1: Rejecting The Cursed Girl

Being cursed would make you hate yourself that you'd rather be anyone else but you. That you'd rather die than be you again. I'd been cursed my entire life, and it wasn't a secret to everyone around me. But this moment was the first time I thought life was actually not bad, provided you had the right people around you.

Xander was my right person. He was my happy place, and right now, I was more than happy, underneath the stars and with the swooshing of the ocean in the background. 

"I love you, Cara. So much that I can barely breathe when you are not near." He held my face tenderly and spoke words that made my insides melt. 

A nose kiss first, leaving me with bated breath for the next big moment. My first kiss was going to be with him. I had planned this moment since the day I caught a whiff of his scent and discovered the next Alpha of the Silver Eye pack was my mate. 

"Xander, tomorrow is a big day." I blurted, breaking the moment and stopping my own shine. 

"Stop thinking about that. This moment is between the both of us. Tomorrow comes after."

I stared at him with pleading eyes. "But Xander, do you promise?"

He held my gaze for a long pause. I couldn't read the walled expression on his face, but I hoped he would say something. Anything. I turned abruptly, only to be stopped by his hand on my arm. 

My back met his chest. "Where are you going?"

"I didn't want to hear you break my heart—"

"Cara, I promise. It is you I choose."

Despite the curse, he was saying things like this. It was the first time in my life that someone was choosing me. It felt new and different, but also so damn good. Yet it didn't rule out the possibility that he could die for loving me.

At least, that was what the curse said. Every man I loved must die if he chose me, but I had never seen it happen. For all I cared, it could be a bluff.

Xander held me for a while, and I shut my eyes basking in the moment, feeling so in love my heart hurt.

***

I woke up alone in my bedroom. Xander had parted ways with me on the beach last night, returning to his mansion at Silver Eye's capital. I walked alone to the empty house in the suburbs. There was no one to wait up for me. 

But in a few hours, I'd finally understand what it feels like to be part of a large family. To belong under a shelter where the realities of my curse can't get to me. Mother left me alone in this world, and I had to survive for me.

I pulled out the dress I had saved for today. A silk corset gown with a sheer tulle overlay that reached my ankles and was embroidered with flowers. I felt daring with the amount of skin I put on display because the white lining underneath the white overlay only fell to mid-thigh. 

Xander's voice note came in. I smiled from ear-to-ear as I listened to him repeat his declarations of love. I replied, telling him I was on my way already. After wearing my hair down, I took a taxi to the capital, breathing nerves.

The moon goddesses temple was located inside a cave underneath a central bridge in the city. It was a spot for young lovers who wanted to be mated without a judging society watching.

One hour later, Xander took my hand as he walked in dressed in a clean black tux. His scent was all over me. I loved it. 

"Are you ready for our next big step, Cara?" His forehead touched mine as he interlocked our fingers. 

"Yes, I am, but I have something to say. You aren't Alpha yet, Zay. There's so much that could stand against our love, even after today." 

"Once I'm mated, I will sit on Silver Eye's throne—"

"Xander Kovani!" 

Alpha Matthew's voice echoed through the cave, shaking the earth and crumbling a few rocks. I saw Xander shaking before his father's gaze. He wasn't protecting me like he promised. 

Suddenly, I was invisible as anger pulsed like a burning fire in his father's gaze. "What do you think you are doing?" 

Xander fell on all fours, lowering his head. "Father, I love her."

Alpha Matthew's eyes fell on me. The rage he felt covered me like the heat of a furnace. This wasn't how I imagined my secret mating with Xander to turn out.

The Alpha paused, seeming to rein in his anger for a moment. "The wolves of this city will never accept a secret mating for my heir." He looked the fraction of an inch over his shoulder, calling on his pack general. "Saul, take her."

I struggled, but Saul was stronger than me. Throughout, Xander never raised his head to protect me as he had promised, but to my surprise, I had been brought to the pavilion where wolves consulted with their Alpha. 

They had already prepared for a mating ceremony. It shocked me to know that Matthew Kovani was allowing a cursed girl to mate with his heir.

Saul took me behind the scenes to wait for almost three hours. No one told me where Xander was. He didn't care to find me either. When Saul returned to where I was waiting, he didn't jostle me outside. He led me instead.

My heart thrummed against my ribcage. I didn't know what to expect on that pavilion. Wolves occupied the bleachers surrounding the space. I saw Xander climb down the many stairs from where the thrones stood. 

He stopped at the first landing, which was where I was. Not once did he look me in the eye. This was a mating ceremony, but why did it feel like I was the only one in the dark?

"Xander—" I held his wrist, but he shoved my hand away, turning to face the crowd.

My face turned ashen. Vomit rose to my throat. This moment felt like a trap I couldn't escape.

"Silver-Eye wolves! This is Xander, son of the great Matthew Kovani and heir to the Silver throne."

The crowd bowed their heads and chorused. "The Moon goddess bless you, our Prince!"

The drums thundered a dangerous rhythm that sparked fear in my heart. Xander's body was tense and distant. He had lost the tux and had appeared shirtless now, as the Silver Eye tradition demanded.

After the drums, Beta Tristan emerged. He threw Xander a question that turned my legs to jelly for the wrong reasons. A thousand eyes fixed on me, waiting for my shame.

"Prince Xander, will you mate with Cara Smyth today and fulfil your duty to this pack?" 

It should be love, not duty... It is love.

Xander finally locked eyes with me. I thought I had seen an apology flash in them. But his heart was as secured as a fortress, and I knew now that I no longer owned it.

"I, Xander Kovani, reject you, the cursed Cara Smyth, as my mate!" He growled before the crowd, shattering me because this meant my end. 

I had no one else but him, and now he had abandoned me. Tears stained my cheeks as I whispered through the pain burning my throat. "I, Cara Smyth, accept your rejection, Xander..."

"Leave." His low voice commanded, crumpling my heart like paper in his fist.

I turned on my heels, descending the remaining steps as fast as I could, but I had almost fallen when I saw the girl coming right up. She looked as beautiful as spring in that dress and as graceful as winter in her steps.

Blood rushed to my ears. She crossed me once, meeting Xander and replacing me on my spot.

Immediately, Beta Tristan said, "Silver-Eye wolves, bow to the Prince's betrothed. The Alpha of the North pack has so kindly given up his youngest daughter to mate with our heir."

It took me one second to be shoved under the carpet. Everyone had moved on because I was not worth it. In fact, it was a relief that Xander rejected the cursed girl.

I ran and ran. Even when my legs couldn't take it, I kept running until I reached that empty surburban house. I should have known it wasn't over yet because the second I shoved my key in to turn the lock, I had guests. 

The entire neighbourhood, at least those who were not in attendance but had heard the rumours that Xander rejected me were here, surrounding the front entrance.

"With the pack doctor dead and the prince's protection gone, we can finally rid our city of your bad omen, Cara." The older man with a full beard and pot belly who hated me most led the small throng of people.

I gnashed my teeth at how recklessly they spoke my mother's name. She was their pack doctor, but their lips did not deserve to call even her title.

"This is my home." I stood my ground. "You can't force me to leave." 

The man scoffed. "You do not even have wolf genes inside you. How is this your home, cursed human?!"

As he spoke, I scanned for a way out through the trees, but when I tried to run, they caught me because I wasn't as fast as they were.

Even the pack general's hands were more gentle than theirs. I was taken to a warehouse owned by a notorious slaver and thrown at his feet after my dress had been ripped off by the older man with a full beard. 

But not once did a single tear leave my eyes. I held it all in as Mother had taught me to.

The slaver inspected my face and my hips and my legs. I couldn't even shake like a feather or a bullet would lodge in my skull.

When he finished, he walked back to his seat in his office and signed a document off. "The Kaine household is in search of a breeder. This one's a perfect match."