Chapter 3

Am I dreaming?

Did I hear wrong? I think all this time, Dean and I loved each other. Turns out I was wrong.

My eyes and Dean's eyes stared at each other. I don't know what that look means. Does he regret rejecting me? Or does he just feel sorry for me being weak like this? His face didn't show any emotion. I want to see the smile he always gives me.

Did his wolf accept his decision to reject me?

What are you thinking, Dean? Do you love me? Tell the truth.

"Dean, now you can tag me," Nicky chirped. Dean looked surprised to hear Nicky's voice. She must be pleased to have separated me from Dean.

"Yeah, sexy Nicky." Dean chuckled. "I'll do it later."

I lowered my head. I bit my bottom lip and tried to hold back the sound of crying. Dean seemed pleased. What do I expect from him? He has rejected me.

I tried to stand up and drag myself into the room. I don't want to see them. My heart is so broken.

I sat on the edge of the bed. I didn't want to cry, but my tears flowed like a waterfall. I squeezed my chest, which was so much pain as if a thousand needles were stabbing it.

I wish this were a dream. None of this is real. But I can no longer feel Dean's presence and smell his scent. All of that broke my heart again.

Dean has betrayed me, and I don't know since when Dean had a relationship with Nicky.

How come I never noticed? Doesn't Dean spend a lot of time with me?

Then all this time, the smile he showed me and the shoes he gave me. Did all that mean nothing to Dean? Only I feel happy.

I covered my face with a pillow to muffle the sound of my crying. However, no one cares what I'm doing.

I've always trusted Dean. I hope for life because of him. But it turns out Dean never wanted me.

It wasn't just dad who treated me unfairly. Even the Moon Goddess gave me bad luck, and the Moon Goddess let me always feel sad and miserable.

I raised my head. I remembered the poison I once found in the warehouse while I was sweeping. I looked for it on the nightstand. I'm sure it's there.

I smiled at the black poison bottle in my hand. I don't know if this poison can kill me or not. I just need to try it. If indeed death is the best thing for me.

My hands are shaking. I hesitate to do it. The words of my dad, who often warned me not to do anything wrong and Nicky, who needed my blood to move on with her life.

But I had no hope of surviving. Nobody cared about me, and I gave up on getting love from dad.

"Nora!"

I was shocked and almost dropped the poison bottle made of glass on the floor. I hastily hid it behind my body.

"What do you want to do?" Nicky glared at me, and she forcefully took the poison bottle from my hand. Nicky is angry. "You want to kill yourself? Have you forgotten? You must stay alive. I will always need your blood! Don't do anything stupid." Nicky screamed in my face.

I don't care about anyone. They let me live for Nicky. I don't want to be Nicky's blood-producing machine anymore!

"Dad's calling you." Nicky dragged me by force. I let her hand pull my limp body.

I'm not listening to dad talking about swapping mates. I don't care. I glanced briefly at Dean, who was tagging Nicky. They looked happy and affectionate. My heart is like being pinched. Why are they so mean to me?

"Good." Dad nodded his head with a big smile. "I hope that your relationship will always be harmonious and that you will always be together until death does us part. I hope that when Nicky becomes Alpha, you will be the perfect couple and bring happiness to all pack members."

"Thank you, Dad."

"Thank you, Alpha."

I looked at dad, who was walking towards me. Dad told a rogue who was Nicky's mate to tag me immediately.

"As I already said. I will accept you as a member of my pack as long as you tag Nora." Dad glared at the rogue, who responded to Dad's words by nodding his head.

Dad looked at me. I stared back at him with dull eyes. Did dad notice that I just cried?

I don't mind swapping mates and tagging. I don't care about my life anymore.

Then the rogue tagged me. I bit my lip to endure the pain as he stabbed his fangs into my neck. After it finished marking me, the rogue just stared at me without saying a word.

Life is unfair.

Daddy is mean to me.

Nicky took everything from me.

Dean betrayed me.

Rosalina always looked down on me.

The Moon Goddess doesn't allow me to be happy.

If I couldn't die, I wanted to hurt myself so that they would throw me out. How do I get Nicky to stop drawing my blood?

I ran into the forest. My heart is so broken. Tears flowed non-stop. I tripped over a tree root. I winced in pain and clutched my throbbing knee.

'Ava.' I called my wolf but got no answer. I wanted to run around the forest, but I couldn't switch bodies with my wolf. I can't even feel her presence. Am I a werewolf?

I laughed at my very poor and pitiful self. It turned out that Rosalina and Nicky were right; my life deserves to be laughed at.

"What are you doing here?"

The deep voice startled me. I immediately stood up and ignored the pain in my knee. I turned to find the rogue, who was now my mate. He sat on the rock next to the tree. There was no expression on his face.

I sat leaning against a tree. Why is he here? Is he following me? It seems impossible.

I rubbed my sore knee, and I wiped my tears with my sleeve. I was angry again, and my heart was falling apart. Why is life unfair to me? Was the Moon Goddess secretly laughing at me up there?

I had almost forgotten the man sitting on the rock. "Why are you here?"

I waited for five minutes, and he just answered.

"Because you are my mate."

Am I his mate? Dad said my blood was mixed in Nicky's body. Is that ridiculous excuse true?

I could faintly smell the man's scent. When did this scent appear? Was it because he had tagged me?

"Is it because I saved you in the past? Then in return, you were willing to tag me." My heart hurts. Does he want to return the favor? Or because he's afraid of dad?

I turned to him. He didn't want to look at me. I smiled sadly.

"I don't know how to get back to my group."

His words add to the wound in my heart. So he tagged me because he had no other choice but to stay here? He tagged me not because he liked me but because he had to.

My life is sad.

I am standing. I want to run back into the forest. I don't think I want to go back home.

"Where do you want to go?"

I stopped walking and turned to him.

The man was standing in front of me. The moonlight shining through the trees hit his face allowing me to see his serious face and eyes. I was stunned.

"I promise you. I will be loyal to you. Trust me, Nora, my mate."