01 - Betrayed and rejected

"How could you?" I scream, placing my open palm over my chest. A thick tear runs down my face as I watch my mate, the man the goddess gave me and whom I've waited for the past five years, holding the waist of the blonde.

"I'm sorry, Malia!" He says, seeming to be in as much pain as I am. "I... I know what I did wasn't right, but... She's pregnant and I have to own up to my mistakes."

"Mistakes? Are you talking about our child, your heir?" The blonde teases me, giving me an ironic smile. "I'm sorry, dear, I didn't know your husband was... married."

"Oh, of course!" I laugh, glaring at Joshua. "I don't want to stay here and witness all of this."

I turn around, ready to leave Joshua alone with the blonde woman. My steps are quick toward the exit when I stop still and pivot on my own feet.

"Oh, by the way..." I spin on my own feet, facing my mate again. "I, Malia Backer, future Luna of the Red Stone pack, reject you, Joshua Brown, as my mate."

He stares at me in shock, placing his hand on his chest, screaming, squeezing his eyes shut. His breathing is erratic, and he falls to his knees in the Alpha's office.

"What have you done?" He shouts, glaring at me. "How could you? What right do you have?"

"You have your own family now," I say while choking back a whimper from the piercing pain coursing through my body.

Betrayal, along with the breaking of the bond, makes me want to scream in agony, to throw myself on the ground and be cared for forever. I feel as if my world has just crumbled at my feet.

"We could have worked it out, we..." He swallows his words. Pain turns into hatred. "I, Joshua Brown, Alpha of the Red Stone Pack, accept your rejection."

His words catch me off guard. I grip onto the doorframe as stubborn tears start to trickle down my eyes.

What did I do to deserve such torture? Do I deserve everything that's happening to me?

"You're so ungrateful." He grits through his teeth. "I was the only one who wanted you in your condition, and now you break our bond when I'm about to become an alpha? What will the whole pack think? Ungrateful, foolish!"

"I would never accept a betrayal like this. I would be a laughingstock among the people and..." He interrupts me with a bitter laugh.

"More? Spare me, Malia!" He struggles to get up. His eyes burn into me like fire. "You're a wolfless one. I did charity for you."

"I hate you, Joshua!" I whisper. "I hate you as much as I loved you. I hope she doesn't ruin your second chance if you were worthy of one."

I turn to leave, but I find the Alpha and Luna standing at the door. Their eyes are wide.

"Joshua!" Luna Meredith exclaims, holding onto my shoulders. "What is this?"

"Father, mother..." He exclaims. "This is the girl I told you about yesterday."

"He arrived just one day and managed to break my heart," I murmur to her. "I'd rather have died than feel this unbearable pain."

"No!" The Alpha murmurs. "The bond is broken?"

"Yes," I respond to him, lifting my chin. I couldn't lose my pride. I no already had nothing. "I would never accept being the other within my marriage, Alpha."

"I always thought your brother would bring me this kind of disgrace, not you, Joshua!" His father shakes his head. "It's truly a pity it ended like this!" He murmurs and turns to me. "Come, dear, I'll fix the mess my son made."

The worst of all this is knowing that I could never go back to my parents' house. They were and had been very cruel to me. The only pride I gave them was marrying Joshua and being the future Luna of the pack, and now that I have nothing, I'm just an ordinary and worthless woman who will have to work to eat in that house, just as it had been throughout my life.

A pain spreads through my chest with every step I take into the room I shared with my mate for a whole year before the war and the past five years, I've slept alone.

I can already hear my mother's harsh voice saying that I took everything from her. My father will act as if I were his greatest disgrace and will fully agree with my ex-mate, and my brothers, they will use me as a joke.

When I enter my room, I am in a panic. I look at my in-laws, the Alpha, and the Luna of the pack with pleading eyes.

"I can't go back home," I whisper, in panic. "They'll destroy me."

"I would never send you home, dear." Meredith hugs me. "I have an even better idea to keep you out of her game."

"What?" I ask.

"You can go to my son's realm. King Alpha Jaden." She explains, looking at her husband. "I doubt he would deny you shelter, especially due to the broken bond."

I blink at her and shudder, feeling my cheeks burn.

I never met Jaden, but I've heard a lot about him during the years I've been here. His mother always pointed out how he got the position of King Alpha and how he was cruel for believing in a witch's prophecy.

I was afraid of Jaden, it was a fact. Along with his legacy, he dragged behind him a trail of blood and death. Wars were common at the beginning of his reign. He destroyed everyone who tried against him.

How could I go to him now? How could I get shelter from such a cruel man? And what if he acted like everyone else because I don't have a wolf?

"You don't need to be scared." She holds my face. "We want to help you, and this is the only way."

I nod, closing my eyes tightly. There were no choices. "Alright. If he'll have me, I'll go!"