Chapter 1 The Rejection

 (Selena POV)

“I reject you, Selena Stormborn, as my mate.”

I heard his voice, and it felt like my heart shattered into a million pieces.

The hall shimmered before my eyes as I looked around. Everyone had their eyes on me.

Today happened to be my 21st birthday, and also the day my mate was supposed to claim me.

I looked at the powerful men in suits, most of them with their mates beside them. Many of them were Alphas from other packs. They had all been invited to our pack.

“What do you mean?” I asked Luke, hoping he was just playing with me.

Luke Romans, the son of Alpha Lionel Romans. My mate… and my first love.

My pack Blazing Moon, was attacked by rogues ten years ago, and my parents, who were the Alpha and Luna of the pack, were killed while trying to save as many pack members as they could.

By the time help came, it was already too late for my parents.

Many of our pack members were dead, and only the children and the weak remained.

The pack that came to help took us in. That was how I ended up in the Wolfblood Pack.

Being beautiful, with silver hair and icy blue eyes, I quickly became popular, and a lot of boys hoped I would become their mate when I grew up.

The Alpha used his authority to make sure I only got close to his son, Luke. Others didn’t get the opportunity.

I didn’t complain, since Luke was a good person, and I have never been the type who wanted boys all over me.

So, we grew closer and eventually became best friends.

At my fifteenth year, something unexpected happened.

I was supposed to have my first transformation, but surprisingly, nothing happened.

Apart from being stronger than an average human and having the ability to elongate my fangs and claws, nothing about me made me a powerful werewolf like my kind.

I held on to the small hope that I was just a late bloomer, but that hope was shattered when the pack doctor declared me latent.

The moment I was declared latent, my life took a turn for the worse.

The boys who used to fawn over me all started to change their attitudes.

Even the girls who would once have given anything to be seen with me started to gossip behind my back.

It started slowly, but eventually, I was reduced to the lowest level in the pack.

Even the maids began to insult me openly, right to my face.

Little by little, I began to realize that the smiles and joy people showed me whenever they saw me were just ways to hide the jealousy they felt whenever I was around.

Since they no longer had to hide it from me, they no longer cared how they treated me.

But in all this mess, Luke was the only one who remained constant.

He was good to me until he left when I was eighteen. He left for his Alpha training.

Before he left, I felt it, the mate bond. I didn’t know what a mate bond felt like, but as I watched him leave, I felt a deep pain in my heart.

It was a longing, and I wished I could go with him.

His training lasted for three years, and throughout that time, we kept in contact.

With the old phone he left me, I was always able to speak to him every time I finished my work.

That was how I spent three years without him in the pack.

He suggested he would claim me in front of everyone when he returned.

I endured all the mistreatment from the pack because I believed things would be different once he got back.

“Why haven’t you washed my clothes?” Anita asked with a sneer.

“The machine is faulty. I’m still waiting for the technician to come and fix it,” I answered while ironing.

I heard a gasp, so I turned to her, thinking I had done something wrong.

“So you mean you’ve been using the machine for my clothes? Do you have no idea that I don’t like it when my clothes are washed with a machine?” she barked.

I could swear she had never said anything like that. Even before they turned me into the pack’s maid, I had seen her use the machine on multiple occasions.

She was just looking for a reason to lash out at me.

I sighed but didn’t answer.

From experience, nothing I said would make her see reason.

How could you reason with someone who clung to everything unreasonable?

She was the Alpha’s daughter, which meant she was Luke’s younger sister.

She used to see me as her elder sister… until it was announced that I was latent.

This was a world where only the strong survived. Because of that, no one wanted to have anything to do with a weak link like me.

“You’re keeping quiet?” she fumed.

I ignored her and kept ironing the clothes.

I had a heap of them, and replying to her would only waste my time.

The next thing I knew, she was pulling my hair.

“How dare you ignore me?” she barked.

She was two years younger than I was, so I should have been stronger.

But being latent made me weaker, so I was unable to fight back.

She pushed me toward the wall, and I felt the impact as my head collided against it.

Pain exploded through my skull.

I felt dizzy, but since this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, I quickly regained my senses.

“Anita,” I heard her mother call.

“Next time you ignore me, you’ll be in more pain,” she gritted before storming off to answer her mother.

I slowly stood up and wiped the blood that was beginning to trickle down my head.

My eyes turned glassy as I tried my best not to cry.

“Selena, you should be used to this by now,” I muttered to myself as I returned to ironing the clothes.

I would have preferred to go back to my room and rest, but I would face even more pain if I failed to finish my work.

After I was done for the day, I retired to the small room the pack had provided for me.

The room was barely large enough to fit a narrow bed and a small wooden table. The walls were cracked and dull, their once-white paint now stained and peeling. A single tiny window sat high up, letting in just enough light to remind me how bleak everything looked. My bed creaked with every movement, the thin mattress offering little comfort, and a worn-out blanket lay folded at the edge.

After bathing, I slumped onto my bed, pulled out my phone, and started chatting with Luke.

He was the only ray of sunshine I had in this world and the only reason I hadn’t given up.

So standing before him, in front of everyone, and hearing him reject me as his mate… was something I had never imagined in a million years.