Chapter 1: The Rejection

The wind sliced through the stone archways, slipping into the small chamber where I sat. But the chill in the air was nothing compared to the cold dread curling in my chest.

My fingers shaking. The whole Ironfeng Pack stood in the sacred clearing, their scents blending with the cool night air.

I, Selene of the Low Deltas, shouldn't have been nervous because Kieran and I had been inseparable since we were kids. He would constantly wish that the mating ceremony, which often takes once in 3 years, come soonest so he could claim me as his mate now that he's of age.

We had an agreement to keep our relationship a secret until the right moment, but few of the pack members knew, including his father. Alpha Cyrus;

The cruel leader of my pack. Despite knowing about me as his son's chosen mate, he has never smiled at me or even responded to my greetings, and that baffles me oftentimes because I have not done anything mischievous to him as deep as I can remember. Maybe it's because of my status in the pack. A Delta.

I feel hurt anytime I remember the status of my family. It would have been better if I'm from a beta but still, "I'm better than the omegas". The thought of that would console me most of the time.

I sat on the small wooden bed confused and lost in my thought. Trying to connect every possible dot to the reason why Kieran wouldn't mate me tonight. I have preserved myself for him. He loves me, I know that and there's every reason for me to trust him.

When I once fell into the icy river at the seven winter, he was the one who jumped in after me without hesitation.

When rogue wolves attacked our borders last summer, we fought back-to-back, his broad shoulders shielding me from the worst blows but he has been different lately, ever since his father named him heir. He has grown cold toward me. He doesn't even meet up at our usual playspot. Even when I go to him, he won't even look at my face; instead, he would walk away. But still, his wolf calls to mine.

So, somehow I have this instinct that tonight isn't about friendship.

Tonight is the Mate Ceremony, not a proper marriage.

"Stop fidgeting," Mara Teased and I playfully grinned at her.

My only friend among the Omegas. She straightened the simple braid over my shoulder. "You look Beautiful for a Delta." She added. I know that because I often look myself up in the mirror.

My beauty is well-spoken about, and my warm blue eyes are a center of attraction, but it doesn't really matter at the moment. Kieran attitude towards me lately gives me fear and doubts that he might not want me anymore but without a reason.

It hurts to see someone whom you love put up an attitude and not attention.

The drum beat aloud, and growls of excitement filled the air. It was time. I walked into the crowd with Mara, holding hands as they parted ways for me. Before I could sit, I looked up at the center of the gathering and there he was.

My breath cut!

Kieran Ironfeng.

The future Alpha stood taller than any warrior, his black ceremonial cloak rippling over his shoulders corded with muscle.

The torchlight gilded his sharp cheekbones, a scar bisecting his left eyebrow, a badge from battle that proved his worth as heir. His silver eyes scanned the crowd... and locked onto mine.

For one heartbeat, I saw the boy who'd shared stolen honeycakes with me in the hayloft.

Then his expression shuttered and my fear was coming to reality.

Rejection!

Alpha Cyrus stood up and signaled a pause in the sound as the ceremony was about to begin. His voice boomed across the clearing. "Step forward, Selene of the Low Deltas."

His voice echoed deep into my head, and I felt like I was going to collapse on the spot.

"What the he.......ck"

I wasn't expecting that neither was anyone.

Murmurs slithered through the crowd like a snake through the grass.

"Why call her first?"

"Look at her, a low-ranked, a weak blood."

"Why would the Alpha’s heir glance at her or even mate her..."

My bare feet pressed into the wet ground as I walked forward. The sacred stone loomed ahead, its surface carved with the moon phase.

This was where generations of Ironfeng Alphas had claimed their mates.

Where Kieran would finally claim me.

"Kneel" Alpha Cyrus commanded.

I dropped to one knee, the stone chilled my knees through my bare skin. My pulse roared in my ears. This was it.

The moment my wolf had ached for!

He came forward at once, looked at me and the next he said was the most painful word I've ever heard in my entire life.

"I reject this bond."

Kieran's voice cracked through the air, brittle and raw.

My head snapped up. He stood rigid, his fists clenched at his sides.

Alpha Cyrus smirked. "Speak plainly, son."

Kieran's jaw tightened. "I will not bind myself to a Delta. Her bloodline is weak. Her fighting skills are mediocre. A low-ranked wolf like her can never be a Luna." His gaze swept over me like I was a stain on his boots. "She's beneath me." He added, and the clearing erupted with a joyful sound.

I looked up, searching his eyes for the boy I knew but he just turned away.

Tears gathered up in my eyes, and slowly they rolled down. I don't who or what to look at that moment. I felt like this was far beyond reality. Perhaps, dream because Kieran, in reality, with his right senses, won't do that to me.

Someone threw a clod of dirt that struck my cheek and laughter rang in my ears.

I looked up, and it was crystal clear: it's a reality of humiliation.

Through the haze of tears, I saw Garrick, Kieran's Beta, grinning like this was the best entertainment he had ever seen in his entire life.

Only Old Man Hewitt, the pack historian, looked troubled. He opened his mouth as if to speak but didn't say anything.

"Get out of my sight," Kieran snarled at me.

The bond between us—the fragile thread I'd nurtured for years is gone.

I knew the depth of the shame this would bring upon me and the rest of the Deltas. I know I can't withstand it and the only thing I could think of was to run away, far away from the pack territory and the humiliation for good.

I quickly got up, and without uttering a word to anyone, I ran into the dark, shady forest as fast as my legs could, with tears blurring my vision.

Branches lashed my arms as I ran blindly into the woods.

My wolf howled inside me in grief.

All this while, I have believed a liar and a manipulator. He should have told me earlier that he was no longer interested in our bond instead of publicly humiliating me.

I felt so used and stupid to hope he would claim me as mate. The pain in my heart felt like nothing before not even when I lost my father. I wished I had a way to pay him.

Then, my memories flashed like knife cut:

The way he'd growled at people who mocked my Delta status and how he tended to my wound after training.

Then a guttural snarl ripped me from my thoughts.

I whirled.

Garrick emerged from the shadows, his silver-tipped claws extended, his fang elongated. "Lost, little Delta?"

I bared my teeth. "Did Kieran send you to finish the humiliation?"

"What if he did?" He said grinning wildly.

"Then what are you waiting for?" I angrily yelled back at him while he kept on grinning.

Deep down I know Kieran wouldn't want me dead. There must be a reason he rejected me but that reason is the last thing I want to hear right now.

"Let's say he didn't send me, but he can't stop me now," He muttered, and before I realized it, the first swipe of his claws ripped through my shoulder, scoring flesh. I stumbled back as blood dripped.

"Garrick Why? Please stop" I choked out and pleaded.

He lunged again and muttered. "Because weak links get cut from the pack."

I knew he wouldn't let go till lie died on the ground. Just like every other pack member, he didn't like me and presumed I was weak and cursed.

Quickly, I gathered every strength in my body and sprinted deeper into the forest as fast as I could without looking back.

Then, I stopped to catch my breath. My lungs were almost burning out.

I finally turned back, and he wasn't tailing me anymore and I sighed in relief.

I just lay down on my back, facing the bright half-moon. Thinking of what to do next because I was far away from home and deep in the enemy's territory.

"Maybe start a new life here," Axa, my wolf, whispered from within, and just then, I saw three massive wolf-like shadows lurk between the trees.

I stood up and took a few steps closer. Those are rogue wolves. Upon realizing that, I froze at the spot. My heart slammed against my ribs.

They looked completely fierce; then I realized I was in much deeper trouble than humiliation. I was in their territory.

The scent of my blood has led them to me.

"Well, well," he rasped. "Ironfeng's castoffs always taste sweetest."

I wanted to scream, to run, but it wouldn't be of much help.

I shifted in a burst of agony—my smaller wolf form was no match for theirs.

"Please....... Please don't hurt me. I promise to go and never to cross the border again" I pleaded. My heart was pounding fast.

Without hesitation, they aggressively attacked like a whirlwind of teeth and claws, giving me multiple bites on the neck.

As my vision dimmed, I thought I heard Kieran's roar in the distance.

Then nothing.

---

Cold.

That was the first thing I felt.

Then, a breath against my ear.

"Pathetic," murmured a voice like crumbling leaves.

I struggled to open my eyes but I couldn't.

A claw traced my cheek, slow and deliberate.

"That pretty Alpha boy tossed you aside like a dull coin. Now, you are ruptured beyond life. Your heart is shattered, and it seeks vengeance. I shall grant that which your heart desires and I can give you teeth and breath. "

I couldn't utter a word. I was lost in a void. I couldn't feel my hands or my legs.

I felt dead but my mind was alive.

The scent of rotting roses coiled around me.

"I shall curse him and my curse will rot his wolf from the inside," she whispered. "Every full moon, his beast will tear him apart. And when he’s finally broken..."

A fire ignited in my veins.

"You will decide if he lives," she said, and I got scared. I don't want to hurt him, Sametime, I can't say or do anything.