Fated to the tainted blood

Chapter two-The rejection

“We have gathered together on this day to perform an age-long ritual; the mating ceremony which unites families and makes bonds stronger…”

Alcot, Alpha Luther’s beta paused after making the last statement, he is seen standing on the mini-podium in the middle of the crowd to open the ceremony.

“It is with great honor I stand here to open the annual mating ceremony. I hope that this turns out to be a successful mating ceremony like the ones our ancestors had.”

He bowed his head, indicating that he was done with his speech, and then the crowd began clapping their hands indicating their respect for him.

The mating ceremony; a day Ashina had long waited for since she became a teenager, and now she finds herself of age to finally participate in it. Standing in the midst of her fellow young maiden werewolves, she wondered when it was finally going to be her turn to meet her mate.

“I would love to be mated with Luther”

One of the female werewolves beside Ashina spoke. Ashina felt that the girl’s voice was a little bit too loud for the kind of discussion she was having with her friend.

“Stop daydreaming, instead hope that you end up with a good mate”

The other girl spoke up. Ashina assumed that they were both friends since she had seen them arrive at the gathering together, walking hand in hand.

Soon the ceremony started properly, and the young male werewolves came forward to claim their mates, and then it got to Luther’s turn to claim his mate. The moment he stepped forward, a light shone on Ashina. He went straight to where Ashina stood, everyone’s attention. Everyone was now on them, seeing that Luther was next in line to the throne to wanted to know from whose household his supposed mate came from.

“I am Luther, next in line to the throne”

He stretched his palms forward to reach for hers and when she placed her palms on his, he kissed the back of her palms.

“I am Ashina, an omega, daughter of the beta Veryl of the Redmoon pack”

Luther’s face immediately fell after discovering that Ashina is beta veryl’s daughter. His father had told him about the mixed breeds and also told him how he would not be able to ascend the throne if he got mated to one of the mixed breeds.

“What is it?” Ashina moved closer to him after noticing how his face had fallen upon introducing herself. She was confused with his reactions.

Luther dropped her hands and took more steps backwards, his silence was deafening his, but what made Ashina’s heart drop most was when he walked away without uttering another word.

“Ahh” some of the maidens watching the scene intently let out a grasp. While the other werewolves took that as their cue to leave, the ceremony had been disrupted because of that single act of his.

Luther immediately walked out of the scene after leaving Ashina in a state of turmoil, wondering where she must have gone wrong.

“She has brought bad luck to the rest of the maidens too. What would happen to us now?”

The maiden who had earlier wished to be mated with Luther spoke up, her voice held so much spite and contempt towards Ashina. No one around her felt the need to console her about the rejection, they all saw her as bad luck since she had opened the grounds for rejection.

“Stop it, would you?” Another maiden intervened, but she was reluctant to go meet Ashina.

“The ceremony has been ruined because of her….”

Ashina wiped her tears, she was tired of listening to the side talks as if she wasn’t there with them. She ran out of the ceremony in search of Luther, following the part Luther had taken when he was leaving. Her plan was to find Luther and ask him why he had walked out on her.

“Luther….”

“Luther….”

“Luther….”

Ashina looked round, but there was no sign of him anywhere. Maybe he had left already, so she thought until she hit her hard on a hard surface.

“Sorry” the voice spoke up.

“Luther??”

He stared at her for a while before deciding to leave the premises before anyone would see them together.

“I need to speak with you, why did you walk out on me at the ceremony? What did I do wrong?”

Luther rubbed his hands on his head. Of course, he was expecting her to have questions, but he didn’t think that she would run after him so soon, maybe after the whole ceremony, but not now. He didn’t know how to put it, but he had to tell her why he had left so the chapter would be closed completely.

“Ashina, you are the daughter of Beta Veryl, am I right?”

She nods her head trying to put the pieces together. Maybe her father must have done something to Luther or maybe there is some sort of outstanding issues between them.

“I am not my father, so any issues you have with him stay with the both of you, but I know my father to be a peaceful man”

“He is indeed a peaceful man and I must say he is one of my father’s loyal subjects.”

“Then what is it? “

“Your blood is tainted, you are not pure enough to be my bride, let alone sit on the throne with me. I cannot be mated with some whose blood is mixed with that of a witch.”

Ashina took a few steps backward. She didn’t think that a day would come when something like her lineage would be used against her seeing that her father was not just any other man in the pack, he was a beta.

“I can’t be with you, you are a witch, I can’t be mixed with your kind, you are all evil and shouldn’t even be living amongst us pure breeds”

Ashina held her tears in. She was not going to breakdown in front of a man who didn’t care about her feelings talk more if a man who embarrassed her in public

“I reject you, Ashina, I reject you as my mate… Do not ever think of coming close to me. We are not of the same ranking and I will pretty much appreciate it if you respected my decision. Do not go crying about the pack that I wronged you unless you want to chastised and condemned by all pack members for being mixed breed, and you know it won’t end well.”

The more words flew out of Luther’s mouth, the more broken she felt. He had not just walked out on her because he was confused, he was quite aware of his actions and he didn’t care if she got hurt in the end.

“I reject you too, Luther.”

Luther got furious at Ashina’s words, and he walked out on her, finally giving Ashina the chance to let all the tears she had been holding in to flow freely.

******

“What you did to Ashina is terrible” Alcot reprimanded Luther as they walked back to their pack.

“What did I to her? You do understand that i am next in line to the throne and I can not be seen mingling with someone of tainted blood, talk more of the person becoming my mate.”

Alcot stopped right in his tracks after hearing what Luther had to say about the situation.

“Her father is Beta Veryl.”

“I know that already.”

“I am amazed that you’ve suddenly forgotten how that man healed you when you got injured.”

“I have not forgotten, yes he healed me, and he got praise for that, but I cannot be with his daughter just because he healed me. His blood his tainted and my father has told me that if I should mate with one of them I'd not be qualified to be on the throne.”

“But….”

“Can we just drop this topic already?”

Luther and Alcot continued their journey in silence, but Luther at some point felt a little sense of regret for saying those mean things to Ashina. She was his mate after all, and they were supposed to share a bond. They got to their pack before nightfall and then both men decided to retire for the day, but a few minutes later, Alcot came running down to Luther.

“Did you forget to tell me something?”

“I just heard from some of the warriors that your father has sent some men to attack the redmoon pack.”

“What? Why?”

“We heard that he has been having meetings with some Alps concerning the redmoon pack and my guess is that they have been planing to wipe them out”

Luther could not utter a word after he got the information. Why would

His father, what to wipe out an entire pack?

“I am off now, just thought to let you know.”

“Thank you very much Alcot.”