Chapter 1: Out of Wedlock

Pov: Asha

The thin forest air bit into my lungs. I had walked into the clearing expecting to be swept into the arms of my mate whom I haven’t seen for nearly two months.

“I, Cole Evans, son of Alpha Gerald Evans, and the future Alpha of Moonmere Pack, reject you, Asha Ryder, as my fated mate and future Luna.”

The words tore through me.

In the back of my mind, my wolf, Rylie, let out a skull-splitting high-pitched howl that resounded in my head.

No, Asha… why is he doing this? Rylie whimpered.

“Before this pack and the Moon Goddess above, I renounce our bond and sever every connection between us.”

My heart stopped beating and I forgot how to breathe.

I stared at Cole, the boy who had spent months whispering sweet promises into my ear and wishing on every star that the Goddess would choose me for him. 

Those wishes finally came true seven weeks ago, at the inter-Alpha Summit when my wolf had shown up. That night was hazy after an exhausted working day, but I felt every electric spark between, including being wanted.

He had vanished the next morning, leaving me with nothing but an empty bed and the news of being sent away on official duty. 

I waited still, holding on to the life now growing inside of me. I never expected him to return with a blade in hand.

As the world began to unfreeze around me, a hot pain bubbled in  my chest. I dropped to the forest floor, my knees hitting the dirt as I screamed.

Asha, make it stop! Why is he hurting us?

Rylie grew restless, her claws scratching at the walls of my mind.

My vision spun and a loud ringing filled my ears.

“The bond manifests when one has a wolf without needing to shift,” Cole said casually as if he wasn’t destroying my soul. “A nice theory, but being unable to shift makes one’s wolf useless. A liability.”

I forced my head up to see he wasn’t alone. Heather Rivers, the Gamma's daughter, whom he had told me not to worry about, stood next to him with her hand resting possessively on his arm.

My hand drifted to my stomach.

“Heather here is going to be my mate,” he announced to the silent, watching pack. “Together, we will strongly lead this pack in the future. That isn’t a possibility with a weak, worthless omega like you.”

Worthless.

The word was a killing blow. I had been blinded by the chase, by the sweet words and the hope of a home. Now, looking at the smug smile on Heather’s face, the numbness began to set in.

I pushed myself up, the dirt clinging to my skin as I stood on shaking legs. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of my tears. 

Not today.

“I, Asha Ryder, accept your rejection, Cole Evans!” I spat out.

Several gasps echoed through the clearing. 

Cole doubled over, groaning. 

“You dared to accept it?” His facial expression shifted from pain to disbelief, then back to pain.

However, seeing him in pain brought me no satisfaction.

I turned around and headed home. 

My hand drifted to my stomach. Whatever happened, my pup would never be unwanted.

I didn't know what tomorrow would bring anymore. But for the first time in my life, there was someone who belonged to me just as much as I belonged to them.

Rylie, who had been silent since I accepted the rejection, hummed in the back of my mind like she agreed.

By the time I reached home, exhaustion hit me hard.

I held onto the door to hold myself upright and finally let myself in.

“Asha, get your stupid ass over here right now!” My mother’s voice boomed from the living room the second the door closed behind me.

I gulped and drew in a soft breath before making my way into the living room. My mother was seated next to my father who was rarely ever home at this time with angry expressions visible on their faces.

“Mother, fa—”

A yelp escaped my lips, cutting off my words as I barely avoided the cup my father tossed my way.

“Don’t you dare call us that!” He shouted at the same time the cup crashed against the wall behind me.

My eyes widened in horror.

Anger was nothing new. 

My parents had blamed me for existing long before today. It had only worsened when I failed to shift at eighteen like my peers.

“How do you dare to call us that after getting rejected by the soon to be Alpha of this pack?” My mother roared as she marched towards me. “You should have been lifting this family out of the lowly omega status we’ve found ourselves in, yet you must have gone ahead to act up and get yourself rejected!”

“Mother—”

“I told you not to call me that!” She cut me off, pointing her fingers accusingly at me while shaking furiously. “Since you have decided to be worthless in every aspect, we will make you useful in some way.”

My mother marched back to the center of the living room and picked up a paper from the table that my eyes had skipped earlier.

“This would make you useful,” she stretched the paper towards me.

I took careful steps forward, before collecting the paper.

My eyes widened inch by inch as they darted from one edge of the paper to the other, taking in every word.

Binding contract. Debt. Blackhollow Pack. Collateral. Asha Ryder.

“Wha—What is… this?” I breathed out in disbelief.

“You’ll be given to your father’s creditor, the former Beta of Blackhollow Pack so his debt would be written off,” my mother answered. “That would have been a thing of the past now had you not driven off Cole.”

“I… am to be sold off?” My voice was no more than a whisper. “Blackhollow pack? That pack of all places? To the old former Beta nonetheless?”

“Yes and you have no say in it,” she responded, her gaze darkening.

Used to pay a debt? Me?

I shook my head and slowly stepped back.

“No… no… I can't… I won't—”

I gasped as I felt a sting on my neck. 

Asha? Something is wrong... I’m... I can’t...

Rylie’s voice trailed off into a distorted whisper before the blackness swallowed her whole, leaving my mind terrifyingly quiet.

I turned around. My father stood there and stared at me with a blank expression.

“What was…” my words slurred out.

My vision began to swim and my father's form split into two.

Right then, my gaze fell on the syringe in his hands. 

My knees hit the floor.

“At least this way, you’re worth something,” I heard my father say as the darkness engulfed me in a hug that I had craved all day.