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Rebeccah's POV

The day my mate chose to leave me was on the very day we had decided to become one.

"I, Caleb Parker, the next alpha of the Shadow Hills pack reject you, Rebeccah Smith as my mate and future Luna"

The words burned through me with the worst kind of pain. I couldn't believe what was happening. Why the sudden change from him? Everything had been okay all this while. Or has it?

Caleb and I grew up together along with our third friend, Elowen. We had been so close as children, doing everything together and I developed a crush on Caleb as we grew older. Elowen was no different. She was enraptured by him the same way I was and she wasn't afraid to hide it. I never confessed my feelings but he always cared for me in a way that made me believe that he also liked me.

Things began to change when my aunt fell sick. As her only living relative, I had to take care of her and that distanced me from my best friends, especially Caleb.

He was in training to take after his father as the next alpha so he didn't have time to come around like he used to and so, we gradually drifted apart.

When I turned 18, I found out Caleb was my mate.

My happiness lasted only a heartbeat before fear swallowed it whole.

Caleb didn't know my secret. The curse I had buried deep inside myself, the one carved into my blood, woven into my very existence.

When he reached for me, I pulled away. I didn't let him hold me. I ran, my chest tight with panic, until Elowen found me.

She was concerned about me and I broke the news that Caleb was my mate.

For a split second, her eyes went cold. Then she smiled again, soft and understanding.

"Don't tell Caleb the truth. No one wants a cursed mate. Keep it from him. Let him mark you first. Once that happens, it will be done."

I hesitated. Lying to Caleb felt wrong. Every instinct in me screamed that this was a mistake.

But Elowen's voice came again, smoother this time.

"Don't you want to be his future Luna? Once you are the pack's Luna, you'll have the power and resources to treat your aunt. And you'll be able to stay with Caleb forever."

I have loved Caleb for years and my aunt was the only family I had left. I couldn't stand losing either of them.

So I nodded. And I accepted everything.

Caleb promised to mark me but only at the mating game. It was customary for the Alphas in our pack to mark their mates on the night of the mating games.

The next one was in two years. Although it seemed far away, I was determined to wait for him.

He was the most important person to me and the only one who could save me from my curse.

When the day of the mating game was announced, I was ecstatic with joy, eager to see my mate and talk about us finally being together.

"Becca, don't go anywhere" my aunt said sourly on the night of the games. She had never been in support of my relationship with Caleb but she of all people knew why it was important to me. What I stood to lose if I didn't get mated to my one true mate.

"I have to," I said as I turned away, leaving before she could try to stop me.

Everyone had gathered for the games and the air was thick with excitement and anticipation.

I joined the lineup and spotted my mate and others. One by one, I inspected their faces and then I spotted Elowen.

I frowned because she'd never told me she'd be a part of the games. Our eyes met across the clearing, and for a heartbeat, she looked almost... triumphant. I didn't get to dwell on it because the game began and I took off into the forest.

The night was mostly silent, except when the wolves announced the finding of their mates with a loud howl.

I shifted and ran for a long while when I felt a sudden pain in my chest.

"Caleb" I muttered to myself as I tried to find his wolf. Something was terribly wrong. I weaved through the forest, ignoring the burning pain tearing my chest apart.

I ran until I could scent him and then I saw them. The cause of the pain burning through me.

Caleb and Elowen, their human forms were tangled on the floor, in the throes of passion. They didn't blink at me or act surprised, only pulled apart like they had not done any wrong.

"W-why?" I shifted into human form, stuttered through the pain.

"Why? You have the nerve to stand there and ask me that after all that you've done," Caleb accused, pointing his finger at me angrily.

"W-what... what are you talking about?" I managed to ask, still clutching my chest and the nearest tree or the pain and betrayal would have sent me crashing to the ground.

"About your fucking curse" my blood turned cold as the words came out. He knew about my curse.

Elowen. I looked at her in disbelief. I'd told her about it in trust. How could she? She had told me not to tell him.

"I was going to tell you about it"

"When?" He snapped at me.

"After I became bound to you forever? How could you keep such a thing from me"

"I was going to tell you" I whimpered pathetically.

"I was going to find a solution. I was only scared to lose you because I loved you so much. I couldn't bear it if you looked at me with disdain because of it" I explained, crying heavily.

"Were you ever going to tell me that I was bound to die?" He wasn't. But how could I begin to explain everything right now?

"You're so selfish, Rebeccah. Trying to trap the future Alpha into that miserable curse that you have" the harsh words came from my best friend and left me even more shattered than before.

"I heard it took your mother's life, didn't it?" Elowen stepped forward, her lips curling into a cold smile. Her betrayal cut deeper than anything I'd ever felt. I'd trusted her and she used that secret to steal my mate. My only hope at surviving.

"You're not worthy of him. He needs a real woman. A real Luna. Someone who can give him what you never could" she scoffed at me.

"All these years you starved him for the one thing that he needed as a man. You're not worthy to be called his mate" she yelled at me.

"Enough of this. It ends tonight" Caleb snatched my hand viciously and pulled me through the forest. I couldn't fight through the pain of betrayal and so he pulled me to the center of the people who had gathered for the ball.

I fell to my knees in humiliation as they held each other closely.

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Whispers spread like wildfire.

Some looked at me with pity, others with open scorn, as if I were already something broken and discarded. I couldn't bear to look at them so I hung my head.

"I, Caleb Parker, the next alpha of the Shadow Hills pack reject you, Rebeccah Smith as my mate and future Luna"

Unbearable pain tore through me. And I fell in a heap. I curled into a ball as the pain wracked through me. Unbearable and wicked.

I felt something in me slipping away.

Through the haze of the pain, I got up and ran. Into the forest and away from everyone. Away from the mocking laughter and judgmental whispers and stares.

When I had gotten as far as the pain would allow, I collapsed against a tree, sobbing and clutching my chest.

And then the worst of it came. A blinding pain tore through me as I felt our bond destroyed and shattered.

He had marked Elowen.

My whole world crumbled in just a moment and I let out a howl full of pain and that would be the last.

My wolf was gone.