It's Either You, Alpha, or the Rogue

007: The Escape plan

Chapter 7

~XANDER~

I paced back and forth, trying to shake off the anger that still boiled inside me. Why was I so angry? I shouldn’t care. Aria was nothing to me. She was an Omega... lower than a maid in this pack. The moon goddess had cursed me by making her my mate. I was the Alpha. I deserved someone strong, powerful, someone who could stand by my side as Luna, not… her.

But every time I thought about Collins, about how he dared to touch her, I felt this rage burning inside me. It didn’t make sense. If I didn’t want her, if I didn’t care about her, why did the thought of someone else laying their hands on her make me want to tear them apart?

I slammed my fist on the nearby tree, frustrated. The council had been breathing down my neck for months, pushing me to choose a Luna. They didn’t care who it was, as long as I had someone by my side to strengthen the pack. But the moon goddess had other plans. She decided to play a cruel joke on me, binding me to an Omega. Someone weak. Someone I could never claim as my equal.

I scoffed, trying to shake the thought from my head. I didn’t want her. I couldn’t want her. And yet, every time I saw her, every time I heard her voice, there was this pull, this connection that I couldn’t deny. No matter how much I wanted to.

I tried to convince myself it was just instinct. A bond forced upon me by the moon goddess. But that didn’t explain the anger, the protectiveness I felt when Collins tried to take advantage of her. My mate. No, I didn’t want to acknowledge her as mine, but that didn’t change the fact that she was.

Why was I so angry? Why did I care?

I rubbed my hand over my face, trying to make sense of it all. I hated the idea of being mated to an Omega. It made me look weak. The pack would never respect me if they knew I’d been paired with someone of her rank. And yet, there was this primal part of me that didn’t care. This part that wanted to rip Collins apart for even thinking about touching her.

I shook my head, frustrated. I had to get a grip. I couldn’t let this bond mess with my head. I didn’t need a mate, especially not one like Aria. I was the Alpha, and I had more important things to focus on than a weak, unwanted bond.

But no matter how hard I tried to push her out of my mind, she was still there. The bond was still there. And it was driving me crazy.

I didn’t want her. I couldn’t want her. But I was angry... angry at the moon goddess, angry at Collins, and, worst of all, angry at myself for caring more than I should.

~Aria~

“You’re weak,” he spat. “Vulnerable. You can’t even defend yourself. How could someone like you ever think you’re fit to be Luna?”

I stood there, trembling, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill over. Alpha Xander's words cut through me like a knife. He didn’t even try to hide his anger, his disgust. His face twisted into something cruel as he glared down at me.

His voice echoed in my ears, each word hitting me harder than the last. I knew he didn’t want me as his mate. I wasn’t surprised by his hatred, but it didn’t make the pain any less real.

“I can’t have someone like you by my side,” he continued, his eyes cold and unforgiving. “A weakling. A disgrace. You’ll never rule with me, Aria. Don’t ever think for a second that you could.”

My heart sank, and I bit down hard on my lip to stop myself from crying. I didn’t want to show him how much his words hurt me, but it was impossible. His rejection was too much to bear.

I tried to look him in the eyes, to stand up for myself, but I couldn’t. The bond we shared, the one I had no control over, was tearing me apart. He hated me for being his mate, and I hated myself for not being stronger, for not being someone he could respect.

“You’re nothing,” he said, his voice low but full of venom. “You’re just an Omega. You’ll never be more than that. So stop fooling yourself into thinking you could ever be my equal.”

With those final words, he turned and left, leaving me standing there alone, broken.

I felt like I couldn’t breathe. The air in the room was thick, heavy with the weight of his anger and my shame. I wasn’t enough for him. I would never be enough for him.

I sank to the floor, my body trembling as the tears I had been holding back finally fell. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to find some sense of comfort, but there was none. I was alone.

I had known from the start that Alpha Xander didn’t want me. I wasn’t strong like the other females in the pack. I wasn’t powerful, wasn’t worthy of being by his side. But hearing him say it, hearing him call me weak and worthless, was more than I could handle.

I don’t know how long I sat there, crying in the silence, but eventually, I forced myself to stand. I wiped my eyes, straightened my back, and took a deep breath.

I might be weak in his eyes, but I wasn’t going to let that define me. Not anymore.

I walked into the forest, trying to process what just happened. I stood alone, staring out into the forest, my thoughts swirling around the words he’d said. I couldn’t understand why he was so angry, why he felt the need to say such hurtful things.

"You’re nothing, Aria," he had said. "Just an Omega, not even worth my time."

I’ve always known I was a loner, never really fitting in with the others in the pack. But the rejection stung in ways I wasn’t prepared for. It wasn’t just about being unwanted... It was about being invisible, insignificant. And what made it worse? He was supposed to be my mate. The bond I felt for him, the pull toward him, was strong. Yet, for Xander, it was like I didn’t exist.

I couldn’t bear the thought of staying in the pack, waiting for him to reject me publicly during the feast celebration. He would do it in front of everyone, shame me in front of the entire pack, and then what? I’d be left alone, humiliated.

"What if I run away?" The thought suddenly hit me, and it felt like a lifeline in the sea of my despair. I could leave the pack, disappear into the wilderness, go somewhere far away where no one would know who I was. Xander wouldn’t have the chance to reject me... Embarrassed me in front of the pack. Because I’d already be gone. He wouldn’t be able to hurt me anymore.

I let the idea take root, imagining myself slipping away in the dead of night, running far from the Moonshadow Pack. I could start over, live somewhere no one knew me, where I wasn’t judged for being an Omega. There had to be somewhere in this world where I wasn’t seen as weak, where my worth wasn’t tied to my rank in the pack.

I sighed, feeling a lump form in my throat. I didn’t want to be here anymore. The constant feeling of being less, being unwanted, was suffocating. I had tried so hard to be useful, to prove that even as an Omega, I had value. But nothing worked. Xander wouldn’t see me as his equal. He only cared about having a mate who could boost his status, someone who wasn’t me.

I glanced at the tree line, my heart racing as I considered the possibilities. If I ran away now, before the feast, maybe I could save myself from the pain, from the humiliation that was sure to come.

"I have to leave." I whispered to myself, my decision solidifying. There was no point in staying where I wasn’t wanted. I deserved more than this constant rejection, more than being treated like I didn’t matter.

The wind rustled the leaves around me, and I took a deep breath, steeling myself for what I had to do. Tonight, I would leave the pack. I would disappear, and Xander would never get the chance to reject me publicly.