Chapter 1

Riley

“I, Brandon, reject you, Riley, as my mate.” Brandon said, his hand pressed against his chest as pain crossed his face.

My mouth quivered as I stared at him. The words I was supposed to say felt impossible to speak. My throat tightened, I could only stand there and stare at the man who was supposed to be my mate. The room felt strangely quiet despite the number of people watching us.

“Come, Riley. Say it and get it over with. We do not have all night.” My stepmother's impatient voice broke the silence.

I swallowed hard and looked at Nicole, my stepsister. She was smiling, not even trying to hide her happiness.

I slowly shifted my eyes toward my father, Alpha Bloodwyn had a smug smile on his face too. He didn't look heartbroken. He didn't look concerned about his daughter standing in front of him, waiting to have her heart ripped apart.

Brandon looked at me again, his expression hardening. “Come on, Riley. You did not seriously think I was going to accept you as my mate, did you? Tell me, what exactly do you have to offer me? You have no wolf, no talent, nothing that could possibly benefit me. I refuse to waste my life with you.”

I had always known I was different. I had grown up without a wolf, without any special ability that could make my pack proud of me. I had spent most of my life being reminded that I was less than everyone else but hearing it from my own mate was different.

But I knew one thing, I deserved better than Brandon. I deserved a mate who would value the bond between us instead of throwing it away because he believed I could not help him achieve his ambitions.

I took a shaky breath and forced myself to stand straight. “I, Riley Ashford, accept your rejection.”

The moment the words left my mouth, an unbearable pain tore through my chest. I gasped, my knees gave way, and I crashed onto the floor.

A scream escaped my lips as the pain spread through my entire body. It felt as though something inside my chest was being ripped apart piece by piece. I curled into myself, clutching my chest as tears streamed down my face.

I could barely breathe, then I heard the clapping of hands, they were celebrating. While I was lying on the floor, crying and struggling through the pain of rejection, they were clapping as if something wonderful had just happened.

My heart broke all over again. I didn't know how long I remained on the floor. Eventually, the pain began to fade, I slowly pushed myself up, my hands trembling as I struggled to stand. When I finally looked toward the dining table, Brandon and Nicole were already sitting beside each other. The dinner I had prepared was still on the table, and they were eating it together.

I stared at them for a moment, I had spent hours preparing that meal.

I simply turned around and walked out of the room. I made my way to my bedroom and quietly closed the door behind me. The moment I was alone, whatever strength I had been holding onto disappeared.

I walked toward my small bed and sat down. It was so tiny that it could barely hold me comfortably, but it was the only place in this house that felt like it belonged to me. I pulled my knees toward my chest and began to cry. I had foolishly believed things were finally going to get better.

My father, Alpha Bloodwyn, had an affair while he was away fighting in a war. That affair resulted in me, my mother had never known that he was already mated. She loved him and believed that someday he would come back for us.

But he never did, when my mother became sick, she wrote a letter and asked someone to deliver it to my father after her death. That letter was the reason I eventually came here.

I had arrived believing that finally finding my father would change my life but I was wrong. I never knew my father already had a mate, I never knew he had another daughter.

Sophia and her mother had made my life a living hell from the moment I came to this house. My father knew what was happening, but he always looked the other way. Maybe it was guilt. Maybe he felt responsible for bringing me into this world under such complicated circumstances. Whatever the reason was, his silence never helped me.

Instead of being treated like his daughter, I was turned into a maid. I was expected to wake up early every morning, clean the entire house, prepare meals, wash clothes, and take care of every chore that needed to be done. There was hardly a moment when I was allowed to rest.

And whenever there was a pack activity, I was expected to stay behind. I wasn't allowed to attend celebrations, gatherings, or important pack events. I was treated as though I didn't belong to the pack simply because I didn't have a wolf.

Today was supposed to be different. It was the pack mating ceremony, a special event where every unmated wolf was given the chance to meet their destined mate.

For two years, I had been waiting for the opportunity.

I had turned eighteen two years ago, the age when wolves were usually able to find their mates, but Sophia's mother had refused to let me attend. Her reason was simple, Sophia hadn't found her mate.

For five years, she had attended the mating ceremony and returned home disappointed every single time. Because she was still unmated, her mother had decided that I wasn't allowed to search for my own mate until Sophia found hers.

I had never understood why my life had to be put on hold because of hers but I had no choice.

Today, Sophia had returned home crying again after failing to find her mate for the fifth time.

She was devastated, and somehow, her disappointment once again became my problem. Dad had promised her that he would find her a husband instead. He had decided that there was no point waiting for her destined mate anymore and that he would simply arrange a marriage for her.

That was how Brandon came into the picture. Dad had asked me to prepare dinner and had invited Brandon to our home. Brandon was the son of Dad's Beta, and Dad had always hoped that he would eventually take his position as Alpha. He was also one of the most admired wolves in the kingdom.

Almost every unmated she-wolf admired him, I never imagined that he would turn out to be my mate. But when Brandon arrived that evening, the mate bond hit us both.

For the first time in my life, I thought perhaps something good had finally happened to me. But Sophia wanted him, she refused to accept that I was his mate and made it clear that she wanted Brandon for herself.

Brandon didn't even hesitate, he rejected me right there. And just like that, Sophia had taken something else from me.

I sat alone in my tiny room, listening to their voices drifting through the house. Their laughter and their excited chatter. I could hear them celebrating while I sat alone with a broken heart.

Something inside me finally snapped, I had spent years watching Sophia take everything from me. I couldn't stay here and watch Sophia live the life that should have been mine while I continued to suffer in silence.

I suddenly stood up, I was leaving. I looked around my small room and gathered the few things that actually belonged to me. There wasn't much. Most of my belongings had been given to me years ago, and I had never been allowed to have much of anything.

I packed everything I could carry. Then I reached for the small amount of money I had secretly saved over the years. It wasn't much but it was enough to get me started.

I quickly changed into a dark hoodie and a pair of sweatpants. They were simple and comfortable, and more importantly, they would help me blend into the darkness when I escaped the Kingdom.

I threw my backpack over my shoulder and stood in the middle of my small room, looking around one last time. This room had been my home for more than half of my life.

I took a slow breath and looked at it one final time. Just as I reached for the door, a knock suddenly sounded. I froze, I wasn't expecting anyone.

“Riley, the Alpha asks for your presence right away,” a maid's voice came from the other side of the door.

My stomach dropped. Why did Dad want to see me? I quickly dropped my backpack beside the bed. I couldn't risk going upstairs looking like I was preparing to run away. I changed back into the dress I had been wearing earlier. I forced myself to calm down and walked out of the room.

When I reached the living room upstairs, I immediately noticed that Brandon was gone. Sophia was sitting comfortably beside her mother, Etsy, and the two of them were chatting happily.

As soon as Sophia noticed me, her smile widened. “Look who finally showed her face,” Sophia said. “Look, don't worry, Riley. You are going to find someone else, someone in the same class as you, maybe an omega or a rogue.”

She burst into laughter. I clenched my fingers at my sides and forced myself not to react.

“Come on, you know it's your duty to clear the table. It's not going to clear itself,” Etsy, my stepmother, said.

I looked toward my father, he was sitting there silently. I had thought he was the one who had called for me. I had assumed there was something important he wanted to discuss with me, but he didn't even look in my direction.

I lowered my eyes and walked toward the dining table. I had just started clearing the plates when the sound of several cars pulling into our driveway suddenly filled the night.

My hands stopped moving. Everyone in the room went silent. We looked at one another, confusion immediately appearing on our faces.

It was almost midnight, we weren't expecting anyone. My father suddenly stood up, he hurried toward the window and looked outside.

For a few seconds, he didn't move, then I saw the color drain from his face. His expression changed completely, he looked horrified. Slowly, he turned away from the window and faced us.

“It's the custodians,” he said. A gasp escaped all of us.