Rejected mate
1663 Words
Crispy howled within, and Micah was paralyzed by the pain. She hadn't expected rejection to hurt this much.
"It’s funny that you thought you and I would have a happily ever after. You’re the weakest of the pack, and you can’t be my Luna."
She stepped back, trying to flee the scene before her. This wasn’t the man she had loved for all her eighteen years.
‘He’s drunk,’ she thought as she fled down the stairs and out the back door. ‘It can't be. He’s drunk.’
The perimeter of the woods beckoned to her.
‘With or without him, I have to run.’
A hand grabbed her from behind and spun her around. It was her stepmother. She smiled in her face.
"You dare not, Micah. Your mate rejected you, and you have no choice but to marry the Alpha King."
---
Micah
Micah trudged through the streets like a living corpse. All her life, she'd been unlucky—her mother’s death, her neglected childhood, the absence of her wolf, the arranged marriage, the betrayal.
She wanted to forget. To get lost in something. To drown herself away.
Her feet led her to a bustling bar on the South Coast of the pack’s territory, close to Alpha Caspian’s mansion.
"Five shots of whiskey," she told the bartender with a nod.
"That’s too much for a girl to drink," he laughed as he set up her order.
"As long as it takes the pain away," she murmured, sinking her head into her hands.
---
Caspian
He stood on the balcony of the West Tower of his mansion, staring out into the inky black sky.
He and his Gamma—his commander-in-chief—along with his armed men, had emerged victorious after besieging Moonstone Pack and staking claim to their territory.
They had returned with hordes of wolf-slaves, both male and female, and tonight was the much-awaited auction.
Being victorious, he was supposed to feel elated. But his emptiness felt bottomless, its inky fingers wrapping around him, squeezing tighter and tighter.
A knock resounded at his door. It was his Beta, Lachlan.
He permitted him to enter.
"Alpha, the auction will start in five minutes. You should come down now."
"I think it’s time I hand over the administration of the auction to you, Lachlan. The event can start without me."
Lachlan beamed. "Thank you. I won’t let you down. Oh, and Alpha, your Omega and his men will bring your new wife to the grounds tomorrow morning. The wedding is set, and the Omega has arranged everything."
Caspian’s lips curled into a painful smile. "It seems I am wedded every New Moon."
"Alpha, she’s from the lineage that dared to steal from your bloodline."
He let out an exasperated sigh. "That was so long ago, don’t you think?"
"It ends with her."
He waved his Beta away. He wanted to be alone. To clear his head. To drink away the unhappiness that had weighed down his soul for almost two decades.
He had spent years taking out his grief on neighboring packs, but the short-lived relief he got from being a ruthless tyrant had burned out.
"Let’s go for a run, Caesar," he whispered to his wolf.
Caesar wagged his tail eagerly. "You know what to do."
Being a higher wolf, Caesar could change his appearance. It allowed Caspian to walk among the pack unnoticed, like a normal man.
Nobody would recognize him.
---
Micah
"Leave me alone!" she yelled, stumbling over her own feet.
Two men were grabbing at her drunken state. They were rogue wolves.
"Somebody help me!" She tried to shout, but the alcohol slurred her words.
One of the men tipped her over his shoulder.
"We can’t wait to do nasty things to you," the other whispered in her ear.
‘s**t. s**t. Shit.’ She thought. ‘This cannot be happening.’
---
Caspian
His car was about to drive past a dingy bar when a sweet fragrance flooded the vehicle. His heartbeat picked up.
"Russo, stop. Stop the car at once!"
The car screeched to a halt.
"Do you smell that too?" his wolf asked, excitement lacing his voice.
"Yes. Yes," Caspian whispered. He could barely breathe.
The sweet scent was dangerously intoxicating.
"Mate."
"She’s in trouble," Caesar whispered.
Caspian leapt out of the car. "Show me."
He started running through the overcrowded bar parking lot, following the scent.
The fragrance overwhelmed him as he bumped into two burly men carrying an unconscious girl—one of them had her slung over his shoulder.
"That’s our mate," Caesar affirmed.
"Hey!" Caspian shouted. "Drop that lady at once!"
The two men turned and smirked.
"Or what?"
He summoned his wolf, and Caesar mauled them down.
MICAH
The last thing she saw before she blacked out was a handsome face staring down at her with admiration.
His wet face was shining with tears.
“Why are you crying?” she choked out.
“Tears of joy,” he whispered, laughter in his voice.
---
She woke up with a start, a terrible headache pounding in her skull.
Where the f**k am I? And who did I spend the night with?
Her eyes still felt heavy, but she forced them open. As her vision adjusted to the dim light, she took in her surroundings. It was a small, cozy room with an unfamiliar structure.
Beside her was a huge, well-sculpted man with muscular, toned legs wrapped around her.
What have I done? she cried inwardly. She was in a red robe—her clothes and underwear were missing.
Please, Goddess, tell me he didn’t touch me.
She tried to remember how she ended up in the room with the sleeping man beside her, but it was all a mushy haze.
The clock on the wall chimed 8 a.m., and her heart crashed. The Alpha’s men were coming to pick her up this morning.
Her family would be looking for her. Her stepmother would be furious. She might even harm her little brother as punishment.
That thought alone kicked her alcohol-and-drugged limbs into action.
---
“Where were you, you wretched child?!” her father shouted, pulling her ear.
Seated in the sitting room were the Omega and two muscular men, tapping their feet impatiently.
Her stepmother and sister whispered in hushed tones, fear etched on their faces.
Lena was twisting her hands in anxiety.
They all stood up when she entered, relief flooding through them. Micah knew they would have taken Lena in her stead if she hadn’t shown up.
The Omega gave her a disapproving once-over. “Is this the girl we’ve been waiting for?”
“Yes, Omega. This is she,” her father replied, holding Micah tight like she would run away at the first opportunity.
“Oh my God, she’s drunk,” Lena laughed as Micah swayed slightly on her feet.
“Is there anything from the house that you would like to pack?” the Omega asked her.
Micah shook her head.
Then she remembered—the locket and scarf she’d left with the stranger.
CASPIAN
He woke up slowly, a wave of ease washing over him. He hadn’t slept this soundly in years.
His hand reached out to the other side of the bed, and the absence of a body made him sit up fast.
“s**t,” he muttered. “No. No. I can’t lose her again.”
“Caesar! How could you allow our mate to escape us?”
It was impossible for someone to move around while he was sleeping without Caesar waking him up.
Her scarf is still here though, he thought, looking at the bedside table where he’d placed her items yesterday.
“Alpha,” Caesar called. “We have to find her before I lose her scent.”
He sprang out of bed, and minutes later, he was in the car, driving deeper into Ember City.
He phoned his Gamma.
“Boss—”
“Get your most agile men and gather them in the information room before I arrive,” he cut in sharply.
“Another war, Alpha?”
“Something even more drastic. I found my reincarnated mate... and then I lost her. And I have to find her before the Day of the New Moon, which is tomorrow.”
His Gamma perked up. “Which pack is she from?”
“I can’t tell. But gather the men—we’re going to find her.”
He racked his brain, trying to recall their conversation from yesterday—any slip she might’ve made that would give him a clue about her origin.
“I’m sad,” she’d hiccuped.
“Of course you are,” he’d said with a light laugh. “It’s the only reason you’d drink yourself into a stupor.”
“Don’t you want to know why I’m sad?”
“Okay, tell me,” he’d smiled.
She had puked on his clothes, pissed on herself, and given him a hassle while he tried to clean her up. But he hadn’t minded one bit.
After so many years, he’d finally found her.
“My mate rejected me…”
He had burst out laughing.
“Why is this funny to you?” Her tone had gone a shade darker.
‘He had to reject you because you belong to me,’ he’d thought.
“I’m sorry,” he told her.
“It gets worse. I’m forced to marry a man I hate.”
His face had fallen. “When? Who?”
“Rite of the New Moon. I have no choice. I’m bound by a debt.”
She had fluttered her eyes closed and gently laid her head on the pillow.
“No. Don’t sleep. Tell me more. Who is he?”
“A wicked, evil man...” she muttered before she slept off.
Twenty-four hours to the Rite of the New Moon.
He clutched her scarf and the personal items tighter.
He had very little time.
- Writer
