Rejected Runt, Alpha King’s Luna

Mira's POV "I, Garrett Holloway, Alpha of the Moonlit pack, reject you, Mira Ashford, as my mate and as Luna of this pack." Garrett's voice reached my ears, and a single tear slid down my left cheek as it felt like my heart was being torn from my chest. Why me? Why am I always the one bad things happen to? What have I ever done to deserve this? I wanted to scream and yell at him. I'm his mate, his fated one, and he's rejecting me because I'm the runt of the pack? More tears spilled down my cheeks, and I saw him smile at my misery. "I, Mira Ashford, accept…" Before I could finish the sentence, he lifted me by my throat and snarled into my face. His eyes had already changed color, so I knew his wolf was in control. "You will not reject me, s**t. I own you, and I tell you what to do and when," he said, slapping me across the face before throwing me to the ground. I fought to catch my breath as tears streamed freely down my face. I should never have been born. I haven't done anything at all to deserve this. Juniper howled in agony in my head, and I doubled over in pain, clutching my chest. I just want this to be over. Maybe when I die, all this pain will finally go away. Mocking laughter sounded above my head, and I looked up to see Tessa. Tessa is the daughter of the current beta and the soon-to-be Luna. She's everything I'm not: beautiful blue eyes, shiny blonde hair, a killer body, glowing skin, strength, and an extremely wicked streak. She stood there with her minions, looking at me with pity? I couldn't quite name the emotion in her eyes. Then, all of a sudden, she laughed and kicked me in the stomach. She yanked my hair and slapped me, knocking me back onto the floor. "You actually believed you could be Luna? That Garrett would choose you over me? You're nothing but a worthless b***h nobody will ever love. You bring bad luck and misfortune to everyone around you. You're a w***e who'll die alone, because no one wants to be with you," she spat in my face, then kicked me in the ribs with her heels. I couldn't say anything, because it would be considered rude and would only make my punishment worse. Her minions held me up while she slapped me again and again and punched me in the stomach. She laughed like a maniac as I screamed in pain, tears rolling down my cheeks. When she was finished with me, she flung me to the ground, and my head struck it as I fell. Juniper was silent in my head. She's always trying to take all my pain away, but the abuse never ends. For 8 years we've hoped we would finally find our mate, our one true love granted to us by the Moon goddess, someone who would love us unconditionally, because that's what mates do. We truly hoped we'd be freed from this slavery, the endless mockery and abuse, but all of that has gone down the drain now. All of this suffering began 8 years ago, when my parents, the Alpha and Luna of the Moonlit pack at the time, died in a rogue incident, and the blame was placed on me. I was only 10. I didn't know what really happened. One moment I was chatting happily with Mom and Dad, and before I could blink, they were gone. The pack blamed me and stripped me of my Alpha powers; they couldn't allow a traitor to rule over them. To this day, I still don't know what I did wrong or what went wrong. I simply had to bear the brunt of it all because the current Alpha, who had been my father's Beta, said so. I was demoted to omega, the lowest rank any wolf can hold and the greatest insult to a wolf of high rank. I became the pack's slave at a young age. Everyone who had once been kind to me became my enemy and treated me like trash. "Juniper, I'm so sorry for putting us through all of this. If only I weren't so weak, if only I could stand up for us. I know you've always wanted your mate. I'm so sorry, Juni," I cried through our mindlink. "None of this is your fault, Mira. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you more. If only I could shift and take all your pain away," Juniper whimpered sadly in my head. No one has ever seen Juniper. I've only met her once myself, and that was before Mom and Dad passed away. She's a pure white wolf with golden eyes. She's a very beautiful wolf, but Mom and Dad said I had to keep her hidden. They never told me why. I knew I was special; Mom always called me "her special little wolf." Others got their wolf at 16 and Alphas got theirs at 14, but I've had Juni since I was 8. Besides, I've never seen anyone else with a pure white wolf and golden eyes. Everyone believed I didn't have a wolf and looked down on me for it. We haven't been able to shift even when we wanted to, because we don't have the energy. There's barely enough to eat, and the beatings we take every day are enough to weaken any wolf. I'm surprised Juniper is still with me. Suddenly I felt fire in my lower stomach and cried out in pain. People were walking past, but no one paid me any attention. Nobody cares if I die; in fact, they wanted me dead. Juniper howled in agony in my head as the pain tore wildly through every vein in my body, and I knew Garrett was already getting it on with Tessa. That's why he hadn't let me reject him. He knew I would be in pain if he was with any woman other than me. Fresh tears began pouring down my cheeks. I stood up weakly and made my way toward my room in the cold basement. The pain didn't stop; it only grew worse. I could barely see where I was going and tripped twice. I wanted to curl up and die. It felt like lava was flowing through my veins. I took off all my clothes and lay down on the stone bed I always sleep on. Slowly the pain eased, and Juniper fell silent in my head. She was so sad, and so was I. I just wanted to be special to someone. I don't ask for much. I knew I had to escape this hellhole somehow. I had endured it all because of the thought of a mate, but now that there was nothing left for me here, I had to leave. Garrett and Tessa's coronation as the new Alpha and Luna is tomorrow evening. I have to leave. Juniper and I deserve better, and I need to give that to her. Hang in there, Juniper. I'll get us out of here as soon as I can, I promise, I told her, and I heard her low whine of acknowledgement as I drifted off to sleep.