Reclaimed By Fate

Laila Diaz, POV  I fidgeted my fingers and stepped from one toe to another. Nervousness was dancing inside of me and my wolf. Bella was constantly nagging me to stop; she didn't want to lose her Alpha title. I made no effort to calm her down because, right now, I was too busy with butterflies in my stomach to think straight. I knew that it would be my turn soon, so I took a deep breath and straightened out my white wedding gown. Very soon, the large oak doors in front of me opened up. Pulling out a small smile from my face, I calmed my racing heart and stepped on the aisle that led me to the owner of my heart, my mate, Ace Blackwoods. My eyes were set on him; at that moment, I didn't care if I would trip on the aisle or if my pack didn't see me as their formidable Alpha but as a teenager who was eager to get married. He wore a black suit that fitted him like a glove to his skin. He had a blank face, but I could read his eyes, which were dancing with joy. I knew that he was nervous too, because at one moment he would look at me, and at the other, he would look all around the hall except for me. If it were another moment, I would have laughed at his face, but right now, I was cursing myself for choosing such a long aisle. Finally, I reached him, and he stood there like a gentleman, ready to take my hand. “You almost took my breath away, beautiful. I feel like I am meeting you for the first time,” he said, kissing the back of my hand, leaving sparks of electricity that traveled down my body. “I can't believe we are finally getting married after two years." I hugged him as tears slipped down my eyes as I remembered how difficult my pack made it for me to accept a rouge as my mate. We pulled back after a few seconds. Ace signaled my beta, Carlos, to start the wedding vows. But before he could start, I stopped him and grabbed the mic from him. Ace raised his eyebrows at my actions, and a ray of fear crossed his eyes. I was awed internally by his love for me. “Before the vows, I would like to give a wedding gift to you, Ace Blackwood.” Ace raised his eyebrows again. I could see his hand about to rise; he must have thought I was about to run away from the wedding. I was laughing internally. I faced the crowd. I could hear the murmurs of confusion and focused faces. I opened my mouth to continue, “I have no blood family left in this world, and Ace is the only one whom I can call my closest one. I want you all to give him the same respect as you give me; hence, I am announcing him as the new Alpha of the Bloodshed Pack." grasps of breaths, shocked faces, and the voices that opposed my decision all came at me at once. I raised my hand to stop all of them, but none of them listened. Anger was building up inside me. “Silence!!” I gave my Alpha command to all of them. Their heads were lowered and their mouths sealed. “I didn't ask for anyone's opinion, now did I? This is my final decision. I will continue to serve you all by being a dutiful Luna of this pack. I just want to give Ace the respect and honor that he deserves. He has no one in this pack; he left his friends to join my pack, to join my side, but what did you all give him? You all bullied him at all chances possible; you all protested against him upon being my mate. Hell, it was not his choice; the Moon Goddess had written our fate. I cannot watch him be degraded again and again. This is my wedding gift to him, and I want no more voices of protest. If anyone disagrees with me, he or she is free to leave the pack,” I said with a stern face. When I heard no more chaos, I sighed, put a smile on my face, and turned to face him. He looked at me with a face full of awe. He held my hand and pulled me close to kiss my forehead. “Thank you,” he murmured as his warm lips left my forehead. “Anything for you,” I mumbled and signaled to my maid, who was standing there with a gold tray in her hands. Once she stood before me, I picked up the silver-coated dagar that lay on the tray. Looking up at Ace with a smile, I was about to cut my wrist when my wolf pushed herself out of the barrier in my mind. “Think again, Laila. I don’t want to give my Alpha position to him. I know that he is my mate, but still, I don’t want to go through the pain of power shift. Plus, I was born to rule. You can give Ace a high position in the pack, but don’t do this to me.” Bella circled in my head, nudging at me constantly. “He is our mate, Bella; we should trust him; plus, I am too tired to run the pack; I want to retire and focus on my home; live a normal life like other women in the pack; please understand me too; and let me do what makes Ace happy; his happiness is the greatest joy for us, isn’t it?” With that, I blocked her again and slashed my wrist. Blood dripped in the bowl below me. Before I could ask, Ace's wrist was in front of me. I slashed his wrist too, and without any second thought, I connected our open wrists. “With all power given to me by Moon Goddess, I, Lalia Diaz, the Alpha of Bloodshed pack, withdraw from my position and announce Ace Blackwood as the new Alpha of Bloodshed pack; he shall serve this pack under the guidance of Moon Goddess and will work for the welfare of this pack." Dark clouds began to form above me, and lightning roared in the sky. The wind was strong enough to ruin my wedding decorations. I then closed my eyes and mumbled the ancient words to shift the power to him. Within seconds, I felt the power shifting from my body; it was as if someone was sucking my soul; a strong and painful pull surrounded me; sweat began to form on my forehead; and a moan of pain escaped my lips. I tried to be strong, but my legs gave out and I fell on my knees. Ace made sure that our wrists stayed connected; I could hear my wold yelping in pain; seconds felt like years; and when I thought I was about to pass out, the shift finally finished. I opened my eyes tiredly to look at Ace, who looked as majestic as always. His Alpha aura filled the area, causing all the pack to submit before him. Since I was of royal blood, his aura didn’t affect me much, but still, it was strong enough to make me lower my eyes. My wolf and I were not used to it, so I started to feel a strong presence in the room. Due to the power shift, all the people surrounding me were of high rank until I became the Luna of the pack. I then stood up, positioned myself before Ace, and asked Beta to start the wedding. But this time Ace stopped him. He grabbed the microphone from Beta Carlos. “Since my beautiful mate has given me such a big wedding present, I have to give her a present bigger than this one to make it fair,” he addressed me and the crowd with a smile on his face. A big smile returned on my face. I never thought that he had prepared a present for me too. With a flicker of his finger, fresh petals of my favorite flowers started falling on me, and he stepped back. “Is he going to propose to me?” I asked my wolf in excitement. Ace never proposed to me; it was me who was bent upon having this wedding in a human style, and I also wanted to make him the Alpha, so it was killing two birds with one stone. “He is gonna say it, he is gonna say it!!” I yelled and did a happy dance in my mind as soon as Ace opened his mouth to speak. “I, Ace Blackwood, the Alpha of the Bloodshed Pack, reject Laila Diaz as my mate,” he said with a smirk on his face in the microphone. The smile instantly vanished from my face. I wanted to tell Ace to stop joking, but I felt like the biggest joke when the mark on my neck burned like coal on my skin and the pain rushed through my body like lava burning the insides of my body. I screamed in pain, and through my blurry vision, I could see Ace not giving a s**t about me. I expected my pack to speak up for me, but they were all too busy watching the show. “Why?” I managed to speak; tears covered my whole face, and the pain was making it unbearable for me to even speak. He started laughing; he was laughing out loud. “Why!!, you dare to ask me why. Let me tell you, it was not the pack that made me feel worthless; it was you. You bossed me around like a servant, you made sure I stayed at my place, you made sure never to involve me in any important meeting, you were embarrassed to have me as your mate. Well, Laila Diaz, you dared to forget that I, Ace Blackwood, was the Alpha of Rouges, not some weakling who would follow you around like some lost pup. You asked for this since the moment you made me a member of this pack. I never loved you, Laila; you were nothing but a ladder to me to reach my goal.” His toxic words felt acid to my heart; he was wrong about everything. I loved him so much, yet he only loved my position. My heart shattered, and the pain tripled all over my body. I had already used much of my strength to make him the Alpha of the pack. I didn’t have any strength left to fight against him, and I knew that I would die if I didn’t accept the rejection. “I, Laila Daiz, accept your rejection." I finally managed to speak up. The pain left my body in an instant, leaving me all weak and helpless. I took a few breaths and mustered all my strength to get up. I wanted to get away from him and from everyone. I limped halfway to the aisle when his voice stopped me again. “Where are you going, my beautiful bride? The show is not over yet!!"