Jasmine: The Cursed Alpha's Mate

Broken

Jasmine's POV

His hand whipped out before I could process that he was moving, closing over my neck. His skin burned against mine, sending jolts of something electric running through me. His claws pressed with just enough force to raise a wince from me, but it was the heat from the bond, crackling through the air between us like a livewire.

He leaned in, his nose pressing and gliding along the crook in my neck, drawing in a deep smell. My wolf shook so hard, terror and excitement warring inside me as I felt weak and all too vulnerable. But simultaneously shamefully wanting part leaned into his touch.

Low rumbling sounds began to arise within him, and his seething breath washed over me to where his tongue flicked over the hollow of my throat.

A gasp escaped, unbidden and humiliating. Again, my body betrayed me, my legs trembling where his hold tightened. When he finally licked my lips, it wasn't soft and sweet or tender; it was hard and possessive and demanding. I hated how my body responded to it, even as my mind screamed for him to stop the pool of heat gathering at my core.

But the moment he would have touched me, he pushed me away.

I fell onto the ground, my shoulder ringing for what felt like ages, my skin against dirt.

"Just a weak Omega," he spat out, his voice filled with hatred.

I stared on from my fallen position, my eyes burning on the inside of the lids at a point which, while it stung, refused to leak; the bond hummed still between us, relentless and inexorable, yet his disgusting eyes had me whetted like a razor.

Asher's face twisted into a cruel grimace as he loomed over me. "Why would the Moon Goddess curse me with this?" He gestured to me as if I were some filth. "I need someone strong. Someone who can match me. Not… You."

The words cut deeper than any physical wound. I wanted to speak, to plead my case, but my voice caught in my throat.

"You're pathetic," he went on, his voice rising to be heard above the din of the crowd. "A weak, sniveling Omega. Do you think you are fit to stand beside me? That you can take on the burdens of my pack, my power, my name?"

I winced, the lash of his words falling full in the face as the s***h of a whip might, and behind them, his pack took it upon themselves to start laughing.

The sound was cruel, taunting; it crushed whatever hope I'd foolishly dared to feel.

Asher sneered down at me. "Say something, Omega. Defend yourself."

I reached out, hesitating, and he kicked me away before my hand could barely brush the edge of his boot.

A sharp pain shot through my ribs, and I curled into myself, gasping.

"Useless," he repeated. "You can't even stand up for yourself.

Loud it got, and louder it continued until I heard them, warriors and onlookers alike in their jest at my humiliation.

But it was not the ridicule when at their mercy that hurt most; it was from Asher's eyes when he set them on me less than nothing.

I put a quivering hand to my side and struggled to breathe. Whimpered under my wolf, the bond between us sang with hurt. He rejected me, though not by words, every scornful glance, every cruel word, every deliberate step further away from me.

A mate was supposed to be a gift, a blessing to one person in the world that would cherish and protect you.

I'd dreamed of this moment for as long as I could remember. Even as an Omega, even as someone the pack despised, I'd clung to the hope my mate would see me, that he would love me.

But Asher wasn't just rejecting me; he was tearing me to pieces.

I swallowed hard and fought back the well of tears that threatened to spill. I would not cry, not here, and not in front of him.

Asher leaned in closer and dropped his voice down into a dangerous whisper. "You'd do good, Omega, crawling back wherever it was you came from and keeping yourself out of my sight. I don't have any use for an Omega like you."

It was as if something inside me snapped.

I forced myself onto my knees. My voice was shaking, but the words were as clear as day and night.

"You gave me pain," I said, my eyes locking with his. "You are as evil as the rumors said."

The crowd fell completely silent.

Asher's face darkened, his jaw clenching as though my words had hit an exposed nerve.

For a moment, I thought he would strike me. But instead, he straightened, his eyes cold and impassive.

"Take her away," he called out, turning his back on me.

Two warriors stepped forward, clutching my arms. Their touch was rough, and bruising, but I barely felt it over the numbness spreading through my chest.

He didn't care about the bond, about the Moon Goddess, about anything that tied us together. To him, I was nothing.

The laughter and ridicule still echoed in my ears, but it was Asher's words that haunted me most.

"Just a weak Omega.”

I'd thought he might be different. That he might see something in me no one else had.

But I was wrong.

The warriors dragged me by my arms, their grip bruising, but I hardly noticed the pain. My thoughts were a storm, Asher's rejection playing on an endless loop in my mind.

"Pathetic."

"I have no use for you.

Every word lanced within me, sharper than the mocking from his pack, the laughter still echoing behind me. My chest was seared with a swirl of desperation and anger. My wolf whined, wounded from the bond that was broken yet unwilling to let an insult slide her way.

I staggered, my legs trembling under me, and then shrugged off the hands of warriors reaching to catch me.

"Let go of me!" I snarled, surprising even myself with the venom in my voice.

They let go, looking at each other uncertainly. It was that hesitation that allowed me to turn and face him.

Asher was still there, standing in the middle of the courtyard, his back to me. His shoulders were rigid, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. He must have heard me because he turned, his silver eyes locking onto mine.

"What?" he asked, his voice cold and mocking.

Anger bubbled in my chest and drowned the pain for a moment. I stepped forward, shaking but defiant.

"You're the pathetic one!" I screamed, my voice cracking yet ringing across the courtyard. "You're cruel! Heartless! You'll never be worth anything the Moon Goddess gives to you!”

The crowd was murmuring, the laughter dying out as they watched the exchange. Asher's face twisted into something dark, and dangerous. Then, to my surprise, he laughed.

It wasn't a joyous sound—it was sharp, cutting, cruel. "Pathetic?" he echoed, his silver eyes gleaming with malice. "You don't even know the meaning of the word, Omega.”

One step closer he came, that massive, towering form radiating with malice. "You think the Moon Goddess gifted this upon me? No," his voice was low and venomous, "this is her punishment."

I flinched under his words, but refused to back down.

His mouth twisted in a cruel smile; loud enough now for the whole courtyard to hear, he exclaimed, "Then let me free us both from this curse.”

He closed the space, suffocatingly large over me, and his tone deepened to cold deliberation: "I, Asher Raven, Alpha of the Silver Stone pack, hereby declare and return you, Jasmine, not my mate."

My mind was slammed by them, like a physical punch that reached inside and crushed bones and flesh. The bond whiplashed, snapping vicious and real, and I staggered back a step, clutching over my pounding heart.

A whimper tore from my lips, the droplet of blood that seeped from the corner of my mouth a physical testament to the severing of our bond. My wolf howled; her anguish ripping through me like a tempest.

Asher wasn't unscathed. One hand clutched at his chest, and his eyes flashed red as he hunched over slightly. For an instant, I could have sworn I saw something honest and human on his face, like pain or guilt or even just the price he paid in refusing me.

The moment slipped away. He straightened, drawing a tight mask over however he was feeling.

The warriors surrounding us stared at him in shock. His pack members whispered among themselves, but no one dared to come near.

This was my chance.

I turned and ran.

Aching shot through my chest as I ran, but I didn't care. My legs could move faster than I ever thought they would, my wolf surging forward. My vision was obscured through the tears, yet I didn't stop.

Behind me, I heard shouts, and orders to capture me, but they were faint, unimportant.

"Leave her!" Asher's voice rang out, sharp and commanding, freezing them in place.

I didn't wait to see what it meant. I didn't care.