CHAPTER 2: The Unexpected Offer

I expect all eyes would be on us, but not for this reason. I want everyone to look at me with respect and pride as the future Main Alpha’s bride. Instead, everyone stares at me with either mockery or pity as the future Main Alpha’s rejected mate. 

As the term ‘rejected mate’ roars in my head, a rage of anger continues to boil in my chest. It’s so strong that I’m unable to stop it from exploding.

“What’s wrong with you?!”

My voice rumbles off the entire garden. It silences all except the dangerously irregular beats of my heart. Humiliation, amplified by anger, suffocates me. I gasp, trying my best to mitigate the undesirable heat in my body. Thankfully, the more I glare at Alpha Allen, the more I realize one thing that I didn’t earlier - lingering behind his brown eyes is regret. My glare loosens up and so do my clenched fists.

I can’t be wrong about that. But,... what is he regretting about? For making me believe that he loves me? Or for waiting today just to reject me in front of our entire pack, in front of my parents who entrusted me to him? 

“There’s nothing wrong with me,” he says. He blinks multiple times, before letting his sight fall to his boots. He then continues in an almost inaudible voice, “You know what’s wrong. You.”

“Me?” My tone is so sharp that it shreds his confidence apart. I shove my arms from him. “How dare you blame me?”

He remains silent. Such silence humiliates and angers me more. Tears sting my eyes. I try to blink them away, but it’s already too late. They cascade down my cheeks without any means of ever stopping. 

“Out of all the days, why do you have to do this now? You had all the time to reject me before today! So, why now?”

His apologetic eyes jerk at me through his messy bangs, but he immediately pulls them back to his boots. I wanna clutch his jaw and lift it up so our gaze can meet, but I can barely move. My anger is draining me.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been indecisive since earlier whether to go with this wedding or not. I didn’t mean to wait for this moment to reject you. It just happened,” he answers.

“Really? You even forced the officiant to start the ceremony and now you’re telling me that…”

“I have to do it… as… as a proof… that I’ve finally broken our bonds.”

Proof?! What is he talking about?! Is he being forced to reject me? Does that mean this isn’t really what he wants? 

I wipe my tears dry, place my hand on my chest and feel my heart beating fast. I then close my eyes and breathe.

Come to think of it, I’m not hurt by Alpha Allen’s rejection. Sure, this is the first time that I got rejected by a mate, but according to some who experienced rejection before, they felt an unbearable pain clobbering their hearts that they could barely speak, let alone breathe. So what makes this rejection different from the others then? 

I open my eyes and study Alpha Allen’s distraught face. He’s the one who rejected me, but it seems like he’s in more pain than me. I don’t think he’s ready to tell me everything that’s happened before today even if I force him to. Well then, I must figure it out on my own. 

I square my shoulders and set my jaw forward. Then, in the loudest voice I can, I say, “Get out of here, before I make a scene that’ll haunt you for the rest of your life.”

Panic widens Alpha Allen’s eyes. “Don’t hurt yourself, please.”

I raise an eyebrow at him. Hurt myself? I don’t intend to hurt myself. Actually, I wanna do the reverse. I wanna hurt him so bad so he could feel how furious I am! 

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” I demand.

“I’ll go, only if you promise you’ll be okay,” he says, begging even.

“After humiliating me? You think that I’ll be okay?” I ask. 

He’s silent again. 

I tighten my grip around the bouquet of flowers and, without second thought, hurl the bouquet to his face. Gasps echo. A few of my packmates gawk while the majority glares at me. 

“What audacity she has!”

“She’ll regret what she’s done!”

“Alpha Allen made the right decision not to marry her. She’ll only be his disgrace.”

Unwelcoming opinions clash against one another. Each competes for being the most inconsiderate.

“Unbelievable!” I yell, silencing everyone.

The word came out of me, before I could even process it. Funny enough, I don’t regret it. Rather, I stand firm by it. I’m done aiming my anger towards Alpha Allen, now it’s time to aim it somewhere else. I turn to face the guests this time, then I say with all of my heart,

“I know most of you don’t like me. Well, I have good news for you… I hate you back!”

I may not be born from a high-ranking lycan family, but I deserve to be respected too. If there’s a perfect time to release my accumulated anger towards my unsympathetic and arrogant packmates, it’s now. My wedding is already ruined, so I might as well ruin their day. 

I roam my glare around, but deliberately avoid my parents’ faces. I don’t wanna see their pain coz I don’t wanna lose this bravery that’s filling me. 

“If only Allen isn’t an Alpha and it’s not required for the entire pack to witness an Alpha’s wedding, then surely, I won’t be inviting all of you here,” I add. 

Alpha Allen attempts to stop me by grabbing my arm, but I shove him away and continue with my unconventionally curt speech. 

“You can now leave. The show is over. Thanks for dragging yourselves here anyways. Laugh and celebrate all you want. I won’t be your future Luna, exactly what you’re all praying for. Hope Alpha Allen’s rejection to me will make your lives worth living.”

Oh my goodness! That feels so good. A massive invisible boulder that I’ve been carrying for a long time has been lifted off me. I’m lighter. I’m freer.

Gawks widen while glares deepen, but none dares to retaliate thorugh words. One by one, my packmates get to their feet and start leaving the garden. My parents, too, get off their seats, but I gesture for them not to come near me. It’s not that I don’t need their comfort. I’m dying for it, actually. But I still have one more thing to do before calling it a day - to find out what’s the reason for Alpha Allen’s unforeseen indecisiveness. 

“Wait for me at home. I’ll be there in minutes, I promise,” I say.

My parents hesitate, but never complain. Their faces say it all - they are worried and they are hurt. I can’t blame them for feeling that way. They are parents with an only child, who was just humiliated by the man she’s hoping to spend the rest of her life with. 

Mama and papa sluggishly walk away, looking back at me from time to time as they follow the unorganized lines out of the garden. As soon as they’re out of my sight, I turn to Alpha Allen again.

“It's your turn.”

He opens his mouth, but before a word get out of it, I interrupt him.

“I hate hearing your voice. It makes me sick.”

My anger towards him doesn't fully subside. I don’t think it will, unless I find out the truth. I need to understand where he’s coming from because I love him. I still want to be with him. 

He lifts his hand and attempts to touch my face, but I step back, forcing him to put his hand back to his side. My reaction leaves him no choice but to turn away and soon, just like the others, disappear through the garden’s gate. Now that the garden is almost empty, it’s time to have some private time with the person I think is the cause of Alpha Allen’s sudden indecisiveness. 

I walk my way towards Alpha Primo, who’s now preparing to leave. Like usual, he doesn’t show much of his emotions. Though his tan face barely makes an expression, the long creases on it are still too deep not to notice.

“Can we talk?” I ask as if we’re equal in ranks.

I don’t mind if he finds my question or my tone inappropriate. Clarification is what matters to me at this point… and I will get it.

“As long as you wouldn’t take much of my time. Why not?” he responds.

“I don’t have proof, but I know that you influenced what happened.”

My straight forwardness prompts his already dark eyes to darken even further. He steps closer and towers over me, but I don’t dare step back, let alone blink. I refuse to look agitated and I’m glad that my desperation for clarity is latching my agitation.

“My son only did what’s necessary. I’m glad he listens. It’s for our pack’s sake. You don’t have to accept it, but I hope you understand,” he says.

I almost laugh in disbelief. So, he doesn’t fully accept me… or to make it accurate, he doesn’t accept me even one bit. He still believes that I’m not worthy to be his son’s wife and to be our pack’s future Luna even after passing the military training and graduating at the top of my class and learning all the etiquettes and responsibilities of being a Luna? 

“Fine!” I pause to softly cough and soothe my trembling throat. “I won’t force myself into your family.” I turn my heels around, but look back again after a few steps, then add, “By the way, I thought you should know that I didn’t feel any pain with your son’s rejection, which means… he still loves me. You don’t have to accept it, but I hope you understand.”

I continue to walk forward, but before I reach the gate, Alpha Primo’s voice reaches my ears first.

“If you wanna marry my son, I can give you an ultimatum.”

That stops my legs from propelling and my heart from beating fast. 

An ultimatum? It doesn’t sound alright, but it sounds genuine. If only there’s no love between me and his son, I’ll just shrug off whatever this ‘ultimatum’ is. But the desperation of being with Alpha Allen for the rest of my life dictates my next actions.

I face Alpha Primo once again, then ask, “What about it?”

He waves for the Betas near him to leave and when they do, he starts speaking. “Prove, not only to our pack, but to the entire lycan race your worth.”

His response is vague, which forces me to ask again. “How?”

“I’ll give you a mission. If you succeed, I won’t interfere anymore with your relationship with my son.”

Hope swells within me. “What mission?”

“If you have time to spare, we’ll discuss it here in detail.”

My eyes squint at him as my curiosity grows wild. My heart feels more ill at ease at the possible result of this mission than the mission itself. So, I ask, “What’s the consequence if I fail?”

He tucks his hands inside the pockets of his black slacks, then answers in the calmest way I can’t imagine he will, “You’ll die.”