The Alpha Rejected Me And Created A Monster

4

SELENA

“Welcome, everyone,” he continued as his eyes scanned the room, peeking at the faces of people in the hall for a quick second before shifting his gaze.

I was at the back of the room, in a position where it was rather unlikely that he’d find me, but still, I lowered my gaze.

Years of being grilled by my grandma kicked in, and I began plotting my way out of the room.

I could count the meetings I had been to on one finger and still have fingers left. Additionally, he hadn’t been present at any of them, so seeing him this up close was strange for me. It felt like if he set eyes on me, I would unravel—reveal everything I was hiding and mess up years of carefully surviving without being found out.

He was the reason why my life had taken an exceptionally different turn than it originally had, and it was no easy feat being in the presence of a foe.

I had stayed in this town and in the pack by blending into the crowd, staying unnoticed, and keeping my true identity hidden. At this point, I was starting to doubt I had any “true identity” besides being the poster girl for being a social disaster, which probably meant our plan so far was airtight.

Alejandro McCain was part of the reason I had to do that. I could tolerate being around his son, Kieran, but his mere presence filled me with so much rage, I wanted to run toward the podium and leave a knife in his side like he had done to my father.

Our lore began a few years ago when he betrayed my father, who was the Alpha of the Synx Pack. He was my father’s beta and second-in-command. This position gave him the opportunity to turn a lot of people against my father and eventually have him exiled.

If he had stopped there, maybe I wouldn’t be filled with such indignation, but he took things a step further and masterminded his demise. He also hunted down everyone in my family who had the potential to exact vengeance on him—save for my grandma.

She didn’t stay in our pack permanently and had also gone on a trip when he started the m******e. When she was alerted of the potential danger, she ordered a loyal servant to bring me to a secret hideout and fled from there to a town in the north.

I spent most of my early years there as we lived in isolation for a few months. When I started asking questions about other people and things happening around me, she decided it was time to move back. We switched to my mother’s maiden name as a last name to keep our affiliation with the Synx Pack hidden and integrated into society.

It would’ve been a power move if the end game was to avenge my pack, but she didn’t come here with any grand ideas of revenge.

It would be folly to orchestrate something like that anyway—we were grossly outnumbered and had no allies whatsoever.

Without careful planning, we would end up like the other members of our family who had become fertilizer to the soil or, as the elders would say, “have become one with the universe.”

To everyone, I was Selena Nightbane, the odd girl who lived with her grandma, Lana Nightbane. They thought she was equally odd, but no one paid any particular attention to her antics because they viewed her as an old woman without much time to live.

She had also made a name for herself as a reliable person—someone the pure-breed humans could count on to watch their children, cook up wonderful meals, and do other menial jobs to earn some money to keep us going.

She ceased some of the duties when she felt like she had saved up enough to take us through the years, reduced her work hours, and went on walks or found some new hobby to occupy her day.

No one batted an eyelid if she went for a walk in the woods and came back with a basket full of herbs and whatnot. But being the wallflower was a different ball game.

For people my age, my decision to stay out of social events, barely speak to anyone, and be the only girl who went to her high school prom without a date—then went on to work at a small coffee shop—was something out of a freak show.

I was either the object of ridicule or a chance for people to show off their inner assholes. They joyfully obliged whichever side of the coin they had when the time came.

“Welcome to the mating ceremony!” Alejandro’s voice resounded throughout the room again, cutting through my thoughts and forcing my attention back to the podium as the other attendees clapped.

The curtains—which I hadn’t noticed were by the windows earlier—started rolling down one after the other as he addressed the crowd.

“This is a special ceremony that takes place on a full moon’s night like this one, and I’m happy to announce that everyone here is going to be assigned a mate by the Moon Goddess,” he continued as the room grew silent.

The cake felt like lead in my hands, and my face darkened as the room rapidly became dimmer when I realized what this was. A mating ceremony?

No one had informed me that this was an event where people were paired up with one another, or I would’ve readily skipped the entire thing.

Suddenly, the reason my grandma had that strange look in her eyes hit me. She knew what this was, and it made sense why she wanted me to bring the cake along. It was her own way of giving me a soft landing for whoever I got paired with as mates.

“Some of you have already chosen your mates, and tonight those unions will either be approved by fate or your true mates will be—”

He continued speaking, but I had completely zoned out of the entire thing. If I wanted a partner, this was the last place I wanted to fish for one, much less be assigned one by forces beyond my control.

Fates, the universe, the Moon Goddess, whoever it was at the helm of affairs, would have to skip one person today.

I wasn’t ready to stick around to find out who would become my mate, and given that I hadn’t formed any bonds with anyone present in this room, I didn’t want to be present if I didn’t get anyone assigned to me.