Rejected But Reclaimed By The Cold-hearted Alpha

Chapter 4:

Aubrey

I don’t know how I got into my room. One second, I was in the courtyard wallowing in pains of rejection, heart torn apart, and the next, I was dragging my legs back into the room like some unwanted ghost. Each step felt heavier as I entered the dark room.

I stared indifferently at the seaweed soup on the tray. I guess the omega must have brought it in earlier while I was in the courtyard probably trying to do her duty. I sighed and held my head in pain, Ashley has gone quiet ever since. The smell of the soup sickened my stomach and I wasn’t hungry.

I just sat there breathing heavily, my right hand wanted to reach for the spoon, but at the last minute, I hesitated. What was the point of even existing? A tear rolled down my cheek and my emotions were interrupted by a sudden knock. I quickly cleaned my tears with the back of my palm.

My heart skipped. A silly flutter of hope bloomed in me. Maybe Alexander changed his mind and wanted to apologize? Maybe this was all just a test to see if I was fit to be Luna? Or maybe he was standing at the other side of the door right now, with soft eyes and arms wide open, ready to say sorry. Murmuring that he was wrong and still wanted me while I am still in his warm embrace.

I dashed to the door like a mad woman desperately waiting for her lover.

But when I opened it, all the hope gathered from earlier drained from my body.

It wasn’t him. Just two guards, their faces expressionless and cold. They didn’t bow like they used to and most importantly, they didn’t call me Luna.

“Aubrey,” One of the guards said sharply with a cold tone. His tone alone stripped me of the last dignity I had left.

My lips parted slightly, but my brain couldn’t think of anything to say.

“We are here on the Alpha’s orders. You are to be escorted out of the pack immediately, as commanded by the Alpha.” He continued.

I couldn’t believe my ears, my legs wobbled until realization hit me like a slap.

“W-what?” I try to mutter after a while.

Their expression didn’t change, “Your things will be collected and packed immediately. You’re to leave the premises within ten minutes and you will be escorted by both of us.”

I prayed that this was just a horrible nightmare I needed to wake up from or some sort of bad joke Alexander is trying to play on me but the look on their faces was telling me otherwise.

“Wait, what? No-no, this can’t be happening, this isn’t real. Alex wouldn’t-”

“Search, collect and pack her things.” He didn’t even let me finish talking before the guard who seemed to have a higher rank than the other commanded him.

The guard who pushed past me was already heading to my wardrobe. I stumbled backwards, unsure of what to do for a brief second.

“Stop, those are my things! Did Alexander tell you to do this?” I didn’t really want to believe Alexander would want to do this to me, I continued, “If I don’t see Alexander and confirm this, I’m going nowhere.”

The first guard held out a hand, but not to comfort me, to hold me in place.

“This isn’t necessary. Let me just talk to him. Just one more time, and if he says I should leave, I’d quietly do so.”

“Out of the way. ma’am.” One of the guards said with a hint of mockery.

I wanted to scream, rage, grab something and hurt it but before I could, I heard his voice which made me freeze. He walked in majestically, brushed past me and walked towards the guards, “Both of you should have been done with this. Hurry and vacate her out of the premises, she is no longer a member of this pack.”

My heart skipped, I heard it from him just now, but I wanted to look him in the eye to confirm.

“Alexander,” I called his name gently but loud enough so he could hear me. I walked closer to him so I could get a better view of his expression.

“Am I really being banned from the pack? Because these unknown guards are escorting me out,” I breathed in and out, gently batting my eyelids and parting my lips slightly, “Tell me all of this is a lie.”

I tried reading his expression, but as usual, he was expressionless. He pursed his lips into a thin line, ignoring me, he faced the guards, “Get her out of here as soon as possible.”

It was like my heart shattered for the second time and those words gave me enough answers to my question. Before I could say anything, he left.

Within minutes, my clothes were in a sack, my shoes were also shoved into the sack carelessly. The few keepsakes I kept on my nightstand, the small leather bound diary I had when I was a teen wolf and hadn’t had Ashley were shoved inside the sack too. When they were about to shove the locket my mother gave me, I yelled and grabbed it roughly from them.

They didn’t utter a word until after they were done, “Let’s move,” the head guard barked.

I felt numb, I followed suit like a lapdog. My feet barely touched the ground. I didn’t realize I was outside until the sun hit my face harshly.

The courtyard was full. Omegas, nurses, lycans and elders. Everyone had come out, it seemed like everyone heard the news before I did and they all watched me like I was the lead in some horrible play.

Some whispered, some sneered while others looked away entirely. My arms hugged the bundle of clothes they didn’t bother putting in the sack tighter. My pink floral gown trailed on the ground, dirt clinging to its hem like a rejected outcast princess who was being banished from her kingdom.

Every whisper that I heard after taking a step pierced deeper into my heart.

“She’s just greedy, wants everything to herself, and now that she’s banished, she’s trying to be the victim.”

“Where is she going to stay now?”

“I feel pity for her.”

I couldn’t wait to get out of their sight, because their words were having an impact in my heart and made it weaker.

Finally, we were at the opened gates, and just like that, I was out. The guards handed the sack over to me with a hint of mockery.

No map, food or direction. Just shame and silence and I couldn’t even bring myself to ask for anything.

As the gates to the pack closed, my eyes gently moved around the tall, mysterious trees, everywhere looked so dark and scary that my heart missed a beat. The woods welcomed me like an old lost partner, the wind didn’t whisper comfort, instead it howled like it was mocking me.

I walked and walked, I don’t know for how long, maybe hours.

I didn’t stop until my feet became wobbly and gave in beneath me, I couldn’t take a step again. I rubbed my stomach in hunger as it made a rough sound. My knees hit the floor and my fingers fell into the leaves that I couldn’t see clearly.

And finally, tears trickled down my cheeks in pain. I bit my lower lip trying to digest the pain and not make a sound so I just whimpered.

As if rejecting me in front of everyone wasn’t enough, he still banished me. My knuckles turned white as tears continued trickling down my cheeks nonstop.

My chest tightened the more I cried and that was when Ashley, my wolf, whimpered weakly and went silent again.

I laid on the cold floor, curled into myself, wishing deep inside me to just disappear or die from the face of this earth, then maybe this suffering and shame would finally come to an end.

My eyes stayed shut, not because I was feeling sleepy, but because I wished to close my eyes and never wake up again since I had nothing left to stay for.

My eyes were already turning blurry, and when I tried opening it, the woods became darker and I could barely see a thing.

Then I felt a cold touch and froze, I had a feeling it wasn't just one pair of eyes that was staring at me right now so I pretended to be numb.

“This is my end,” I muttered inside of me in fear.

Again, I felt the touch. It was faint, but more than enough to startle my fading mind. Then another hand brushed against my cheek, but it was rather warmer than the other.

“Hey,” a voice said, low and unfamiliar, oozing out all of the warmth that it can. “Stay with me,”

Then another replied, sneering, “When did you become so nice?”

I blinked, and tried opening my eyes to see who those people were but the darkness was overpowering me, until it eventually took me.

But even as my soul slowly slipped away, I guessed that voice didn’t belong to anyone I knew, I'd be stupid if I thought it was Alexander's or someone he sent to protect me and it sounded roughly dangerous.

Deep within me, as darkness was enveloping my eyes, I prayed not to survive because I didn't want to wake up in this horrible world again.