Chapter~3

IRIS 

"What do you mean by that? That's not for you to decide. It's the custom and I have to abide by it." I defended myself against them. 

"See, daddy? I told you she has eyes for him. She just wants to show her ugly face to the world and the prince. She thinks he likes her just because he spoke to her a few times." Lyra scoffed and folded her hands. "I don't want her to go there, daddy. Stop her." 

"You heard my daughter, take off your clothes and find something reasonable to do," Bennett commanded. As expected, I was supposed to bow my head dejectedly and give in to their demands but no! Not today. 

"No, I refuse to let you tie me down here when every other person will be at the party," I yelled in defense. Bennett took predatory steps toward me while I carefully moved away from him. 

"I see you've grown wings." He slapped me with his full strength, making me fall to the ground and yelping in pain. He started kicking me all over. All I could do was cry and watch Lyra smile at the terror. We were supposed to be sisters but right from childhood, she was always jealous of everything I had. My mother's love, my little stepbrother's love, and the love of the entire pack, except my stepfather's. 

She took every valuable thing I had, but one thing I wouldn't let her take was my mate. 

"It's getting late, daddy. We need to leave." She tugged on his shirt and that was when he left me alone. I struggled to breathe after the heavy kicks but luckily, I caught my breath after some minutes. 

I looked down at the once beautiful dress which part of it had been shredded to pieces. I cried when I saw that my mother's handiwork had been destroyed by someone who claimed to have loved her. I didn't have any suitable dresses to wear. 

Was this how I was going to live the rest of my life? No parents, no mate. Why was Lyra so evil to me? I never for once showed her my bad side or abused her with hurtful words. I never laid my hands on her even though she was getting on my nerves. 

Why was she tormenting me? All this wouldn't have happened if only the Moon goddess had spared my father's life. Is it possible that gods get bored and they try to make one's life so shîtty that they get entertained? Was the explanation for all the horrible things that have been happening in my life? Was I worth nothing that the gods would use me for amusement? 

No, not even the gods can change my fate. I was destined to be with Fenrir as his luna and no man or god can stop me. I wiped my wet face and picked up my gifts. I didn't bother looking in the mirror because I would end up making some changes. 

I tried to leave my room but I found out it was locked from the outside. 

"Gosh!" I kicked the door but it wouldn't budge. I jammed my shoulder into it, seeing that the door was already quite old, but I ended up getting hurt. 

When the pains subsided, I decided to look for another means. The window was the only thing that crossed my mind. And luckily, the jump wasn't a huge one. I threw the gift to the ground first and after much persuasion from my inner mind, I jumped too. I was successful but I twisted an ankle in the process. 

It hurt but that wasn't what I had to think about. The thought of Lyra getting close to the prince made every pain disappear.

I managed to limp to the venue of the party and what I saw was Fenrir holding Lyra's hand and the crowd was cheering. 

I felt discouraged and defeated. No matter how hard I tried, I still lost him. 

I began to march slowly toward them. I could hear whisperings and laughter from the crowd but I didn't care. All I cared about was Fenrir's eyes on me. He seemed shocked by the way his lips parted. Had he finally noticed me? 

I could imagine the look on Bennett's face and Lyra's pathetic surprised look was to die for. She looked like the ground would open up and swallow her. 

"What are you doing here?" Fenrir asked with an indifferent gaze. 

"I'm just here to present my gift to you, as custom demands," I said and stretched out my hand to give the parcel to him. He received it but his facial expressions were saying something else entirely. 

"Iris, is it?" 

"Yes, Iris," I replied dreamily. He knew my name! 

"You shouldn't have come here, Iris." He said seriously. The smiles on my face faded away. It was replaced with worry. 

"Why? I am your mate, am I not? You know that." I said softly, hoping to reason with him. 

"I know that. In fact, I knew a long time ago and that was why it was easy getting to use you to cheat during those tests. I knew you'd do anything for me." He said it as though it meant nothing to him. 

He used me only to pass? 

"What do you mean?"

The next thing I heard was a crash, he had thrown away the gift I had presented to him. 

"I, Fenrir Radolf, reject you, Iris Sandalio, to be my mate." He shouted to the crowd. There were loud gasps everywhere, even I could see the disappointment on the Alpha's face. 

Did he really mean that? A bond that the moon goddess herself created, he was breaking it. I was scared this would happen. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle the humiliation.  Why didn't he just accept me? Where had I done wrong? Was it because of the rumors that were being spread around? Why couldn't he get to know me? 

A pair of strong arms grabbed me and began to pull me out after apologizing for the embarrassment I had caused. I looked at Fenrir with teary eyes, knowing that it would be the last time I would see him.