REJECTION AND AFTERMATH

ALICIA

It's on a Friday afternoon and I can't concentrate in class. The lecturer keeps looking my way and I pretend that I am serious but my mind is far away.

I am thinking about my former pack which is miles away, where I fled after being rejected by the Alpha. My memory goes back to the night when it all happened.

We were all gathered at the pack house for a party organized by Benedict, our Alpha. His son Eric was celebrating his twentieth birthday and this was the opportune moment to crown him as the new Alpha.

My mother had tagged me along against my wishes. She insisted on taking me with her because the Alpha had decreed that every pack member should attend the party. The reason I didn't want to attend was because I knew Eric as a very contemptuous person who looked down on those below him.

At the party I stayed outside because I didn't want to encounter him and the kind of friends he kept. I went to the swimming pool and relaxed on the reclining sofa, listening to the loud music inside the pack house ballroom. Occasionally I would hear loud ululations but I cared less what was happening.

Then at some point I started feeling something strange. My wolf was getting restless and I wondered what she was up to. I got up from the chair and put on my shoes just as a strong scent filled the air, kind of intoxicating me.

As I tried to figure out what was happening, a door next to the swimming pool opened and Eric emerged, dressed sharply and walking as if he owned the world. He was coming towards me.

In the dim light I could see that he looked extremely beautiful and his body was finely tuned. No doubt he had been using the gym. His hair was neatly cropped and his jet black beard made him very attractive. My wolf was now uncontrollable.

“He is our mate Alicia. He is the one we have been waiting for.” She was saying.

Just a few months ago I had celebrated my eighteenth birthday and my mother had told me to be patient, my mate will show up some day. In my imaginations, I didn't think he was right here under my nose. But Eric?

Eric didn't give me time to think. He was standing before me in no time. Meanwhile, my wolf was pestering me, telling me to utter the all important word.

He looked into my eyes with his blue eyes. It was as if he was reading my soul. I knew him and his contempt for the low class but the moon goddess had decided that he was my mate so I had no alternative. I opened my mouth.

“Ma...”

He grasped me by the shoulders with his strong hands, almost breaking my bones. His contemptuous look was written all over his face.

“Don't even think about it Alicia Waters. You don't think for a moment that I will allow you to become my mate you lowlife Omega." He said.

“I hereby reject you as my mate.......” I didn't hear the rest of his speech because my wolf was hurting inside my head and my shoulders were aching. He later threw me into the swimming pool and walked away. As I swam out I saw him disappearing into the pack house.

“Do you have a problem Alicia?" The lecturer asks me. Immediately I wake up from my reverie and realize that I have been so absent minded for a long time.

“Not at all Mr Jeremy.” I reply as I promise to myself that I'll concentrate now. Soon I'll be doing my last test then I'll graduate after a few months later. I need to be serious with these studies.

After the rejection I sneaked out of the pack house undetected then left the pack without biding goodbye to anyone because I felt that they betrayed me. I ran into the woods bordering our pack. I was determined to stay away from everyone even if it meant that I become a rogue.

That night I was attacked by an unknown wild animal but saved just in time by two men. I have a very big scar on my face even today, inflicted on me by the beast. The two men who rescued me were Benjamin and his son David.

Later that night they took me to their house deep in the woods where they lived, away from any pack. I came to know that they came here because their pack had been ran down by rogues and everyone killed. They lived with Melissa, David's sister who instantly became my friend, almost like a sister to me. She always told me about the raid on their pack that resulted to her mother's death.

We didn't stay in the woods for long because an order came from the werewolf council that we must join a pack and that's how we found ourselves here at the Westside pack. I joined college immediately so as to finalize on the studies I was doing at our pack when I left two years ago and that is what I am doing right now.

“Do we have any questions?” The lecturer asks, drawing my attention back to the class. I realize that I have wasted a whole forty five minutes thinking about my past and this is something I shouldn't be doing now that I am about to graduate.

“Well, we will continue next time. I wish you all a nice weekend.” He says as he polishes his glasses on his way out. Immediately the class starts talking, loud consultations.

This is going to be a nice weekend for all the members of this pack, I mean the original members, not people like me who got assimilated just the other day. At the pack house there is going to be a party this evening and everyone is talking about it. I guess everyone is going, except me because I don't like how people look at me.

You see, my scar makes me look ugly, really ugly. Sometimes I feel uneasy when in the company of people who don't know me, and in most instances when I meet new people they always have the same question, how I got the scar. I have given thousands of explanations until I am now tired of it all.Therefore this night I will walk to our small house, eat supper and sleep early.

Drake, the Alpha of this pack is looking for his mate and he is convinced that she is here in the pack. The aim of the party is to identify the mate and i am not interested.

I would be interested in seeing how the whole party will end because the competition is stiff. Many girls from our college think that they will be Drake's mate and since he can't choose all of them, I would like to see the disappointments on the faces of those who will not be chosen.

I leave the class as my classmates get busy sprucing up to look good. At home I find Melissa, David and Benjamin getting ready to go.

“Thank goodness you are here. I almost went to the party without you.” Melissa says. We are inside our shared bedroom.

“But I am not going. I am feeling unwell and not in a mood to celebrate. I just need to sleep.” I say as I sit on my bed.

“Too bad. Have you taken any meds?” She asks, looking concerned.

“No. I'll be fine.” I say.

“Are you sure? I mean, you will miss something my dear. A party like this is not something you should skip. Who knows, your mate could be out there looking for you?” She insists. I remove my shoes and get into bed properly.

“Mate? I am not ready for that. Thanks Melissa for your concern. You go out there and have fun. I wish you find your mate tonight.” I say. She giggles as she joins Benjamin and David who are only so eager to leave.

Later, after about six hours they come back home and Melissa comes straight to the bedroom.

“How was the party?” I ask out of curiosity. She seems disinterested, but she tells me that Alpha Drake hasn't found his mate.

“He insists that his mate is right here in this pack, and she must be among those who didn't attend the party.” She adds.