1: Humiliation and Pain

ROSENTINE

A smile spread across my face as I stood ready to step into the garden where my wedding would take place. I had dreamed of this day for so long, but when the curtains finally lifted, I stopped in my tracks, shock freezing me in place.

Not only was my cousin, Isabelle, dressed in a wedding gown, but she was also standing beside my mate at the floral hoop arch, in front of the officiant.

“W-what’s happening?” I stammered, glancing at the pack members whose faces twisted with mockery, their giggles ringing in my ears.

My gaze then landed on Ezekiel, and all I could do was stare, caught in those cold green eyes. Beside him, Isabelle let out a snicker, as if I were nothing more than a punchline to the wedding I had poured my heart into planning for three months.

“Isn’t it obvious?” she said, wrapping her arms around my mate, a sly smile spreading across her face. “We’re getting married.”

Her words sparked a few laughs, as if everyone had been waiting for this moment. For a second, everything inside me just… stopped. 

I clutched at the sides of my wedding dress, fingers digging into the fabric as if I could hold myself together.

“I’m not asking you,” I shot back, turning to Ezekiel, who appeared unfazed by the chaos around him. 

Despite the mockery, I walked down the aisle, only to be stopped by two warriors who caught my arms.

“Let go! Why are you guys doing this? You know I’m the one getting married, I’m the bride—”

“You really think someone as wicked as you could be my bride?” Ezekiel sneered, his tone cold and harsh, a stark contrast to how he had treated me in recent months.

I thought he had already forgiven me; was that all just a trick? So, he could pull off this humiliating act and prove just how the whole pack despised me?

“What did I do—oh wait, is this about what happened sixteen years ago? You still think I left Rosalia to the rogues?” I asked, my voice quivering from how much hurt I was feeling.

I knew it was strange when he suddenly proposed to me, especially since he had always loathed the idea of me being his fated mate, but despite that, I still let myself believe that he could love me.

I’d seen the way he smiled at me, the small kindnesses, affection, and thought, maybe, just maybe, I’d finally reached him. That may be our feelings were already mutual.

Was I really so foolish to think that being fated mates meant we could ever have a chance?

“Why else would you return by yourself if that wasn’t the reason? Just admit it, you used your own sister as bait to save yourself from the rogues!” he shouted, making me flinch.

In an instant, the laughter faded and was replaced by a cold, hard glare from everyone around me. It was the same look I had seen countless times ever since I returned home alone after being kidnapped sixteen years ago.

“You should be thankful you got to wear a wedding dress,” Isabelle piped up, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “At least you look halfway presentable on the day you’re about to be rejected.”

I could feel my wolf fighting inside me, wanting to take over, but I pushed her back, even as pain flared in my ribs.

For a moment, I wondered if it would be easier to just give in—to turn around and walk away, to leave all this behind.

“I, Ezekiel Axton...” he began, and my entire body tensed, dread pooling deep in my stomach. I shook my head, barely able to breathe, terrified of the next words coming out of his mouth.

“Stop.” My voice sounded desperate, almost broken. “Please, don’t—”

“Reject you, Rosentine Everhart, as my mate.”

The rejection hit me like a punch, breaking my heart and sending pain through every part of me until I could hardly breathe.

Tears filled my eyes, and I pressed my hand against my chest, trying not to fall apart in front of everyone. But it was hard, I even barely registered Isabelle’s hand as it grabbed my jaw, forcing me to face her.

“Accept the rejection,” she commanded, her tone flat and merciless.

My throat tightened, but I retaliated by spitting at her face, not caring about the consequences anymore. 

Just then, her hand cracked across my cheek. As if that wasn’t enough, she yanked my hair so hard my head snapped back.

I gasped at the pain.

“You fucking bitch!”

“That’s enough, Isabelle,” Ryan, my brother, stepped in. For a brief moment, I hoped he would stand up for me, but the truth was clear—he didn’t care about me, and neither did anyone else in the pack. “Just accept the rejection. You’re disrupting the ceremony, and we can’t waste any more time on this.”

I gritted my teeth, looking at Ezekiel, whose expression remained the same. His decision was final.

My gaze then flickered to my parents, hoping, just for a second, that maybe one of them would step in, say something, shield me from being humiliated in front of everyone. But they just sat there, their faces drained of surprise, as if this was always how it was going to go.

Maybe they had even expected it.

I searched my father’s face, clinging to the faint hope that he, the beta of our pack, would say something to our Alpha, Ezekiel’s father. But there was nothing.

Silence.

A heavy, cold kind of silence that made me feel invisible all over again.

That was when it finally landed: I had no one. Not then, not now. No one who loved me, no one who even cared enough to pretend.

It had always been this way, ever since that day—the day the rogues took us on my 8th birthday. My older sister and I. But in the end, I made it home, and Rosalia did not.

For years, I tried to believe things would heal, that the pack members would start liking me again, but even after sixteen years, everything remained the same.

They still looked at me like I was the reason Rosalia hadn’t been found.

I told myself that their hate for me was valid. After all, my older sister, who was adored by everyone for her talent and intelligence, had given up her bright future so I could escape.

She said she’d follow, yet she didn’t. So, I came home alone, and the guilt stuck to me. Sixteen years later, I was still carrying it, still paying for it every single day.

And now, this was it. The last exhausted thread gave way. I couldn’t take it anymore: the cold neglect, the snickering, the things they did to me when no one was looking, or everyone was.

The humiliation and pain had become too much, and the thought of enduring it another day made my chest ache.

“All right,” I finally managed, my voice catching as tears finally fell on my cheeks. “I, Rosentine Everhart, accept your rejection…”

“And from this day forward, I am no longer a member of the Frozen Valley Pack,” I added, causing my older brother to scoff.

“Well, that makes things easier then,” Ryan said, prompting me to look at him. However, his gaze wasn’t on me, but on the warriors who were still grasping my arm, “Take her, make sure she will be sent to the North properly.”

I stood frozen, my breath caught in my throat as I finally met his gaze. His blue eyes were cold, emotionless, devoid of any trace of compassion, as if I were a stranger to him.

“W-what do you mea—”

“Alpha Bastian’s looking for a breeder, and the whole pack decided to send you,” he replied flatly.

My thoughts went blank, my whole body trembling as I shifted my gaze between everyone.

Suddenly, I recalled a conversation I had overheard from the maids two months ago—that the feared Alpha of the North demanded each pack to send one healthy she-wolf to his territory, that he lined them up for his breeder selection.

Yet not a single woman had ever passed his standards, not after months of trials.

Whispers even floated around that those who didn’t make the cut were given to his warriors to serve as their breeders instead, ensuring their pack would grow even larger.

At that time, I had dismissed those stories as mere gossip, but it turned out to be true… And now, my pack wanted to send me?

This had to be a joke, right? This couldn’t be real.

“What are you waiting for? Take her,”

The emotional turmoil then started to take over my whole body, leaving me with a numbing sensation as the realization dawned on me.

I wanted to scream, yell, curse, anything. After all, nothing could prepare me for this; I never even considered it possible.

“No.” My breaths turned jagged, scraping painfully at my chest. The rough sound of my body being dragged faded to nothing, as if someone had stuffed cotton in my ears and I was sinking, deeper and deeper, into blackness.

By the time I regained consciousness, I found myself in a dim, unfamiliar room. The air was thick with the scent of fear and something sharper, and I wasn’t alone.

Other she-wolves crowded the space; their eyes fixed on me. Some of their gazes gleamed with amusement, lips curled in mocking smiles. Others looked away, faces pinched with sympathy… or was it dread? I couldn’t tell.

“Are you so desperate to be chosen that you even came here in a wedding gown?” The laughter that followed scraped at my nerves. 

I glared at her, but before I could spit a reply, the double doors slammed open so hard the brick walls almost shook.

A man then strode in, and I recognized him instantly by just looking at the scar on his face. It was Owen, Alpha Bastian’s beta. Behind him, two warriors followed, each one carrying a box overflowing with white fabric.

“Take one each and blindfold yourselves,” Beta Owen commanded, his voice low and final, leaving no room for argument. “Once you’re done, you’ll be brought to the west wing to test if you’re fit to be the Alpha’s breeder.”

No one moved. For a moment, it was like we were all holding our breath, waiting to wake up from a nightmare.

But I knew better.

This was the reality of my life. And there was no point in pretending otherwise.