Cold Demand
Eleanor
“I just wanted to let you know, before you hear it from others, that I have taken a chosen mate, Eleanor. And I expect nothing but acceptance and submission from you. You will still be my fated mate, and first mate, and that is not going to change anytime soon. But I love Laurel, and can’t do without her.”
Alpha Zachary, my mate, said the words like he had just recited the alphabets, while I stood there, stunned as hell.
No. It wasn't possible.
I had to be dreaming, right?
I had turned eighteen just five months ago, and that was in the middle of Zach’s school break from the academy.
He had come to our pack for the crystal year anniversary, and we had met each other, the mating bond slinking into place.
The next two weeks until he had left had been a whirlwind, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Until now.
“How dare you?” I heard myself ask lowly, as tears burned behind my eyes. “How dare you, Zach! We are supposed to mated at the next mating ceremony which is just a few weeks away, and you come here, telling me that the same girl you hated all school year is now your chosen mate? We share the bond of fated mates, Zachary!”
I had sat with him, been on calls with him, and listened as he complained about a certain she-wolf who went out of her way to make his life at the academy, hell.
Who would have thought...
He didn’t look bothered by my words, and instead seemed bored. “I haven’t marked you yet, so we are not bonded yet!” he snapped rudely, his eyes blank of any emotion.
I heard something shatter inside of me at those words, and realised it was my heart.
Why did it hurt so much?
“What about everything we shared? You wrote to me all these months. You called every single day, telling me how much you loved me, and how much you couldn’t wait to finally mark me as yours? What changed?” I hated sounding like a weak and clingy woman, but here I was.
Mating bond or not, I loved him. Had imagined my whole life with him.
Had made so many plans to make sure we didn’t spend a second apart anymore.
The envelope quietly sitting in my drawer was evidence.
When Jared, the omega attendee to the alpha’s mansion had informed me I was needed downstairs, I hadn’t expected it to be Zachary.
He was supposed to come in two days.
Or at least that was what he had told me.
And definitely not to come tell me I was to play house with him and the girl he had apparently fallen in love with.
Zachary growled in annoyance, disgust etched on his face, which further broke my heart.
“Quit being a needy she-wolf and wake up. You are just a worthless stray the Alpha picked from nowhere or else you will be rotting with the rogues by now. I actually did you a favor by not rejecting you that night, when the moon goddess thought playing a prank on me by mating us together was funny! I wouldn’t have even agreed if not for_” he paused, then gestured towards me. “I cannot be with someone like you. You have no history, are nothing special, and I am an Alpha. I need a strong Luna by my side. And Laurel is everything I need. You are not dumb, at least, so you should understand!”
I was too stunned to speak.
I do not know how, but I felt my hand move, and then a loud resounding crack as hand met face.
My palm stung, but the look on Zach's face was worth it. "How dare you! How could you utter those words to me after I opened up to you?!
Rage was an understatement, for what was burning in my veins.
Tears burned behind my eyes, but I struggled not to let them fall as I looked at the man I had fallen in love with.
At twenty, Zachary was every girl’s dream. Tall, with striking dark brown hair that matched his green eyes, and muscles for days.
I could still remember the envious remarks from a few she-wolves when we had recognized each other as mate.
He was the son of the Alpha of Daysette Pack. One of the four strongest packs in the whole country.
Who wouldn’t want him as a mate?
Had I been so blind that I couldn’t see that he was just a cruel asshole?
An empty being with a dark heart, hiding behind that handsome facade?
Was that what he thought of me while kissing me in those two weeks we had spent together?
I had told him certain things about me that I didn't dare tell anyone, and he had now turned around to use same words against me?
The thought that this was the man I had been willing to spend the rest of my life with, made my skin scrawl.
Zach only looked like his pride hurt from the slap. "You f*****g pig! You'll f*****g pay when I have you locked and hidden in my pack! f*****g stray!"
The audacity! Did he think I was going to let him walk all over me?
Another cold shiver of shame and disgust crawled it’s way up my spine.
Me, a worthless stray? Me?
“I may be a stray to you, Zachary, but you, you are nothing but a disgusting brat who doesn’t deserve to be born into the prestige you were born into. You are a shame to the bloodline you come from. I pity any woman who ends up with you.” I spat in rage and heartbreak. “And no, I will not play into whatever stupid game you want to play, Zachary_”
His expression turned cold and dark.
“You can call me all you want, foolish girl. But you and I know you have no choice you are my mate. My fated mate, and you will do my bidding_”
I didn’t let him finish whatever nonsense that was coming out of his mouth, and raised a hand. “Alpha Zachary Daysette of Deysette pack, I Eleanor Winters, reject you as my fated mate, and let the goddess be my witness, because from this day henceforth, you mean nothing to me, and I turn my back on our bond and anything we ever shared.”
I felt the bond snap inside of me, almost bringing me to my knees. But what kept me standing was the fact that I knew Zachary was in more pain than I was.
He hadn’t seen that coming.
I was never every going to forget the look of shock on his face as I rejected him, or the way his handsome features contorted unactractively from the pain that came with it.
I turned my back on him and raced to my bedroom, instructing Jared to escort him out when he was done writhing in pain.
I mean, I was generous after all.
The tears didn’t fall at first.
Not until I pulled open my drawer and pulled the sealed envelop I had been afraid to open since it arrived the previous day.
My hands shook, and my lips quivered, but I tore the seal and pulled out the paper, carefully unfolding it so I could read it’s contents.
What I saw finally broke the dam that had been forming behind my eyes.
I had been accepted into the Moonlit Academy for Gilded Bloodlines.
The same on Zachary attended.
I had applied so I wouldn’t be away from him.
But now all the paper did was mock me for being the biggest fool of the century.