The Mate Rejection.

It was something she never wanted to happen now. Not now, never, not in a situation like this. As she perceived the heart-breaking scent of fresh dust and blueberry, she realized she had found her mate. She was too shaken to know who it was. So scared, so afraid. She was not yet ready to be thrown into a mine.

"Seems the goddess has blessed you with a mate," Tanya said, seeing the way both mates reacted to their new discovery.

Aurora mentally shook her head. This was not a blessing, as Tanya had stated. It was a curse. A curse for her to have a mate, because it was the beginning of her hardship. She would rather remain mateless than be mated to anyone in the pack.

"Look up, Aurora. Why don't you look up to know who your mate is?" Tanya said, a smile appearing on her face. Aurora knew she would have to look up, and so she did. Looking up at her mate, the one who would make her or break her. Who she saw was terrible. She despised who she saw. It was no other person than Kael Vincent! Did the goddess hate her too, for being an omega? Or was the goddess punishing her for her past deeds?

Kael was shocked at what he saw—whom the goddess had blessed him with. A mate, a worthless omega mate. Well, rejection wasn’t so hard, was it? He thought, looking at the omega. He could feel her emotions, the way she was shivering, maybe with excitement over the fact that he was her mate. Now, she felt so disgusting in his sight, more disgusting than before.

"Well, well, son. Seems the goddess has blessed you with a mate. Doesn’t that call for celebration, huh?" Alpha Rowan said. He hated the omega just as his son did, but showing the whole pack how much he despised her was going to tarnish his image. So, he had to accept her.

"Not so quick, Alpha Rowan. The new intending alpha hasn’t declared he wants her as a mate. We can’t push him to her just like that," Beta Mark said.

Aurora hoped the alpha's son would reject her. She hoped he would never consider her. She had heard of how happy mates were when they met their partners. But hers was different. She was not going to feel the same things other werewolves felt when they met their mates. Her life was a mess. She entered survival mode when she saw Kael walking toward her. She could feel the whole pack staring at her with hate and anger. She wished she could make them understand that she didn’t want a mate. Never would she want one.

Kael stopped a few feet away from her. He knew she was not happy about being his mate, but he had to act and fool others. He would be the one to disgrace her, more and more.

"I know you feel happy that I am your mate," Kael said, saying it loud enough for everyone to hear. This brought some murmurs from the crowd.

"When you entered the room, I perceived the smell of vanilla and lemon. I knew it was my mate that had walked in, but when the identity of my intended mate came into my sight, then I knew the goddess was punishing me for my sins by giving you to me," Kael said, watching the tears that welled up in her eyes.

"Priest, come make the pronouncement," Kael said, calling to an old man who came forward.

"You want me to make the pronouncement, young alpha?" Corbin asked.

"Yes, priest. I do. I prefer everyone knows my decision earlier," Kael said, throwing an evil smirk at Aurora, who just stood there. She had no right to speak. If she did, it wouldn’t take the pack long to send her to the dungeon or maybe kill her. She shivered at the thought of being killed. She knew the pronouncement the priest was about to make. Making a pronouncement immediately after meeting one’s mate was not how the rules worked. The two newly found mates were meant to get to know each other and accept each other before the pronouncement, which would make them decide if they wanted to be together or not. But knowing it was the alpha’s son, things would be different. What was Kael planning? Did he want to reject her so quickly? Her heart tightened, sad at the thought of being rejected by her mate. She shook her head, trying to get rid of the thoughts creeping through her mind. The mate bond was beginning to affect her. That’s how powerful it was.

"Do you wish to accept her as your mate, to be eternally bonded to her, or do you wish to reject her, automatically breaking your newly found bond?" Corbin asked, his voice dull, wanting to be done with the ceremony.

Everyone was curious to know what Kael would do. Surely, he would reject the worthless omega. There was no doubt about it. But would he? Some pack members thought.

Elizabeth stood, watching the abomination that was happening in her presence. How dare the goddess cause her such shame? Tiny drops of tears fell down her face, smearing her mascara. Her hatred for her worthless sister had increased indefinitely. There was no doubt about it.

"Lola, do you think Kael would accept Aurora? Do you think he will reject her and make her Luna? Oh my gosh, I can’t believe this disgrace. I can’t bear it, sister," Elizabeth said, attracting attention toward her. She was a drama queen and needed that attention, hoping the whole pack would pity her and consider Aurora a snatcher. Everyone in the pack knew how intimate she was with the alpha's son.

"No, I do not think he will accept her. He would definitely reject our worthless sister," Lola said, giving the heartbroken Elizabeth a tap on the back.

"Sister, watch and see how the omega gets disgraced in front of the whole pack," Lola said again, smiling at the unfolding situation.

Kael stared at the priest, giving a mischievous smile. There was no doubt that the whole pack already knew his mind—that he was going to reject the omega. An omega could not possibly rule the pack beside him. He needed someone capable enough to stand beside him when he guarded the pack.

"Do you, young Alpha Kael?" Corbin asked again, cutting Kael from his thoughts.

Kael watched the omega. Her face was filled with immense pain, more than he had ever seen. He was ready to reject her, but he had a plan—a plan to accept her, take her, then reject her. "Yes, I do accept her as my mate," Kael said.

At his words, a scream was heard, piercing the four walls of the room. It was Elizabeth. She could not believe that the alpha’s son had accepted that worthless thing. Aurora was a whore and must have secretly lured Kael into her disgusting trap.

"Kael, how dare you?" Elizabeth screamed, trying to run toward him, but two men held her tightly. Her face was filled with rage and more hatred for her worthless sister.

"Take her out of the party; she disturbs the celebration," Queen Luna said. At her command, two guards dragged Elizabeth out of the room. Lola stood, still dumbfounded by this sudden change of events. The alpha’s son could not possibly be serious with his words. Maybe it was a prank to deal with her sister Aurora. She hoped so, but Kael couldn’t possibly prank something as serious as mating. The goddesses were involved. Or could he? Her thoughts were clouded, just like the rest of the pack. Murmurs spread as no one had expected the alpha’s son to accept the omega. It was unthinkable.

Aurora stood shocked. Shocked at what she had heard. Kael had accepted her without thinking twice, so quickly. She smelled something evil in his acceptance. There was no way Kael would accept her unless he planned something dangerous or evil toward her. This was a time to brace herself, not to think about why he had accepted her or not.

"Good. Now, I pronounce you mates," Corbin said again, looking at the newly found mates. He was not very involved in the pack’s social life, so he didn’t know much about their status, but he wasn’t blind to the enmity and discomfort between the two newly found mates. Usually, the female mate would be asked if she accepted the male mate, but it was impossible to do that in this case. It was the alpha’s son. No woman with her right mind could reject an alpha mate. It had never been heard of. Why bother asking her?

"Let’s celebrate my son’s newly found mate. Finding your mate is a joyful thing," Alpha Rowan said, bearing his teeth as he spoke. The goddesses had disgraced his lineage by granting him an omega for his son.

And quickly, the feast began again. But this time, it was filled with more gossip about how the omega must have cast a spell on Kael. "Do you perhaps think you will leave so quickly, to hide away from your mate?" Kael said, casting her a deadly smirk.

Aurora looked down, uncomfortable that this devil was dancing with her. She found herself disgusting for being touched by Kael.

"Your face looks like you’ve just seen a ghost," Kael said as he circled his arms around her waist, feeling her tense. He mentally smiled. Soon, he would have her, and then reject her. That was all he wanted—dancing with her was just a sacrifice to make the whole pack believe his lies later on.

Aurora had never danced before, not in public. The only person she had ever danced with was her Papa. A tear glistened down her cheek, and she quickly wiped it away, not wanting this devil to see her tears.

"Let’s see how this ends," Kael said. Aurora quickly looked up, seeing the danger in his smile. She knew he had evil plans. Just as quickly as he had smiled, he shoved his foot under hers, causing her to fall onto the floor. A mild scream escaped her lips, and the whole pack turned, laughing at her. They thought she was trying to get fake attention.

Aurora stood up, surprised by how quickly Kael had changed. He was different now that she was his mate. She held back tears as she ran out of the room, heading toward her quarters. But as she turned the corner, someone grabbed her with full force, slamming her into the wall. It was Elizabeth, her eyes filled with rage.

"How dare you take what belongs to me, you damn whore!" Elizabeth said, walking toward her, dragging her hair as she slammed her into the wall. A painful scream erupted from Aurora’s lips. Elizabeth laughed at her suffering.

Aurora flinched again when Elizabeth dragged her hair, almost tearing it from her scalp.

"Seems you’re getting mouthy all of a sudden. That’s interesting to hear," Elizabeth said, her hatred consuming her entirely. She was about to strike again when a voice stopped her, causing her hand to freeze in mid-air.

"Enough. You’ve hit her enough," Kael said, walking forward.

"And why would I obey your words? Now you find yourself a mate and you ignore me, Kael?" Elizabeth said, quietly letting go of Aurora’s hair.

"I'm sorry the goddess didn’t pronounce you as my mate. It's not my fault," Kael said, wishing he could tell her that Aurora was just a toy—someone he would mess with tonight and then reject quickly.

"I rejected my mate to be with you, you dumbass! How dare you do this to me?" Elizabeth said, running toward Kael, raising her hand to slap him. But Kael grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him, whispering into her ear.

"Oh really? You wasted so much time telling me this, baby," Elizabeth said, her anger vanishing as if it had never existed. She looked at him with a smile, all traces of rage gone.

Aurora looked up, surprised at the sudden change. What had Kael told Elizabeth for her to look so happy? She couldn’t believe that Elizabeth had rejected her mate all because she wanted power.