Chapter One

Ice’s POV.

The man I love wants to marry me off.

If given the choice, I would not be here in the Annual Debutante Ball where unmated young werewolf ladies from surrounding regions join in hope of finding their mates. Master Athan asked me to come here. I am a trainer working in his academy and a girl he adopted.

The gazes I receive from people around me are making me sweat. I really should not sweat though because the make up I have put on for a good two hours is going to get ruined, and no one wants to see me with mascara dripping from my eyes. 

“Aren’t you proud of me?” My wolf, Fiona, asks me from my mind. For werewolf races, we have two entities in us, one being the human form and the other being the wolf form.

“I am,” I answered her while briskly walking towards the beverage station. “But I am not a people person.” 

Fiona hums.

I shake my head and try to focus on what is in front of me. While pouring a drink in my glass, a delicious smell hit my nose that made my wolf stir. I pause and immediately look around the room, finding what it is.

To my surprise, I blush when I see the gorgeous Master Athan show up with a stern look on his face. He is the leader of the Wolfson Academy. Without being labelled as an Alpha or a Beta, I believe Master Athan is much more than those wordly titles but I am yet to unravel his true identity.

His signature golden hair is swept to the side and he’s looking hot in the suit that he rarely wears. As if he can sense my eyes on him, we locked eyes and instantly. At a providential moment, I feel my world slow down. The chatter around me dies down and everything else becomes blurry, irrelevant.

“My mate!” My wolf screams. I never dare to expect that Moon Goddess deems me worthy of his destined mate. He’s out of my league.

“Are you sure?” I ask her without breaking my eye contact with him. I feel my blood boiling in desire to claim him as mine. Could it possibly be true to have the love of my life as my soulmate?

“Go to him!” She spurs me. “Go to our mate!”

I walk towards him with a small smile and watch as his eyes grow wide. Is he as excited as I am? “Master,” I whisper to him. “It seems like you are my mate.”

He blinks, as if he is going out of his trance-like state, and gives me a nod. “It seems so.” Without another pause, he continues. “And with that, I reject you.”

What?” I ask out loud while my wolf purrs in pain. “I’m sorry Master, but I think I heard you wrong.” I force out a chuckle while taking a step back. “Can you repeat what you said?”

He sighs. “I, Athan Sinclair, reject you, Ice Whitlock, as my mate. Do you accept it?”

Rejection is the ultimate humiliation for werewolves with tremendous pain both mentally and physically. I feel my world collapsing within a split second but my answer to his question is simple: I transform into my wolf form, snarl, and angrily lunge at him.

I can’t remember much of the details with what happens afterwards, but I do know that when I wake up, I find myself chained to the wall as a prisoner.

Master Athan has tons of prison rooms, and this Red Zone is reserved for the most ruthless and vile werewolves. I can’t believe he would put me here. Although I understand that my skills as one of the deadliest werewolves in the academy is dangerous, I don’t think that the reason justifies why he would lock me up here. Most especially because we are mates.

Blinking the sleep away, I silently seeth when pain envelops me as my senses come back. The wounds on my wrist due to the handcuffs and the slashes from the whipping are stinging, but it doesn’t even compare to the pain I immediately felt when my wolf was rejected by Master Athan last night.

Thoughts about my situation are cut short when the prison door is slammed open. The light that comes from the door blinds my eyesight, causing me to blink a few times to adjust.

I have no idea why my trainees are here, their youthful scents mixing with the smell of ominousness in the Red Zone. But one thing is for sure: they are not here to check up on me. We just don’t have that type of relationship. Knowing them, they are probably here to add insult to my wounds. Their growls and snarls are enough to prove my point.

“You’re creating a real mess like yourself, Miss Ice.” Jenisse snickers. Following her gaze that is locked below at my feet, just like what she said, I have indeed created a mess. Bright red liquid drenches my feet. There must be wolfsbane in the air right now because if she had not pointed it out, then my wolf would not have smelled the metallic smell of my own pool of blood.

My best student Kentari shakes her head and mutters, “How dare you blaspheme the honourable Master? It’s a shame for you to let Master Athan down.”

“And can you believe that she was the Master’s favourite?” Franceska, the queen bee of the group, clicks her tongue sarcastically. 

I bite my tongue to make sure that I won’t respond to any of their taunts. Despite not having a good relationship with them, I’m not expecting this amount of hostility from them. After all, I am, or was, their trainer. 

Every year, hundreds of eligible pups from all around the world are sent to the Wolfson Academy by their parents to get warrior training. I was one of the trainees before I levelled up, but the reason why I came here was different. Twelve years ago I was orphanized by a massive rogue attack in my home pack. It was Master Athan who found me crying at my parent’s grave.

“Would you like to go with me?” He knelt beside me and gently wiped the tears on my face. I looked at the man with the embodiment of perfection. He was wearing formal attire and an aura of death surrounded him.

“Where are we going?” The graveyard was silent except for my wracking sob. Back then I had nowhere to go. I was all alone. 

“A place where there are no tears to shed.” His voice traversed space and time, just to reach my ears. 

I nodded in a half-conscious state of mind-spinning fatigue. He took me back to the Wolfson Academy where the hierarchy exists as such that everybody bends over backwards to impress him. Over time, I became a Second Upper Moon Warrior as a tangent result of my constant and dedicated efforts for Master Athan’s praise. I would gladly pierce someone’s heart even if I get pierced by the enemy if that meant making Master Athan happy. 

“What are you doing here?” The door opens once again. Master Athan’s voice booms loudly, echoing around the enclosed space. The room is quickly filled with his domineering musky scent, just like what a true man should smell like. His usually cleanly gelled blonde hair is messy as if he kept on running through it, and the piercing look in his golden eyes are enough to make me fall on my knees despite all these restraints.

The young trainees acknowledge his presence through a chain of respectful greetings. I can still feel how my students are turning into goo as they fangirl to my mate’s perfection. That thought is enough to make me clench my fist and forcefully hold in a possessive growl.

“Master, we were just visiting Miss Ice.” Kentari answers him while swirling a piece of her golden locks. “We were…” She trails off, making Franceska finish her sentence, “Worried. We were worried for her.”

“Now, we would not like to have Flix punish you all for arriving late in class, would we?” Master Athan gives them a warm smile before pointing to the door and continues, “Hurry back to your classes.”

“Goodbye, Master!” They giggle as they hurriedly dash out of the Red Zone, leaving me alone with my mate who rejected me.

Now that our students are gone, his kind and gentleman façade has fallen. His once kind eyes turn dark as he prowls to where I am. He grabs my chin harshly, forcing me to stare deeply into his angry eyes.

“The only consequence of disobedience is death.” His animosity made me flinch. It’s true, though. After all, that is the only rule in the Wolfson Academy.

“But I am your mate. why can’t you choose me?” I look up and let out a whimper as I try to beg him to accept me as his mate. Please, don’t do this to me. How can he bear to see me fettered and bleeding? Can’t he feel my pain as the metallic chain is embedded in my wrists, causing the flesh to sting with burning friction? But why does it seem like he doesn’t care?

“I REJECTED YOU!” He growls, making my heart skip a beat for all the wrong reasons.

“I don’t care! We are deemed compatible by the Moon Goddess herself. That means that I am yours as you are mine.” I rasp out. Pain erupts from my heart. He could be cold and heartless, but never with me. Where is my savior? The man who saved me when I was lost, sad, and abandoned? The man who told me that I should not condemn myself for being the only survivor after the vicious rogue attack. The man who would gently pat my back to sooth me at night whenever I dream of the disturbing memory on stormy nights. Where has he gone?

“Ice,” He calms down. “I will release you after you accept my rejection- ”

“Never.” I roar out loud. “I will never accept your rejection!”

“Then this meeting is meaningless.You will remain here until you reflect on your mistakes and accept my rejection.” He says as he drops his hand. My already broken heart gets crushed into even smaller pieces and my wolf whines out in pain. I wish I could say that I don’t need him. That I accept his rejection and move on. But I can’t.

Whatever. Even if he can’t feel anything, I do.

“Then you will lose your best Second Upper Moon Warrior.” I yell at him, “Because I would rather rot here than let you go, Master!”

That makes him stop on his track. For a second, I assume he would apologize. Or at least acknowledge that he is purposely hurting me and would explain why he is doing this.

I just need him to acknowledge me.

I need him.

He turns around and I hold in a sob from the anger that is evident in his eyes. I have known Master for more than half of my life and the look in his eyes screams that I should not have said what I said.

“Then you shall rot.” With that, he leaves.