Chapter 2

The calm breeze swept my hair across my face, joyfully disarraying it. I brushed it back and glanced at the ferns surrounding the extreme path of the field.

That is the path that I have chosen to work, away from the prying and mocking eyes of the Beta.

Melsa hobbled up beside me and grimaced.

“I don’t feel too good,” she muttered. I nodded understanding her plight, and struck her hair gently. Melsa is my elder sister, she’s 21 yet she doesn’t have a mate. But, aren’t her circumstances better than mine? Isn’t it better to be without a mate than to be rejected by yours?

I felt the burning sensation again and knew that the Beta was close by.

“The Beta is coming,” Melsa whispered, confirming my suspicion. Melsa slipped away to the spot she came from. I held my head down, eluding the stab of his shadow. I heard his husky voice call my name twice but I didn’t budge, I just couldn’t move my body, I felt paralyzed in depression and anger.

“Elena!” It pierced into my eardrum and I finally gave in, hiding my face would make me weak.

I lifted my head and faced my ex-mate. When our eyes met, his volatile nature seemed to evaporate, his full blossomed lips grew pale and his hands tightened around the handle of the sword in his hand, his other hand folded into a fist till his knuckles turned white. Everyone froze and all eyes were directed towards us.

“Beta Nathan,” I called, he darted his lashes and woke from the trance he was in.

“Come with me!” He ordered, his old self sprang back again. “The both of you,” he added, staring at Melsa. We staggered to our feet, glancing at each other in confusion.

“What are you all looking at? Get your lazy ass back to work!” He thundered and everyone scrambled to their work. He signaled for us to follow him and we obeyed without hesitation, we strode out of the field and he turned, his stone-cold eyes glared daggers at us.

“Gossiping around while work is on, is that how lazy you are?” He snapped. We glanced at each other and remained mute. He snickered and waved at a guard, "They will pick blueberries for a week, it starts today.” A wave of dismay spread across our faces as we gasped and fell on our knees, taking turns to plead for pardon, but he only grunted in contempt and trudged away.

When we got to the blueberry bush, three Gamma girls were instructed to watch over us and make sure we did a clean picking. The first one looked older than the rest, her tangled auburn hair was packed into a ponytail and her long lashes prevented the set of startling round jade orbs from flaunting their immersing beauty.

The second girl was a chubby and cheeky fellow. Her big black eyes seemed to dilate whenever she yelled an instruction, and when her nose flared up in annoyance it caused a flow of crimson to spread across her face and neck.

The third girl was a lean blond-haired girl, she always took pleasure in watching her victims suffer in pain.

“Get on with it rejected slut!” The blonde girl shoved me roughly, I growled as her words stung me. Oregon wanted to pounce out and leap out her anger on the girl, but I refrained her.

“She is growling,” the chubby girl mocked, the two girls laughed but the jade-eyed girl remained quiet.

“Don’t listen to them, they’re fools,” Melissa whispered.

“What are you whispering about, huh?” The chubby girl asked. Melsa rolled her eyes at her and hissed. The girl gasped and sent a slap across Melsa’s face. This got Oregon springing out, she pounced on the girl and they landed on the ground. Oregon gnashed her fangs at her, ready to make her uglier with it.

A hard blow struck my head followed by a slash. I fell and my back burned as liquid socked my dress.

Melsa’s scream pierced into my eardrums and I groaned as the pain from the slash burned my back. My face kissed the dirty dust and blood gushed freely from my back.

When I opened my eyes slightly, I saw Melsa struggling with the girls while the other girl stood at a distance, smirking.

The chubby girl shoved Melsa’s lustrous hair into her hands and the blonde girl slapped her across the face. Melsa’s face reddened and her veins popped out of her forehead.

I wanted to get up and help my sister but my back throbbed in pain, my spirit was willing but my body was weak. I wished the other girl would help Melsa but she didn’t, she stood blank, neither helping her friends nor my sister.

 I felt weak, blood soaked my back, and gummed my dress.

My lips trembled as my vision became blurred. The walls of gravity took their toll as I felt myself falling deeper into a dark unfathomable abyss. The voices around began whirling away in rhythm. I smiled coyly, a smile of happiness in death. Beta Nathan would be well pleased, he would admonish that he was right after all, I cannot stand the rejection, I will not survive it, and he was right, I was giving up, not in a suicidal way but in a justifiable way, in a way that will not bring his scowling face to my faded fate.

“Stop that!” A male voice shot through my panel of consciousness. The aura of the voice radiated light into my fading soul and shot me out of the abyss I was drowning into. I groaned slightly and looked at the people that I had almost left. The girls looked at the intruder, their eyes widened like saucers, and and their lips parted as they fearfully pulled away from Melsa, the three girls gathered together and bowed, Melsa also staggered to her feet and bowed. There is only one person that could extract such a reaction from them, it must be the Beta. Even though I needed help I wished it wasn’t him. I lay on my side and peeked at him.

My eyes widened as I saw the person that I least expected, the world seemed to revolve around and my heart gave several leaps as I stared into the eyeball of the Alpha.