Cold Rejection

That night, I couldn't sleep because I knew what was coming for me. It was a cold rejection by the two men who smelled like home. They would break the bond the Moon Goddess gave me. They would do it in front of everyone.

I heard the sun come up. Kira stormed into the servant's quarters.

"Get up, filth! They are waiting for you!" she yelled.

I stood up. I felt nothing. Just cold emptiness. Kira shoved a clean but old dress at me.

"Put this on. Don't look like a beggar. At least try to look worthy of the attention, even if it's the attention of your own destruction."

"I don't need your help," I mumbled.

"Silence! You will walk there in chains of shame. That is what you deserve, traitor’s child."

She grabbed my arm and dragged me down the halls. The house was already buzzing. Everyone was going to the clearing. Everyone wanted to see the spectacle. They wanted to see the daughter of traitors fail one last time.

We reached the ceremonial clearing. It was packed. Hundreds of faces stared at me. No one smiled. Just judgment and hate. I saw the faces of the women who called me cursed. They were all smiling now. My curse was their entertainment.

Alpha Claude sat on his throne, his face hard and unreadable. Next to the throne stood Zayne and Zack. They wore their finest black leather, looking like kings. They looked completely cold. They had no pity for me.

Kira shoved me forward toward the twin princes.

"Stand here," she hissed, forcing me to the center of the clearing, where the smooth ground was meant for mating rituals.

I stood alone. The ground felt hot even though the morning was cool.

Prince Zayne stepped forward first. He looked down his nose at me.

"Silence, all of you!" Zayne commanded the crowd. His voice was full of Alpha power.

The crowd went silent.

"We are here because of a disgusting mistake," Zayne began, his voice slow and deliberate. "The Moon Goddess, in a cruel twist of fate, tied our bond to this thing." He pointed at me like I was an animal. "Rayna, the servant. The traitor’s child."

The crowd started to murmur.

"Your parents were executed for selling our pack secrets," Zayne stated. "Their names are marked in the black book. And now, you try to stain our own names by carrying our scent."

"Did you think we would accept this?" he snarled. "Did you think you could rise from the dirt and claim a prince? Did you believe you were good enough to stand as a future Luna beside two Alpha princes?"

My voice was a small, dry whisper. "I didn't choose the bond. The Moon Goddess did."

Zayne let out a sharp, harsh laugh. "Do not speak of the Goddess! She would not curse the Moonlight Pack with a serpent like you! You have the blood of treason in your veins! You carry the stink of betrayal!"

Prince Zack stepped up beside his twin. His face was a little softer, but his words were colder.

"Rayna," Zack said, his voice carrying fake sadness. "We would rather live our lives mate-less than tarnish our future leadership. Imagine the mockery. The Alpha princes of this pack, sharing a mate with his twin, and that mate is the girl who sweeps our floors and whose parents were executed."

"It's true! She should be grateful we feed her!" a woman shouted from the crowd.

"She's probably a spy from an enemy pack, just like her mother!" another voice yelled.

Zack nodded, encouraging the hate. "She cannot be trusted with our secrets. She cannot stand beside us in battle. She cannot even look me in the eye when I address her!"

"I am not a spy," I choked out, tears finally streaming down my face. "I am innocent. My parents were innocent."

Zayne exploded. "Lies!. Traitors only breed traitors! Look at her tears! She only cries because her plan failed! She thought she could use our bond for power! You are not a princess, Rayna! You are a slave! And you will always be a slave!"

He looked at the crowd. "We do not accept this gift! We reject this shame! We reject this girl!"

Zack joined him, their voices merging into one powerful, commanding roar: "Rayna, daughter of the disgraced. We, Prince Zayne and Prince Zack of the Moonlight Pack, reject you as our fated mate!"

They both held up their hands and slammed them down. The sound was like a thunderclap.

The power of the rejection hit me like a physical blow. It was a knife slicing through my soul. The warm cinnamon scent vanished, replaced by the bitter, metallic taste of ashes. The invisible string of the mate bond, which had tugged at my heart since yesterday, snapped with an audible crack in my mind.

I screamed. It was not a wolf scream, but a human sound of ultimate pain. I dropped to my knees, clutching my chest. It felt like my heart had been ripped out of my body. The strength of the rejection, delivered by two Alpha-blood males, was crippling. I couldn't breathe.

"Leave this place, reject!" Zayne shouted, standing over me. "Go back to the kitchen and scrub the floor with your useless tears!"

The pain fueled my fury. Not my wolf fury, but the human anger of a girl who had been tortured for years. I struggled to stand. I pushed myself up. My eyes were burning red.

I didn't look at the cheering, hateful pack members. I only looked at the two princes who had just destroyed my future.

I didn't say a word. I just turned and ran.

I ran out of the ceremonial clearing, past the astonished faces, and into the cover of the deep, dark woods bordering the pack lands. I ran until my lungs burned. I ran until the taste of ashes was the only thing I could sense.

I didn't stop until I couldn't hear the pack's cheering anymore.

I collapsed next to a thick, moss-covered tree. I leaned my head back and let the grief take me. I sobbed, deep, gut-wrenching sobs. The world felt empty. I was mate-less. I was worthless. They were right. I was cursed.

I curled into a ball, my body wracked with pain. The physical pain of the broken bond was sharp, but the emotional pain was a dull, constant ache that would never leave.

Suddenly, my wolf, silent since the rejection, stiffened. A low, guttural sound reached my ears.

It was a Not the playful growl of a pack hunter. This was dark. This was hungry.

I froze. I slowly lifted my head, wiping the tears from my eyes. The forest was unfamiliar here.

My breath hitched. Emerging from the dense shadows were three massive wolves.

They were scarred and lean, their fur a patchy mix of brown and black, and they smelled wrong. Iron and decay. Enemies. They were not Moonlight pack.

They were hunting. And they had found me.

I struggled to shift, but the rejection pain had left me too weak. I couldn't move fast enough.

The first wolf lunged. Its teeth flashed in the dim light. I opened my mouth and let out a single, piercing scream of pure terror before the pain of the teeth sinking into my shoulder overwhelmed me.

The world dissolved into agonizing fire and then darkness.