hatred & rejection

Madelyn's P.O.V. (Continued)

I thought I was ready to face this, but I was so wrong.

The pain in my chest was so severe that I couldn’t breathe properly while watching him embracing someone else who wasn’t me. She leaned on him; he held her protectively. They chatted, laughed, and looked at each other with love and desire.

And what was I doing???

I was watching them like a fool that I was. I wanted to scream at him for humiliating me like this. I wanted to scream at him for disrespecting the blessing that the Moon Goddess had bestowed on us.

Once again, I became the joke that everyone said that I was.

He kept on glancing at me from time to time, but every time, I only saw hatred and disgust for me in his eyes.

The one who was supposed to love me unconditionally hated me the most.

“Why are you distracted?” the girl asked him in a low and concerned tone. I was far enough from him, but being a werewolf is sometimes the biggest disadvantage of yours. I could still hear their chatter clearly.

“Nothing, my love… all I am thinking about is how to make you happy tonight.” He answered her in a loving tone, and I felt as if someone had pierced my heart with a dagger.

I didn’t know if he had any idea about my abilities. I was one of the best warriors in the whole world. He was the future royal beta. He should have knowledge of my abilities.

Still I didn’t know if he said so only to hurt me, or if he was genuinely thinking about making someone else happy when I was standing in the same room as him, trying not to inhale his scent, pulling me towards him, listening to every sweet word that he cooed into her ear.

“Beta Madeline.” I trembled slightly when the king called my name. I knew everyone was now looking at me.

“Be strong, Maddie… you can do this.. you don’t need an a**hole mate like him.” I gave a quick pep talk to myself and looked in their direction.

I noticed his jaw clench in my peripheral vision. So, he was affected by my proximity too. Well… that wasn’t as bad as I had thought.

I slowly walked towards them, plastering a faint smile on my lips, keeping my expression calm, my walk steady and graceful.

“My king.” I greeted him again while bending my knees lightly, lowering my lashes.

“I always admire how gracefully you hold yourself, Beta Madelina.” The king praised me with a faint smile on his lips.

“Thanks for compliment, my king. It’s something that the queen has taught me personally. I guess I didn’t fail my teacher.” I replied to him in a calm and composed tone while praising the queen for my etiquette.

This was true because the queen and Luna Hailley are good friends, and the queen taught me so many things during her visits to my pack all these years.

“So you are Beta Madeline Summers. I have heard so much about you.” The girl standing in the side-embrace of the future royal beta said to me in a cheerful tone.

I widened my smile a little while looking at them with a calm gaze. “I hope that you haven’t heard anything negative about me, Ms.?” I paused as I didn’t remember if I had met her before.

“O, where are my manners? I didn’t even introduce myself to you. I am Miranda Zenith, the royal gamma Alfred Zenith’s daughter and the future royal beta female.” She introduced herself, and I froze.

She had a beaming smile on her lips but it turned shy as soon as she looked at him. I blinked, trying to process what she just said.

“Future royal beta-female?”

“Nickel is lucky to have Miranda as his mate. It’s a pity that she isn’t his fated mate, or else it would have been more joyful.” The queen commented in a cheerful tone. My eyes stung, but I refused to cry.

I am Beta Madeline Harper, the future beta of the Dark Moon Pack, the pack no less strong than the royal pack. I took only a few seconds to recompose myself and smiled again.

I took Miranda’s hand that she had extended towards me to shake. “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Zenith. And congrats for finding your mate.” I congratulated her and she beamed once again while shaking my hand.

“What about you, Beta Madeline? Did you find your mate yet?” She asked me curiously, and my smile froze. She blinked innocently but couldn’t hide her cunningness from me.

I didn’t know if she had any idea that she could be considered a mate-stealer, as she was now coveting my mate, but I didn’t want to burst her bubble.

“Miranda.” The queen called her in a stern tone, and she blinked in confusion as if she didn’t understand her anger.

“It’ okay, my queen.” I immediately comforted the queen with a genuine smile. Still she looked at me worriedly.

“Well, Ms. Zenith. I am still waiting for my fated mate. I am only 19, and I am sure that the moon goddess won’t leave me mate-less.” I answered her confidently, and her smile vanished this time.

She got the implication that I was not going to take a chosen mate like her.

“What if your fated mate refuses to accept you, Beta Madeline? After all, you lack something very important.” Nickel asked me in her defense, sarcasm filling his voice.

I chuckled while swirling my glass in my hand. “If he decides to reject me just because I am not complete, then, I better choose to accept his rejection, Beta Nickel. If he can’t respect the blessing of the Moon Goddess, then what’s the surety that he will not move on to the next better thing than he has presently?” I answered him in a sassy tone, glancing at Miranda, who glared at me coldly this time.

Nickel’s expression also froze this time. I smirked while raising my glass towards him, challenging him to answer me, and took a sip of my wine.

I moved towards the queen and the king and saw them glaring at Nickel with a hardened expression. “I beg your pardon, my king, if I have said something offensive. I just give my opinion about those people who reject their mate for their own selfish reason.” I apologized sincerely to them.

They sighed and looked back at me. “You said nothing wrong, honey. It will be your mate’s fortune to have you as his mate, not yours. To be honest, after assessing all the possible candidates as your fated mate, I found none of them suitable for you.” The queen answered me and cringed her nose in disgust in the end.

I giggled this time and felt light. The pain in my chest had long gone. I don’t need a mate like Nickel. I have so many people around me who not only care for me but also value me for what I am.

“But don’t you find it odd that almost all the packs know you, but you still didn’t find your mate?” Nickel interjected, and this time, a growl erupted from my throat before I could stop myself.

The next second, my family was around me, and Nickel’s eyes widened in shock. Miranda was now standing behind her, looking at me fearfully.

“Maddie…. Calm down.” I heard the queen asking me in a concerned tone, but all I saw was red in front of my eyes. How dare he try to belittle me?

“This is because my fated mate is an a**hole who didn’t have a face to even stand in front of me, let alone think about having me as his mate.” I growled aloud this time, boring holes into his eyes.

He growled this time and took a step towards me. Without wasting a second, I also took a step forward. He was taller and broader than me, but I was not inferior to him.

“What do you want to hear, huh? That how I am feeling when my a**hole mate is flaunting his chosen mate in front of me as if she were a trophy that he had won. What do you want to hear?” I asked him while roaring aloud.

“Maddie…. Calm down.” The king asked me in a concerned tone this time. “No, my king… your future beta crossed the line that he shouldn’t.” I replied to him in the same angry tone but kept the respect in my voice that I must maintain for my king.

“What do you want to hear, Beta Nickel? Is this?” I paused and took a deep breath while taking one more step towards him. He was still seething in anger, but his eyes flickered suddenly.

“I, Madeline Summers, the future beta of the Dark Moon Pack, reject you, Nickel Harper, the future royal beta, as my mate, and sever all the bonds that I will have with him in the future,” I announced in a confident and cold tone, holding my chin high.

There were so many gasps around us, but I didn’t break the locked gaze with him. “I command you to accept the rejection now.” I commanded him in the same authoritative and cold tone.

He suddenly clutched his chest while looking at me in disbelief. “Nickel.” Miranda shrieked in fear while trying to hold him when he fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

“Maddie???? Is… is he?” Luna Hailley asked me in a worried tone while putting her hand on my shoulder. “Yes, Luna Hailley, he is the one who, I don’t know why, the Moon Goddess chose for me.” I answered her in a strained voice, my eyes locked on him, filled with disdain and resolution.

He looked at me with a hurtful gaze that made me scoff, but more than that, he was shocked. "What have you done, Nickel?" The king growled at him angrily this time.

Nickel didn't want to accept the rejection now, but my command was forcing him to accept it. Miranda was still holding him tightly in her embrace, and it was hurting me.

"I..... Ni.. Nickel Harper.... accept your rejection." He uttered with a lot of difficulty when the pain became unbearable for him. My father and Alpha Lucifer were holding me tightly by my shoulders.

I smirked with disdain and looked at the royal couple. They were shocked more than they were angry. My gaze softened and they looked at me apologetically.