Chapter 4

Three weeks had passed since the events at the party. I’d tried to shake the thought off my mind but I just couldn't. I was unable to eat or sleep and my soul felt like it was on fire. For once I was thankful I hadn't gotten my wolf yet. Things could have gotten much worse for me. But it just didn't make sense. Why had he gotten me all dolled up to reject me at the ceremony? Why didn't he just reject me from the beginning? The event was still very fresh in my mind as if it happened yesterday.

“I Jake Smith reject Yves Lopez as my mate”

I had snapped my head up to look at him immediately wondering if my mind was playing tricks on me.

The roaring crowd proved to me that I wasn’t and before I could ask him if he was pulling my legs, the pain from the rejection consumed me. It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. It felt like there was a scorching fire in my soul and an intense agony washed over me. Jake seemed unaffected and simply refused to look at me.

“Accept the rejection Yves” he had spat out, his voice cold.

No… no I couldn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to do it so I ran. The tears blinded me but I kept on running. I could hear the pack’s mockery of my humiliation.

“She’s so pathetic” one laughed.

“Did she really think he’d accept her sorry excuse of a wolf “? The other snickered at me.

“What wolf? She doesn't have one, not only is she worthless and stupid, she is a failure as well.” another mocked.

They continued and I ran faster, humiliated.

Shattered, I’d gotten to my room and tumbled onto the floor. The pain was excruciating and I crouched in a corner, clutching at my chest. I’d been that way for hours trying to recollect myself. Suddenly, mint and spice drifted into my nose, startling me. It was Jake and he was close to my room. What was he doing here?

“Oh my god” I jolted up, dawning on me that Jake must have realized he made a mistake and had come to rectify it. Frantically, I’d wiped my tears and hurried into the bathroom to wash my face. My makeup had smudged and I didn't want him to meet me, a mess. Just as I finished, there was banging on my door.

Opening the door, I was met with a shove from Jake. I stumbled back and he staggered into the room. His eyes were bloodshot and hazy and he smelt very strongly of alcohol.

“Jake wh-”

A punch to my head shut me up, the force of which sent me reeling backward. I froze in place on the floor trying to process what just happened; Jake had hit me.

“Shut up” He snapped, hauling me to the bed. He began tugging his clothes frantically and I froze, the realization of what he wanted to do dawning on me. Getting frustrated he couldn’t take off his clothes, he turned to me instead and began ripping mine. Terrified, I began screaming, dreading what was about to happen.

Seeing as I was uncooperative, Jake gave me another blow, this time to my left eye. I screamed in pain and my vision darkened. He pinned me down and my frail limbs flayed around looking for something to defend myself with. Nobody was coming to my aid and as the seconds ticked by, I grew hysterical. I sobbed, begged, pushed, and shoved but he still didn't budge.

Left with no other choice, I resigned to my last option.

“I Yves Lopez accept your rejection Jake Smith”

The pain I’d felt previously due to Jake’s rejection was nothing compared to my acceptance of it.

He must have felt it too as he stopped abruptly, pulling away from me while clawing at his head, his eyes changing their color. I knew his wolf was surfacing and then using whatever little strength I had left, I crawled to the bathroom and shut the door.

Jake came after me a few seconds after I'd shut the door. He pounded on it relentlessly and I was scared the door would give way, the thought of what he'd do if he got his hands on me terrifying me. Suddenly, he stopped but I didn't dare move. Shaken, I buried my face in my thighs, holding myself. I remained in that position all night long. It was dawn when I finally gathered the courage to peep into my room. Jake was gone.

********************

Here I was three weeks later, finally strong enough to go downstairs for the first time since that unfortunate incident. I'd survived with the help of Luna Beatrice. She always brought me food, most of which I did not eat, and drugs that helped me cope with my pain.

As I walked downstairs, I noticed the pack house was unusually quiet and everyone was sober. I couldn't figure out what was going on until I overheard two girls whispering to each other.

“We have to make sure we don't make any mistakes today. If anything goes wrong, he'd have our heads for it” one said.

“So it's true, the rumors I heard. You know, Alpha Phoenix once had a kitchen hand at Crawford Pack beheaded because he had added milk to his coffee. The second omega whispered to her friend.

The other one gasped, covering her mouth and looking around to see if anyone had overheard them.

“You mustn't speak of such things openly Dana. Your loud mouth would soon get us into trouble again.” she hushed her friend and pulled her forward.

“Come on Tera, nobody would be-” they were both interrupted by my presence. Throwing me looks of contempt tinged with the slightest bit of pity, they rushed away.

Not thinking much of it, I shrugged it off and set to finding an apple. It was none of my business anyway.

Before I could take another step, someone swung me back and I came face to face with Laura, a fierce expression on her face.

“You dare show yourself again?”

“I-I” I floundered

“I-I what? You'd expected you'd get to be with Jake? A piece of shit expecting to be mated to my brother? please.”

“You know, Mom and Dad should have had you thrown into the fire when they found you had killed your parents. No, you should have been devoured by rogues on the day Uncle Marcus found you.

Your parents even didn’t want you, do you know why? Because you're a despicable, filthy piece of trash that nobody wants to deal with”.

Laura’s words were like a thousand needling prickling me. Swallowing back the bile that rose at the back of my throat, I ran and sprinted up the stairs.

“That's right, mutt… run. Run like you ran on the night Jake rejected. That's all you can ever do” she sneered and her friends broke into laughter.

I continued running up the stairs until I got to the roof. Making sure I was alone, I collapsed and wept letting the sobs rake through my body. I’d been so foolish to think things would get better.

Each tear I shed came from the depth of my soul, a release of the pain and anguish I had bottled in me for so long.

Eventually, I stopped crying and sat on the edge of the roof looking out into the distance. The sun was setting and crimson and orange hues spread across the horizon. I'd never felt as much peace as I did now.

My mind wandered to Jake. He had been sent away.. probably to continue his studies but here I was, dealing with my pain and suffering alone.

I knew what I had to do to put myself out of my misery. Taking a resigned breath, I finalized my decision. Life was too gray for me and I couldn't take it anymore. I'd been rejected, publicly humiliated, and assaulted by my mate; my only hope. I had nothing more to lose.

“Mum, Dad, I'm coming” I whispered as I let myself tumble across the edge.

The sickening crunch of my bones filled my ears. As I lay in a pool of my blood, I saw a large man run towards me frantically. The sight of him awoke something ancient and primal in me and instinctively, I reached out towards him. But my hands fell slack; I had lost all my strength.

“Mate” he growled. His voice was the last thing I registered before succumbing to darkness.

Mate?