Cynthia Dion:
"What is she saying?" Rosalie disregarded the murmuring crowd and directed her inquiry toward her friends with benefits.
"Is she your mate?" she turned to Atticus, tears already streaming down her face. Her intensity had escalated to a whole new level. She seemed oblivious to the many students recording her emotional outburst for two alphas who weren't even her designated mates.
"Why are you even giving her the time of day?" Enzo attempted to be sly, but I was certain she saw through his act. They must have turned 18 and found their mates by now.
"I'm not lying. They are both my mates. We felt the mate bond---," I halted mid-sentence as Enzo advanced toward me aggressively, causing fear to course through me.
"She's telling the truth!" Rosalie asserted, deducing from his reaction. "You two hid this from me," she cried out, her tears flowing freely.
"That's enough drama for tonight," Atticus finally intervened after a period of silence, signaling to the crowd outside to disperse.
"No! Nobody's leaving until a decision is reached," Rosalie sniffled, wiping her tears and giving herself a determined nod.
"What decision?" Enzo's forehead creased in confusion.
"You two are going to reject this omega bitch right now," she demanded with an air of confidence.
With everything now laid bare, I questioned whether my impulsive admission about our mate bond was a grievous mistake. She seemed relentless in her pursuit to have them reject me, a situation that could shatter my hopes of escaping from my abusive father.
"What are you saying, Rosalie? Let's not delve into this right now," Enzo tried to mask the situation, his smile forced as he attempted to make light of it.
"Why are you smiling?" Rosalie turned to him, her voice edged with frustration. "Can you see me smiling?" she questioned, her cheeks streaked with tears and her sobs growing audibly pronounced.
"You can't ask my mates to reject me," I interjected with a grumble of exasperation, unable to bear it any longer. First, she bullied me to the point of tears, driving me to hide in the bathroom, and now she was acting as though I was the one encroaching on her mates.
Her face flushed crimson upon hearing my retort, challenging her and referring to her cherished alphas as mine.
"Atticus!" she uttered his name in a hushed tone, her gaze never wavering from my face. "If you don't reject her right now, I'll never speak to you again."
Her ultimatum prompted Atticus to shift his posture, straightening his stance.
"The same goes for you, Enzo. If you want her to understand your significance to me, then you'll reject her here and now," she gestured to the spot she occupied, demanding my rejection. It felt like she was driving a knife through me, and my mates stood there, mere observers of her actions.
"Tell her you don't even care about her. Tell her to go screw herself," she persisted, causing my eyes to well up.
This evening would determine whether a mate bond was stronger than the words of a sidechick. I remained silent, allowing her tirade to continue, as it appeared that if he was willing to reject me for her, then perhaps our fates were never meant to intertwine.
Then, abruptly, Enzo stepped forward, his expression unyielding. The onlookers had been observing and recording our interaction for a while now. The decision my mates made this night would inevitably impact my school life in the aftermath.
"This omega rogue holds no significance for me. She's just a stranger who, by some twist of fate, ended up being fated to us," Enzo's words held little sway over her, and she made her disdain clear through vehement head-shaking.
"Reject her," she insisted, her demand locking my gaze with Enzo's.
Before Enzo could utter a word, Atticus abruptly tugged at his jacket, positioning himself directly in front of me, locking eyes with mine.
"I, Alpha Atticus, reject you as my mate," his voice carried no trace of remorse, only a seething blend of hatred and anger.
The audible sigh of relief that escaped from Rosalie's lips and the subdued cheers from the crowd were overshadowed by the agony that gripped my wolf.
"Arghh!" I cried out, my whimper echoing as I crumbled to my knees. I hadn't anticipated the intensity of the pain from rejection. In fact, the ordeal was so excruciating that I couldn't even muster the strength to stand after collapsing.
"See, there you go! Now, hurry up and accept his rejection so Enzo can reject you next," Rosalie taunted, her lips curved in a smug smile. I remained on my knees, my hand pressed against my chest, my gaze raised, and tears streaming down like a relentless river.
I had been a fool to believe he would resist the decision.
However, Enzo remained silent. While I had anticipated that Enzo would follow Atticus in rejecting me, I hadn't expected it to be Atticus who made the first move. In that moment, the realization hit me: I needed to escape from this place, or my heart might cease to beat.
"Come on---," Rosalie gestured toward Enzo, prompting me to regain my feet and race towards the exit.
"Hey! Stop that---," Rosalie's authoritative command was cut short by Enzo, who seemingly recognized his parents' arrival.
I spotted them in the hallway, witnessing the entire distressing scene with a blend of shock and likely disapproval. I hurried past them, tears blurring my vision as I navigated through the agony that threatened to tear me apart.
"Ahh!" I involuntarily cried out, collapsing to my knees and then crawling away from the scene of my rejection.
'Why?' Thia's anguished voice erupted in my mind, broken and desperate. 'WHY DIDN'T YOU FUCKING STOP HIM?' Her cry was even louder this time, causing me to cover my ears and sit on the pavement, my surroundings becoming inconsequential.
'I couldn't. I won't beg him to accept me,' I shouted back at her, though her mournful wails were rendering me nearly deaf. Her pain was undeniable, understandable, but so was mine.
'You are the reason we will never escape this wretched life now,' her cries reverberated in an unsettling manner. It was almost as if she had no self-worth left, fixated solely on being accepted by Atticus.
'Shut up!' I whimpered, squeezing my eyes shut and keeping my ears covered in an attempt to block out her relentless lament.
"Now he will coerce me into even more deplorable acts," she continued her lament, but I offered no response.
"Shut up!" I repeated my plea in a hushed murmur, imploring her to leave me be. However, a warm hand on my shoulder shook me awake from my internal turmoil.
I opened my eyes to find the handsome face of Mr. Zeon Holt hovering over me, concern etched on his features as he leaned towards me.
"Cynthia! What's happening? Why are you crying?" His demeanor radiated compassion and care. Despite being a decade older than me, he seemed more decent than the alphas who were supposed to be my mates.
"I---- g---," I began to speak, but then I shut my eyes tightly, unable to confide in him about my mates. He was, after all, a friend of my father, and I couldn't wholly trust him.
"It's alright. Take my hand, and I'll escort you home," his lovely green eyes locked onto my face as he extended his sturdy hand toward me.
I gazed at his hand in silence, only to catch a glimpse from the corner of my eye that someone was observing us. Atticus and Enzo had appeared, their presence a manifestation of the shattering of my trust in mate bonds.
"Thank you!" With the knowledge that their eyes were on me, I placed my hand in Mr. Holt's. He assisted me in getting up and walked me to his car. After he helped me settle into the seat, I noticed my phone buzzing in my pocket.
It was a faint glimmer of contentment amid the turmoil, a small spark that kept me tethered to life that night. The contents of the text were perplexing, particularly coming from the person who had just rejected me.
Atticus: Who the hell is this guy to you? Why did you get in his car?
I snorted, wiping away my tears and swallowing my frustration before turning to read Enzo's message.
Enzo: So you're into older guys now? What is your connection with him?
I stared at the two messages, the anger within me simmering like molten lava. Finally, I replied with a falsehood that would irrevocably alter the course of my life.
Me: I won't stand for anyone badmouthing him. He's one of my many mates, and he's the one I'm fully committed to, even my virginity.
Cynthia Dion:It’s been two years since that unfortunate event happened.Maleeka couldn’t accept that she could no longer force Zeon to be with her.Atticus finally cleaned Eva’s grave, cleared her name, and even buried Zeon next to her. We also renamed the specific block in school to be Eva.I do think that day when I was cleaning in that block, it was Eva’s disturbed soul still wandering around.Maleeka was in the mental asylum, showing no signs of improvement. Atticus made it very clear that even if Maleeka gets better, she will be severely punished.However, things have changed in our relationship as well.We were not only two, in fact, we have welcomed a cute baby girl into our lives after a few months of that whole sad incident.We named her Flora."Flora! Stop running around," I rolled my eyes at her as she ran into Niles, Rosalie, and Enzo’s son.We have gathered around my father’s pack that I’ve recovered to celebrate my pregnancy news with my people."So, how did it go?" Att
Cynthia’s POV:As he finished telling us why he did all that, our faces changed colors. My eyes were teary, and the counsellors looked guilty, too.Maleeka had been breaking down after her dirty criminal history was displayed to everyone.I didn’t even know what to say anymore. The story of Eva and the horrible life she had because of the mean and selfish people around her was so bad.The fact that my mother didn’t even help her out and let the poor victim take a fall broke my heart.I know she was thinking she was doing it for me and Flora, but to push someone else’s daughter into such a shitty situation just for the sake of your daughters is not an excuse.Not to mention, I wonder if what Flora and I went through our entire lives was our mother’s karma, and maybe Eva’s broken heart cries are shadowing our happiness."Zeon!" Since Atticus couldn’t even say a word, I whispered in tears, "I understand your pain and Eva’s suffering, but hurting others wouldn’t bring her back. You can le
Author’s POV:Years Ago:It’s been a month since Eva passed away on the school grounds, and Zeon killed those rogues. Rowdy was the only one that survived, but he went into a coma after that night.Zeon had no clue what to do because it seemed like everybody was more focused on the ones that got killed than on Eva."She was innocent," he yelled at the counselors, who shook their heads at him."We will call our first witness here, who will explain to us how Eva had been clawing at the other boys and meeting them in the library." The elder of the counselor spoke as he pointed at the door. All eyes turned to the door, waiting for this so-called character witness.Zeon didn’t have a very good feeling about it. It seemed like something bad was about to happen. Why did they even need to have an investigation?A she-wolf got gang raped and killed. Why were they investigating her? It was beyond his mind, and he was just plain hurt and lost. There was nobody on his side. He was suffering and w
Author’s POV:Years Ago:After that day, Zeon and Jacque were escorted out and even got detention. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Nothing happened to Maleeka; the guards were even assigned to her to stop Zeon from coming after her.She would go to school every day and watch Zeon and Eva together. She was not at all satisfied with what she had done; in fact, if Eva were still alive, she would consider herself a failure.Although she was surprised to hear Eva get pregnant again, And this time, she couldn’t even get near her because all the eyes would be on her."This is the girl," she had asked for some rogue criminals to meet her after school."She is beautiful," there were five rogue young boys, probably 19, the same age as them."She will be alone in the school today, doing some assignments in the library. You can enter the school and get your hands on her. Listen, her mate will be there, but you can take him out with wolfbane. Remember, you are not supposed to hurt h
Author’s POV:Years Ago:"What do you mean by she stole your mate? Zeon is her mate. That’s what everybody knows." Mrs. Dion, who thought of Maleeka as this innocent and sweet little girl, was ready to accept any lie she was going to tell her."She was the second chance, mate. Zeon accepted me two years ago. We used to be together; we were never separated, and then i--- then I got pregnant with him, but during that time, she joined school. She caused my abortion. I know it is not an excuse to do the same to someone else, but think of it as your own daughter. You have a little daughter that you gave birth to with so much difficulty. Can you imagine anyone hurting her? Just imagine what I have been through." She sniffled as she shed crocodile tears. She was sneaking glances at Mrs. Dion, too.She wanted to get out of this mess by any means."I am so sorry that happened to you, but I still have to tell the counsel about the video. You can rest your case before them. If you are innocent,
Author’s POV:Years Ago:"How the hell did it happen?" Ever since Zeon got informed about Eva’s accident at school, he has been wandering in the school’s hallway and crying.Jacque and Bonnie had been sticking with him and feeling worried about him.He was in disbelief that such a horrible thing happened to Eva on the school’s grounds."There is no way she just fell off the stairs," he shook his head, not ready to believe what the school staff has been telling him."I understand your concern, but getting all stressed out won’t do anybody any favors," Jacque stepped forward to comfort Zeon, who was going crazy worrying about Eva.Bonnie and Jacque were worried for their friend and Zeon; they had never seen him so stressed out. On the other hand, Maleeka had returned home but was a little panicky. She has hurt Eva before, but this time she was directly involved.It just made her feel a little stressed. What if somebody saw her? It happened in a school, so there was a huge possibility so