Chapter Four - Rejecting Jaxon Whitfield

Avaline

I could feel his friends crowding around us to watch the drama, as always. A gasp erupted from the crowd as the last words escaped my lips.

He snarled and leaned closer. “What did you say, Omega?”

I didn’t bow down. “You heard me, Jaxon. If you hate me so much, why don’t you reject me?” This time, I said it loud and clear for all to hear.

There was a pin-dropping silence all around. No one had expected an omega to demand a rejection.

“Jaxon, reject her!” screamed Valerie.

“Throw her out of the pack!” yelled Tiffany.

“She’s inciting you to accept her as your mate, Jaxon!” yelled Valerie, her face twisted with hatred.

“Leave her, bro. Let’s enjoy the night,” said Levi.

“No, she needs to be punished. I won’t allow an omega to forget her place.” Jaxon trembled with fury as he yanked my arm behind my back. “Kneel and apologize to me. Or you’ll meet the same fate as your mother.”

I yanked my arm free from Jaxon’s hold when Valerie lunged forward and leered at me. “Kneel like your mother did, who*e. Do you think we don’t know how you got favors from Alpha Jason?”

I lost my mind and slapped her as hard as I could. “That’s your forte, bit*h. Spreading your legs for another’s fated mate is your pastime. Not mine.” I topped it with another resounding slap to her other cheek. Blood oozed from the brunt of the hit, and she staggered to the ground.

The crowd went crazy, lunging at me.

“Bi*ch! Do you have a death wish!” yelled Theodus, losing his mind.

I stepped backward and pulled out my phone. “I’m under the Shifter Council’s protection. Touch me, and you’ll end up in prison,” I snarled, baring my fangs.

They stepped backward, hesitating a little. But Jaxon sprang at me. “You’ll pay for this, omega. I’ll break you until you beg for mercy to be accepted as my mate.”

I evaded his attack, whirled, and shoved him away. He didn’t know I wasn’t the weak omega he thought I was. In a year, I had learned to fight for myself. “Never. Because I, Avaline Carter, daughter of Annabelle Carter, granddaughter of Adeline Carter, reject you, Jaxon Whitfield, as my fated mate. I sever the Moon Goddess’s bond between us.”

An invisible thread around my heart snapped. Gasps erupted from the surrounding crowd. No one had expected an omega to reject a beta. In our shifter world, an omega never wielded that power. Only an Alpha or Beta could.

Jaxon stood shocked, gripping his chest hard. His face contorted with agony while his friends watched him in horror.

My chest exploded with pain, and I staggered backwards, biting my lip to endure it.

“No, I refuse to accept your rejection!” he yelled, gripping me by my arms, his eyes swirling with rage.

“You don’t get to reject me. I’m your fated mate. I’ll do what I like with you.” He hoisted me over his shoulders, and I shrieked with fright. It was so sudden; before I could retaliate, he strode over to his car.

“Let me go. I want nothing to do with you. I’d rather die than accept you as my fated mate.” I thrashed, but he was way stronger than me. My combat training was nothing compared to his years of training at an elite academy in Alaska.

“Then your punishment will be worse than death.” His grim voice sent a shiver through my body.

“Punishment for what? Are you mad I‌ rejected you? Shouldn’t you be happy you can go back to your who*e?” I kicked him hard, but nothing seemed to affect him at all. He opened his car and slipped in with me. Dumping me onto the passenger seat, he locked the car door and turned to face me.

His fingers clamped onto my chin and forced me to look at him. There was no gentleness in his touch. He seemed more like my enemy than my mate. At that moment, I hated him. “Punishment for insulting me. I don’t take orders from an omega. You need to be taught a lesson for forgetting your place.”

I jerked his hand off, glaring back at him instead. “What about the multiple times you have insulted me? You deserve punishment as well.”

His hand went to my throat, pinning my head against the seat. I gripped his hand to yank it off me. But his vice-like grip was hellbent on choking me. “I’m your mate. I can do what I please with you. You’re mine to punish, mine to torture, and mine to kill.”

I struggled to breathe against his grip. “Let me go. I don’t accept you as my mate. I belong to no one. You’re nothing to me.” I choked out, shoving and clawing at him. I didn’t know where he was taking me, and I had no wish to find out. To him, I was a mere plaything, to torture and mess with. I was his slave. But he didn’t know me. I would rather die than be his slave. I might be an omega in the pack, but still I had my dignity.

“Say that again, and I’ll make your life a living hell,” he hissed, his eyes swirling with ‌mad rage.

I didn’t fear him. Looking straight into his raging eyes, I snarled, prying his fingers off my neck. “You’re nothing to me, *ssh*l*. One phone call from me to the council will destroy your beta dreams forever.” I fumbled with my phone, but he yanked it out of my hand.

“Watch your tone, omega! I’m surprised by your audacity. It seems I have to teach you your correct place in our pack.” He pulled ‌a rope out of the glove box and tied my hands and feet.

I scoffed and glared at him. “So you’ve come prepared, huh? Are you in the habit of tying helpless females to have your way around? You disgust me, Jaxon Whitfield.” It was impossible to free myself despite struggling.

“You talk too much.” He pulled a tape and covered my mouth.

The car sped down the road towards the suburbs while I struggled to free myself. Why hadn’t I escaped when I could? Why hadn’t I headed straight to the store and gone home? Now, it was too late to regret. Jaxon Whitfield wasn’t mate material. He was a monster in disguise. What was he planning to do with me? I didn’t want to find out. I considered my options for escaping him. There were none.

I glanced at his grim profile and his flashing ruby-red eyes. Our encounter seemed to have unleashed the beast in him. Now, he would never let me go. My heart pounded with fear as I glanced at my phone in his pocket. If only I could call Alpha Jason.

He drove on without sparing me a glance. Was he actually my fated mate? I had heard fated mates were loving, caring, and protective forever. But Jaxon was far from those. Why did the Moon Goddess play such a cruel joke on me? After my mother’s death, I had no one to call my own. Why couldn’t I have a loving mate? Was that too much to ask for?

Suddenly the car jerked to a stop, and I looked around the forested surroundings. We had almost reached Death Valley, from where no one had returned alive. Was he planning to throw me there?