CHAPTER THREE
1267 Words
"No—!"
The word ripped from her throat, raw and desperate.
She lunged forward, but Gideon yanked her back, his iron grip unrelenting. Her father’s face
darkened with panic as the guards seized him, his arms forced behind his back.
"My prince, please don’t do this!" Liora pleaded, struggling against Gideon’s hold.
"There’s an explanation for this!" He barely acknowledged her, his grip only tightening further.
Tears spilled freely down her cheeks, falling in heavy drops onto the polished marble beneath
her feet.
"You do not speak"
Gideon drawled, his voice cruel, merciless.
"Unless I ask you to.
Understood?" Liora squeezed her eyes shut, her body trembling.
But then—a sharp voice sliced through the hall.
"Gideon Cross!" The Alpha Prince stilled immediately.
The room held its breath.
The Queen had spoken.
She rarely raised her voice. But now, her tone was clipped, commanding, edged with a
sharpness that even the future Alpha King dared not challenge.
Gideon turned, releasing Liora’s arm as he faced his mother.
"Mother."
He bowed slightly in apology.
"I refuse to have a mate of no class."
The Queen's eyes, cold and piercing, flicked to Liora.
She studied her for a long moment, her expression unreadable.
"My Queen, I— "
Liora tried, her voice cracking.
"Quiet. "
The single word was razor-sharp, slicing through Liora’s feeble attempt at speech.
The Queen moved forward, her golden gown sweeping elegantly behind her, every inch of her
regal presence commanding attention.
But she did not stop before Liora.
She stopped in front of Gideon.
The Alpha King, still silent, watched from where he stood with stoic indifference.
The Queen’s voice dropped to a chilling whisper.
"I don’t care what you do with her."
She enunciated each word with a precision that sent ice through Liora’s veins.
"Reject her.
Keep her.
That is your decision.
"But you will not ruin this occasion. You are to be named Alpha King. Do you wish your reign to
begin with such disgrace?" Liora's lips parted in shock.
Gideon stared at his mother for a moment longer, then exhaled sharply.
A decision had been made.
He turned—just as the guards began dragging her father away.
"No—father!" She tried to go to him, but Gideon seized her wrist.
And then—he spoke the words that shattered her world.
"I, Gideon Cross, Prince Alpha of the NightShade Pack, reject you, Liora Vale, as my mate.”
The effect was instantaneous, it felt like her soul had been ripped in half.
Liora couldn't breathe. It felt like someone was choking the life out of her.
Tears streamed freely down Liora’s face, her pleas spilling from her lips in raw desperation.
"Please! My father—please, let me go to him!"
But the guards ignored her.
They dragged her down the castle’s dimly lit corridors, their iron grips unrelenting despite her
struggles. Her heels scraped against the cold stone floors as she fought, but it was futile.
None of the Alphas or Betas or Lunas interfered. She spotted a few disapproving looks and sad
faces. But that was as far as it went.
Then the realization struck.
No one was willing to offend the alpha king.
No one was coming to help her.
No one cared.
They moved swiftly, taking her away from the grand hall, away from the glittering chandeliers
and lavish feast that had resumed as if nothing had happened.
Her mate had rejected her.
Her father had been thrown into the dungeon.
Everything—everything—was gone.
Liora’s strength finally gave out. Her struggles weakened, her sobs turning into quiet, broken
gasps. The pain in her chest burned like fire, a deep, agonizing wound she could not see but felt
with every breath.
This wasn’t how tonight was supposed to go.
It was supposed to be perfect.
She had been so close.
She had finally achieved her dream of becoming head chef, something she had worked so hard
for.
And when she caught his scent—her mate’s scent—she had believed, for one fleeting
moment, that the Moon Goddess had blessed her.
But instead, it had been a cruel joke. Mates were supposed to be fated. Chosen by the goddess
herself.
And yet—he rejected her.
She tried one last attempt to reach her father but the last thing she saw was one of the guards
squeezing his fist with his face contorted in anger.
She didn't even feel the pain of his fist hitting the side of her head before the darkness took her.
When she finally opened her eyes, she was deep in the woods. She couldn't even control the
tears as they fell.
"Look who's awake.
" One of the guards holding her said.
"Don’t cry, little wolf. You’ll ruin your
pretty face.
” He said, causing the other guard on her left to throw her a pitiful look.
“Look at the bright side.
" His voice was mocking, almost amused.
way with you like the others. "
"At least he didn’t have his
Liora stiffened.
The other guard laughed, his tone laced with venom.
"Yeah, you don’t want to know what he does to the others.”
He locked his lips and stared at her
hungrily. His lust palpable in the air as his eyes roamed her body and fixed on her chest.
“But thinking about it, I think you should experience a taste of his methods. That’s what imposters like you deserve. You should’ve known pretending to be the Alpha Prince’s mate
would cost you.
Her breath caught in her throat.
Wait, what?
Liora dug her heels into the dirt, forcing the guards to halt.
"What did you just say?" Her voice was hoarse, but there was an edge to it now—an
undercurrent of alarm.
The first guard smirked.
"Don’t pretend, omega.
" His grip on her arm tightened, his eyes scanning through her whole
body hungrily.
"We all know how it is with you omegas, a mere cook. Looking for a way to get to the top. But
don’t worry, we’ll teach you a lesson you won’t forget. Remind you why you should have stayed
in your place. It’s probably why the prince left you for us this time.
A slow, sickening realization crawled down her spine.
They weren’t taking her back to the castle.
They weren’t taking her to the dungeons.
They were taking her somewhere else.
Seeing that she was about to flee, the guard held on the her tightly, dragging her into the woods.
She shouted for help, tried to stop them, but she wasn’t just strong.
Liora barely had time to react before one of them grabbed her breasts, his rough fingers digging
into her.
Her reaction was instant.
With zero hesitation, she drove her knee up—hard. A lesson she’d learnt well from her father. It
was a common weakness for the male species.
Even if they were going to make play with her, it’d be over her dead body and with their mangled
ones.
The guard let out a strangled wheeze, immediately releasing her right arm as he doubled over in
pain.
The second guard barely had time to react before she threw a floppy but hard punch, her
knuckles slamming into his nose.
A sharp c***k filled the air.
He stumbled back, cursing violently, his hands flying to his face as blood gushed between his
fingers.
"You b***h!"
Liora didn’t wait for them to recover, she turned—and ran. Ran like her life depended on it. And
well, it did.
- Writer
