Chapter 3

Alice

It was the fifth night that I met with Stefan in the clearing of the forest, and I felt that for the first time life was giving me a taste of the happiness it had snatched away after my father's death in that terrible war against the vampires.

I felt blissful, so that's why I prepared a nighttime picnic for my mate to nourish it as tradition dictates. When Stefan arrived that night, he seemed tense, but once he saw the surprise I had prepared for him, he smiled very happily.

"You are a delight, Alice, and you are mine," said Stefan before lifting me up gently.

Our meetings in the forest boiled down to seeing each other, making love, and then letting our beasts run free to play with all the energy of life. It was fun, but I wanted to be able to talk to Stefan about what was going to happen with us.

I needed to tell Stefan who I really was.

"I need us to talk about something."

Stefan didn't let me finish and put a finger on my lips.

"I don't want to talk about anything; right now, what I want is to spend a few days in absolute peace before my father's burial," said Stefan, and I nodded because I respected his mourning. "I just want you to be mine, no matter what else." There's a lot going on, and you are my escape. That's why I want us to keep our meetings private until that day. Swear it, Alice."

"I swear, I won't say anything until you do."

Stefan kissed me, and we spent a beautiful evening where we simply became one.

Being with my mate was wonderful.

The problem was that part of me felt anxious because I had not yet claimed him as mine, and Selene felt that way too.

I feel like something is not right; Dilon is upset about something and doesn't want to tell me yet, Selene said as we were arriving home.

The next morning, I woke up happy.

I was hungry, but I had nothing to eat, so I had to go to the market. I got ready and realized that I felt really good, enough not to feel so cold, so I decided to dress more comfortably and lightly. When I was leaving the house, Bianca arrived with a basket of fruits.

"This is an offering of peace," said Bianca, and she looked at me with shame for having left me alone those days. "I hadn't been able to come earlier because I was needed to organize the funeral of Alpha Savio, but I've come to bring you something you'll like."

When Bianca approached, she took a deep breath and looked at me in surprise. She dropped everything she was holding and hugged me warmly, which made me smile.

"Did you manage to shift?" "Do you have your she-wolf?"

"I have my she-wolf," I replied happily, and Bianca started to jump around contagiously.

Teo, Bianca's brother and my other friend, appeared and easily joined the group hug.

"I don't know what we're celebrating, but I'm in," said Teo with a big smile.

"Smell her," Bianca instructed him with enthusiasm. "Tell me you perceive."

Teo inhaled deeply and then, in a way I never expected, his pupils dilated completely and he looked at me with an expression of utter surprise.

"You are an Omega, Alice," Teo said happily, and then he frowned as you continued to inhale. "And you smell like someone else."

Bianca started to smell, and she frowned as well.

"That other smell I recognize, but it's very diluted by the hot water bath you took; however, you haven't been marked," Bianca said with surprise. "Have you got involved with someone, Alice?"

Teo raised his eyebrows in surprise, and I turned as red as a tomato.

I wanted to tell them what was happening, but I couldn't do it until Stefan made our relationship public. So I burst out laughing and didn't respond to my friends, quickly put the basket of fruit inside the cabin, and then walked as if they hadn't said anything.

Teo took my hand and looked at me seriously.

"Did someone hurt you?" Teo asked gently, and I shook my head, but his face showed a serious expression.

Bianca approached me and took me by the arm.

"Let's go to the market; I think that's where you're headed, right?"

"Yes, let's go to the market; I have things to buy."

The tension was felt a bit, but Bianca eased it with her humor; however, what was most curious was seeing how many of the people who used to look at me poorly now had curiosity in their eyes when they smelled me. I didn't pay much attention to it and made my purchase. By the time we finished shopping, we saw several cars passing by heading to Alpha's house.

The last car of the caravan stopped, and a stunning redhead got out, looking at everyone with a certain arrogance before entering to ask for something at one of the town's restaurants.

"Is she the Alpha's fiancée?" Bianca innocently asked Teo, and I looked at them in surprise.

"Which fiancée are they talking about?" I asked them carefully.

"The new Alpha has been engaged for a couple of years. He promised the Alpha who trained him that he would marry his firstborn daughter and make her his Luna. She is Circe, one of the most important warriors of the main city of the Eastern Pack, and she will be our future Luna. The Alpha Stefan was waiting for her to start the ceremony,” Teo said calmly, and I felt my heart shatter into pieces.

My friends didn't notice my pain.

The only one who felt the pain was Selene, who howled with rage inside me and then hurriedly hid when she realized that I wasn't going to confront the woman.

"It's so sad how the custom of legitimizing your mate has been lost," Bianca murmured with a hint of sorrow. "In another time, a man would never enter into marriage unless it was with his mate."

"We are in a difficult time; to ensure the continuation of the species, it was decided that if a werewolf finds his mate after getting married, she will become a formal concubine, and everyone must respect that," Teo explained patiently.

It seemed to me the worst of all the rules in the world, but I didn't say anything. My friends kept talking about the benefits and absurdities of that Council rule while my heart was breaking into pieces. Finally, Teo was called, and Bianca went to finish whatever she was doing for the funeral.

When I entered the cabin, all I wanted was to die of jealousy.

That night I impulsively went to confront Stefan, and upon seeing my face, he knew exactly what was going on with me, so he said firmly:

"You are my mate, and you can't be an insecure woman. Just accept that it's only a deal that I will break when the time comes, so stop thinking nonsense and just be mine."

Stefan didn't give me time for anything else; he kissed me, and I took comfort in the fact that we were just mates and that he was going to respect that. I trusted that he would do the right thing.

Two days later, I realized it wasn't like that.

The late Alpha Savio was finally laid to rest in the public square, and we all went to pay our respects. Unfortunately, I couldn't get close to Stefan due to the crowd of people, but I was able to leave the flowers that Alpha Savio liked to smell because they reminded him of his former Luna Karin. So I joined in the prayers and songs we offered to the Goddess for the soul of the ancient Alpha to find peace.

Then we went to take Alpha Savio's body to be buried in the family crypt. For them, all the groups gathered to pay their final tribute. They moved up from rank to rank; the first to enter were the Betas, then the Deltas, and finally the small group of Omegas. It was right at that moment that I approached to join everyone, but the leader of the Omegas came up to me in anger.

"What do you think you are doing?"

"I have my wolf and I am an Omega; I have come to join the group," I said with complete calmness and naturalness.

That made the rest of the wolves listen and start to sniff me out. Some wolves were astonished, others were skeptical, and others, like the leader of the Omegas, were simply seething with rage.

"You are not a pure Omega, so you don't belong in this group," said the head of the Omegas bitterly.

"But it's just that—"

"Don't be insolent, hybrid. How dare you consider yourself part of a group when you have the tainted blood of those disgusting humans?" The leader of the Omegas asked just as a group from the Elite approached Stefan to see what was happening.

"The leader is right; hybrids don't fit into groups, especially the daughter of a human prostitute," said one of the girls who had bothered me before.

"We don't want half-breeds!" "We don't want half-breeds!" "We don't want half-breeds!" The rest of the Omegas shouted in a sort of chant, and I looked at my mate for help.

Stefan approached me and looked at me with rage that frightened me.

"Are you a hybrid?" Stefan asked with disgust. "Why didn't you tell me you were a hybrid?"

"I was going to tell you, but all of this happened and I—"

Stefan didn't stop talking to me; he threw me to the ground with a meanness that broke my heart, and at that moment, Teo and Bianca tried to come closer, but the Elite men wouldn't let them.

"You are a disgusting hybrid," Stefan said, and recognition finally shone in his eyes. "You are the brat that my mother had mercy on, and you didn't tell me."

"That doesn't matter," I said with pain. "We're soulmates; we're meant for each other."

A collective gasp was heard in the background, and a vein bulged on Stefan's forehead.

"You leave me no choice, so I, Stefan Gray, Alpha of the Southern Pack and leader of the Elite, reject you, Alice Brown, as my mate and Luna of this pack," said Stefan, and I felt a horrific pain rise to my head. My she-wolf began to cry and I couldn't hold myself up, so I stayed on the floor. "I want all the members of the Southern Pack to know: in my territory, I do not accept hybrids; it is not natural." Species should not, nor can they, be mixed; doing so is synonymous with exile. "We are a superior race and we cannot weaken ourselves by mixing with filthy humans."

I couldn't say anything; the shock wouldn't let me, then Stefan knelt down and grabbed my hair tightly.

"Accept rejection and don't make me angry," Stefan said cruelly.

"I, Alice Brown, accept your rejection as my fate," I replied through tears, and one of the threads that bound our bond snapped.

What was left of my heart has completely shattered.

All the wolves began to praise Stefan while they looked at me with disgust, and he distanced himself from me as if I were a plague. My friends rushed to help me immediately.

"I want to die," I told Bianca through sobs.