The Rejected Mate

CHAPTER ONE

I always believe in fairy tales, in a world of werewolves and destined mates. Many say these stories are mere fiction and could never happen in real life. But my tale is different—it happened to me.

My name is Anita Rivers, a twenty one years old girl and the runt of the Silverclaw Pack—the strongest pack in the world. "Runt" means the weakest and most useless omega.

All my miseries began on my thirteenth birthday, the day of my turning ceremony when I met my wolf, Ayla. But surprisingly, we were not what people expected. Ayla turned out to be a white pup with a yellow eye—a symbol of an omega—a shocking twist of fate in a family of powerful wolves.

My father, the pack's warrior commander, was a formidable Beta who served the father of our current Alpha, and my mother, a respected warrior, was his mate.

Their union should have produced a strong heir, not… me.

I saw the disgust in my father's eyes that day, the moment he realized what I was. It was as if he was looking at a stranger, not his daughter.

"You can't be mine," he whispered, his voice laced with venom.

From that moment on, I knew—he blamed me not only for my weakness but for my mother's death during my birth.

An Alpha's wolf has red eyes, a Luna’s wolf has golden eyes, a Beta's wolf has blue eyes, a Gamma wolf had a silver eyes, an omega's wolf has yellow eyes which is mine and lastly A true Alpha’s wolf is said to be a mixture of red and golden color; that one never exist as we only hear it in the myth.The color of a wolf's eyes is completely different from the eye color of our human form.

At the age of twenty one which I clocked three days ago, I still haven't found my mate, while others discovered theirs at eighteen. My eighteenth birthday, which was meant to be a celebration, became a double curse. Not only did I fail to find my mate, but I was also a weak omega—a shocking twist of fate in a family of powerful wolves.

I thought everything would get better when I turned eighteen and found my mate. But surprisingly, my eighteenth birthday ceremony turned out to be the worst day of my life, as I never found my mate. If I could even call that day a double curse.

From that day on, my life became worse, and the constant bullying from my stepsisters increased. They even joined forces with Lyra, the Beta's sister, to torment me.

The funniest part was that I wasn't the only one without a mate—even the Alpha of our pack hadn't found his own mate back then. So I don't know why they all expected so much from me.

Unable to endure the bullying any longer, I decided to join the pack doctors team, realizing that all doctors are respected in the pack. But my situation was different, as many even refused to let me treat them.

The taunts, the side-eyes, the whispers that followed me everywhere—they were a constant reminder of my place in the hierarchy. All of this made me dream of my own fairy tale, about finding my mate who would free me from my pain. And that moment came when I found out my mate is the Alpha of our pack, Damon Thorne.

I scented him yesterday, and approached him. I couldn't read the reaction on his face but I was so glad to have found my mate. The reason why we never sensed each other all this while is still a mystery to me as I'm now twenty one years old when I was supposed to have found my mate at the age of eighteen. Maybe it was because I'm a weak omega, I don't really know the reason. But guess what? I ended up in bed with him that same night.

My face beams with joy as I take in my lower lip, admiring the sight of Damon's broad, muscular back as he dresses up. A smile flashes across my face as memories of our passionate night flood back.

Many claim that he is a cruel and cold-hearted Alpha, which makes others fear him, but the man who held me last night was not that kind of person. He was calm and even tried not to hurt me, knowing it was my first time.

But something feels off as I look at Damon's back now. I sense a cold aura around him. As he turns around, I can see the rigid set of his jaw, screaming that something is wrong.

"Damon?" I call softly, pulling the sheet up to cover myself. I decide to skip any formalities since we're in the same room, and after last night, I think we’re close enough for that. "Is everything okay?"

Damon stands still for a moment before raising his gaze to meet mine. With his hand in his pocket, the coldness in his green eyes sends a chill down my spine and I’m sure that these are not the eyes that held me last night.

“What did you say your name was again?" he asks, his voice devoid of warmth and my jaw drops in surprise.

Like seriously? He doesn’t remember my name again?

I feel lost for words at that moment, unable to believe that he forgot the name of the person he just slept with. But I decide to stay calm as we’re still getting to know each other.

“It’s Anita... Anita Rivers.”

He nods slightly. “Anita, I want you to listen carefully, because I won’t repeat myself. Last night was..." He trails off, and my heart races as I start imagining the worst, thinking he wants to say that it’s a mistake.

No... please, no...

"Not a mistake," he says, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

Thank God.

"I was just verifying something,” Damon adds, and my eyes widen in surprise.

“Verifying what? My virginity? Wow, I can’t believe you would..."

"Your capability," he cuts me off.

“What?!”

“I’m verifying your ability to bear my pups. I knew you were my mate three years ago when you clocked eighteen and the reason you didn’t feel it... I don’t know."

My heart aches at his words and my grip tighten on the sheet. I can not believe that he knew I was his mate all this time and watched me suffer from the hands of my step sister and Lyra who is Damon's Beta sister. They all mocked me for being a weak omega and also not getting a mate at the age of eighteen. My life had been hell all these years and Damon pretended to be unaware, knowing that one word from him could have stopped it all…just one word from him.

“But back then, you were too weak... too weak for me and I thought you might grow stronger. So when you scented me yesterday, I hoped you had improved since you can't scent me before. But the connection I felt with you in bed last night……. it wasn’t strong, not even a little bit. You should take some contraceptives because if you conceive in your current state, that pup will be weaker than a chicken. And even if it take a slight part of me, trust me, it still won’t be strong enough and there won't be much different between the two of you. And that’s the last thing I want."

I bite my lower lip as I try to hold every insult in. Each words that roll out of his lips were more cruel than how the people describe him. I have never for once met him up close like this before, so I had no Idea that he was really like how people claim he was.

Doesn't he even know that I am a person? So why the harsh words? I also know that I am weak but a comparison with……with ….a chicken seems a bit too much.

“So...?" I asked trailing with my heart thumping loudly.