Chapter One

Adella's POV

"You think I will accept you?" His voice rang out, making my body shiver involuntarily. But there was a part of me deep down that hated those words.

A part that wanted him to look at me like he did some years back. 

I stared at him, his cold-looking face, devoid of all emotions. He was staring blankly at me, as if I were some useless pieces of trash. But those weren't the eyes that looked at me three years ago. 

"I am your mate" I managed to blurt out, hating the question he just asked. 

My hands were shaking and I felt as though there were thousands of spears jabbed at my heart. He was hurting me and he knew it. It was like he wanted to hurt me. 

How could he ask if he was going to accept me or not? If he wasn't going to accept me then what? He wouldn't… 

That's when it dawned on me the second possible answer to his question. I felt shaken and I could feel my hands shaking nonstop. My eyes met his. He was looking emotionless as if I was nobody to him. Didn't he feel the slightest bond? 

Being mates wasn't a child's play. He shouldn't joke like that. And that's when my ears picked the dreaded words. My legs almost gave way to the shock moving all over my body.

"I, Alder Romero, reject you, Adella Gomez as my mate and future Luna. The moon goddess is our witness!" He said, his eyes boring through mine. 

A smirk playing at the end of those gorgeous lips. His words were like knives jabbing through every little pore in my body.

Hatred was brimming through his eyes.

I felt a stinging sensation in my heart as soon as the words left his mouth. I held my heart in fear and humiliation. That was not what I expected from the man I always dream about.

Yes, call me foolish or whatever but Alder had always been the man who stole my heart with just one look. He still was the man my heart was beating for up till this moment of rejection. 

Still, it was that same man that just pierced my heart without remorse. My tears threatened to fall yet I fought it back. I stood there staring at him, tongue-tied for what seemed like an eternity. Then I broke the ice inside me, shattering it into tiny bits of smithereens. 

"You…rejected me because I am weak?" I asked, standing up despite the pain. 

I grabbed his hands as tears rolled down my cheek. I tried fighting them back again but it was futile this time as it kept flowing like a river. 

"I just did. Got a problem with that?" I heard him say, cruelly. 

I looked up to see a smirk on his face. His eyes filled with undeniable anger, maybe from being paired with a weakling like me?

A wolf who refused to shift? More like a human in the midst of wolves. Funny right? But that's just how everyone sees me. My mate, not excluded. 

I tried to hold him tighter but he looked down at my shaky hands and without warning, I felt a force hitting me painfully and I fell again. He had pushed me forcefully and I hit the rocky ground. I knew I was going to break a bone or two.

Before he could walk out on me, I turned to him. Biting my lips which were at the verge of bleeding, I stared at those eyes. Lifeless, emotionless yet my heart can't stop loving. 

"Wait…" I said and he stopped.

I took one last look at him. He wasn't saying anything. He just had his hands, deep in his pocket. He looked as dashing as always. His deep eyes made my heart race. I swallowed hard, coming in terms with the decision I was about to take. 

"I, Adella Gomez, accept your rejection" I said, the pains of rejection searing through my heart. 

Would he regret it? Would he also feel the pain of the rejection? The feeling of being broken, distraught and forlorn. I hope he will change his mind… I hope he will come back. Unfortunately, his next words shattered my world. 

"I am glad you know your position. Do you think I would accept a weak human like you as my mate? I, the future Alpha of this great pack paired with a weakling!" He scoffed. 

That was it. My heart was officially destroyed by my own mate. Brutally and without the slightest bit of remorse from the heartless prick! 

" You…are so…heartless!"

Before I could finish the words from my mouth, I felt myself choking under his tight grip. Those hazel looking eyes that got me hooked for the past three years were staring at me with hatred. Slowly, I saw the color of his eyes changing.

He hated me. 

Why? Was it because I haven't gotten my wolf? Was that why he was calling me human just like the others in the pack? 

" One more word from you and I won't mind throwing you off this cliff!" He roared, heartlessly.

" I… please…" I tried to speak out but I couldn't, not when he was choking the damn life out of me. 

I was becoming breathless and I struggled to get his hands off my neck. After struggling for another two seconds that seemed like hours, he finally let go of me. I fell to the ground with a thud as I gasped for air. I tried to take in as much air as I could. 

How could he be so cruel to me? He was different. Heartless. Cruel. Violent and void of emotions. 

Then with a chuckle that was followed by a belittling laughter, he walked up to me where I was still trying to catch my breath on the rocky ground. To say that my heart skipped faster than 32x fast-forward control was an understatement.

I was on the edge of hyperventilating. I wish all these were just a dream as I tried to stabilize my breath. 

But at the same time, I felt hooked… hopelessly hooked to the effect his face was having on me. My sense of smell picked a calming effect from his scent and somehow, my heart wanted him to just say those words I had been expecting to hear.

Mate.

Yes, I haven't gotten my wolf yet but somehow, I knew Alder, the future Alpha of our pack was my mate. The way I was drawn to him, the way my heart raced as soon as our eyes met, said it all.

And his actions earlier said it all.

I was happy that he was my mate. I was happy I got a mate but with the situation right now, I don't know if I should be happy or not. This guy hated me! 

"You should have just died instead of being a nuisance to everyone"

Such cruel words… 

"No… you… I hate you!!" I screamed, looking devastated.

But I was met with his stiff back and a hateful aura coming back at me from him. I stayed on the ground, crying my eyes out.

How do I live without a mate?