Prologue
1980 Words
Laura’s Point of View.
The crowd was boisterous. Many people were looking forward to the parade in which the Alpha King was anticipated to be a part of.
I stood up straight as soon as I spotted the approaching vehicle. I’ve been tasked with keeping an eye on him for quite some time. The Royal Council assigned me this mission a year ago. Being the cold king’s shadow was exhausting at times.
I adjusted my black hat and examined my surroundings. The side of my mouth shot up when I noticed the King of Wolves wave only once. Women were desperately calling out his name, hoping to catch his attention. But to someone I’ve been watching over here, I’ve never seen him with a woman.
I admit he was attractive. There was no doubt about it. He had the kind of appearance that would make him stand out in a crowd. He was the type of guy who made girls swoon. He was attractive, but looks can be deceiving.
He lacked compassion. He was cold-hearted. If someone could prove it, it had to be me. Those who disobeyed his orders were subjected to violence, worse was death. Nothing was going to get in the way of your alpha’s command. Nothing could stand up to it or break it. It was an impenetrable command that no one could ever defy. If someone revolted, their defiance would result in death.
I’ve seen him fight, kill, and become enraged numerous times. But, despite seeing him in those various states, he remained an unsolved puzzle to me, just as I am a mystery to him. I had no idea who he was behind the mask he was wearing.
I bolted west when his car passed. As I was walking through the woods, I noticed a pair of eyes peering at me, so I sped up my pace. Fury tickled my throat, and my hands instinctively clenched into fists. My rage filled my eyes, and my speed doubled. I heightened my senses when I saw the shadow enter the forest of the Metaphor Pack.
The force of the wind accompanied our movements. I couldn’t help but sneer when he vanished from view in an instant. Unfortunately for him, I am not just any ordinary werewolf. I was trained by the Royal Council to protect the Royal Family of Werewolves. I’m with the other two protectors in this operation, and they are Cordelia and Portia.
I jumped as fast as I could between the trees. I grabbed his arms and twisted them, pinning him to the ground, in an instant.
“f*****g s**t!” he swore after I succeeded in chasing him down. He tried to run away from me, but I was strong enough to hold him back.
“Who are you?” I asked, gritting my teeth. He didn’t answer, and yet tried to resist. “I said, who are you?! Why are you following the Alpha King?!”
He laughed in a sarcastic way. “You’re just wasting your time. You won’t get anything from me, young lady.”
“Don’t make this difficult for both of us. Tell me!” I yelled angrily at him.
He gave a contemptuous sneer and kept his mouth shut. I was about to present him to me, but things were moving fast. Arrows flew at warp speed in my direction. Fortunately, I was quick enough to avoid it, but he slipped out of my grasp and started running again. I was about to follow him, but the arrows kept firing at me.
“Sh*t!” I cursed when he was completely out of sight. I trampled in my black boots when I realized I was too far away from town.
I let out a loud sigh and started walking back. I had to keep a close eye on the King of Wolves because the number of opponents attempting to bring him down was increasing.
Damian Wolfgang Hunter, the Alpha King whom I swore to protect as part of my job. A man with many secrets in his closet. I had quite a lot of questions for him that I wanted to ask, but I was aware I wouldn’t be able to when I faced him.
I often wonder why he doesn’t have a mate. Is he like me, who was dumped and betrayed? Is he also unable to forget and struggles to accept his fate? But who will have the courage to refuse him as her mate, given his status as the alpha of our pack?
He has it all. The only difference between us was that he was a powerful man and I was a nobody.
I came to a halt when I felt pain in my heart. I knelt on the grass and winced as it got worse. My head dropped on its own, but the screams didn’t stop. My heart was being stabbed, and my body was on fire. The agony was torturous. It was excruciating. I cracked a bitter smile. I was well aware of the reason for this pain.
It was because my mate rejected me.
The Moon Goddess gave us werewolves, a soulmate because she wanted us to be happy. However, there is a phenomenon known as rejection, in which your mate can reject you if they don’t feel the same way as you do. They would be hurt, but the wolf who was rejected would be even more so. You will lose your bond, and you will no longer be able to feel or know what is on their mind.
However, if you refuse to accept rejection, you will suffer from the betrayal of the bond and the torture of heat. You will experience pain every time someone else is with him and doing the things you should be doing.
I always question myself, am I not enough? I’m not a damsel in distress, they don’t need to fight for me. I know how to fight. But what is the problem? Why does it seem like nothing is going my way?
When will it ever be over?
I dropped down on my knees and sobbed because I was in so much pain. Pain… No, something worse than pain wrecked me. It pricked me all the way to the bone.
“Argh!”
My legs shook beneath me, and I didn’t know how I was holding up. My breathing became ragged, and my heart no longer beat in rhythm. There were no tears from my eyes, but I felt like my wolf was begging. My inner-wolf cried in anguish deep inside of my chest. I hadn’t spoken to my wolf since Conan had rejected me as his mate, so hearing Leia’s voice again took me by surprise.
“How long will we put up with this, Laura? How much longer can you take the pain?”
I squeezed my eyelids shut and continued to crack a bitter smile, releasing all of my resentment through it. I gripped my chest, hoping to alleviate the pain. I hoped it would hurt less, but it didn’t.
My legs hurt like they were on fire. The pain felt like a hot, sharp blade slicing through my skin and into my muscles and bones, as if my leg had frozen and a bolt of lightning had struck me from head to toe. It triggered a terrifying blankness in my mind. It was nauseating, and I continued to howl.
“Aren’t you tired yet? Do you want to always be like this?”
“I’m tired, Leia…” I whispered in a weak voice. I felt as if I’d lost my strength.
It was something I said day after day. I was exhausted from everything I had gone through.
“That’s it, Laura. Enough with this. Let him go. I know you’ve loved him for a long time, but he values power over you. Why can’t you just accept the rejection and wait for the second chance–”
I chuckled heartily, cutting her words short. “Second chance, to what? To love?”
Second chance, my foot.
“Isn’t it better to hope than to be stuck in this anguish?”
“Am I selfish, Leia? Because I am hurting you with me. Are you tired?”
“Yes…”
Her response made my chest feel heavy. I know, even if I don’t ask. Leia was exhausted, and I don’t want her suffering at my expense.
My choppy breathing and watery eyes persisted for some time, and I sat there motionless. I blinked my eyes open and exhaled a shaky breath. I raised my eyes to the sky. I could see the huge moon since it had been dark earlier. It was bright, and it looked like there was something being said that was beyond my understanding.
As I stared at it, I couldn’t help but let my tears crawl onto my cheeks. The only noise I could hear as I lay down on the hunter grass were the low hum of insects and the melody of night birds.
“Moon Goddess, why did you introduce him to me if he was not meant for me?!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “I don’t know why you gave me such a mate. Mates are to be together, yet you gave me a cruel male as a mate, and he rejected me.”
Why was this happening to me?
I don’t understand. I am a compassionate, brave, and hardworking woman. No one was able to defeat me in any battle because I was well-trained and it was my responsibility to protect the alpha. But why is that foolish love capable of making me weak and shed tears?
“Everything happens for a reason, including this, Laura. You just have to look ahead to the future and not back to the past,” Leia advised, which planted a sparing smile on my face.
My inner wolf was impressively smart. She was a Goddess sent. I knew what it was like to not be loved, and Leia helped me cope with the pain. I knew what I had to do because she was always there for me, and I’m going to do the same for her.
Conan Wolfgang, the next in line to be the alpha of the Moon Stone Pack. I’ve had feelings for him, long before the mating call and before we were destined to be mates. He, on the other hand, chose to have his chosen partner and power over me, his true mate. He chose Olivia Louvel over me.
I cried every single day after his rejection, wishing I was dead, wondering why he rejected me despite the years we spent together. It didn’t help that we’d known each other since we were kids. Because in the end, he chose Olivia Louvel instead of me.
What did he see in her that he didn’t see in me? Was it her alpha blood that would make his pups stronger?
Whatever it was, the bond thrashed between us. I breathed another hollow sigh and closed my eyes once more. Gradually, I felt the embrace of the cold air as I uttered the words I knew would change everything in a snap.
“I, Laura Harlow, accept the rejection of my mate, Conan Wolfgang. From now on, we no longer have a bond, and I truly accept it with all my heart.”
After those chanting, I felt the disunion of our connection along with the relaxation of my feelings. I’ve been in a lot of pain over the last few years. I felt much worse because I was the one who had been rejected. But now, all I could feel was relief.
At last, I felt at ease. As the night grew colder, my vision deteriorated even more. Then, everything went black.
- Writer
