Alpha Orion’s Wolfless Warrior

3| NOT YOURS

HAYLEE

“What?” I gasped, whipping around to race into the restroom. I opened it and stopped in front of the mirror. My both hands slowly came up to my face, trembling.

My eyes were indeed red.

The irises, mainly. They had switched from my usual hazels to an intimidating red, and slowly cleared out five seconds after I saw it.

“It’s gone…” Piper whispered behind me. I swallowed.

“It is…”

“Damn… do you think… that must be your wolf. That must be her, I think she’s ready to come out.” Piper stepped in front of me with an excited look on her face.

I shook my head. I didn’t want to believe it. I was tired of getting my hopes up.

“Yes!” Piper insisted. “It’s her! Do you know your triggers? Something must have triggered it.”

My heart stopped beating for a clean second.

“A- A trigger?” I asked with a shaky voice.

Piper nodded eagerly. “Yes! And it happened not too long ago too, so please try to remember.”

Orion.

No. He triggered my wolf? No. I shook my head. This was just a silly mistake…

I turned to Piper with a light smile on my face, “I’m sure it’s nothing, Piper. Just a silly scare. I can’t remember any triggers or whatever. Let’s just go back to dinner.”

“But…”

“Let’s go.” I grabbed her wrist, and we walked out of the restroom together.

We got back to the table to see Orion and his family on their feet, saying their goodbyes.

“Piper.” Dad called out sternly. “What took you so long? Come. Say goodbye to in-laws.”

Piper cast me a glance and I let go of her wrist, forcing a smile in her direction. I made sure to avoid Orion’s eyes.

“Come here, beautiful girl.” I heard his mother say. They all hugged, ignoring me totally. I chanced a look at Orion’s direction. I felt a poke, and then his voice filled my head,

“Run with me later tonight, peach.”

Peach? Wait.

“How did you get in my head?” I linked back, a bit scared at the intrusion.

Orion didn’t answer right away. He smiled and conversed with his parents and mine, his expression calm while I struggled to keep my cool.

“An alpha, and your mate.” He responded to me seconds later. “A little too easy.”

I paused to think. “My answer is no.”

“Take some time to think about it. Please. From 9pm tonight, I’ll be in the woods to hunt.”

I immediately closed off the link, impatiently waiting for them to leave. As soon as they all walked out of the dining area, leaving me and Piper behind, I turned and started towards my room.

“Come on, Haylee, are you that tired?” Piper yelled after me.

“Yes!” I turned halfway to look at her. “You should get some sleep too, it’s been a long day.”

With that, I made my way to my room.

Almost an hour later, I plopped on the bed after showering and getting into fresh pyjamas, exhaling a sharp breath. I shut my eyes, and somehow, Orion’s picture came up in my mind immediately.

Not that I hadn’t thought about him at least a million times in the shower.

Tears finally ran down my cheeks. Did the moon goddess really hate me like everyone in the pack whispered?

When I turned 18, I was ready for my first shift, ready to meet my mate as well. That night was the most painful night of my life. The night I realized the goddess had cursed me to live my life without a wolf, and possibly without a mate.

At 22, I finally met my mate. But once again, the universe was against my happiness.

The door slammed open, breaking off my sad thoughts. I jerked off the bed and turned to wipe my tears, but a hand grabbed both my hands before I could do it.

I glanced up to see dad staring down at me with rage in his eyes.

“I knew you were jealous of your sister. You locked yourself up to cry about her marriage? You wish it were you, don’t you?” Dad snarled at me.

“Dad…”

“Answer the f*****g question, you wish it were you. Don’t you?” He snapped.

“I don’t! And I’m not jealous of Piper. How many times do I have to say it?” I yelled. His hand shot out and landed across my cheek. I shrieked in pain, my cheek burning from the impact. A metallic taste filled my mouth—blood.

“Harry!” Mom screamed, rushing to pull him away. He shoved her off him with his elbow.

“How dare you speak to me like that?!” He shouted at me.

“Harry, you promised to stop hitting her!” Mom screamed, her voice breaking.

“Stay where you are if you don’t want your own share.” He turned to warn her. Mom briefly glanced at me with moisture hanging into her eyelids for dear life, and then she diverted her attention to a wall nearby.

Of course. Ever the coward.

Facing me, he said,

“That was something to truly cry about. Now listen up, and listen well. Everything is on the line when it comes to this marriage. Everything. Alpha Ink has trusted me with this mission, and we have a lot to gain when the packs are finally stable and allied to each other. It’s not just about the war. It’s about my status, it’s about my life. I swore on it, that I could handle everything, that I could keep the peace. Ink is a f*****g tyrant. He’d truly have my head if anything went wrong. You’re not going to ruin it for me.”

“Let me go.” I said, truly exhausted. “I’m not trying to ruin anything.”

He growled angrily and grabbed my chin in a painful grip, making me look up at him. Oh it hurt…

“You think I didn’t see the way you looked at him at dinner? The way he looked at you? It would be in your best interest to make sure he loses that look. To make sure you don’t act on those seductress, slutty skills you picked up from who knows where!”

Something in me snapped. I straightened, glaring hard at him. “You sleep around with all the women in this pack, and I’m the slut?”

Another slap landed on my face. Then the third.

“Harry!” Mom screamed in the background.

Dad’s hand wrapped around my throat, cutting off my air, “Try me! Oh f*****g try me. Stop this marriage from happening, and whatever that happens to Piper is on you.”

No! Leave her out of this! I screamed in my mind. But I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t breathe.

He shoved me back onto the mattress. I gasped for air, my chest burning, before the room blurred and everything went black.

I opened my eyes to Piper lying beside me with dried tears on her cheek, and my duvet pulled over both of us. A tear rolled down my cheek as I watched her.

Piper deserved everything good. When my younger sister had lost her mate at a tender age, I thought it would break her, but she continued to be the light everyone couldn’t stop flocking to. Piper had the purest of hearts.

And that was why…

I quickly leaned off the bed to check the small clock by my side.

11:35pm.

… that was why I was going to do the right thing.

My cheeks still stung and my neck felt raw, but I stood in front of the mirror, putting on my gloves and boots before starting to head out.

“Night training.” I told the chief security, a low-ranked omega who stood guard by the door. He simply nodded, letting me walk out of the house.

I broke into a run when I got to the clearing of the woods, my heart heavy with the impending loss.

Before tonight, there was a chance that Orion and I could be together. That he’d accept me for the woman I was growing to become. But tonight shattered every hope.

My ribs burned as I ran towards the boundary line. I passed by a couple of laughing wolf girls from the pack, who pretended to race themselves so they could pass by three to four times and prove that I was nothing but a slow loser.

The third time, I purposefully slammed into one of them.

“Ow!” She exclaimed, staggering backwards.

I brushed her legs off the ground. She hit the ground with a loud thud and I pounced on her at once, throwing punch after punch. Her friend tried to intervene, screaming,

“Let go of her! I said let her go! I’m going to do some real damage to your face! I’ll turn! I’ll turn right now!” I ignored her scratches and threats, focused on beating the one on the floor to my satisfaction.

Then suddenly, I slammed my fist into the ground. My knuckles cracked from the force and pain shot through my arm.

I glanced up to see Orion standing in front of me, holding the girls back. Embarrassment tainted my cheeks red.

“Run along now.” He said, his eyes trained on me.

“No! I’m going to kill her.” The one I’d beaten up cried out.

“Then you’ll have me to face. And I promise you, you don’t want that.”

They glared for a brief moment, then the beaten one huffed and released herself from his hold, bolting away. Her friend followed at once.

Orion walked over to me, crouching down.

“Are you okay?” He caressed my chin.

No.

“I’m fine.” I replied, rising up to my feet and dusting off my pyjama shorts. He stood up too.

“You came.” He spoke.

“I did.” I replied. “But not for whatever you think.”

He tilted his head to the side and raised a brow. I decided to go straight to it.

My throat bobbed. “I’m here… to set you free.”

“What?”

“You heard me.” I nodded. “I’m here to reject you. We can’t be together. Not in this life. And it’s better if we face it square.”

Orion frowned. “Peach…”

“My name is Haylee.” I snapped, hating what the pet name did to my chest. “And I, Haylee Graymore…”

“I will not accept your rejection.” He countered, his fists clenched on his sides. His chest grazed mine now. I ignored the electric pull of our bond.

I grinned sadly. “Good thing you don’t need to do that in my pack. I can solely reject you, Orion.”

He stepped closer. “Haylee. You do not know me, or what I’m able to do. But I’m asking you to give me some time. Allow me to figure this out.”

A sob tore through my throat.

“You don’t understand! There’s nothing to figure out! You’re not mine!”

“I f*****g am, though! I’ve dreamt of you every night since I saw you, I’ve counted the days until I laid my eyes on you again.”

I shook my head. “Dreams don’t count for anything.” I muttered.

Silence fell between us for a moment.

He broke it, “We can figure this out… Give me a few weeks.”

To trigger a war?

I thought hard, thought deep… and I finally settled on,

“I'm sorry..." Hot tears ran down my cheeks. "But I, Haylee Graymore, hereby reject you as my mate, Alpha Orion Holt…”

The words hung in the air like poison.

"May your union with my sister bring peace," I forced out, every syllable tearing at my lungs. "Treat her like the Queen she is. And if you don't... may the moon goddess strip your pack of my blood, leaving you to suffer for the rest of your days."

The moment the final word left my lips, a sharp pain lodged deep in my chest. It felt like a blade slicing directly through my heart. My knees buckled, and I gasped for air, cold sweat breaking out across my skin as I fell to the ground.