Rejected by one, Fated to four

OFF THE CLIFF.

MARIAN.

What? No. There is no way this was actually happening. This had to be a bad dream, and I will wake up soon.

“Malcom, wh—what are you—” I could barely finish speaking, my chest and throat constricted, my body shook and my lips quivered as I looked into his eyes, but he wouldn’t look at me.

“Talk to me. What is going on? Someone is pressuring you, right? Who is it? Tell me! Whatever it is we can work through it as long as we have each other, right?” The tears had already started spilling before I could stop them.

The pair of eyes on Malcolm and I made me feel exposed, my stomach was clenched tight as I took a step closer to him, but he took two steps backwards, getting away from me.

“Malcolm, what happens to all the promises we made to each other? Y—You can’t—You can’t do this to me, Malcolm, you can’t—” I could hear the desperation in my voice.

A wave of shame and humiliation crashed over me as I reached out to touch him, but he slapped my hand away as if he would rather die than let me put a finger on him.

The bubbling festival, an event that was supposed to be a happy one, and signal the beginning of my freedom suddenly felt suffocating and crushing.

What’s going on? Why wouldn’t he—

Malcolm looked at me, and I whimpered, his eyes were red with rage, exactly the same as my mother’s whenever she was angry. Chills snaked down my spine, and I felt the realization slowly starting to dawn on me.

“Did you really think that I was going to spend the rest of my life with someone so worthless and nothing to offer?” He asked, and my mouth hung open but no word came out.

Malcolm had never called me worthless before, he’d never even raised his voice at me, but now, he was different from the man I’d grown up with, the man I’d given my heart to.

“Wait, someone has to be—” The rest of my words got stuck in my throat as his palm hit my cheek, the resounding slap echoed in the night sky despite the noise and crowds.

“Leave me the f**k alone, you featureless pig!” He snapped, and I felt the last shred of whatever I’d been holding on to shatter as my heart sank to my stomach.

People had already started murmuring, and I knew that they were talking about Malcolm and I. My body betrayed me as the sob forced its way out of my throat, my knees weakened and before I knew it, I was on my knees on the ground.

“I’m going to be the future Alpha of our pack, and you think I want a useless mate as my Luna, you must be f*****g kidding me.” He laughed, the sound ringing in my head over and over again.

“Come on, wake up. I knew you were gullible, but I didn’t think you were that gullible.” He laughed again, and this time, everyone joined in while I remained on the floor, humiliated and in despair.

“Isn’t that the worthless Marian Alford, the useless daughter of the Alford family?” I heard one of the crowd say, they’d intentionally made their voice loud so that I could hear.

“She didn’t think our future Alpha would be mated to her, did she? Because that would be so funny.”

“Don’t look at her for too long or you might be infected with her misfortune.”

“The moon goddess really used her existence as a punishment to us because I still don’t get why she’s alive and living with us when she should be dead.”

I felt open, and I have never wished for the ground to open up and swallow me whole like I was desperately doing right now as tears fell freely down my cheeks.

My eyes burned, my lips quivered and my fingertips trembled as I replayed all the promises Malcolm had been making to me ever since we were kids. Had those words been a lie from the very beginning?

I felt ice spreading through my stomach, an acute sense of loss overwhelmed me, and it crushed me completely when I saw my mother walk up behind Malcolm and placed a hand on his shoulder.

He smiled at her in a way that he’d never smiled at me before, and I watched, my vision blurry as he took her in his arms, and kissed her long and hard.

My mother? Malcolm and my mother? He…. The person he found better than me was my…. My own mother?

My misery felt like steel weight as I mentally laughed at myself, recalling every moment I’d bared myself before him. I gave him the weapon he was now wielding against me. I showed him how desperately I needed him. I clung to him.

My throat ached, and when they finally broke their kiss, my mother turned to me with the kind of smile that made me shudder internally, it was so wicked that I could feel the ground shaking under my feet.

This isn’t really happening. There is no way Malcolm rejected me for my mother. At least that’s what I wanted to think, but I wasn’t stupid enough to keep questioning what was really unfolding in front of me.

“You didn’t think you could have him now, honey, did you?” Her voice was cold and ruthless, and no matter how much she hated me, I didn’t think that she was actually going to stoop as low as taking Malcolm away from me.

She’s my mother, damn it!

My heart was completely shattered. Wretched. My mind was a mess as a terrible sense of bitterness assailed me.

“I’m making this public, and if you have any objection, you speak now or forever hold your peace,” Malcolm started, his voice loud as he held my mother even tighter.

“Tonight, I will be claiming Celine Ashwood as my rightful mate.” Celine Ashwood? She had even forsaken my father’s name and had gone back to her maiden name.

The crowd erupted in a fit of applause that made my eyes widened, not a single person saw what was wrong with my mother being mated with someone almost half her age?

The lump in my throat became even more difficult to swallow as I just sat there and watched them kiss again, smiling and flaunting their new relationship.

“Guards!” Malcolm’s bark jolted me out of a thought I didn’t know I was lost in. “Throw this thing out, I don’t want her tainting this special event with her presence, and the Alpha Kings we’re expecting will be here soon. We can’t have her here.”

Limp, weak and dejected, but despite all of this, I knew deep down that I’d shown enough weakness. Not anymore. The guards were about to grab me by the hand when I felt my heart still, my palm clenched into a hard fist.

“Don’t. You. Dare.” I barked through gritted teeth, I was dying inside, but I couldn’t let them see any more of my weakness. “Really, Malcolm? My mother?” A bitter laugh raked my throat as I walked up to him.

I watched as his throat bobbed, his eyes showed a tiny hint of fear, of course, I hadn’t shown this much defiance before. Each step I took made me feel as though I was dragging a ton of bricks behind me.

“That’s just disgusting, I can’t believe I ever fell in love with you,” I went on, my teeth gritted. “I, Marian Alford, accept your rejection. From now on, we’re nothing to each other!” The rejection, despite not having my wolf, tore me from the inside out.

But I’d already started this, I needed to see it to the end. “And you,” I turned to my mother, she had fire in her eyes, enough to burn me but I’ve shown enough weakness to it. “I cut off any bond between you and I. You’re no longer my mother, and I’m no longer your daughter!”

She scoffed at my declaration. “Good riddance to bad rubbish,” she laughed. “What do you think you’re going to do without me or Malcolm? Nothing!” She yelled, and the hall erupted into a loud laughter.

She was right, but I could start somewhere, and I am starting from the part where I stop all of them from walking all over me like I was trash on the ground.

Shaking my head, I walked as fast as my legs could carry me out of the hall, ignoring the laughter and snide remarks of the guests. All my life, I’d worked so hard for him, for this pack. Hell, I was the one who put this entire hall together.

A small stream of tears trickled down my cheeks, but I immediately wiped it off. After what happened there, we wouldn’t see each other anymore, our paths wouldn’t ever cross again.

Picking up my pace, I tuned out every sound and closed off my heart as I made my way to the one place I found solace, the place I came to when everything felt too much, except this time I wasn’t seeking a temporary solace, but a permanent one.

I stared at the horizon, taking it in one last time, but when I looked down, I couldn’t see the ground. The cliff was so high up that I knew if I took that step, there would be no way for me to survive.

One step. Two. Three. I stopped just before I took the fourth one. Who would have thought that I was this much of a coward? Closing my eyes, I kept telling myself to take the remaining one step, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

My entire being was shaking, my muscles taut as fear gripped every part of me. “Do it, Marian. Do it. End your pain.” I muttered to myself.

“That’s right, do it. You’re obstructing my view with your body. I came here to stare at the beauty, and you’re really ruining that experience for me.” My eyes flew open at the voice behind me.

What? I turned around to look at who the voice belonged to, but I couldn’t make out much with the sun blocking my view, but I felt my knees weaken the moment I found myself standing in front of him.

“Who the f**k are you?” I spat, but the figure seemed to be chewing something, and it pissed me off that he didn’t answer my question immediately.

Eventually, he sighed. “Looks like you won’t jump until I’ve answered your question.” He said, and my fist hardened, nails digging into my palm.

Who the hell is he, and why does he get under my skin so much?

“I’m someone who came here to enjoy the beautiful view, and the sight of you is really annoying,” he went on, my mouth opened, but nothing came out.

“Just f*****g jump and get it over with.” He snarked, and forget my anger and frustration at Malcolm and my mother, this figure was really pushing me past my boiling point, and the amusement in his voice wasn’t helping at all.

It was almost as though he didn’t see me as anything beyond a puppet that he could toy with, and that strange aura he emitted? It made my skin crawl.

But what happened next happened in a flash, he came into my field of vision but I still couldn’t make out his face properly. “Here, I’ll help you.” His palm pressed against my chest, literally tipping me off the cliff.

This bastard actually pushed me off the cliff?! Well, I wouldn’t have been strong enough to do it myself anyway. Maybe I should thank him for it.

My breath hitched, the sky spun, and I could feel death rushing upward.