Chapter 1

“Reject her for me, NOW!”

A short, cold laugh was the only response Elena  had when she heard that Lennie girl’s order.

She wasn’t that gorgeous, just a plain girl with curly chestnut hair and a pair of gray eyes. But that rose-red dress she wore was hand-weaved by the best phoenix tailor; the jewelry she had on her neck was even more valuable than the Queen’s collections and she bore the title of the dragon Alpha Aubrey’s only daughter.

The wolf kingdom’s Alpha, Jordan, was desperate to ally with dragons. Elena  knew Jordan would do everything he could to form the alliance. She just never thought when the deal was sealed, the sacrifice would be her.

Just about one minute ago, she was standing here in the drawing room of the mansion in her full attire, waiting for the return of her mate, the Alpha’s son, Cory. 

A month ago, he departed to the dragon’s land to negotiate for the alliance. Before he left, he put a ring on her finger.

“We will get married after I come back,” he whispered so passionately in her ear. They kissed each other passionately.

It was a secret engagement. Cory proposed at midnight in the garden. Elena  decided to wear the ring on her neck and waited to declare the big news when Cory came back.

Now looking back, Elena  had never felt so glad to make that decision. Because when the front door of the mansion opened, who walked inside wasn’t only her mate, but also a strange girl.

She hooked Cory’s arm and barged inside with her eyes on the top of her head. When they finally stopped in front of Elena , Elena ’s face had lost all the blood. 

“Who is this, Cory?” She tried really hard to squeeze out a smile. She was not only Cory’s mate but the Beta’s daughter. She knew the importance of keeping decency. 

“I am Lennie, the dragon’s descendant, and Cory’s fiancee.” 

Cory had been keeping his head to the floor, looking aside, since he appeared at the door. It was Lennie who introduced herself to Elena .

Elena felt tears well up in her eyes, but she didn’t cry. 

“I thought I was your mate,” she spoke directly to Cory, neglecting that peacock girl.

Cory still kept his head lowered, eyes looking away. Lennie’s tone became sharp this time. “So you are that girl who has been pestering Cory. He’s told me all about you. But he doesn’t like you. He loves me. It’s time for you to go away.”

Elena  felt her hands trembling. In fact, her entire body was shaking. She fixed her eyes on Cory’s side face and asked, “Is that true, Cory? You really told her that? We are mates for the Moon Goddess’s sake! How could you-”

“Dragons don’t do the mate thing,” Lennie interrupted her rudely, “Mate bond is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. We dragons won’t allow anything or anyone to choose partners for us. We just choose whoever we like and be with them.” She curled up her lips to a snooty smile, and then looked at Cory. “Isn’t it, sweetie? You proposed to me in the same season. You don’t buy the mate thing either. Compared with your allegedly fated mate, it’s me you truly love.”

Elena  clenched the fabric of her dress, and Cory finally raised his head. He didn’t answer Lennie’s question, just stared at Elena . “It’s time for you to leave now, L. Lennie is my fiancee. She will move in with me today.”

And that had answered everything. Elena  wanted to scream, and cry, but eventually she controlled herself. Falling apart for a man was never her thing and she didn’t want to act like a crazy woman. 

Though discarded by Cory, she was still the Beta’s daughter, not nobody. She needed her pride and decency. 

Swallowing all the anger and pain down her throat, Elena  put a fake smile on her face and then started to head toward the door. 

She kept her head high all the time and none of those people in the room spoke. Friends, servants, and her warrior pals. They just stared at her in complete silence. 

But right after she walked past Cory, Lennie made a sound. 

She yelled “Stop” loudly in her strident squeaky voice and then turned around to look at Elena .

Elena  turned her head too. When their eyes met, Lennie smiled, first at her and then at Cory. 

“You promised me you would reject her once we got here, sweetie,” her tone was tinged with both pride and malice. “That’s how you are going to prove you truly love me.” 

Elena  clenched her fists. Blood drew in her palms. She felt furious rage storming her brain. Her wolf roared in frenzy, struggling to come out to tear this b/itch’s throat open. 

But she suppressed that impulse. Too many wolves and dragons were in the room. Half of them were stronger than her. She knew better than to attack a dragon’s descendent in a public place. 

She cast a hatred glance at Lennie, then turned her head to Cory.

“I, Elena  Rosewood, the Beta’s daughter of the Moonshadow Kingdom, reject you, Cory Nightwolf, the Alpha’s son of the Moonshadow Kingdom to be-” 

“Not like that!” Unexpectedly, she was interrupted rudely again. Elena  was squealing, “I said let Cory reject you, not the other way around! Who do you think you are? How dare you reject my future husband?!”

Right after hearing those outrageous words, Elena ’s mind snapped. She growled furiously and shifted into her big auburn wolf. The next thing she knew was she tearing up Lennie’s stupid, big, ugly, arrogant face. 

Someone quickly bumped her away and tackled her on the floor before she could actually endanger Lennie’s life and it was Cory’s giant grey wolf. 

Their eyes connected in the air in the most painful way, surrounded by all those dramatic yelling and screaming. Elena  saw shocks and pains draw over his mazarine eyes. 

“She attacked our princess!!! It’s irreverence to the dragons!!! Sentence her to death!!! Arrest her!!!”

She heard Lennie’s entourage yelling, and dragon warriors quickly walked up and besieged her. 

Besides she and Cory, Lennie was screaming and wailing on the floor. Some doctor was checking her wound. Almost half of her face was scratched. But she would heal. It wasn’t silver wounds. A strong dragon like her would heal from that kind of injury in less than an hour. In fact, Elena  never thought she would actually get her. Lennie was a dragon descendant, so much stronger than her. She could have dodged that. 

Still, what had been done was done. Damage is damage. She attacked the dragon princess in public and disfigured her face. There was no way for her to get out of this easily.

“You need to put her in prison for a fair trial, Sir.” 

A strange tall man walked up and reminded Cory. He was old and his hair was grey. Elena  assumed he was Lennie’s butler or something like that. And he addressed Cory as “Sir”, not Alpha. Which meant he disapproved of Cory’s Alpha qualification. At least, for the moment.

Cory responded to him with nothing, just staring at Elena . He was still on top of her, encaging her into his sphere to prevent her from attacking Lennie again. And Elena  had no intention of doing it. She was angry, but she wasn’t insane. She knew what a horrible mistake she had made.

“If you don’t give the order,” the tall man’s tone was getting sharp. “We will have to take her back to the dragon’s land and sentence her there.”

Elena  responded to that threat with nothing, either. She just kept her eyes locked with Cory. Her head was too messed up to feel regret or fear. She just wanted to ask Cory, “How could you do this to me?”

They were lovers even before they found each other as mates. Together, they were so happy.

“Cory Nighwolf! Should I call your father and let him handle this?!” The tall man became really angry.

And the “Father speech” finally got Cory. Cory’s father, Alpha Jordan, was the most intimidating wolf ever. Even the dragon’s Alpha had to pay respect to him. Cory had been afraid of him since he was a child. And he knew Jordan wouldn’t take Elena ’s side once he got involved. 

He lowered his head slowly, breaking their eye contact. And then he walked away and left her to those dragons.

Elena  felt her heart was ripped open with a hole and then she heard Cory’s order.

“Put her into the prison,” he said, eyes reconnecting with her. Elena  could see guilt and sadness drowning him. But eventually, he let go of her.

“We will discuss her crime when Princess Lennie recovers.”