Double rejection

"Miss, we have arrived." Joe's voice woke Selena up from her nap as he tapped her gently on the hand.

The car stopped, and Selena got out. The enormous mansion before her has been her residence for nineteen years. But to Selena, today felt like the last day of calling this place home. It was a depressing feeling, yet it seems so real.

She walked into the living room and saw their maid. The housekeeper did not notice Selena. Her focus was on cleaning the furniture.

"Amie, where is my dad?" Selena asked as she drew closer to the maid, and she jumped out of shock as Selena's voice startled Amie.

She stopped wiping the couch and replied, "Your aunt invited him out for tea to a fancy tea house that recently opened. I heard her telling him he needed to try its flavor today after your father attempted to schedule it to another day."

Selena knew she was too late. Jin had already warned her aunt to get her dad out of the house. Selena had underestimated Jin and her mother's craftiness. At that moment, she realized that she needed to be cautious since she didn't know their next move. All Selena can do now is wait.

"Thank you, Amie," Selena told her and went upstairs.

She advanced into her room, took a hot shower, and got in bed. Selena doesn't remember how she fell asleep or how long she had been sleeping. Still, Selena knows what woke her up. It was the robust tone her father used to shout her name that stirred Selena out of her sleep.

"Selena!" He continued calling for her to come out.

Selena knows this entire situation is out of her control from the temper in her father's tone. She had never heard her dad speak with so much anger in his voice towards her.

Selena did not want to enrage him any further. So, she hopped out of her bed and sped out of her room.

When she entered the living room, Selena could overhear her aunt pretentiously discussing her behavior with her father.

"Liam, you've got to slow down with your temper. We can't risk you going to the hospital because of your health. You are the dominant alpha of this family. What will we do if you become unhealthy and other noble families find out? Who will protect your daughter? Seeing the mess she has created for this family." Mila said.

If a stranger walks in and hears Selena's aunt's words, they would assume that she cares about her brother. But Selena knew Mila was only stating those things to fuel her father more.

"Speaking of the devil!" Mila said when she noticed Selena was in the room, she pointed at her to signal Selena's father's attention in her direction.

"Selena, your cousin reported to your aunt that you got bitten and rejected my base alpha. Is that true?" He screamed.

Selena's ears hurt from his pitch since a dominant alpha scream is as powerful as ten male lions roaring unitedly.

Mila quickly adjusts her face into a sympathetic mood. She had these pretended tears falling down her eye.

"Please do not blame your cousin, or me for informing your father. It's just that when Jin made the call to me, your father and I were at a tea house, and my phone was on speaker. I could have helped you keep your secret. There must be a reason for keeping your relationship from my brother for two years." Mila said pitifully.

Selena could not answer her father's question or reply to her aunt's pretentious remark because his force was too heavy for her to handle. But that was not the only reason. From Selena's dad's trembling body and angry expression, she knew that he had already smelled the rejection on her.

Liam hastened toward her when he saw that she was not talking. He raised his hand behind her neck and drew her blouse collar downward. Selena sensed his hands settled, and his eyes rested on the two biting marks.

"It's over!" Selena mumbled when she felt her feet lifting off the ground.

Liam squeezed her tightly around her neck and threw her towards the wall. The ripping pain surged through her body as she landed on the floor.

"You traitorous child. You have brought dishonor to my name and the entire clan. How unjust is it to receive an absurd daughter like you? What will I do if your alpha comes to get you?" He uttered angrily.

Selena attempted to stand up, but she collapsed three times. The fourth struggle was successful. She leaned against the wall. Selena has called him "father" for nineteen beautiful years, and yet he is so swift to sentence her.

"Which Alpha are you speaking of, dad? Is it the alpha I got betrothed to before my birth? The one that I or nobody within our entire clan has not seen. Dad, wake up! He is just an illusion!" Selena achingly replied to her father's statement.

But this was not a bright move. It maddened Selena's dad to hear her opinion. She saw his facial expression and just knew that he wasn't going to take her side.

"Shut up, Selena!" He yelled.

Selena's lips felt stuck together. She could not speak because her father was crushing her with his power.  At that moment, Selena realized that she made the wrong move. If she can't talk, then how was she going to explain herself to her father and convince him that she was innocent?

The front door attracted their attention when it suddenly opened. Jin stepped in. She had bandages around her head, and there were fingerprints around her neck with cut marks covering her body.

Mila rushed to her daughter. "My poor baby. Who did this to you?" She cried as she embraced Jin.

Jin burst into tears. "It was Selena and her rogue alpha. I caught them together. To silence me, she requested her alpha to kill me. I was lucky that he is just a base alpha. I struggled for my life, and later escaped from him." Jin explained.

Selena was in disbelief. She has never seen someone lie with so much sincerity in their words. It was sickening for her to watch all those fake tears.

 "I have to give her credit for her performance, she's an excellent actress. Mila and Jin had me right where they wanted me. I was trapped, and there seemed to be no escape route."

After heading Jin's words, Liam stared at her, and she shook her head to deny Jin's accusation.

"If he could stop suppressing me, then I could explain the truth to him." Selena hopelessly thought.

"You deceived me for two years and brought home humiliation to my name. Why should I believe you now? Plus, why would Jin intentionally hurt herself just to frame you?" Liam screamed at his daughter.

'He's right about me not being a well-behaved daughter. Plus, my father appears correct about Jin's wounds not being fake. These were fresh injuries. But they were not there half an hour ago when I met her at Zac's place. How could she get hurt this badly within such a short period?' Selena wonders as she gazes at her father, then her cousin.

"You deceitful girl! How could you be this harsh to your sister? She has treated you with so much love, yet you repay her with scars!" Mila yelled.

It did not please Mila after she had called Selena names. She approached her niece and slapped her so hard that Selena's cheek turned blood-red. Her slap just added to the pain and wounds Selena's body was undergoing. She felt sore, yet she held back her tears because she did not want to let her enemies see her weeping.   

She has been fighting her father's suppression on her, but Selena's heart could not endure it any longer. At some point, she was not breathing freely.

Liam noticed that his daughter was struggling to breathe, so he stopped suppressing her.

"Dad! I can explain!" Selena cried.

He turned his back towards his daughter and said, "Don't call me that name! From today onward, you lost the liberty to call me as such. You can stay under my roof and continue to live like you used to do. But I denounce you as my daughter. I have no such child like you."

Selena's father's words broke her. She could not hold back her cries any longer.

"Ahhhhh!" Selena screamed from the pain in her chest and fell to the ground sobbing bitterly.

"My mother abandoned me from birth when she took her last breath. The choosing alpha that should have protected me disappeared before I could set my eyes on him. The alpha I thought was the love of my life rejected me after confessing his love for me. Now, you too, father has neglected me." Selena yelled at him.

"You don't deserve my love!" He said.

Liam did not turn around to look at his child. Instead, he left the living room and went upstairs.

After Selena's dad left, Mila and Jin had a mocking smile on their faces when they looked at the painful expression she wore.

"You are alone now, Selena. You have no one protecting you. How are you going to get your revenge without your father's help? You are fighting a losing battle, and there is no one by your side." Jin whispers as Mila and her walk past Selena.