Winning Over His Rejected Mate

Ava "You were right, being at the pub and roasting the elderly's asses by breaking their stuck-up rules would have been ten times better than being at this boring Moon ball." I am sure this is Camilla talking, but I can't hear a word because I'm having trouble focusing. My head is spinning, and this deliriously sweet scent is driving me crazy. "I swear, man, their faces when we act the exact opposite of what they want are the best." She speaks again, but it feels like a blur because my senses are only focused on the scent. From where is it coming from? I scan the town square for the source, while slowly my body begins to feel heavy. My heart beats loudly enough to pound in my ears as my wolf, Harper's, voice cuts through everything in my head. 'Mate!' 'We have found our mate!' Her excited squeal sends a rush of thrill down my spine while my mind begins to hyperventilate. Our mate, in the SilverMoon pack!? The pack of conservatives? "Ava, are you listening?" Camilla calls me again, but my head is spinning until my eyes land on the man in the centre of it all—Silas Arnold. The 6-foot-2-inch hunk with black hair and smoky grey eyes is also the alpha heir of our pack. Is he? 'He is our mate!' Harper's excited squeal answers my question, and immediately, I react to him and his scent, wanting to pounce on him and taste those heavenly lips of his, when, out of the blue, he grabs the girl on his side, cups her cheek and slams his lips against hers, all the while watching me. Watching me feel the pain instead of the pleasure of the very mate bond that started to form as our eyes met, and is meeting until he pulled this cheap stunt on me. "Oh my! Look, isn't that Silas? Who is he kissing?" Olivia, my friend, says excitedly as he kisses that f*****g girl passionately in the middle of the town square, in the middle of the moon ball, while being mated to me. "Is that girl his mate?" Jack, our other friend, guesses, which snaps the last thread of my self-control as I march towards both of them. "Wait, Ava! Where are you going?" Camilla exclaims, but I don't stop. He ends the kiss until I reach them both, still looking at me as my palm connects with his cheek with a 'smack' Everyone around us stuns as I slap his cheek. "How dare you cheat on me, your mate!?" I growl, glaring at him as his jaw flexes, but he says nothing. "What the f**k? Who the hell are you?" The girl beside him screeches in her nasal voice, trying to come between me and him, infuriating me. However, before I can do anything, Silas pulls her to his side, shielding her. Watching this, the anger in my head explodes, and I do what everyone should. "I, Ava Abbey, daughter of Beta Everett of SilverMoon pack, reject Silas Arnold as my mate." As soon as those words escape my lips, I stagger as a sharp pain shoots through my heart. I hear Silas stepping forward as I struggle to remain steady when suddenly, his father and our Alpha Jaxon's voice bellows, startling everyone. "Who dares to hit my son and defy the sacred meaning of the mate bond by using 'rejection'?" I shiver when he uses the Alpha command in his voice before coming to stand in front of me. He narrows his eyes as rage mars his face when he sees me. "It's you, the disappointment of Beta Everet's." He mocks, and everyone starts to whisper. "He cheated on me first, and the sacredness of the mate bonds you talk about, isn't loyalty a part of it?" I spit back, but his face only worsens. "How dare you, a mere wench. I have endured enough of you and your insolent activities in the pack, but tonight, you crossed the limits. How dare you hit your Alpha heir? GUARDS!" He barks, and soon, a few warriors pretending to be his guards rush to the scene. "Imprison her, and use any means necessary to confine her if she resists." He says coldly as they charge towards me. I grit my teeth and prepare to fight, but they easily subdue me because of the current state of my body. The pain of the rejection has taken a toll, and thus, it is getting harder to fight against these bastards. Still, I try to fight, but they soon capture me. "Ava!" My friends shout my name as they begin to take me when, unexpectedly, that arrogant Alpha spots my father in the crowd, and calls him. "Beta, Everet. Did you see what your daughter did? Am I not doing the right thing by imprisoning her?" He asks, testing him, as f*****g always. My father glances at me, constrained by the guards, before he coldly looks away and nods. "Yes, Alpha, you are doing the right thing. Imprisoning her will set the discipline in the pack right." He says, and I scoff. As expected. It's my father who hates me the most for rebelling against the f*****g customs of this stuck-up pack. No wonder he won't miss me at all when I escape this pack forever. Clenching my teeth, I endure as the warriors begin to take me away. "Ava!" My friends call for me again, desperate, but I am unable to reply as they drag me away. 'Thud' My elbow scrapes as they harshly throw me into prison. "You deserve this for acting like a b***h, Ava. Told you, stay away from where you aren't allowed. Now, no more shaking your hips in the pub, huh?" One of the warriors, Samuel, sneers, and I feel Harper bristle with anger. "Aw, too bad. Now the drinks will lose interest." Owen, another one of the sleaze comments, sending me into a rage. I stand up, as Harper urges me to let her take control, but as soon as my eyes flash black, another scoundrel, Ethan, opens the cell, and in a flash, binds my hand and feet with silver. I scream, falling on my knees as I look at them with betrayed tears while they are laughing at me. "Looks like the cat got your tongue. Can't speak?" Ethan snickers as I struggle, but the silver digging into my skin makes it impossible for me to fight back. "It was the Alpha's order to squash all your efforts, Ava. You had it coming." Owen sneers. "Now, now, it's time for the final blow, isn't it?" Samuel says, stepping inside the cell. Soon, he wears gloves on his hands and fishes out a vial from his pocket. My eyes widen when I notice the shiny purple liquid inside the vial. Immediately, I understand his intention behind the gloves, trying to crawl away, but he grabs my jaw forcefully, holding me still. "Not too fast. This vial has wolfsbane in it, Ava, enough to let you suffer and not die." Samuel says, his voice dripping with cruelty, before he forces that liquid down my throat. I cough as I feel that liquid burning down my pipe, scorching me. Within seconds, I cough up blood, while they watch cruelly. "Let's go, guys. Our work is done now." The last thing I see is them walking away before my consciousness fades away until I feel something warm flowing down my throat, which helps relax my insides, which were burning severely because of wolfsbane. Soon, I feel my finger twitch as vitality starts coming back to my body. I lift my heavy eyelids as the dark ceiling of the prison comes into my view, along with a few familiar faces covered in black cloaks. "Ava, are you feeling better?" Olivia's voice trembles as Jack helps me to sit up. The silver that was on my hands and feet is no longer there; only its wound remains, solidifying the fact that it was on me once. "You guys?" My voice comes out throaty, as I cough, finding it hard to speak. "Don't push yourself too hard, Ava. We are here to help you escape. Let's leave this damned pack forever," Michael, our friend, says, and I look at all of them—Camilla, Olivia, Jack and Michael, surprisingly. "How...how did you get inside the prison?" I ask, concerned about how they broke in. If the Alpha finds out, they will all get into trouble, and it may get worse than me. "You guys! Quickly go away, if that bastard finds out, then it will be game over for all of us." I hastily say between my coughs, but Camilla holds my hand instead of running away. "Ava, calm down. It's true, we are short on time, but no one will find out about us. Your dad helped us get into the prison, and he also secured the antidote for wolfsbane. He helped us save you. He knows about our plan to run away, and that's why we only have this night, Ava. We need to escape now." She explains, and I listen to her, shocked. Dad helped us...? "He knows that you won't be able to live here, Ava. He supports you and asked us to tell you that he knows his daughter will survive like a true warrior wherever she goes, so go and write your destiny." Olivia whispers, her voice thick with emotion, and I tear up, feeling his love. "Thank you, guys. I can't let dad's efforts go to waste. Let's escape, all of us, together," I say, determined as I wipe my tears, unaware of one thing, which was going to be my shackle forever.