Elena had never thought she would have this kind of drama in her life. She and Cory grew up together and had been dating since middle school. Friends around them always teased them and commented negative things about their relationship, because all teenage lovers will break up eventually after they turn 18. But she and Cory ignored all those voices and held faith in their love.
“I would reject whoever it would be if we were not mates.”
Right on his 17th birthday, a year before they could locate their mates, he had made that promise.
Elena was wearing a crimson cocktail dress that night, very elegant and beautiful. They held each other’s hands, swirling on the dancing floor slowly with the most soothing music in the world.
She didn’t drink that night but she was seriously drunk, about him. She placed her head on his shoulder and whispered, “You’re lying.”
“No, I am not!” Cory insisted, and then said, “Do you want me to swear to you? Or put a curse on myself? If someday in the future I betray you or hurt you in any way, let the Moon Goddess-”
“Don’t!” She put her fingers on his lips and interrupted him, looking at him worriedly, “Please don’t say such things. It scares me.”
“Then you must trust me,” he held her hand, and then kissed her fingers. “I will do anything for you, L. Anything. For me, nothing in the world values as much as you. Not even the Moon Goddess. You are the love of my life. I will never give up on you. Never. No matter what happens.”
That was a little disrespectful, but was such sweet talk. Elena curled up her lips, and then put her head back on his shoulder. “I trust you, Cory. I love you as much as you love me. I would reject him too if my mate wasn’t you. But I am worrying about the reality.”
“What reality?” He stroked her hair gently.
“Your parents and mine,” she whispered. “Your father will never allow you to marry a girl who isn’t your mate. You are the future Alpha. You need your mate. And my father. He always does everything your father tells him to. He won’t allow me with you, either.”
“Then we elope,” he said very decisively. It surprised Elena . She raised her head and then looked at him amazedly, “You can’t be serious about that. You are the future Alpha. The Kingdom, our people need you.”
“And I need you,” he said with a serious look on his face. “My father could always find another heir. He is a very powerful wolf, almost omnipotent. But he can never make me leave you.” His tone was serious too.
Elena knew he meant real. She bit her bottom lip hesitantly but eventually curled her lips to a happy smile, “I will be with you no matter what, as long as you still want me.”
“Unless the sky fell down and the sea dried out.” He made that swear and then kissed her so deeply.
The following year was pure tor/ture for them. Every single day, there were voices, gossip, or “kind” reminders which suggested they should break up.
Elena ’s mother dropped her numerous hints and her father talked with her multiple times. She ignored them. And when Cory’s 18th birthday came, they skipped this huge birthday party his mother prepared for him and drove to the sea.
They sat on the beach, holding hands with each other, waiting for the moon to rise. When that glowing ball reached the middle of the sky, their fates would be sealed.
Elena was three days younger than Cory, but they would know once Cory turned 18. They sat there with each other. The wind was blowing furiously as if trying to take their souls away.
Tears had never stopped coming out of Elena ’s eyes and Cory just kept his arm around her. They cuddled, whispered, kissed, and swore to each other. And then, when the moon shone, they caught that magic smell from each other.
Everything in the world just clicked at that moment and they laughed, yelled, cried, and almost went crazy.
After they came back, Cory’s parents gave him a really harsh lecture. But no one had said anything about their relationship since that day, except for congratulations, blessings, and sometimes, even jealousy.
Cory was the next Alpha and the cutest boy. She was just Beta's daughter with nothing. She wasn’t even that gorgeous, just above average.
They said she got lucky. If she hadn’t grown up with Cory, she would definitely have been rejected. To Alphas like Cory, when it came to mate, bloodlines would come first. Having a Beta father or not, as long as she wasn’t an Alpha heir, she was as useless as an Omega.
Elena had never cared about those rumors. As long as she was with Cory, she would be satisfied and happy.
Heirs and bloodlines were the things which had never crossed her mind, until today. He dumped her for a pretentious dragon girl in front of so many people. And he locked her in prison.
She shed so many tears during the day that it almost dehydrated her. Night, she laid there in the dark cell motionlessly, and almost lost all her feelings.
She didn’t hate Cory for locking her up. She knew she shouldn’t have attacked that dragon girl. She hated him because he gave up on her so easily and…she was still in love with him deeply.
So why?
Why was this happening?
And why was this happening to her?
After all those hellish tor/tures she had been through, she thought she was finally allowed to be happy.
She cried, and cried, and cried soundlessly.
At around midnight, after the guards changed shifts, the iron door at the entrance creaked and some visitors walked inside the prison.
Elena quickly sat up from the rugged stone bed and wiped off her tears. From the corridor outside her cell came two sets of familiar footsteps, but none of them belonged to Cory. She knew they were her parents, Orion and Eleanor.
She must have caused huge trouble for them. She felt so ashamed and guilty.
“Are you alright, baby?”
Eleanor was an elegant, tall lady with a head of ear-short brown hair. As the female Beta of the Kingdom, she gave people the impression of being harsh and distant, but for Elena , she was the best mother ever.
Once they reached the cell, she stepped forward and asked Elena worriedly.
The bars were made of silver, making it difficult for them to get close to each other. Elena stood behind it, wiping tears with her sleeves, and whispered, “I am fine, Mom.” Her voice was hoarse from all the crying.
Her father, Orion, sighed. He was out to the South for business and had just come back an hour ago. Before he got that phone call from Eleanor, no one had informed him anything about Cory’s engagement with Dragon. He was upset about being ruled out of this important decision, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it.
The climate in the kingdom’s territory was getting worse than ever. They were losing land suitable for wolves to live every day. If they didn’t get that alliance with dragons, wolves might go extinct from this land in less than 50 years.
Cory and Alpha Jordan were making sacrifices here too. Everyone knows what it takes for an Alpha wolf to renounce its mate. He was not only betraying his own heart, but also disobeying his belief, the Moon Goddess.
But in such a pressing situation, who could blame them? They were sacrificing themselves for the bigger picture here.
“Listen, dear,” Orion stepped forward too, he sighed frustratedly before he started to talk to his daughter, “I need you to get over Cory. Let him…You need to reject each other and move on. We need that alliance with Dragons, sweetie. It’s a life and death matter.”
Elena responded to him with nothing. She kept her head lowered, sobbing softly. She knew they needed to ally with dragons. She wasn’t stupid or selfish. She just assumed there could be other ways.
“But he is my mate,” she whispered. Tears were running down her cheeks silently, “Why did she have to take my mate away from me?”
That was a question no one could answer.
Dragons were creatures who were arrogant and bossy, almost despising everything that wasn’t their own kind. To ally with wolves by marriage was a surprising, totally irregular decision. But it was their choice. And the ship had already sailed.
“Cory didn’t love you, dear.” Orion’s tone was harsh. He didn’t know whether he was telling the truth or not, but he knew it was the right thing to say. “If he truly loved you, he would have fought for you no matter what. Even if he failed, he could have informed you personally in advance. But he didn’t. Instead, he embarrassed you in public and humiliated you in front of your peers. No one would treat their loved ones in that way, dear. He didn’t care about you. He didn’t love you at all.”
Elena cried. Her already wounded heart was shredded into pieces again. Eleanor cast a blamed glance at her husband. But she didn’t disagree with him, “Listen to your father, sweetie. A man who treated you like that could never deserve even one percent of your love, whether he is your mate or not. Just drop him out of your life and move on. You will find someone else. I promise. The Moon Goddess always gives her loved ones a second chance.”
“But I love him,” she said, “I just couldn’t stop loving him.”
That was a problem no one could solve. The cell dropped into dead silence again. After a few seconds, the guard’s talking voice started coming closer from outside the iron door at the entrance. It was a signal for them to leave. Elena was imprisoned as a felon. No visitor should be allowed strictly.
Eleanor sighed and persuaded her daughter for one last time, “Just give up on Cory, sweetie. It’s not worth it. You shouldn’t waste yourself on someone who doesn’t love you.”
“But I do love her, Madam. I truly do.”
Out of the blue, a male voice interrupted them and then, a handsome tall figure walked out from the adjacent cell.
Elena ’s heart was ripped open again when she recognized that figure.
It was her mate, Cory.
“What the hell are you doing here?!” was the first thing Orion wanted to shout out at Cory. But Cory had already inherited the title of the Kingdom’s Alpha. He was his superior. It would be disrespectful to say that.Suppressing all the anger in his chest, Orion just addressed Cory dryly, “Alpha.” Eleanor pressed her lips and said nothing while staring at this young man who had just broken her daughter’s heart. And tears started to run out of Elena’s eyes again. Slowly, Cory walked in front of the three of them. His handsome face was covered with painful guilt. His voice was also in anguish. “Could you please give us a minute, Madam and Sir?” He asked Orion and Eleanor in agony, afraid of looking at Elena. Eleanor changed a look with Orion. She didn’t want to leave Elena in Cory’s hands again. He might cause her more misery, but it’s not her decision to make.“Do you want us to leave, sweetie?” She asked Elena softly.Elena’s eyes had been fixed on Cory since the moment he appeared
The world must have gone crazy. The shock she got from the conversations with Cory was so immense, Elena didn’t even feel sad anymore. Now she knew the reason why Cory didn’t call her in advance. He wanted both her and that dragon girl, but he didn’t have the guts to talk about it with her. So he let her through that ordeal in public and then came down here to push her. Because he didn’t want to admit that he was such a greedy and stupid coward!! Rage consumed Elena’s brain. But deep inside, at the bottom of her heart, relief, even a slight gladness were immersing her. Cory had just proved he still loved her. Even though he was engaged with that dragon girl, still, he couldn’t live without her. Elena knew it was stupid and wrong to feel glad about it, but she couldn’t help it. He was her mate. Their mate bond was too tight. Even if she tried, she couldn’t resist it. She just couldn’t stop feeling happy about confirming his love.But share her mate with Lennie? No. That’s the bot
After leaving the prison, Elena went straight home with her parents.Her mother Eleanor prepared her a warm bath. Elena sank herself into the water and cried for a long time.Too many betrayals and shocks in such a short time. She just didn’t know what to do next. Her head was in such a huge mess. And she couldn’t even talk about it with her parents. What Cory asked her was so humiliating. She couldn’t even say it out of her mouth. And her father might try to murder Cory after hearing it. She didn’t want to risk her parents’ lives for that.“Then what should we do now?” Nyla asked. “He will push us again, L. I assure you.”“You tell me,” Elena cried, hugging herself in the water. “I’ve never thought he would do this to me…never…never….” She couldn’t even come up with a full sentence.They went back to painful silence.After about an hour, her mother knocked on the door and called her, “Are you finished, sweetie? Jasper is here. Your father wants you to meet him.”Jasper was Cory’s Bet
Elena was stuck in her dreams. She knew she was dreaming, and she felt her body, but she was trapped inside of it, and she couldn’t find a way to get out of it. She heard someone speaking beside her bed, “She just experienced too many shocks in a short time. It stimulated her nerves. After some proper rest, she will be okay.”It sounded like the kingdom’s doctor, Dr. Todd, but she couldn’t understand what he was doing here. Another voice in the room whispered something to him, but Elena couldn’t make out who it was. And then there were footsteps going away. But the severe headache she was suffering started getting worse. It almost felt like someone had just split her head in half. She knitted her forehead and cried out of pain. Someone took her hand and whispered to her gently, “Are you okay, L?”Elena tried to open her eyes but failed. She then called the name she trusted most, “Cory…” Tears streamed down from the corners of her eyes. Cory responded to her. He knelt beside her b
“Look around, L. We are not in our bedroom!!!”The moment she heard that, Elena suddenly sobered up from her devastating headache. She rolled up from the bed and observed, and then found that she was in a completely strange room. There were no lights on right now. She could only see some simple furniture vaguely. But she knew it wasn’t night outside. Because from the narrow window above her bed came dim daylight.“It’s a basement,” Nyla explained. “And there are silver bars blocking the window, and the door is iron. I bet we can’t open it from the inside.”Elena responded to her with nothing. She just got up from bed and then went to check the door. As Nyla had guessed, it was locked from the outside. She put her hand on the doorknob and pulled it. It wouldn’t open.“He locked us here, L,” Nyla cried. There was a rare trace of panic tinged her voice.Nyla was a competent wolf, always giving her mature advice and acting composedly. And when she started to panic, Elena knew they must ha
Cory had changed. The moment Elena saw that dangerous flash flicking through his eyes, she realized Cory had changed into a different person. Each time, when he showed up in front of her, he became more aggressive than before. Each day, the ego inside him grew bigger and bigger. His engagement with Lennie was like a demoniac key that unleashed this hidden beast inside him. Now he had gotten support from dragons. He had become powerful. He didn’t need to play by the rules anymore. And he didn’t need to pretend to be caring or ethical either.When you can get something by intimidation and threats, why bother to coax and act?The moment she saw that ice in Cory’s eyes, Elena knew she was doomed. She watched Cory walk out of the basement, and then heard him lock the door from outside. Her body went cold out of fear. Tears streamed down from the corners of her eyes. She knew she might never find a way to get out of this, but she couldn’t just give up like that. She could never share he
After Cory said that, he bent over and scooped Elena up from the floor. He carried her in between his arms in the bridal style which was very familiar to Elena. Only this time, she wasn’t looking at him, but at his neck. The lights on the roof of the hallway were very bright. It clearly presented every vein and muscle on his neck. Cory kept his head high, looking straight to the front, which exposed his artery. Elena had this strong impulse to bite it. Cory was an Alpha, but his wolf wasn’t that strong, not even half as strong as his father. Which was the main reason why he had been amiable to everyone around him before Lennie came. It was kind of the elephant in the room, the truth no one was allowed to mention in this kingdom. Elena fought him a few times during the training back when they were still teenagers. She wasn’t a feisty warrior, but she had the confidence to give him a fatal strike. As long as she sank her teeth deep enough, and shredded his neck completely when no one
The next day, when Elena woke up, she felt she had fully recovered. The dragon’s cure was very effective. She didn’t feel sick and weak anymore.Aurora and Bella brought a maid's suit to her, which was very different from the colorful but thin dresses they were wearing. Bella comforted her, “Don’t take it too personally. You attacked Lennie and tore her face. Of course, she will pick on you. The thing is, Lennie never attaches to things, neither good nor bad. She moves on very easily. As long as you play along with her, don’t go against her will, she will get bored in literally three days and forget about you. What happens next will depend on you and your king. You know what I mean.”Elena nodded her head. She knew those dragon girls would be partial to Lennie, but it didn’t really matter. Like Bella had suggested, her true enemy was Cory, not Lennie. She must escape from the kingdom and cut the connection with him.“My parents,” Elena asked, “did you get in touch with them? What did