Okay, I meant nothing to everyone.

Joye

I could not breathe. It felt like all of the walls were closing in on me as I fled the hall and as I kept running, holding my dress up so that I would not trip and fall, tears streaming down my face, all I could hear were the voices. Those damn voices.

"You are not my mate."

"How can an omega be mated to an Alpha?"

"Such a weak girl, but she is pretty though, right?"

"The goddess must be playing a prank on us."

"Just look at her. Was she thinking that he would accept her?"

My ears kept ringing and I could not stop the tears that fell from my face, clouding my vision as I ran down the hallway and all I could visualize was how Aurelia would be laughing at me right now beside Ethan.

I had always thought Ethan was attractive, I would not lie but dating Aurelia? And defending the nonsense that she did at school made me sure that he was the bad type of guy and not even those beautiful ocean blue eyes of his could change that, but for a second when our scents hit each other, for a second when we finally found out that we were mates, I had thought that he would be happy.

I had thought that he would at least be warm and receptive towards me, but to be rejected like that in front of the entire crowd of people, to be ridiculed like that?

It made my heart tighten in my chest and I stopped and entered the closest available door, realizing that it was an office. Thankfully, it was empty so it was easy for me to fall to my knees and cry hard.

I had been so excited about tonight. I had not wanted to hope for anything, but like my mother had said, if I was able to get even a son of a Beta for a mate, then people would stop bullying me and talking to me anyhow they wanted.

People would stop ridiculing me for being an omega. Why was I so foolish to think that my dreams would come true so easily like that?

So stupid. I was so stupid.

Aurelia was right. I had no reason to even have attended the ball with my shoulder high because no one would be glad to have someone like me for a mate and Ethan had just even proved her point when he looked at me with disgust in his eyes.

The door suddenly opened and I jumped to my feet, afraid that it was the owner of the office. I turned around, ready to explain that I was not trying to steal anything, but needed some space to just breathe and my voice got caught in my throat as his scent hit me first before I saw him.

It was Ethan. He had followed me here.

Why?

Was he here to rain more insults on me and let me know how he felt about me?

The worst part was that regardless of what he had come here to do, his mere presence soothed a deep primal part of me that I knew had to be the mating bond. It made me feel like I could just bask in the emotions that surrounded us right now.

"Hey." He whispered, his voice coming out surprisingly sweet and caring and I wondered if my ears were deceiving me. Was he here to be nice?

"Hello," I answered hesitantly, refusing to get my hopes up especially because I could not still get over the words that had come out of his mouth immediately after he found out that we were mated.

I searched for the disgust that I had seen on his face back at the ball but it was absent, just filled with an emotion that I could not decipher.

"I know that it seemed like I was a bit harsh back at the hall but I guess the whole thing just took me by surprise. You took me by surprise." He continued, taking steps forward towards me and I released a breath that I did not even know I was holding at his words, relieved that he was not here to hurt me more.

"Really?" I whispered and he nodded as he closed the distance between us to stand right in front of me and I felt all of my nerves relax at the proximity between us.

"Ye. I think you are beautiful, Joye. Very beautiful." He whispered and as he leaned closer, I felt anxiety grip me all over again, unsure of what he wanted to do.

"Relax. We are reconciling right now, are we not?" He said, tracing my bottom lip with his fingers. When I was about to respond and tell him how uncomfortable I was, he shushed me and I saw his eyes move to my cleavage, lust darkening those ocean-blue eyes.

I moved backward till the back of my thighs hit the large table and he took it as a sign to move forward still, licking his bottom lip, and without warning, he reached into my cloth and pinched my nipple and I gasped, recoiling with shock.

"Please don't," I whispered, very uncomfortable with how this was playing out but the smile on his face dimmed and an angry expression made its way there.

"You don't want this?"

I nodded and he laughed, pinning me to the table as he raised my dress and gripped my ass with both his hands and I yelped as he leaned down to whisper in my ears.

"I don't care, brat because I will take what I want from you and you either be a good little girl or you will pay the consequences." He growled, licking my neck, and started rocking against me, his hard cock pushing against me from his pants.

Tears trickled down my cheeks and I knew that if I did not do something right now, he was going to force himself on me.

"Please stop" I breathed and he slapped me hard, but at that moment, I saw an opening and I kicked him hard, ignoring how he screamed and cursed at me and ran out of the room, not caring where I was running to until I was sure that I was far away.

Finally arriving outside the pack house, my entire body shook with sorrow at what had been about to happen to me and I just wanted to find my mother and let her hold me. I turned around to head in the opposite direction, in hopes of finding her when I saw the Luna saying farewell to one of the guests. The Alpha had gone on a trip so she was the chief host of the ball.

The Luna had always been a loving mother to all, I remembered and maybe if I told her what Ethan did, she would make sure that he didn't do shit again.

Running towards her, I bowed and was about to speak when she snapped at me.

"If it isn't the omega that tried to ruin my party? What do you want?" She said, her voice cold and scathing and I flinched from the disgust in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, your Grace but your son..."

She slapped me hard and my head reared back in shock as I held my face and looked at her.

"You have the nerve coming to show your face here after the scene you created back at the party. What were you expecting? That my son would clap after finding out that you were his mate? Why didn't you keep mute all along?"

I could not even hide my surprise. Because what was happening right now?

"I'm sorry your Grace but Ethan just tried to molest me."

"Shut the hell up, you little silly brat. Shut up. Don't ever say that again, do you hear me? It is a privilege. The highest honor for my son to even want something to do with you. Guards, drag her to the slave quarters and make sure that she doesn't leave there."

I tried to run but the guards were faster, catching up to me and dragging me away as I sobbed and was forced into the dark empty room in the slave quarters.

Falling onto the cold floors, I sobbed hard and could hear my mother's voice after a while, which meant that news had reached her that I had been locked up there.

"Please let her go. Take me instead." My mother cried outside and even though I knew there were guards there, none of them answered.

Rushing towards the door, I tried to pull hard at it over and over again but it was locked. There was no way out. They were not going to release me and it was only a matter of time before I would not be able to keep breathing steadily because the room was tiny with no single window in sight and I was claustrophobic.