Rejected, Rebirth, and Revenge

Chapter Two: From Bad to Worse

Vivian

When I reached the park, I shot Caspian a text.

He answered right away and told me to walk deeper into the trees. He said I would see his flashlight so I didn't have to worry about getting lost. My heart was racing, and was full of hope and expectations. I kept wondering what he would say to me and what the outcome of tonight would be.

I had to leave my bike out front because it wasn't allowed in here and continued by foot. I kept glancing around the massive green space for any lights but didn't spot one right away, so I knew that I would have to keep going.

The smell of sycamore, jasmine, and freshly mowed grass perfumed the air. I was certain that I wouldn't forget tonight, not for a second. Everything would be deeply engraved in my mind. It was starting to get a little too cold for me, so I rubbed my arms as I continued looking around. I was walking down a hiking trail when I saw it some distance away and my heart skipped a beat.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. This was it.

I had the chance to turn back. I had to admit that it didn't sound like a bad idea right now. I hadn't even told my mother where I was going. But what was the worst that could happen? No, turning back now would be pure cowardice, and I didn't like to think of myself as a coward.

I would face this regardless of the consequences.

The worst he could do was reject me again, this time formally.

Right?

I walked through the trees to meet him. My heart was still hammering against my chest. I saw him before he saw me. His back was facing me and he appeared to be kicking a pebble around. He was holding the flashlight toward it, watching it skip around as he kicked it. The moon was high in the sky and some of its light shone through, but the trees above us were too dense. Without the flashlight, we wouldn't be able to see much.

When I was close enough to him, I cleared my throat. "Caspian?"

He flinched at the sound of my voice. He turned around slowly and eyed me with an expression I couldn't decipher. I stood without moving. I was very nervous. He said in a steady voice, "I'm glad you came."

I tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear and asked him, "What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

He took a few steps toward me but his eyes were on the ground. He walked past a beam of moonlight which made his blonde hair shine, almost like glitter. "I wanted to talk to you about what happened during the last Lunar Hunt when...when everything happened."

"When we realized we were mates, you mean?"

Caspian looked up sharply. "Don't you ever say those words out loud!"

It was my turn to flinch. The sharpness of his voice took me aback and I stepped away from him without even realizing it. My eyes were wide as I beheld him. "I thought that...I thought you'd want to—"

"Did you tell anyone?" he asked, closing the distance between us.

I started backing away but he held my arm firmly. I stared at his hand closed around mine and felt bile fill my mouth. This was wrong. He shouldn't be doing this to me. He asked me through his teeth, "Answer my question! Did you tell anyone?"

"Yeah," a voice said behind him. "Answer his question, you mutt."

Snickers followed that statement and my heart dropped when I looked over his shoulder and saw his friends nearing us. They were standing there the whole time, I realized. They were hiding behind the trees and listening to us.

This was never what I thought it would be and I was an i***t for coming.

I should have guessed what would happen.

Edmund Simons, Ricardo Lopez, and Junior Ford emerged from the darkness. They all formed a half-circle around Caspian while sneering at me. I looked at Caspian again, hatred and disgust shining in my eyes. I shook his grip off and stepped back. "You can rest assured. I didn't tell anyone. I would never have done so."

"Oh," Ricardo said, stepping forward. "And why is that, Omega mutt?"

"Because it's not the privilege you think it is!" I exclaimed, stepping back even more. I had to get out of here and find my way back home. I didn't like any of this. "Now if you'd excuse me, I have better things to do."

Edmund stepped forward and grabbed me by the hair. I was so shocked that I screamed. He dragged me back and said roughly, "You've got a lot of cheek for an Omega. We're your superiors. You're supposed to kneel at our feet and lick our shoes clean!"

"Like hell I will!" I shouted, fighting against him and trying to pry his fingers off my hair. The back of my head was soaring and I lost my balance and fell to the floor.

Ricardo laughed. "That's more like it."

"Let go of me!"

He finally released me, but not without punishment. He kicked my side and I rolled over, coughing. I wanted to throw up. More laughs bubbled from their lips and filled the spaces all around us. I was only concerned about getting up and going home now. I tried to get up but he kicked me down again, this time with more force.

"Where do you think you're going, mutt? You won't go anywhere unless we tell you to."

"Ed," I heard Junior say in a low voice. It was barely audible. "Haven't we done enough?"

"Are you crazy?" Ricardo asked him, stepping forward. "Let her go where? She's going to tell everyone about her and Caspian, and then his reputation is going to get f****d, that's what. He is our Alpha and it's our job to protect him." I felt his eyes on me again. "Especially from Omega trash that thinks it could ever have a chance of being Luna."

This made Edmund and Junior laugh boisterously. I stayed down this time. I was afraid of trying to get back up. I was genuinely afraid now. There was a heaviness in my chest and I didn't feel safe. This was going too far.

What did Ricardo even mean by what he said?

"We end this now," he said, pointing a finger at Caspian. "You reject her. Do it right here and now."

Caspian looked over at me and neared me. I glared up at him and as I stared at his face, I wondered what I had ever seen in him. I admired him before—everyone did. He was handsome and perfect, and the future Alpha.

If they knew what he truly was, they would never even look at him twice.

"I, Caspian Devon, the future Alpha of the Great Dawn Pack, reject you, Vivian Blackwood, as my mate and Luna."

I felt a snap deep within me after he said the words and I guessed he felt the same thing because he stumbled backward and groaned. Our mate bond had snapped. It was weak but it was there, so it hurt. I turned to my side, feeling even more sick than before. I was glad that it had ended, though. I was glad to be rid of him.

I didn't care that I would never again find another mate. There were no second chances for us werewolves, after all. The next person I would be with wouldn't have a bond with me. They'd be 'chosen'. But I preferred that over having a coward as a mate.

The moon goddess must have been mistaken.

I had nothing in common with him.

"Let's get out of here," Junior suggested. "They'll be wondering where we are."

Ricardo said, "We haven't finished the job yet. We're not going anywhere until it's done."

There was a heavy silence amongst them and I felt it, too. It was almost like my heart had stopped beating just at the words.

"What?"

"She can still tell," he answered. "And now, there will be a lot more to tell."

"Rick—"

"He's right," Caspian said, getting on his knees next to me. I tried not to look at his face as he said, "We just have to make sure that she understands how high the stakes are and that spreading this around will have terrible consequences for her."

"But I didn't agree to this!" Junior said. "Caspian was supposed to reject her and then we'd leave!"

Rick scoffed. "This is going to look bad for all of us. If anyone hears this, the first thing they'll ask themselves is how the f**k an Omega can be mated to an Alpha. Have you ever stopped to think about that? They'll start thinking that they're our equals when that's far from the truth!"

I wasn't looking at them. I was staring at the trees ahead. Although I felt sick to my stomach and my head was a pounding mess, I knew I had to run. I couldn't stay here and wait for them to finish me off like they intended.

So, I got on my feet and started running as fast as my legs could carry me.

I heard an exclamation behind me but didn't turn to look. I ran and ran until I couldn't breathe. I didn't know where I was headed. I only knew that I had to get as far away from them as possible.

By the Moon, when did things get so bad so fast? Thirty minutes ago, I was a girl with hopes and dreams. Now, I was running for my life.

I crossed a hiking trail and kept going up a slight slope in front of me. I never looked to see how close behind me they were. I scrambled up but my foot caught on an overgrown root and I went crashing down. Unfortunately, that was enough for Ricardo to throw himself at me.

"Where do you think you're going?" Caspian asked from behind us as I struggled against his friend. "You leave when I say you can leave."

"Guys!" one of them whispered harshly behind us.

Rick looked up and his face paled before it went back to normal. "What are you looking at, wimp?"

I also looked up and was surprised to see Lawrence Beaver. He was in my class and he was an Omega, like me. He looked shocked at the scene before him and stepped forward, his eyes on me.

Finally, I would be saved.