The Rejected Queen

Chapter Two

JACI

I looked up at the hand in front of me and then at the stranger extending the hand. For one stupid second, I almost took it.

Then I shook my head.

Liars. Every single one of them. I slapped his hand away before I could stop myself. “Don't touch me."

I couldn't breathe in here anymore. I couldn't stand another second watching my mate choose someone else while the entire pack celebrated it.

So I ran. I pushed through the crowd toward the giant doors, my vision blurry from tears. I almost made it out too.

Almost.

A rough hand grabbed my shoulder and yanked me backward so hard I crashed onto the floor. Pain exploded through my knees.

“Where do you think you're going?" Elder Morcant screamed above me.

I burst into tears immediately.

Even rejected. Even broken. I still had duties. So after the ceremony ended, they handed me a bucket and forced me to scrub the entire great hall by myself.

I scrubbed until my knees burned. I scrubbed until my palms reopened where the glass had cut. I scrubbed until my arms shook. I could barely hold the rag anymore.

This was what unworthy looked like.

An omega on her knees cleaning up after wolves who laughed at her.

Then the whispers started.

“Did you hear? The Alpha rejected his mate. Right in front of everyone.”

“She should have known better. An omega. Really?”

“What did she think was going to happen?”

I lowered my head and kept scrubbing harder.

Ignore them, I told myself. You've survived worse.

But something inside me finally snapped. Before I even realized what I was doing, I was already standing.

I rounded the corner so fast the two she wolves stumbled backward. Their eyes widened immediately.

Right. Because Omegas weren't supposed to fight back. We were supposed to bow our heads and cry quietly in a corner.

“Say that again,” I mumbled. “The part about what I deserved.”

The Beta’s daughter… Lydia recovered fast. She lifted her chin, her lips curling upward. “We weren’t talking to you, Grey.”

“I know.” I stepped closer, crossing my arms. “Say it again anyway.”

Her friend grabbed her arm nervously. “Let’s just go. She’s not worth…”

“No.” Lydia jerked her arm free. Her eyes dragged slowly over me. “You want to hear it, Omega? Fine. You’re nothing. The Alpha used you because you were easy. Because you were there and then he trash you away like the garbage you’ve always been. That’s what you deserved.”

My hands tightened on the rag.

Maybe it was humiliation. Maybe anger. Maybe twenty years of swallowing pain finally spilling over.

Before I could think twice, I shoved the dirty rag in my hands straight into Lydia's mouth.

She screamed. Her friend screamed too. Honestly? It was a little satisfying.

Hours later, though, it didn't feel satisfying anymore because Elder Morcant threw me into the punishment chamber. Again.

The room was cold and dark. No blankets. No food. Just a cup of dirty water shoved through the bars twice a day.

At first I cried, then I got too tired to cry anymore. So, I just lay there on the floor staring at the ceiling for hours, wondering how my life became this or maybe it had always been this way.

*****

Two days later, they finally let me out and Samira found me immediately.

Now we sat together on a log behind the pack house while she wrapped her arms tightly like she was afraid I'd disappear if she let go.

She hadn't been there during the ceremony. She was a gamma wolf that had been away helping with border patrol.

Lucky her. Sometimes I envied Samira. Not because she was stronger than me but because she was loved.

She had a family. A home. People who would burn the world if she cried.

I wondered what my life would've looked like if my mother had stayed alive.

Would things have been different?

“I’m leaving,” I blurted out suddenly.

Sam raised an eyebrow. “What?"

“I was going to wait,” I admitted, resting my head on her shoulder. “Just one more year. Once I turned twenty six, I could leave the pack legally without permission.”

That had been my plan but now? I couldn't do it anymore.

“I can't stay in a place where I have to watch him love someone else” I whispered. “I can't serve drinks at their ceremony while everyone whispers about how pathetic I am.”

“Jaci…”

I shook my head quickly before I started crying again.

“Take me with you then,” Samira urged.

I laughed softly. I let myself imagine it for one tiny moment. The two of us leaving together. Building a life somewhere far away from Stonefang pack. Somewhere nobody knew my name.

We'd been inseparable for almost three years now but eventually, I shook my head.

“No,” I pulled away gently. “This is my mess, remember? and besides, someone has to stay and poison Nyra’s tea.”

Samila snorted loudly before the sound turned into sob. She hugged me so tightly my ribs hurt.

“Promise me,” she whispered. “Promise me you’ll survive this.”

I closed my eyes. “I always do.”

That night, I waited until the entire pack fell asleep before sneaking out of my room. My heart beat so loudly I was sure someone would hear it.

If Elder Morcant caught me trying to leave the territory, he'd probably skin me alive this time.

The old man loved inventing punishments a little too much. Samira waited for me at the gate, her hands on her hip.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I whispered.

“And let you leave without saying good bye?” she asked and my eyes welled up. Before I could say anything, she shoved a car key into my hand.

I blinked at them stupidly. “A car?"

"You can thank me later.”

I laughed through tears and threw my arms around her again. She hugged me back and I wanted to stay because I knew she was the only person who would miss me when I was gone.

*****

“C’mon. C’mon. Don’t do this to me…” I muttered.

The engine of the car coughed and then it turned into a rattle until it completely died, rolling to a stop in the middle of a dark forest road.

I slammed my palms against the steering wheel. “You have got to be kidding me.”

I covered my face in my palms.

Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

I tried reaching my wolf again. Nothing. Ever since Blaze rejected us, she had gone completely silent and I knew she was hurting.

Then I heard footsteps crunching against leaves outside and my entire body froze.

I scrambled for the door, panic coursing through me, but before I could even open the door, someone stepped out of the trees.

A man. A rogue.

He was tall. Broad shouldered with a dark bronze skin. His dreadlocks brushed against his shoulder and his glowing golden eyes locked onto mine through the darkness.

I swallowed hard. My knife. Crap. It was still in the backseat.

“You lost, little wolf?” he asked, stepping closer. I shifted back instinctively.

Behind me was the road leading straight back to Stonefang pack. There was nowhere else to go.

“This isn't pack territory," the man continued. “This land belongs to me."

My hands started to tremble but I forced myself to stand upright. I remembered every self defense lesson Samira ever forced me through. So I clenched my fists and planted my feet anyway.

"I'm not part of a pack anymore,” I said shakily.

His head tilted slightly as his gaze traveled over me. Then he hummed softly.

“No,” he said after a moment. “I don’t suppose you are.”

He stepped closer.

I didn’t run.

Because I am done running, I thought. Because I’d rather die on my feet than kneel for anyone ever again.