Chapter Two: The Betrayal

~Hazel~

I tried not to think about what happened at the alpha’s pack house when I got home that evening. But no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t get it off my mind.

Was it because I was supposed to find my mate tonight and I feel like I might have cheated on him with the alpha?

I glanced at the array of old dresses that I’d combed out of my tiny wardrobe. Tonight was the mating and coming-of-age party, and I needed to look good enough for my future mate.

After doing enny mini moe, I picked a green dress that matched the color of my eyes. It was an old one that I’d gotten through charity, but it was better than nothing at all.

I put it on and looked in the mirror. Even the dress couldn’t take out the stamp of omega in my body. I still looked every bit of it.

“No other man is permitted to touch you”

His command kept haunting me.

I mean, I didn’t care that minutes after he had shoved his tongue down my throat, made me feel his erection, and left me all confused with his command, I heard Freya gasping in pleasure when I passed by his room.

I didn’t mind at all.

He wasn’t my mate, after all, and I could only dream of being fated to someone like that.

I applied a pink lipgloss and smacked my lips together, then appraised my overall appearance. I would give myself a 5. My short hair had been brushed to perfection, and my big eyes…well, they were there.

I’m ready to finally meet that man who will love me for the rest of my life unconditionally.

I left my room and saw my stepfather drinking in the living room. He must have had a lot more liquor than usual because his eyes had sunk in and his words were slurry.

“Are you finally going to whore yourself away?” he asked.

“No. Tonight is the coming-of-age party. I might finally meet my mate”

He laughed. “That would be good for you. Sell yourself out if you can, but don’t come back to this house. I wish the late alpha hadn’t abolished the selling of werewolves, you would have been the first on my list”

This wasn’t the time to be pissed off by my stepfather. If I stood there and listened to him, he might descend on me and give me the beating of my life for making his life unfortunate.

Don’t ask me how I did that. I’m confused as well. I’m confused about a lot of things in my life. I’m confused about the nightmare I have every night. A voice calling me to serve. And to serve what? I still couldn’t tell till now. Anyway, I dismissed it as one of those dreams that I have when I go to bed on an empty stomach.

The party hall was filled when I got there. There were faces of expectant wolves who were excited about meeting their mates, and then plain horny ones who just wanted to smash.

“Hazel! Hey!”

I looked in the direction of the voice and saw Amy waving at me. She was my best friend in the whole world.

“Hii” I waved back and skipped to where she was. “You look good tonight,” I said, admiring her dress.

It was a shiny sequence that hugged her curves and accentuated her beautiful body. Amy is beautiful, dainty, and precious. She almost didn’t look like an omega. At one point, I’d been jealous of her thick, black hair that got to her back.

“You look good too. I’m sure your mate wouldn’t be able to resist you in that dress”

She was lying, but I didn’t need to tell her that. I knew that she just wanted to make sure that I was okay. I sat beside her, our eyes following the activities going on. We knew what we were waiting for—the full moon. It was almost five minutes until midnight when the moon became full.

That is when mates will start to recognize each other. That is when I’ll turn eighteen and be able to sense my mate. As the time got closer, my palms became sweaty and my anxiousness reached its peak.

“Calm down, Hazel. You’re shaking” Amy said, holding my hands and covering it with hers.

“I’m so nervous. What if I don’t find a mate? What if I find him but he doesn’t like the way I look, and he rejects me? There are so many things running through my head at this point, Amy. I’m kinda scared”

“There’s no need to be scared. There’s something you should know. The moon goddess pairs you up with the person who is supposed to play a big role in your destiny and you in their destiny as well. If they reject you, then it’s their loss, not yours. You need to trust the judgment of the goddess”

That was the worst pep talk to give me. I’ve already lost faith in the Moon goddess after she paired Amy with a beta who didn’t want her just because she’s an omega. If that wasn’t cruelty, then I don’t know what is.

But I didn’t tell her that, because I know that she’s still piecing the broken pieces of her heart together. So I just smiled and nodded in agreement.

Finally, it was midnight, which was signaled by the sound of the large bell outside the city hall. It was time for me to meet my mate. I could see others who had already found theirs. There were some smiling and kissing each other, some were sad. And here I was, seated tight, wondering what the moon goddess had put in store for me.

Then it hit me.

A musky scent that was so intoxicating that I could barely think of anything else. My wolf, as weak as she was, whispered in my head that this was our mate.

“I think I feel him, Amy. My mate is here. I can smell him”

“Go find him then” she replied, a smile on her face. “I’ll be right behind you to cheer you”

I stood, following the scent. It kept on getting even stronger as I weaved my way towards the crowd, and I knew that I was very close to meeting him. I said a silent prayer in my heart, as I pushed through the last barrier.

A silent gasp escaped my lips as I stared into those familiar brown eyes. His eyes narrowed as he stared at me. There was unbelief, surprise, and then pure disgust mixed up

“You?”

“Ryder” I exclaimed happily. “We’re mates! Can you believe that?”

The moon goddess couldn’t have been so gracious to me. Right now, it didn’t matter that Ryder was an alpha and I was an Omega. He had kissed me countless times, and we’d made out too. That must mean that he had harbored some feelings for me.

“You’re my fated mate? you?!”

The iciness in his tone wasn't what I’d prepared for. Even on the days that he had treated me coldly, he had never been this cold.

“Y-yes, I am. I thought you’d be happy to hear that.” I stuttered, my nervousness getting the best of me.

“Happy? To be your mate? Is that some kind of joke?”

I blinked rapidly, not believing what I was hearing. “B-but we kissed. You..you kissed me. I thought—

“Are you trying to lie against your alpha?!” he growled, his eyes flaming.

His voice had risen and other werewolves were starting to gather around us. “Ryder, please bring your voice down. People are around”

“I don’t care! How dare you insinuate that I’m lusting after your body? Are you trying to trap me into marking you and making you my mate?”

Something was wrong. I couldn’t believe what Ryder was saying.

“So why did you tell me not to let any other man touch me then? Why did you kiss me the other day and warn me that you’re the only one allowed to have me? Why did you do all of that if you weren’t interested in me?”

My voice cracked as I lashed out at him. I was shaking all over, more from the betrayal than the shame. Freya crept up behind him and held his arm.

“You don’t give up, do you? You’re still insistent on seducing the alpha? You’re one ambitious omega”

My eyes started to water, and I felt the beginning of a waterfall.

It hurt.

It hurt so bad.

If He had rejected me outrightly without causing this scene, then maybe I wouldn’t have been this hurt. But he went ahead to make sure that every other werewolf around was a witness to the humiliation that he dished out to me.

“I don’t know what silly game the moon goddess is playing on me, but you certainly cannot be my mate. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? You’re totally undesirable. And not only that, our social status doesn't match. Bold of you to assume that I would welcome you with open arms”

“You,” he continued, shredding my last sense of self-esteem, “…Are the last thing that I’d ever put my lips on so you better correct that daydream that you had of me kissing you.”

“Are you done?” I sobbed. “Are you done humiliating me? Why don’t you just go ahead and reject me then since I’m no good for you”

Our eyes met and for a moment, I thought I saw something shift in his eyes. Something like an apology—a regret. But it was gone in an instant. He pulled Freya to him, and with his eyes still on me, he sank his teeth into her neck, marking her.

“She is the only mate that I recognize, and my future Luna.” He said, planting a kiss on Freya’s lips.

It was too much for me to bear. The pain, the agony—they were just too much. I felt like I couldn’t breathe, and the more I stayed there, the more I suffocated. I bolted out of the hall, my eyes brimmed with tears as I ran to an unknown destination.