CHAPTER 2: THE AWAKENING
1161 Words
Mei Ling POV
The next three days are a blur of fear and strange, confusing preparation.
Siti brings me new clothes. Real clothes, not the old rags I usually wear. She brings me a dress that is soft and beautiful, in a deep blue color that matches my eyes. She brings me shoes that actually fit. She even makes me take a long bath with oils that smell like flowers and honey. The luxury of it terrifies me more than her usual cruelty.
I do not understand what is happening. Why would they suddenly care about how I look? Why would Siti suddenly be treating me almost kindly?
"You need to look perfect," she says while she brushes my hair. Her voice is not cruel like usual. It is almost kind. But that kindness is scarier than the cruelty ever was. Kindness from Siti is like a knife wrapped in silk.
"Why?" I ask her quietly.
She does not answer. She just smiles, and her smile does not reach her eyes.
On the night of the fourth day, Roshan comes to my room. My heart starts pounding. He never comes to my room at night.
"The Alpha of Blood Moon Pack is coming," he says. "You will be respectful. You will be grateful. And you will do whatever he asks you to do. Do you understand me?"
I nod, not trusting my voice.
"Good," he says. "Your whole life, you have been a burden on this pack. A drain on our resources. Finally, you are going to be useful for something."
He leaves me alone with those words hanging in the air like poison gas.
I sit on my bed, and for the first time in years, I let my wolf come forward in my mind. My wolf is so quiet, so tired, so broken that she barely has a voice anymore. But she tries.
We are going to die, she whispers.
Maybe, I think back to her. But maybe not. Maybe something good is coming. Maybe this is our chance to escape.
My wolf is quiet. She does not believe me.
The packhouse is enormous and full of people when Alpha Amar arrives. I am hidden in a back room, waiting, but I can feel him. It is like the air changes when he enters. The temperature drops. Everyone becomes quiet. Everyone becomes small.
I peek through the c***k in the door, careful not to be seen.
He is nothing like I expected.
Amar is taller than any man I have ever seen. He must be at least six foot five, maybe taller. His shoulders are broad and muscular. His dark black hair is perfectly styled, and his skin is a beautiful bronze color. But it is his eyes that make me stop breathing completely.
They are ice blue, cold and empty, like he has already seen the worst of the world and decided it was not worth feeling anything about. They are the eyes of someone who has killed. Someone who has lost everything and decided to never care again.
He looks bored. He looks dangerous.
Roshan brings him wine and meat. They talk about pack business and territorial agreements. Roshan laughs at his jokes, even though Amar does not laugh. He barely smiles.
Then Roshan says the words that I have been dreading.
"My Alpha," Roshan says, bowing his head respectfully. "I have brought you a gift. A young wolf from my pack. She is pure, untouched, and ready to serve you in any way you wish."
My blood turns to ice.
This is it. This is the moment.
Roshan opens the door to my room and gestures for me to come out. He is smiling, but his smile is cold and empty.
I walk into the main hall on shaking legs. All eyes turn to me. I keep my head down, trying to make myself smaller.
"Mei Ling," Roshan says. "Come and greet your new Alpha."
I force my legs to move toward Amar. When I am close enough, I bow my head and curtsy.
"Alpha," I whisper.
There is a long silence.
Then I hear him step forward. I can smell him now—pine and smoke and something wild that makes my wolf suddenly wake up and pay attention in a way she has not done in years.
Mate, my wolf says clearly, her voice suddenly strong and sure. That is our mate.
I freeze completely.
"Look at me," Amar says.
His voice is soft, but it is an order. The Alpha command in his voice is so strong that I cannot refuse it.
I raise my eyes to his face.
What I see there makes my breath catch in my throat.
His ice blue eyes are looking at me with something that looks like pain. His jaw is clenched so tight I can see the muscle twitching. His hands are in fists at his sides.
For a moment, just a moment, I see something real in those cold eyes. A c***k in the ice.
Then it is gone, sealed off again.
"No," he says, and the word is final. Absolute. "I reject this bond."
The words hit me like a physical blow. It is like something inside my chest is being ripped out. The pain is so intense that I cannot breathe. The mate bond that I did not even know existed is suddenly gone, severed, destroyed.
My knees almost give out.
"I do not accept her," Amar continues, looking back at Roshan like I am not even there. "And I do not accept your offer. Find another pack to give her to, or I will burn this place to the ground."
He leaves without even looking at me again.
Just like that, he turns and he leaves, and my whole world cracks wide open.
Roshan's face turns dark red with anger. But before he can say anything, Amar's voice comes from across the room, cold and final.
"Get her out of my territory by tomorrow morning, or she will be a rogue, and I give rogues one warning before I kill them."
Then he is gone completely.
Roshan grabs my arm so hard it leaves marks that will bruise purple and black.
"Pack your things," he hisses. "You are leaving tonight. You are useless. You are a curse."
I do not know where I am going. I do not ask. I just pack what little I have and prepare to leave the only home I have ever known.
All I know is that my mate has rejected me, and I have never felt pain like this before.
What I do not know is that this is only the beginning.
Because three months later, when I am dying in an alley in the human city, a shadow falls over me, and I smell pine and smoke.
And a voice that I will never forget says, "What have they done to you?"
And everything changes.
- Writer
