Chapter 3

While we were out for a stroll, Eris tried to reassure me, saying, "Snow, it's alright. They'll come around. I just truly believe that everything will work out for the both of us. We just have to continue to hang on to that hope that our mate will find us tonight." How can I be hopeful when there has been no sign of my mate up to this point, despite the fact that tonight is the full moon, and other than the fact that my engagement will be announced within the next hour?

If Eris and I don't get to meet our mate before the announcement, then I am sure that we won't be able to meet him anymore. And I am now beginning to lose all optimism that I will still be able to have a chance to meet him before the news of my marriage to whomever is revealed.

How screwed up is my life really? Just about everything for me appears to be going south. Phoenix, who Eris strongly believed to be our mate, is trying to make it look even more emotionally detached from me, despite the fact that Maddie has said she has already been trying to help me with him. Even while we are in training, he acts so aggravated around me that he almost always treats me harshly. Furthermore, I'm not even certain that he recognizes me as the alpha's daughter based on the manner in which he regards me.

Then there is Ryder and me. That makes me all the more genuinely conflicted by the way Phoenix acts toward me every time he sees me and Ryder together. He gets all worked up every time we see him and is making training very hard for both me and Ryder.

And at this point, there is absolutely no hope left in my heart anymore because both this marriage thing and the mate thing are not really going the way that I want them to.

"Mate." Eris speaks in my mind as soon as I catch a whiff of that alluring fragrance. "He is already here, Snow. Our mate is nearby, and I am absolutely convinced of it." The fragrance combines a musky and sweet scent. I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's luring me in that direction.

"Are you even sure that's him?" I challenged Eris, even though I had already started to move while still pursuing that scent. I continued, feeling glad that we would meet our mate before the announcement of our engagement, "I am very much looking forward to meeting our mate." Simply said, this only indicates that there remains a possibility that I won't wed someone else but my mate.

I was interrupted by a gruff voice that just said, "Fuck it, why are you even here? Go back." I was left staring at the man standing in front of me with eyes wide open in shock.

I stammered, "M-mate," although not really believing that the scent was leading me in the direction of Phoenix. That really just leaves one conclusion, therefore. He is our mate, and Eris was correct all along. "You are my mate."

"Snow, you should not be here. Go back inside now," he ordered. It's evident from the manner in which he spoke to me that he was not thrilled to see me again.

"You're my mate, though."

He managed to pass by me and made a point of saying, "I know. However, it is not the appropriate time for that. We must go inside." That was all he said to me, and then he left.

I am currently on the verge of crying over how my supposed perfect mate treated me; he knew from the beginning but never even bothered to tell me. A lot of questions are running through my head once more: Doesn't he like me back? Is that why he is so harsh to me? Does he know about my engaged marriage? Is that the reason why he is trying to distance himself from me?

"There you are, Snow. Alpha is looking for you. The announcements will have to be made quickly," Ryder said as he headed toward me. "Come on, let's get you inside."

Eris replied, "Don't worry, Snow, we'll find out what we need to know, but for now, we need to get back inside." With no other option, I nodded at Ryder, and we both went inside.

"The Alpha and the Luna of the Sky River pack have arrived for the announcement," Ryder mumbled to me as soon as we joined the pack.

My father said, "Snow, come here," as soon as he spotted me. My anxiety started to build as I moved in his direction and approached my mother. Will Phoenix still accept me as his mate after learning that I must get married? Looking around the room for my mate, I spotted him behind the Alpha and Luna of the Sky River Pack. I can't understand his emotions because, as usual, he is indifferent. Then what will happen to me after this announcement? Where is my supposed to be fiancé?

"Silence everyone. You are all called tonight because of an announcement that I have to make together with our ally, Alpha Ronan of the Sky River Pack." As the words left my father's mouth, my heart started to beat rapidly. I am already thinking of the many possible ways to run away from this marriage and be with my mate. That is, if he'll accept me, though. "It is with pleasure that we announce to everyone that, as part of an alliance, my daughter, Snow, will be wedded to Alpha Ronan's son, Phoenix, and will be the future Luna of the Sky River Pack."

Shit! Did I just hear my father correctly? Is it Phoenix? That question was answered when Phoenix stepped forward and curtly nodded at my father as his gaze met mine. I am going to be married to my mate. So, how fortunate am I to have this opportunity?

"I, Phoenix Faust of the Sky River Pack, welcome this engagement to Snow Saunders of the Black Knight Pack."

—---

The Moon Goddess actually gave me a significant amount of hope just when I was beginning to believe that absolutely nothing was going well enough for me. Who would have imagined that my fiancé would also be my mate? My heart is giddy with excitement just thinking about it.

Eris repeated her initial assertion, expressing the same pleasure I do over this news: "I told you, Snow, everything is going to be alright."

"I am just so glad, Eris, and now that the engagement is over, we can have the opportunity to talk to him." I proceeded to walk outside to look for Phoenix, as I had just lost track of where he could have been after that announcement. I had to talk to my father and let him know that I was wholeheartedly accepting this marriage already, and of course, he was pleased with that decision of mine.

"In the woods. Our mate is out in the woods." Eris directed me as I made my way past the back door. What was he doing in the woods?

But not far from the pack house's back door, his scent is already lingering. But for some reason, my heart is aching. What the hell is this feeling? Am I just nervous? "I'm not having a very good feeling about this." Just as I am feeling, my wolf is being apprehensive as well. 

"I know, and I don't like this feeling either, Eris. But we really need to find him." I walked towards the big tree, my usual spot, as I could trace his scent from there. A couple of steps more and I saw him, but what shocked me the most was the person he was with and what they were doing.

"What is the meaning of this, Maddie?" I shouted in fury. Eris was so mad that she wanted to be let out, seeing our mate was tongue to tongue with my best friend. The friend who happens to say that she is helping me work things out with my mate.

"Snow, calm down," Maddie said, but without any remorse at all for what she did. "Phoenix and I are together."

"What?! That can't be, Maddie; fuck it, he's my mate and my fiancé." Maddie just stifles her laughter, mocking me for what I've said.

"Go home, Maddie," Phoenix ordered her.

"No. I want to see her reaction when you reject her."

"What? How dare you, Maddie!"

"Go home, Maddie," Phoenix once again ordered, and this time, with his stern glare at Maddie, she followed.

As soon as Maddie left, Phoenix confronted me. "Why do you keep on showing yourself here? You are not supposed to be here."

"I can be wherever I want to be," I hissed. "Now, care to explain, mate?"

He scoffed at me and said, "Didn't you hear what I said inside? I agree to marry you, but I never stated that I agree to be your mate. I only need you to be an alpha, Snow. But once I get that position, I'll have my chosen mate with me as my Luna."

How harsh can he be to me? I am his mate, but why is he doing this to me? I don't want to show my weaknesses to him, but I can't stop it. The words he spoke just hurt like hell.

"In fact, let me make this easier for you. I, Phoenix Faust, reject you, Snow Saunders, as my mate." As the words left him, a piercing pain shot through my heart. He rejected me. My mate rejected me, and all I could think about was running away. "Return the rejection, Snow," he orders me, but I won't heed him.

With all the strength that I could muster, I faced him and said, "I, Snow Saunders, do not accept the rejection." And with that, I turned my back on him and ran away. I ran away from the pack that I wanted to protect. I ran away from the friend that I wanted to be with.

Why didn't I reject him back? Because if I did, there is a higher chance the both of us will die, but with me not accepting the rejection, I might become weak, but with my fast healing powers, it can save me and him. And I want to save myself so that one day I can have the guts to face him and show him what he lost.

I can feel Eris becoming weary and whimpering in my head. And as much as I want to shift, I can't because I know how hard this is for Eris. I ran and ran through the woods, not minding what dangers might lurk in front of me. All I wanted was to escape this place and the people in it. I felt betrayed and hurt, and the only thing I want is to live my life alone.

As I continued running and running, I was losing strength. The effects of being rejected are taking a toll on me now, but I won't stop. I need to be as far away as I can be. But the next thing I knew, I was dragged down and bitten by two big wolves.

"Eris, wake up." I tried to wake her up, but my wolf is just too weak to fight. And all I could do was to take all the pain of the attack. I myself am too weak to fight. As I was smashed into the tree, my head bloodied and bitten into my arms, all I could think about was Phoenix. I was still hoping that he could feel my pain and that somehow he would come to rescue me.