Chapter 2

Elena had never thought she would have this kind of drama in her life. She and Cory grew up together and had been dating since middle school. Friends around them always teased them and commented negative things about their relationship, because all teenage lovers will break up eventually after they turn 18. But she and Cory ignored all those voices and held faith in their love.

“I would reject whoever it would be if we were not mates.”

Right on his 17th birthday, a year before they could locate their mates, he had made that promise.

Elena was wearing a crimson cocktail dress that night, very elegant and beautiful. They held each other’s hands, swirling on the dancing floor slowly with the most soothing music in the world.

She didn’t drink that night but she was seriously drunk, about him. She placed her head on his shoulder and whispered, “You’re lying.”

“No, I am not!” Cory insisted, and then said, “Do you want me to swear to you? Or put a curse on myself? If someday in the future I betray you or hurt you in any way, let the Moon Goddess-”

“Don’t!” She put her fingers on his lips and interrupted him, looking at him worriedly, “Please don’t say such things. It scares me.”

“Then you must trust me,” he held her hand, and then kissed her fingers. “I will do anything for you, L. Anything. For me, nothing in the world values as much as you. Not even the Moon Goddess. You are the love of my life. I will never give up on you. Never. No matter what happens.”

That was a little disrespectful, but was such sweet talk. Elena curled up her lips, and then put her head back on his shoulder. “I trust you, Cory. I love you as much as you love me. I would reject him too if my mate wasn’t you. But I am worrying about the reality.”

“What reality?” He stroked her hair gently.

“Your parents and mine,” she whispered. “Your father will never allow you to marry a girl who isn’t your mate. You are the future Alpha. You need your mate. And my father. He always does everything your father tells him to. He won’t allow me with you, either.”

“Then we elope,” he said very decisively. It surprised Elena . She raised her head and then looked at him amazedly, “You can’t be serious about that. You are the future Alpha. The Kingdom, our people need you.”

“And I need you,” he said with a serious look on his face. “My father could always find another heir. He is a very powerful wolf, almost omnipotent. But he can never make me leave you.” His tone was serious too.

Elena knew he meant real. She bit her bottom lip hesitantly but eventually curled her lips to a happy smile, “I will be with you no matter what, as long as you still want me.”

“Unless the sky fell down and the sea dried out.” He made that swear and then kissed her so deeply.

The following year was pure tor/ture for them. Every single day, there were voices, gossip, or “kind” reminders which suggested they should break up.

Elena ’s mother dropped her numerous hints and her father talked with her multiple times. She ignored them. And when Cory’s 18th birthday came, they skipped this huge birthday party his mother prepared for him and drove to the sea.

They sat on the beach, holding hands with each other, waiting for the moon to rise. When that glowing ball reached the middle of the sky, their fates would be sealed.

Elena was three days younger than Cory, but they would know once Cory turned 18. They sat there with each other. The wind was blowing furiously as if trying to take their souls away.

Tears had never stopped coming out of Elena ’s eyes and Cory just kept his arm around her. They cuddled, whispered, kissed, and swore to each other. And then, when the moon shone, they caught that magic smell from each other.

Everything in the world just clicked at that moment and they laughed, yelled, cried, and almost went crazy.

After they came back, Cory’s parents gave him a really harsh lecture. But no one had said anything about their relationship since that day, except for congratulations, blessings, and sometimes, even jealousy.

Cory was the next Alpha and the cutest boy. She was just Beta's daughter with nothing. She wasn’t even that gorgeous, just above average.

They said she got lucky. If she hadn’t grown up with Cory, she would definitely have been rejected. To Alphas like Cory, when it came to mate, bloodlines would come first. Having a Beta father or not, as long as she wasn’t an Alpha heir, she was as useless as an Omega.

Elena had never cared about those rumors. As long as she was with Cory, she would be satisfied and happy.

Heirs and bloodlines were the things which had never crossed her mind, until today. He dumped her for a pretentious dragon girl in front of so many people. And he locked her in prison.

She shed so many tears during the day that it almost dehydrated her. Night, she laid there in the dark cell motionlessly, and almost lost all her feelings.

She didn’t hate Cory for locking her up. She knew she shouldn’t have attacked that dragon girl. She hated him because he gave up on her so easily and…she was still in love with him deeply.

So why?

Why was this happening?

And why was this happening to her?

After all those hellish tor/tures she had been through, she thought she was finally allowed to be happy.

She cried, and cried, and cried soundlessly.

At around midnight, after the guards changed shifts, the iron door at the entrance creaked and some visitors walked inside the prison.

Elena quickly sat up from the rugged stone bed and wiped off her tears. From the corridor outside her cell came two sets of familiar footsteps, but none of them belonged to Cory. She knew they were her parents, Orion and Eleanor.

She must have caused huge trouble for them. She felt so ashamed and guilty.

“Are you alright, baby?”

Eleanor was an elegant, tall lady with a head of ear-short brown hair. As the female Beta of the Kingdom, she gave people the impression of being harsh and distant, but for Elena , she was the best mother ever.

Once they reached the cell, she stepped forward and asked Elena worriedly.

The bars were made of silver, making it difficult for them to get close to each other. Elena stood behind it, wiping tears with her sleeves, and whispered, “I am fine, Mom.” Her voice was hoarse from all the crying.

Her father, Orion, sighed. He was out to the South for business and had just come back an hour ago. Before he got that phone call from Eleanor, no one had informed him anything about Cory’s engagement with Dragon. He was upset about being ruled out of this important decision, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it.

The climate in the kingdom’s territory was getting worse than ever. They were losing land suitable for wolves to live every day. If they didn’t get that alliance with dragons, wolves might go extinct from this land in less than 50 years.

Cory and Alpha Jordan were making sacrifices here too. Everyone knows what it takes for an Alpha wolf to renounce its mate. He was not only betraying his own heart, but also disobeying his belief, the Moon Goddess.

But in such a pressing situation, who could blame them? They were sacrificing themselves for the bigger picture here.

“Listen, dear,” Orion stepped forward too, he sighed frustratedly before he started to talk to his daughter, “I need you to get over Cory. Let him…You need to reject each other and move on. We need that alliance with Dragons, sweetie. It’s a life and death matter.”

Elena responded to him with nothing. She kept her head lowered, sobbing softly. She knew they needed to ally with dragons. She wasn’t stupid or selfish. She just assumed there could be other ways.

“But he is my mate,” she whispered. Tears were running down her cheeks silently, “Why did she have to take my mate away from me?”

That was a question no one could answer.

Dragons were creatures who were arrogant and bossy, almost despising everything that wasn’t their own kind. To ally with wolves by marriage was a surprising, totally irregular decision. But it was their choice. And the ship had already sailed.

“Cory didn’t love you, dear.” Orion’s tone was harsh. He didn’t know whether he was telling the truth or not, but he knew it was the right thing to say. “If he truly loved you, he would have fought for you no matter what. Even if he failed, he could have informed you personally in advance. But he didn’t. Instead, he embarrassed you in public and humiliated you in front of your peers. No one would treat their loved ones in that way, dear. He didn’t care about you. He didn’t love you at all.”

Elena cried. Her already wounded heart was shredded into pieces again. Eleanor cast a blamed glance at her husband. But she didn’t disagree with him, “Listen to your father, sweetie. A man who treated you like that could never deserve even one percent of your love, whether he is your mate or not. Just drop him out of your life and move on. You will find someone else. I promise. The Moon Goddess always gives her loved ones a second chance.”

“But I love him,” she said, “I just couldn’t stop loving him.”

That was a problem no one could solve. The cell dropped into dead silence again. After a few seconds, the guard’s talking voice started coming closer from outside the iron door at the entrance. It was a signal for them to leave. Elena was imprisoned as a felon. No visitor should be allowed strictly.

Eleanor sighed and persuaded her daughter for one last time, “Just give up on Cory, sweetie. It’s not worth it. You shouldn’t waste yourself on someone who doesn’t love you.”

“But I do love her, Madam. I truly do.”

Out of the blue, a male voice interrupted them and then, a handsome tall figure walked out from the adjacent cell.

Elena ’s heart was ripped open again when she recognized that figure.

It was her mate, Cory.