The Rejected Mate

CHAPTER NINE

Anita's POV

After the confrontation with Damon, my mind had been at peace. Things had been going on smoothly for me in Shadowfang Pack. Alpha Rowan had been nice to me since that encounter with Damon.

On a fateful night, I was feeling kinda bored and I decide to join Maya on the night patrol. The night patrol was usually peaceful but something prickled beneath my skin — an uneasy tremor I couldn't explain.

"Relax," Maya whispered, nudging me gently.

"This patrol is just been done out of protocol. Things had been peaceful, alright?" She said assuringly.

I forced a smile but the knot in my stomach tightened. For some days now, my senses had been sharpening. Sounds felt louder. My smells more sharper. And my emotions– more wilder. I hadn't told anyone, not even Lyra.

A branch snapped in the distance.

Maya froze. "That wasn't an animal." She said alarmed.

Before we could react, shadows darted out between the trees–three rougues, snarling, their eyes wild with hunger.

"Run." Maya shoved me aside, and she stepped forward to fight them off herself.

"No—Maya!" I tried to pull her back but one rogue lunged faster than I could blink. Maya dodged but another came to attack her from behind and raised its claws.

My heart ached and something inside me snapped.

A burning heat shot down my spine. My knees buckled. My bones trembled reshaping without my control. My breath hitched with sharpened vision. Pain and power collided inside me in a blinding flash.

My wolf surged forward—not weak—not small—and not an Omega.

A colossal white wolf, fur glowing like carved moonlight, streaked with shimmering silver. The rogues stumbled back in panic.

"What—what is that?!" One whimpered.

I didn't attack. I don't need to.

One growl—low and echoing, sent all the three rogues bolting into the forest with terror in their scent.

I could see Maya's hand shaking where she stood.

"A-Anita, is that you?" She whispered.

But I wasn't even listening again. My wolf tilted her head with eyes blazing with pale fire and clear as dawn.

A voice echoed inside my mind, my wolf's voice.

"We were never meant to be an Omega. We were hidden."

My eyes widened at the revelation.

"They suppressed us, but the seal is breaking."

Before I could respond or ask her questions further, pain shot through my chest and my wolf pulled back. My vision faded and I collapsed changing back into my trembling human form.

Maya rushed to me, breathless.

"Anita—your wolf—how?"

Her voice cracking.

"That wasn't normal. That wasn't even possible. You're Omega, so how come—"

I stared up at the moon, thinking about everything that had just happened.

"I wasn't weak. I wasn't ordinary. There are more to this and I must find out about it." I thought inwardly.

"All this seems confusing to me, Maya. Please help me keep this a secret until I find answers to everything." I urged her and she nodded.

She pulled me up and covered me with my tattered clothes and we left.

It was late afternoon the second day. I couldn't go to the pack clinic as I could not concentrate on anything since last night incident. So I decide to go to Laura's cabin—her sanctuary of herbs and books.

"You look troubled, dear," Laura said stirring a steaming bowl.

"I'm changing." I whispered. "I don't understand it."

Laura motioned for me to sit. "Tell me about it." She asked.

So I started telling her everything. My sharpening senses. My strange rushes of strength. Shifting without control. And my wolf's glowing white form.

But Laura didn't gasped. Didn't blink and she didn't even look surprised. Instead her spoon nearly slipped from her hand.

"So, it has begun." She murmured under her breath—too low for anyone to hear, but I heard it.

"What has begun." I demanded.

Laura hesitated. A war of emotions crossed her face— fear, guilt, and sorrow . She slowly walked to a wooden trunk in the corner and opened it. Inside it lay old papers, faded talismans, and a small worn out pendant. She handed the pendant to me.

"I knew your mother," She said quietly.

The room froze. My breath caught and my heart stuttered.

"No, that's impossible. I heard my father never allowed anyone near her."

Laura's eyes softened. "Your mother came to Shadowfang territory once to sought for help—not for herself but for you when she was pregnant with you."

"For me?" I whispered.

Laura nodded and gently cupped my cheek.

"She feared what you would become. Not because you were weak, but because you were too powerful even as a foetus."

"Your wolf was prophesied to be extraordinary. Ancient. A type that appears once every few centuries. If words spreads, packs will kill or steals you. Your mother begged us to protect you."

I stared at her. "Protect me? How?"

Laura's voice trembled.

"Your mother asked our healer to seal your powers before you were born. To suppress your wolf. To make you appear..... harmless."

Tears prickled my eyes. My whole life—the pains, the humiliations, the weakness....

All of it had been a lie.

"Why didn't you tell me when you saw me when I came to this pack?" I whispered.

"Because the seal also hid your nature from enemies." Laura said gripping my hands. "Even from your father and I wouldn't risk exposing you."

"My father hated me, so why would he care what I was?"

Laura's expression darkened. "Your mother had her reasons for hiding your nature from your father and moreover your father wasn't the only one who would had wanted you dead had it been your powers were not sealed."

My pulse stopped. "Who else?"

Laura leaned in, her voice dropping to a trembling whisper.

"Someone from Silverclaw pack. Someone powerful. Someone who would fear your powers." Your mother died protecting you from that person."

The room seemed to shrink around me.

"Who?" I choked out. "Who would want me dead."

She inhaled shakily —and whispered the name.

I froze at the revelation. Never in my wildest dreams would I had thought that.