ESMERALDA’S POV.
I watched every emotion display across Anthony’s face, every bit of it since I turned around and met his gaze.
Confusion was the first emotion to flick across his features, followed by surprise as his lips parted slightly and his eyes dilated. My best guess is, he has finally figured out that there is a bond between us.
I felt it when he was following me around, I could tell it is him from the scent. I was simply taking a stroll in the forest to clear my head and decide when I would leave the pack when I heard it—the snap of twigs as someone’s presence became known, and as my steps hastened, so did his.
However, at a point, I realized there is no point running away. I am not guilty of anything after all, and the only reason I did so was to avoid talking to him lest he decides to bring up the mistress issue again and heaven help me, I might do something I certainly will not regret.
The look I saw on his face though, somehow lit up what I thought had diminished or should I say, died completely...hope. Hope that perhaps, he has just realized I am his mate, and that he would choose me, and not her.
It sounds foolish to have such thoughts, huh? I know. But, even for the sake of my, our, baby, I had hoped I would be able to give it a proper family after all.
All that hope, every bit of it diminished though when his lips parted, and he uttered the words that broke me completely, to the point of what I believe to be no return.
“I, Alpha Anthony, of Hounds Pack, reject you, Esmeralda Stone, as my fated mate.” He outright rejected me, his tone stern and his resolution of the same feat.
Suddenly, pain struck me like lightening. My heart, it felt as though thousands of arrows are being pierced into it and the pain registered in my body as a whole. I found breathing to be a difficult task, but that was not what made me worry the most.
No, the pain spreads throughout my body but where it intensified the most was my stomach. It started to hurt, way more than I know to be okay. Instinctively, my hand went to my tummy, as if caressing the baby in there which even Anthony is unaware of.
My knees gave out on me, my eyes blurred with unshed tears due to the pain. I tried to speak, reach out to him, not to take back the rejection but to help me and our child. Perhaps, if he offered some sort of aid, I would be able to tackle the issue. Davis’s words played in my mind again, and fear gripped me in a chokehold seemingly impossible to get out of.
“Help me,” I wheezed out, my voice sounded so foreign to my ears, even I could not hear it clearly. “Please.”
Anthony stared at me with emotionless eyes, bare of any sort of compassion nor pity. He must have thought I am overreacting or something, then I heard him say.
“If you know what is good for you, Esmeralda, you better make sure no one hears of this. I do not consider you my mate, nor will I ever…”
I shook my head, the pain intensifying so much that I could feel my breathing begin to cease. “Anthony…” I managed to whisper out, “…please…” My pleas were for him to offer aid, but he took it as me pleading with him to take back the rejection or something.
“Accept the rejection, Esmeralda,” He gritted out, his hands fisted by the side, his tone commanding. “Accept it.”
I tried to vocalize a response, but no words made it past my lips. I could only shake my head as tears began to flow out of my eyes. As black spots began to cover my vision, and I realized Anthony has no plans of helping, I mustered small strength to respond.
“I accept your rejection…”
The moment I said those words, Anthony turned around and disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving me alone on the grounds in the middle of the woods, helpless, and on the brink of losing consciousness.
As I laid on my back and gazed at the sky, I noticed something peculiar. The moon…it was not bright like always. No, this time around it looked red, or maybe I was hallucinating? If so then I was hallucinating the whispers that filled the air as well, almost like incantations as smoke like air began to engulf me, taking my breath as a whole.
Before I completely lost consciousness though, the air cleared and I vaguely felt someone pick me up, then I heard an unfamiliar, deep, and commanding voice say,
“You are safe. It will be alright. You are mine, from now on…”
ESMERALDA’S POV.I felt as though I am floating, I could not exactly feel myself bounded to anything, but rather, I was free. I tried to move my body, open my eyes, or shift my finger at the very least but none of that worked. Instead, I felt unable to do anything, and wherever I looked around, I could only see darkness nothing else.I tried to speak to my wolf through my mind, but I could not do that also. It felt as though I am in a different universe from the one she is in. I could not even feel her. My reality began to blur out though and before I know it, I had lost the ability to think all together. In the distance though, I heard muffled, unfamiliar voices. My skin, it felt a bit chilly, but the same time, bound to something incredibly warm. I could not decipher a single word though as the darkness took me with it, and the only thing I could decipher, the pain that took over my body.The next time I felt myself awake, I could actually open my eyes, though it proved to be a diff
ESMERALDA’S POV.Today is a very special day for me. I am finally turning nineteen and it is all I have longed for all these years. Why? Because all the women in the pack meet their mates on tier 19th birthday, meaning I will finally meet my mate today as well.My two friends, Kate and Hannah have both met their mates already as they are older than I am, Kate by two years and Hannah by one. They were lucky enough to be one of those people that meet their mates on their 19th birthday. Kate was mated to my brother, Cole, the future Beta being our father’s eldest and only male child, while Hannah was mated to a warrior, Orion. They both happen to have one of those cute relationships that will make you envy them and yearn for your own relationship with your mate.I have just one wish for my mate though, for it to be Anthony—my fiancée, and future Alpha of our Pack, the BloodMoon Pack. We have been engaged for nearly two years now, due to my parent’s wish for me to marry him but I never mi
ESMERALDA’S POV.I thought seeing Anthony with that woman in his arm could somehow be a misunderstanding of some sort, perhaps, there has to be.However, the words that escaped his lips chased away anything related to that thought.“Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Claire,” He paused, as the place quietened down, wanting to hear what it is he would say exactly. His next words hung thickly in the air, “She would be,” he looked down at her, his lips slanted into a warm smile. “My Luna.”I felt my heart drop to the pit of my stomach, my toes curling as I felt breathing become such a difficult task. That sentence, I feel as though it ripped my heart right out of my chest with it.Silence ensued, thick with tension and wariness, as if they all shared the same sentiment as I. However, the one that found the strength to break the silence was Anthony’s father, “Anthony, what is this nonsense you are spewing?” His tone was anything but calm, the fury behind it impossible to miss.Ant
ESMERALDA’S POV.I find it weird now that I have thought about it. If Anthony truly is my mate, something I have no doubts of now, then why can’t he feel it? I am sure what I felt was true, I indeed felt the mate bond so…what is up with his reaction?Is he truly indifferent? Does he really still want that woman over me, over his mate?“She must have done something to him,” My wolf said, tried to reason. She sounded so certain, I could not help but listen and try to make sense of her words. “Maybe she used witchcraft on him or something?”“Witchcraft?” I shook my head at my wolf’s thoughts. “She is human, you can tell as well. So, that is out of the picture.” There is no doubt she is human, I would have been able to sense if she is a witch, we all would.Before my wolf could say anything further, I decided to return back home, as I have been out in the woods the entire day and it is getting late. It is best if I return home now. Instead of going to the pack house where I have been stay
ANTHONY’S POV.Claire is my mate; she has to be.I fell in love with her at first sight. She is beautiful, and the moment I saw her on the battlefield despite the chaos surrounding us, I felt the bond between us. Even in her weak and fragile state, she is still the most beautiful woman I have ever seen and I felt pulled towards her. I knew then she is my mate, and I want no one else.It is only right I bring her back to my pack and make her my Luna.Even though everyone is against my decision apparently, I have no regrets. I know what I feel for her. They may not understand it now, but they would later on. A mate is always the best thing to happen to happen to a wolf, and to an Alpha wolf, a Luna, a fated mate is not just the best thing to happen to him but to the pack as well.So, this is ultimately for everyone as well. I will still choose Claire as my mate over and over again if I have to.At night, I was prepared to mate with Claire for the first time ever. With the whole turmoil