HER SECOND CHANCE : A CURSED ALPHA

CHAPTER TWO : REJECTED

ALINA’S POV

My entire form was wrecked with pain from rejecting Marcel.

This was Selene’s punishment for wolves who rejected their mate, but I barely cared.

I would own the pain, if it meant I would never have to spend another moment with Marcel.

The moment my feet landed in my room and snapped the door shut, I crumbled on my bed, as tears trailed down my cheeks.

The same tears I had struggled to hold back, not wanting them to see how much their actions made me weak. But now, I could barely hold any of it back as it broke through.

One drop at first. That was until another drop turned into a hundred as I cried for the love I’ve always dreamt of having, but would never have it now.

For the life I would have had with Marcel, had this not happened.

Now I understood clearly why Marcel chose to mark me a week ago.

Why he was so insistent on marking me.

I thought he was just being possessive, but I was wrong.

He just wanted to keep me trapped with him.

Marcel didn’t just betray me…he manipulated me.

He must have thought marking me would make me stay even after finding out about him and Nate. After all, my wolf would be bonded to him.

He was an even bigger fool if he thought that.

My tears burned through my cheeks in pain, soaking the sheets I lay on.

I had no idea how long I'd been there.

But the insistent banging on the door finally broke the bubble I had buried myself in.

“Alina, open the damn door,” my brother Dexter's voice growled from outside.

My fist curled, tightening around the sheets of my bed, as I ignored him.

He must have found out about Nate and Marcel by now. But I was not a fool to think that Dexter would ever be on my side.

Nate was his best friend, and he saw me as a good-for-nothing, just like my father.

“If you don’t open this door, I’ll break it open,” Dexter roared.

And I barely had time to recollect myself.

Because before I could process anything, the door of my room pushed open, breaking off its hinges as Dexter barged in.

His jaws locked hard, as he observed my crumpled expression with a sneer.

He moved closer to me, his face twisted in disgust when he saw the dried tears on my cheeks.

“What did you do, Alina?” He barked, towering over me.

I ignored him, breathing in rage.

But it seemed my silence annoyed him as always, because his hands flew out right that moment, moving to clamp around my jaw harshly as he roared.

“I said what did you do Alina?!”

I slapped his hands away.

Wiping the trail of tears off my cheek, as I stood at my full height.

“I called off my wedding with Marcel. And rejected him as my mate. His mark should wear off my skin in a few days,” I spat, trying to sound normal, but I could not hide the rage which burned behind my eyes.

I was not expecting much from Dexter. But at least, I expected him to be on my side, just this once.

But that was wishful because he let out a deep dark laugh that echoed around my entire room, the moment those words left my lips.

“Do you understand the gravity of your actions? You called off your wedding with Marcel, Alina! He is the future Alpha of the Crimson pack for Selene’s sake!

Calling off the wedding means breaking off the alliance between the Greenlake and the Crimson’s pack. How could you be that selfish?” He yelled.

And I froze, my lips parted as I stared at him in shock. Never in a million lifetimes would I have expected to ever hear those words from my brother’s lips.

“He cheated on me, Dexter,” I whispered.

“I walked in on him f*****g Nate. Your damn best friend,” I hissed, completely short of words.

“So what if he was sleeping with Nate!” He shouted.

And this time, the small bit of love I had left for him, chipped away.

“So you knew?” My voice was small as the words left my lips.

“You knew that Marcel was cheating on me all this time and you said nothing!” I screamed, watching as he gritted his teeth in anger.

My finger moved through the scattered strands of my ginger hair still reeling in shock.

“f**k, I feel like a damn fool! How could I not have seen it?

Of course, you knew! Nate is your f*****g best friend. And of course, he meant more to you than your own flesh and blood,” I hissed venomously.

“You let me parade myself around Marcel like a stupid b***h all these time knowing very well that he was sleeping with Nate.

How could you Dexter! After I’ve sacrificed everything for y…”

“Don’t finish those words, Alina! You and I know very well that you have sacrificed nothing for me. Except killing our mother when she was birthing you, so don’t act like a victim here,” he clenched out, cutting me off.

And my face paled, feeling all the blood in my system drying off.

“Fate played a cruel joke with Marcel and Nate.

Have you once stopped to think how hard you being Marcel’s mate must have been so hard on him and Nate?” He spat in fury.

And seeing the disbelief on my face, he let out a mocking laugh.

“Of course you haven’t. And that’s because you are too selfish to think about anything but yourself Alina,” he snarled.

“Marcel had to pretend to be madly in love with you,” he said, like it was the most absurd thing to ever happen in the world.

“And imagine Nate, how much it must have taken a toll on him.

He had to watch the love of his life pretend to be madly in love with another person. Watch him mark her, while he remained nothing but a secret.

Have you once thought about the amount of pain they must have been in?” He bit out.

“Marcel loves Nate more than anything. And he was even ready to reject you as his fated mate. But he couldn’t. And that’s because he is an alpha, and his pack comes first. He needed to continue the lineage of his pack!”

“Marcel and Nate are the victims in all this so stop acting like one.

As a healer wolf, Alina, the least you could do is be compassionate.

Is that not what healers are!” He barked.

And I barely realized when exactly I stumbled back. Feeling every bit of strength drained out of my body. As I watched my brother wondering when exactly he turned into this monster.

“Dexter?” His voice left my lips in astonishment as I watched him in horror.

My brain struggled to comprehend the fact that my brother was playing me as the culprit for my own fated mate cheating on me.

But Dexter did not stop there.

He went straight to land his last striking blow.

“So do what you are good for as a female, Alina.

You’ll go back to Marcel, right this instant, and accept his ring back.

It’s good you rejected him already. That means his wolf would not be tied to you any longer.

He can be with Nate freely from now on.”

Dexter went on, and my anger rose with every word he uttered.

“Listen to me carefully Alina.You will apologize to Nate and Marcel for overreacting.

Then, you’ll marry Marcel tomorrow with a smile on your face.

After which, you’ll have his children like a good little breeder you were born to be. And then, you’ll remain a faithful Luna to his pack.

And most of all, you’ll stay out of his relationship with Nate…”

“You bastard!” I roared, as my hands sharpened into claws.

And before Dexter could realize what exactly was happening, my claws struck his face. Tearing through the skin on the side of his face, as they slashed through.

I was ready to finish him right there and then.

I had no idea where exactly my strength came from. But all I could see was red.

I moved again, ready to claw out another chunk of flesh from his skin. But I must have overestimated my wolf.

I froze when I felt that stinging pain rise at the side of my neck, paralyzing me completely and halting my movements.

My hand, which was raised in the air, fell to my side.

And shock was the first thing I felt.

My head snapped to the side, my body slowly growing weak.

My eyes landed on my father’s rage-filled face as it filled my vision along with the syringe that he had embedded in my shoulder.

I had no idea exactly when he had entered the room. But all those barely mattered as my face twisted, clouding with a blanket of betrayal at the sight of him.

And my eyes slowly closed, succumbing into darkness.