Chapter 4

Tessa

“Doctor, what is it?” I ask again, my voice above a whisper.

He hesitates for a moment and when he opens his mouth to speak, Freya, my best friend, walks in.

“Tess, you're finally awake.”

She rushes to my side, her brown eyes swollen from long crying. She gently grabs my hand, clutching it like she’s afraid I’ll disappear if she lets go.

“Doctor Sampson, thank you.” She says to the doctor.

“I will leave you two.” He replies and departs.

“You scared the hell out of me,” she says as she leans closer.

Tears fill up in my eyes immediately and flow down my cheeks. I sit up, wiping my tears.

“Tess,” she calls out.

“Jasmine is dead,” I say, breaking into tears again.

She wraps her arms around me, pulling me into a warm embrace. Her hands stroke my hair gently as I cry against her shoulder.

“I know, I know,” she whispers, holding me tighter.

“I'm going to kill that monster!!! He killed Jasmine!”

She suddenly pulls away from me, her lips pressing together like she’s holding something back.

“Freya, what is it?”

“There’s something you should know, Tess,” she says, her voice trembling. “George has told everyone that it was you who killed your sister Jasmine and Rose claims to have witnessed it.”

“What?”

“They said you were jealous of her, he said when he came, it was too late for her…..Though… he fought you, you managed to kill her.”

“But that's not true!” I shake my head slowly, my hands clutching the sheets.

I have to find a way to prove my innocence; I cannot bear the thought of what my father would do to me if he believed I killed Jasmine.

My mind races, desperate to hold onto anything that could save me from this nightmare. And then I remember the camera.

“Freya,” I say quickly, widening my cheeks a bit.

Instantly, before I can utter another word, George walks in with Philip, my boyfriend and mate.

My heart skips a beat. Seeing Phillip stand beside George shatters my heart; I am imagining the worst already; his eyes are even avoiding meeting mine.

And as for the scumbag, he seems healed up already.

“Well, well,” George smirks, “I heard you need your mate’s mark to fully heal.” He stops at the foot of my bed, arms crossed. “Guess what, Bastard? That’s never going to happen.”

I ignore him, throwing my gaze at Phillip.

Philip and I have been in a relationship for eight months and he is nineteen, just two years older than me. I found out he was my mate the moment we met each other and we grew fond of each other instantly.

“Hey… what's going on? You look pale.”

Rather than replying, he holds my hands and leans in closer. Freya shifts a bit to contain him. Tears well up and he slowly wipes my tears.

“I'm so sorry…”

“I don't understand…. You've done nothing to me, Philip….. In fact, the doctor said your mark would heal my wolf. I know you wanted us to wait till we get married but ....”

“Shhhh… you have to stop talking.” He says.

My eyes are wide in shock.

The way he is looking at me is so un-like him. My heart begins beating faster, seeing the sudden disdain in his eyes.

“I, Phillip Ortega of Eastwind Pack, reject you, Theresa Moonbane of Golden Moon Pack.”

“No…no, no,” don't do this!” I hold him so tight.

I can't understand why he is suddenly rejecting me, we've already planned out our lives together. We’ve even chosen our future kids' names.

He extracts himself from my grip, his expression unreadable.

“What did he promise you?!!”

“Thirty five dollars actually..” George smirks.

I feel a sharp pain in my chest and a loud cry escapes my throat. I clench my teeth, trying to endure the pain but at the same time, the smile on George's face is infuriating me, igniting something in me.

I've heard a lot about the pain that comes after being rejected by your fated mate but I never expected it to be this painful.

I don't know why it hurts this much. Maybe it is because of the love I bear him or maybe it is because I just heard him equate our love to thirty five dollars.

“What… what do you mean by thirty five dollars?” I choke out.

I look at Philip but he looks away and rises to his feet.

He takes a deep breath and throws his gaze back at me.

“I mean no offence.. but you're a Bastard with no form or hope of a formal education.. Plus no one rates you here. I can't have an actual upgrade with you in my life.”

“Philip!” Freya calls out in shock.

My heart clenches hearing him speak. It feels like a sharp toothed dagger is piercing my beating heart. I want to scream out the pain, I fear I will not survive this.

I cannot believe he is saying this to me. We are supposed to be building a future together. We’ve been saving all our earnings from the Alpha’s lodge together, dreaming that when we marry, we will finally have enough to build our own home.

“What did he promise you?” I ask again, looking him in the eye.

I want to believe there is more to this, that I am not just worth thirty-five dollars to a man I was willing to spend the rest of my life with. A man I trusted with every coin I saved, four years of my hard work, four hundred and eighty dollars in total, all given for the promise of everlasting love.

George chuckles and drags him backwards. He pushes Freya off the bed as well and leans further, lifting up my chin.

“I am only glad that your worthless sister is dead! And as for you, bastard…. Your wolf dared to attack me!! I will never let her heal!!” He growls and tosses me aside.

I fall back, my whole body trembling. But suddenly a choking sound cuts through the air.

We all turn to find Philip clutching his throat, eyes wide with terror, like something inside him is tearing apart. He drops to the floor.

“Philip!” I scream.

Freya rushes to him as George takes a stunned step back. Even he didn’t expect this.

“Help! Somebody help us!” Freya yells, her hands on Philip’s chest, trying to steady him.

I try to get up, but my legs are weak, still burning from the lack of healing. I jump down and crawl toward him.

“Nooooo!” I scream so loud it feels like my lungs tear apart.

Doctor Sampson rushes in, nurses behind him. He immediately kneels beside Philip, checks his pulse, and then his eyes. I watch his face twist in shock.

“What is it?” Freya asks, still kneeling beside Philip. “What’s happening?!”

“He is dead….”

“And!!?” George asks.

“His eyes turned blue, it could only mean one thing….” He looks at me. “There is a bloodline called the Lupus Albus, it passes from mother to daughter. One of the reasons why the Lupus Albus is intimidating is because anyone who rejects her dies.”

My mouth opens, my heart racing wildly in my chest. I fall back, shaking, sobbing so hard I can’t breathe.

“No...no, it can't be!”

A white wolf cannot be rejected. Everyone believed this to be a myth, even I. I was never bothered, I had no reason to be. But seeing Philip fall before me ignited something in me.

I then turn to George, fury rising in me.

“You are a Lupus Albus?” He asks, staring at me, his brows furrowing.

“This is all your fault!!! You killed my sister and now the love of my life!!!”

He stands frozen, wide-eyed. For once, he doesn’t have a word to say.

“Look at me!!” I yell the moment he looks away.

He threw back his gaze at me, his eyebrows still furrowed in confusion. He obviously has a lot of questions but I don't care about that.

“I'm going to heal eventually and when I heal, I'm going to kill you!!”