but it can.
CHAPTER 4
SERENITY
It’s been a few days since the meeting with the Alpha and I’ve done everything I can to avoid everyone in the pack. When I’m unable to avoid them, I’m a little surprised at the looks of pity which have been thrown at me. I’m not at all surprised by the hate-filled looks; those are normal for me.
How fucking sad is that? A pack is supposed to be a family, a place where everyone is protected and has a place. I haven’t felt at home in Waning Moon in far too long. I’ve been isolated and it’s chipped away at me. We are pack animals and derive strength from the bonds connecting us.
Being an outsider to the pack is dangerous. Wolves can go feral without the love and safety of the pack surrounding them.
Not that I think anyone is worried about me going feral. I would almost think that was the goal everyone had when the abuse started—to weaken me, to make it so that I had no other choice but to run. However, that makes no sense if the Moon Goddess deemed me worthy of being the next Luna of the pack.
My head hurts with how much I’ve been thinking about everything. Not just the rejection, but the last eight years. I’ve been showing my wolf what I’ve endured, hoping she could help me find a reason that everything changed.
All I’ve done is make my wolf depressed, but I can also feel her strength.
I sigh as I walk through the woods toward our special place, a place where no one else goes even though it’s one of the most beautiful glades in our territory. I’ve always found peace here, especially when the moon is shining down on us, but right now the sun is warming our skin as fall cools the air around us.
Last night was rough. Todd decided to take another she-wolf to bed. He decided to mind-link me while he was doing it, as if the phantom pain from our ruined bond wasn’t bad enough.
“You’ll never be the one writhing underneath me,” Todd taunted me through the mind-link, his voice breathless with pleasure.
The only good thing was that the burning from him betraying our bond wasn’t as strong as it was the first time. The whole thing still fucked with my head though. It got to both me and my wolf. At first, my wolf whimpered in my head with the knowledge that she would never have her mate.
I wasn’t sad about not having Todd as a mate. Not having Todd as a mate is a goddess-send. He would be a horrible mate, just like he’ll be a horrible Alpha.
Still, last night he kept the mind-link with me open the entire time he was fucking the other girl. It was cruel and it hardened my heart to him in a way that can’t be undone. He derived pleasure from making me feel unloved and unwanted. It was sick and twisted.
I hate him.
The hatred that burns inside of me for our mate is not something I can stop. Even my wolf is on board with it, no longer feeling sadness over losing him. She stopped her whining as Todd told us how good she felt, how tight she was, how she was superior to us.
My wolf is no longer pining for the mate she lost. I’m almost afraid that she’ll try and rip his throat out if we see him any time soon. That would probably be a disaster since he’s much stronger than us.
