Chapter 2: Firm Rejection

Chapter 2: Firm rejection

The door creaked open again, just as it had countless times since Hana’s arrival. She had lost all appetite to eat. Even in her previous prison, food was limited, but now, in this place where she could eat as much as she wanted, her zeal to eat was gone.

"You have to eat if you don’t want the Alpha to be pissed, my lady," said Mia, the little girl introduced to Hana as her new maid. Worry was etched on her young face.

"Who cares what the monster thinks? He can do anything he wants, but I’d rather die than be comfortable in such a place beside him," Hana responded, her head buried between her knees and wrapped around her legs.

"It’s better to be treated well by a monster than be consumed by him. I understand your despair, but you have to give yourself enough strength," Mia said, squatting in front of Hana, whose tears streamed uncontrollably.

"Please… don’t be nice to me. There’s no way I will accept comfort in a pack that took everything from me and made my pack suffer. We are on the verge of extinction. I want to die with them, not be with the man who’s executing them at will, Mia," Hana cried out, sobbing between words.

The door burst open, revealing Jarrel. He walked in with an aura that was both deadly and feared.

"I heard you have decided to starve yourself to death. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but you won’t be dying anytime soon, little mate," his calm but commanding voice broke through Hana’s mind.

"How I want to live or if I desire to live has nothing to do with you. Leave me the hell alone or kill me like you kill my pack every day in this slaughterhouse," Hana poured out, her emotions rumbling inside her.

Jarrel pulled Mia, who was kneeling close to Hana with a bowl of food in her hand. He took her hand and sliced it with the knife he pulled out from his guard's waist.

"Are you going to eat the food, or do you want me to cut off every finger she has, one at a time, for every minute you refuse?" Jarrel’s eyes were proof he wasn’t bluffing.

Mia's hand bled, the blood rushing out. She winced at the pain as Jarrel put pressure on the wound, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed.

"You beast, an excuse of a Howler! You certainly have no conscience and should not exist among creatures at all! How could you do that to your pack member, a little maid at that? Do you have a heart?" Hana screamed, rushing to grab Mia’s hand.

"A heart? What’s that? I certainly don’t have one, and my sense of reasoning is unbelievable. So I advise you to eat that food, because the next time I open this door or hear that you have refused to eat, I will cut off her hands," Jarrel threatened before walking out the door.

"I’m so sorry, Mia. Please, let me tie it with a piece of cloth," Hana pleaded with Mia, who was in so much pain.

"It's okay, my lady. Please eat. I don’t want my fingers cut off," Mia pleaded, tears in her eyes.

"He wouldn’t dare," Hana argued.

"It didn’t take him anything to kill his brother. Why would he consider me, a mere maid? Please eat, my lady. My mother is sick, and I am the only one she has," Mia cried, begging Hana for cooperation.

Hana finally understood what a maniac Jarrel was. She wouldn’t let the poor girl suffer because of her, as that would make her a monster too.

She took the plate from Mia’s hand and began scooping as much as she could from the bowl of rice, gulping down enough to finish it quickly. She cried as she chewed and swallowed, feeling as if her life depended on it.

Mia left to get her hand treated. Hana watched her frail body exit the door and felt terrible. She cried as loudly as she could, covering herself with a big bed cover, wishing the darkness could swallow her.

She replayed how much her people had been suffering in the pack. Most of them had been sold off to other packs, and the young ones were treated like animals meant only to give birth to pups.

Jarrel walked in again. "You need to get ready to appear in front of the pack. Not that you are worth it, but as my mate, I should give you that treatment, don’t you think?" he said, ordering the young woman with him to place some clothes beside Hana.

"Take a bath and get cleaned up thoroughly from those prison shits before you come out. I need you completely clean. I’ll be marking you tonight," Jarrel declared and left.

Dread fell on Hana’s face. There was no way she would allow him to mark her. She had rejected him, but the mark could still bond them. Until he rejected her too, the mate bond would never disappear. Now he wanted to mark her, sealing her fate in some ways.

She stood up, the weight of the situation pressing down on her. She knew she had to act fast. The bath was quick but thorough, scrubbing away the grime of imprisonment, but not the sense of violation she felt. Dressed in the clothes Jarrel’s servant had left, she felt a sickening knot in her stomach.

The door opened again, and two guards walked in, flanking her as they led her to the grand hall where the pack had gathered. The murmurs of the crowd reached her ears as she approached the dais. Jarrel stood at the center, radiating authority.

"Welcome my mate to the pack," he announced, his voice booming through the hall.

Hana's mind raced. She had to come up with a plan…a plan, to bring this madness to a standstill. She looked over the podium scanning the room hoping for a way out or someone on her side, but all she could see were cold unfeeling faces. The pack members seemed conditioned to obey without question.

Jarrel took her hand, raising it for all to see. "Tonight, I will mark you as mine," he whispered into her ears, and goosebumps rose from her skin.

Desperation clawed at her. In a bold move, she twisted her hand out of his grip and shouted,

"I reject you, Alpha Jarrel! I reject this pack and everything it stands for!"

The hall fell silent. The shock was palpable. No one had ever dared defy Jarrel so openly. His eyes flashed with anger, but there was also a glint of amusement.

"You think you can defy me?" Jarrel said, his voice dangerously low. "You think you have a choice?"

Heart thumping in her chest, Hana held her ground. "I will never be yours," she stated in a shaky but determined voice.

Jarrel's smile was cold. "Very well. Do you wish to challenge me? Then let's see how far your stubbornness will take you."