Chapter 3

Mallory's POV:

"Good evening, Alpha and Luna. We saw Sonia arrive at our house and summon Ace. What's the matter?" Ace's father, Beta Andrew Lennox, asked.

My father looked at his Beta and sighed. "Mallory accused Ace of sleeping with her in her room. Is that true, Ace?" he demanded, and Ace's parents gasped.

"What? Ace, tell me it's not true!" His mother, Lady Fiona, asked him.

Ace looked away from his parents' faces, his fist clenched as he glared at me.

"Say something, Ace, and know that you cannot lie to Alpha Bruce. Did you touch Mallory? You know that she's a useless she-wolf. She has no wolf, no scent, and seems like an ordinary human. How can you mate with a curse like her?" Ace's father demanded, and my fist clenched.

"I am not a curse!" I screamed, as I hated it whenever they called me that.

"Shut up, Mallory! But you killed your mother! Because of you, Ex-Luna Comfort died in the hospital. What else do you want to do? To ruin our pack and my son's life?" Beta Andrew queried me, glaring at me.

"I did not kill my mother. I did not ask to be born without a wolf or to be different from others. I didn't ask for any of it. I did not ask Ace to come into my room and mate with me. I am not the one who created myself, but the result of what my father gave my mother!" I screamed and cried, and Beta Andrew wanted to attack me on the ground where I knelt, but my father stopped him.

"That's enough, Andrew. It's not Mallory's fault that she was born differently, but what I want to know tonight is if Ace is the man who mated with my first daughter," my father demanded, his voice stern, and the large hall fell silent as all eyes shifted to Ace.

Ace lowered his gaze and replied, "Yes, Alpha."

"What?" Everyone in the hall gasped, including the guards who respected Ace, and they looked at him with disappointment.

I felt sorry for Ace because of me, he was going to get banished or lose his future position as our next alpha.

"Why, Ace?" His mother asked him tearfully. "Among all the beautiful she-wolves in our pack, why would you choose to sleep with Mallory? Why?" She sobbed, rushing to grab Ace by his shirt.

"Why, Ace? Why would you do this to us? I thought you loved me?" Sonia sobbed, clutching her mother's arm for support as tears poured from her eyes.

Ace lowered his head and confessed, "Mallory is my true mate, and I cannot resist her. Forgive me, Alpha Bruce. But if you want me to reject Mallory, I will do it. Please forgive me. I cannot fight the mating bond between us. Please..." Ace dropped to his knees before my father, who stood there silently and looked at us.

"Ace..." My father hissed, his voice filled with anger and disappointment. "You disappointed me. Why didn't you reject Mallory when you found out that she was your mate? How can you be attracted to her when she has no scent or wolf?" My father demanded, and everyone looked at Ace for an answer.

Ace lowered his head and replied, "Alpha Bruce, I blame the moon goddess. Mallory is beautiful in my eyes, and she scents like jasmine. I don't know why others cannot perceive her scent. But she has a lovely scent, and I can smell her."

"Shut up!" My father yelled, his cold voice booming in the hall. "I see that you are beginning to lose yourself because of Mallory. I will overlook your sins for tonight because you have shown your worth and can lead this pack well. And you have not been defeated in any outside battles before. But you must reject Mallory as your mate. I shall not have you become mated with my first daughter, and Mallory shall be expelled from this pack. Failure to do so will result in you being expelled with her too. As I cannot risk putting all our pack members' lives in danger by giving them a weak Luna," my father concluded, and tears welled in my eyes.

"No, father. You cannot force me to reject my mate. Tomorrow is my 18th birthday. I cannot reject Ace!" I cried, as I loved and wanted Ace too.

"Shut up, Mallory, before I cut your tongue! You better get ready to accept Ace's rejection unless you want me to do what I ought to do after you killed my mate!" My father yelled, and I looked at his face with tears in my eyes.

"I didn't kill Mom. The moon goddess knows that I am innocent. Someone else killed Mom so that she doesn't rule them as your Luna and not me. How can I do such a thing as a baby?" I queried my father, but he marched up to me and grabbed my long blonde hair.

"One more word from you, Mallory, and I will snap your head off your neck. Go on, Ace," my father said, letting go of me and looking away from my face, because I resembled my mother. Dad hated looking at my face. He believed I was the one who killed his beloved late mate.

"Please don't do this, Ace," I tried to mind-link him not to reject me, but I knew that he had the entire pack to protect and look after.

"Ace...." I cried, not wanting him to reject me, and he closed his eyes and said those hurtful rejecting words.

"I'm sorry, Mallory. I, Ace Lennox, the Beta's son of the Bright Moon Pack, reject you, Mallory Adonis, as my mate," Ace said, and my heart burned from the pain of his rejection.

"Accept his rejection, Mallory," my father yelled, and I knew that he was not joking about killing me.

With tears in my blue eyes, I shut my eyes and accepted, "I, Mallory Adonis, accept your rejection, Ace."

As I said those painful words, I passed out.