His Rejected Mate, His Secret Queen

The moonveil park's gathering is a storm of hope and betrayal. Since I was ten, I had anticipated this day and finally today it was here.

I'm Lila Evergreen, eighteen years tall and a common omega which no one spoke about.

Nobody knew about me till today, the day that the wolf in me got tired of hiding. For the first time, the wolf in me stirred. I shifted, and immediately I felt an electric connection with him, my mate-Evan Thornhart, the alpha of the pack.

I was excited and filled with anticipation, so I ran towards him, screaming and shouting his name.

Evan, I screamed at the top of my voice. You felt the same way, right?

Evan came forward, his face looking confused, like he didn't know what I was talking about.

"Felt what," he asked me with a commanding, intimidating tone.

"The bond, the connection, you're my mate Evan. I felt it very strongly".

"No, I didn't feel anything, and you are not my mate, Lila," Evan shouted.

"You can't be serious, Evan," I said, breathless and heartbroken. You felt it too. I know you did."

"I don't know what kind of fantasy you're living in, Lila," he said. This time so loudly that everyone around us could hear. "I would never accept a lowly omega like you as my mate."

There was another loud roar among the pack gathering which was followed by a heavy silence.

I stood frozen, there came a heavy wind which swept through the mark that had appeared the moment my wolf stirred. My wolf had roared with excitement the moment it happened.

But now... this?

"You're rejecting me?" I whispered, my voice audible enough.

He scoffed in a ridiculous manner. "What else do you want me to say? You're not my equal.

You are a common omega and can't be bound to a royal bloodline. The only person fit to be my mate is Clarissa Vain. She is of the royal lineage and worthy of becoming the Luna.

As if summoned by his betrayal, Clarissa stepped forward, her hips swaying, her sleek golden hair catching the moonlight like a goddess descending from the stars. She wraps her arm around Evan's with a smile that says she has won.

"I'm sorry, Lila," she said, not sorry really. "You really thought you were his mate? That's adorable."

"No," I shouted, "this isn't right." The bond, I felt it and I know what I felt, Evan."

"There is no bond," Evan snapped. What you felt was your desperation, not fate. "The moon goddess must've made a mistake."

A sharp, collective gasp echoed through the crowd at his blasphemy. Even daring to question the moon goddess during the Bondmate Ceremony-the most sacred tradition of our kind.

Tears blurred my vision as I realized some of the pack were beginning to make mockery of me. Some of the she-wolves shook their heads in pity.

"Did I imagine it all?"

I looked down at the soft glow on my skin, already fading.

"No... this mark doesn't lie."

But then... why?

Why did it feel like my soul was tearing apart?

I sank to my knees in the middle of the pack circle. The same earth I'd dreamed of dancing on beside my fated mate now felt like it was swallowing me whole.

"Maybe she forced the bond," someone whispered.

"She's just an omega. "She probably did some spelling," another muttered.

"No one like her would ever be chosen. Evan deserves someone of alpha blood."

Their words were like daggers, each one digging deeper into my heart.

I bent forward, clutching my chest and shaking. "Moon goddess, I whispered in tears, why would you do this to me?"

This was supposed to be the happiest night of my life. The Annual Moon Ceremony-where fated mates were revealed under the goddess's light. I had trained for this moment, hoped for it and prayed under every full moon for the moment everyone looked forward to.

And I felt it, the instant shifting, the connection and the pull until Evan rejected me.

We weren't strangers. I wasn't some random wolf trying to claim him.

No.

We had a history.

"Please," I said tearfully, still on my knees. "Tell me you are joking."

Evan's jaw tightened. "I'm serious, Lila. And you need to stop making a scene."

Clarissa laughed beside him. "Too late for that." She'd already embarrassed herself in front of the whole pack. What a tragic little fairytale."

The laughter rose again-low, cruel, echoing around me like a nightmare.

"I didn't ask for this bond!" I shouted suddenly, the words too strong for me to say. "I didn't want it to be you-but it is! You think I wanted this pain? You think I chose you?"

"You don't belong with me, Lila," he said, his voice low but firm. Accept it. Walk away with dignity."

Dignity?

I had none left.

I staggered to my feet, my legs trembling like a newborn baby.

"You told me I was special," I said, my voice cracking. "Was that a lie too?"

He didn't answer.

I took a deep breath, holding back the scream blocking my throat. I turned around and pushed through the crowd, not caring when I ran into someone or what they were saying about me.

I just needed to run, far away from this shame.

I ran with my limbs aching and my heart tearing at the same time. My feet pounded the earth as I ran into the forest.

But I didn't stop.

I couldn't stop.

Because the moment I did, I knew the pain would swallow me whole.

I stumbled over a root and fell hard, scraping my palms on the rough dirt. My breath started to cut, and my body burned like burning charcoal.

Something was wrong, but I couldn't decipher what it was.

I pressed my palm into my stomach. A sharp pain twisted through my abdomen, fierce and hot.

My vision was blurred. I leaned against a tree to regain my strength.

"What... what is this?" I whispered. "Moon goddess, what's happening to me?"

I felt so dizzy instantly.

I lay there tired and confused, and then I remembered, just like a flash, I remembered all the memories I had shared with Evan.

The night Evan kissed me under the blood moon, just a few months ago. I could remember vividly the hunger I sensed in his kiss, how his hand trembled when he held me like I was his breath.

"You're mine," he had cried then, burying his face in my neck. "Even if no one sees you, I see you."

Lie, I muttered to myself, everything he had told were all lies.

My stomach twisted again, harder this time.

I screamed at the pain that gripped me. I was confused and didn't know how to help myself, curled into myself holding my stomach with trembling hands.

This wasn't just about the rejection and shame, it was something more .

Am I?

No it can't be.

"Please, I whispered to the moon goddess again," don't let this be the end of me.

And that was the last thing I remembered.