ALPHA'S SECOND CHANCE: Moonlight Redemption

_AVA_

"Ava, you don't have to do this. Come back to the pack, and I promise that no one else will hear about this." Hayes spoke, surrounding me with a few guards as they catch up to me.

I look at him, tears threatening to fall from my eyes, with so much anger in my heart. Hayes is my destined mate and I'm his Luna, but to an extent, it was all a facade.

He doesn't like me, he hated the thought of me being his mate, but here he is, standing on the path and trying to stop me from leaving.

"Haven't you done enough, Hayes? Or rather, Alpha Reid?" I felt the anger in my heart threatening to spill out, "Why do you chase after me? To stop me from leaving?!"

"Don't you see what you're doing is madness?!" He retorted, yelling, "How can the Luna flee from her own pack? From her duty to guide and nurture the members of the pack?!" 

He was right.

It was truly madness, but I can't possibly turn around and go back with him, can I?

With tears burning at the back of my eyes, I stared straight into his eyes.

"I, Ava Chester, reject you, Hayes Reid, Alpha of the Nightshade Pack as my Mate. I will no longer lead by your side as Luna of Nightshade Pack."

Immediately the words left my lips, I felt something snap—my heart feeling torn and my wolf winced.

I gasped, holding my chest, trying to stop the pain that wracked through my whole body, but it was to no avail.

Hayes had a look of pain on his face too, and although he tried not to show it, I knew he also felt our connection break.

"I... I... I won't accept this rejection, Ava." He managed to say, amidst deep gasps.

"You've tormented me for over a month now, Hayes, don't you think it's time to free me from your torment and let me go?"

I saw pain—and something else I couldn't quite figure out—flash through his features as he bored his deathly eyes into me, as if only realising now how much pain he had caused me.

He looked away, bringing his eyes to the floor and fell on his knees.

At that moment I felt the thread tying us both snap instantly, signifying that our bond was now broken. I fell to the floor, crouching and holding my chest from the excruciating pain I felt inside me.

It felt like I was being torn apart from within, and my wolf winced. She was in pain, and I was too.

Hayes was... He's the only man I have ever been so in love with.

But the blind love that made me overlook everything he did evaporated into thin air when I saw him with another woman yesterday, just a week after we had finally spent the night together.

If anyone had told me about two months ago that I would one day reject Hayes as my mate, I'd have had the person executed and his head put on a stake.

Just a month ago I found out he was my destined mate, right before my mating ceremony.

I remember the day just like yesterday because my mating ceremony was held on the day I turned Eighteen...

         ~.   .~

I hold my dad's arm as he walks me down the aisle, taking gentle steps that never seemed to end, anxious, before every guest present and watching me intently.

The steps got shorter as I approached the center and when I looked, I saw him there—standing and watching, his eyes fixed intently on me, and I burned under his gaze.

Today is my Eighteenth birthday, and it's going to be a memorable one for me. Usually, wolves in our pack mature when they turn eighteen, and now that I'm finally eighteen, I'll get t see my wolf for the first time!

On top of that, in a few minutes, I'll finally be officially mated with the man of my dreams, to whom I was betrothed.

Hayes Reid, the Alpha of the Nightshade pack and Lycan King of the entire Eastern Packs, has been the subject of my curiosity since I got to know I was betrothed to him.

My father always spoke of him with such reverence, painting a picture of a leader who was both fearsome and fair.

How great he was at fighting against rogues and enemy packs, protecting his own pack like his life depended on it, and with each tale told to me, I found myself weaving fantasies of our union, dreaming of the days I'd lead a life with him.

However, the picture I had painted of us both was all it was— a mere fantasy, I realized, after meeting him for the first time  few hours prior.

I was never allowed to meet him before the mating ceremony but like fate would have it, he wandered around in my father's house, just minutes before the ceremony started, and I saw him. I didn't even know he was the one at first.

I had opened the door and was walking out of my room when someone walked past my door and down the hallway, his back against me.

He was tall, with a chiseled jaw that complemented his handsome god-like face and strands of his dark hair fell to his face as he looked at me.

My senses became heightened, and I could smell him. He smelled delicious, and I wanted to devour him.

Subconsciously, I held my breath— How was I to breathe the same air as this god?

His lips parted like he was about to say something, but strangely enough, he said nothing.

His eyes were thoroughly fixated on me, as if entranced.

My wolf awakened.

He was my mate?

I know today's my eighteenth year birthday and my wolf is supposed to awaken today, but why at the sight of a total stranger? Why not when I woke up this morning, or later in the day?

I used to think my mate would be whoever I was going to get mated to but ever since I found out about my betrothal, I kind of gave that fantasy up.

But sending my mate my way few minutes before I am to be mated to another was a cruel joke. A cruel joke from the moon goddess.

How dare she play with my desti—

"How... How... How are you my mate?" He stammered, his face full of rage. He didn't seem to happy about it.

My stance faltered for a second, and I had to reposition myself where I stood to stop my knees from giving way.

Why is he so angry that I'm his mate?