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Lila's POV

I was standing in the middle of the pack's clearing, under the beautiful moonlight, clad in a beautiful silver gown.

With no jewelry or make-up, the only embellishment on me was the red flower tucked into my left ear.

All eyes were glued to me like I was some celebrity. And rightly so, because tonight was a very special occasion, to me, and to everyone present.

Excitement, nervousness, uncertainty, fear- The meld of these emotions made a mess of my head but I still willed myself to put up a bold front.

"Is he here yet?" My wolf, Bilana, stirred for the nth time and howled impatiently in my head.

Her words fell on deaf ears as I struggled to calm down my raging emotions.

At the front of the surrounding crowd stood a white-veiled woman who was in her middle years and holding a long, twisted wooden staff that had a subtly gleaming white gemstone perched at the top.

She was dressed in splendiferous sky-blue attire and aureate jewellery adorned her from head to toe. She served as the pack's moon priestess and would be the officiant of tonight’s event.

"Stay calm, Lila,” I internally hyped myself as I clasped my hands in front of me while staring at the direction my mate was to appear from.

It didn't take long for me to smell the refreshing scent of coconuts and milk — the special scent of my fated mate.

Bilana stirred again, more impatient than before.

"He's here. Our mate is here, Lila!" Bilana declared, overcome with joy. Her excitement was infectious and I couldn't help but smile, knowing that she was just as excited as I was.

Surprisingly, he didn't come through the path that was arranged specifically for him. Instead, the pack members formed a path to let him through.

My mate had black hair, a sculptured jawline, and a face that could only belong to the creator's bias.

The moment our eyes locked, I felt the effect of our bond through my veins along with the frenzied thumping of my heart.

They say when you meet Mr. Right, your heart will acknowledge him, I guess that's true in my case now.

As he made his way towards me, an aura of stateliness exuded him and the pack members deferently bowed their heads, one hand across their chest, chorusing, "Greetings, Your Majesty. Long may you live!"

Yes, my mate was the ruler of this pack— Alpha Cassian Thorn, of Bloodstone Pack.

In my head, my wolf was already prancing about, encouraging me to meet him halfway and stop being transfixed like an idiot.

But I didn't pay heed.

Watching this handsome specimen of a mate built like a shredded linebacker was more than a feast for the eyes.

Knowing each step he took would bring him closer to my spot, my heart started a wild marathon, and a thousand butterflies congregated in the depths of my gut.

I felt like I couldn't breathe when he finally stood in front of me, shirtless, with all his enrapturing tattoos and rock-solid abs on display.

Goddess, he was so perfect. I must have saved a million lives in my past life to be blessed with such good luck.

The moon priestess soon initiated the mating ceremony and minutes later, she handed me a bowl of sweet-smelling red liquid.

According to tradition, I was to drink from it first and have him drink from it as well. After this, we would be taking our vows and I would be crowned Luna by the moon priestess.

However, when it was time for me to hand the bowl to him with both hands, he did something I never expected, even in my dreams.

He knocked it off my hand. The liquid spilled, staining the skirt of my long gown and the earthenware bowl landed on the ground in unmendable fragments.

I stood, transfixed, gazing at him with disbelief written all over my face. My heart quickly dropped out of the marathon it had been participating in until this point and was about to sink into my gut.

I could hear the ripples of gasps and murmurs from the crowd but didn’t pay attention to them. Rather, I fixed my attention on my mate, searching his face for possible answers.

Why did he do that?

It wasn’t a mistake, he had done it deliberately. But why?

Everything up to this point was going great.

“Al…Alpha, what's going on?” I mustered the courage to ask, even though I had an ominous feeling in my gut. "D-did I do anything wrong?"

Pools of tears had gathered in my eyelids, threatening to cascade down my cheeks but I willed them back. I couldn't let the pack see me as a weakling.

And a big part of me didn’t want to accept anything negative, still wanted to cling to the hope that nothing more would go wrong from this point, but I was wrong.

“You are not worthy, Lila,” came his words to me with a look of disgust.

My eyes dilated at his words that cut deep into my heart, I felt my head reeling. I wished someone would tell me this was all a dream.

“You are an Omega, of a lower class, Lila. I cannot honor this wrong matchup from the goddess,” he turned his back on me and wanted to leave, but I blocked his path.

“Alpha…” I muttered, stifling a sob, "Why're you doing this to me? Yesterday, you said you would...."

He shoved me and wasn't merciful with the might he utilized at all. I fell to the ground miserably in that instant.

I struggled to sit up and all I saw were people already making fun of me, taking pleasure in my predicament.

The Alpha was now facing me. Maybe I saw wrong, but there, for a moment, was a trace of regret in his eyes, but it was quickly gone in a flash.

"Alpha," even though I knew how high the odds were that he wasn't going to change his mind, I still latched on to his leg as he tried to leave.

Tonight was supposed to be the happiest night of my life but now, I've been reduced to the butt of an unfunny joke.

My wolf was as sad as me, whimpering in my head. She didn't understand why our mate would do this to us.

I had no time to comfort her, I needed comfort myself. I needed someone to pinch me and say the king was just joking around.

By the Alpha's order, a guard pulled me away from my mate and pushed me to the ground. My outfit got covered in wet mud and a few cuts had appeared on my skin, courtesy of the bowl's fragments.

To add salt to the injury, my mate chose this time to say the dreaded words, "I, Alpha Cassian Thorn of Bloodstone pack,"

I looked up at my mate, shaking my head repeatedly, lips pursed to stifle a cry.

"...hereby reject you, Lila Nightshade, as my mate and Luna,"

At that, I heard applause and cheers, especially from the pack's females.

"Way to go, Your Majesty," I heard someone say, whistling at the end of his praise.

"The thought of her becoming Luna and lording over us from tomorrow onwards has been making me sick to my guts. I'm so glad the Alpha rejected her,"

"Yeah, that's a doomed pairing in the first place. His Majesty is wise, it's best to keep the royal lineage unblemished by a rogue's daughter,"

Amidst all this, I watched in sorrow as the man I was supposed to be bonded with tonight, walked away without so much as sparing me a glance.

With the Alpha gone, many in the crowd started throwing things at me like I was some accursed criminal.

I resolved in my heart right away that I would leave this moon-damned pack if no one wanted me.

Wiping off my tears, and telling my wolf internally to suck it up, I ran away from the pack's clearing.

No one followed me but I could hear the laughter and mocking remarks increase behind me.

This was it. I was done being pathetic and mocked. Staying with those despised rogues didn't sound like a bad idea.

And with that in mind, I left the pack for good without taking any belongings.