Her Rejection's Revenge

CHAPTER SIX: THE SAVIOR OF THE PACK

I froze in fear as a pair of menacing shiny black eyes stared directly at me, fangs protruding from a mouth dripping with saliva. It was a rogue. I could feel the savage ferocity in his predatory eyes, and I gulped down my fear. We all watched in total despair as the rogue fully transformed into his wolf form and toppled over Alpha Finn.

This was no coincidence - I could help thinking during the brief moment it took me to react. The time between the handing over of the crown would be when Alpha Finn would be the weakest. Somebody must have premeditated the attack.

I rushed forward to throw my body between myself and my Alpha but to my consternation, I could not budge one inch. The rogue was about to land right on Alpha Finn when a body intercepted the attack. I staggered back in relief against Brax’s body who shoved me aside to run to his father’s help.

Terrified, I watched as Braxton howled as he transformed into his wolf and compelled all of us to turn. Except for me. Even at such a moment, Itzel refused to make an appearance, and I could feel her shrink back in fear. Brax’s wolf Shadow intervened to protect his father and another wolf. All three wolves stood against the rogue, and by now most of the members had come forward to join the battle.

Everyone except my wolf. Itzel seemed pretty shaken up by the rogue’s unexpected appearance and she refused to cooperate with me. I was shattered but tried to hide my weakness from the others.

Why wasn’t she moving? That damned wolf was such a coward – I knew she was sick, but I wasn’t aware of the fact that she was such a helpless coward. How could she not react when the rogue was surrounded by at least fifty pack members? I felt disgusted with her.

I was left behind, so I could not see what was going on inside the circle where the rogue was captured. I only heard a faint whine, which told me that the latter had been subdued. Most probably, Brax had defeated him.

Elated, I shifted back and advanced towards the crowd. Truly enough, Braxton’s eyes were shining with victory as the rogue laid on the floor half-dead. The wolf which had helped Alpha Finn was a majestic brown wolf which transformed back to its human shape. I gasped.

It was Bee! Tears of gratitude filled my eyes as I realized that my best friend had nearly sacrificed her life to save me. I rushed to hold her hands in companionship.

“Thank you,” I whispered to her in a wobbly voice. “Thank you for jumping in when you did. I don’t know what’s wrong with Itzel,” I informed her in a conspiratorial confession with my hand blocking the words in her direction only.

Bee wasn’t paying any attention to me, her eyes were locked elsewhere, and I was momentarily distracted as my father’s cold grey gaze landed on me. It was hard to miss the disapproval laced in his stare and I gulped back my lack of competence.

How I wished I could be more like Bee or Anna – they were the epitome of what a future Luna should be.

“Speak!” Braxton was ordering the rogue who had his hands and feet tied up as he knelt before our Alpha supreme in total submission. “Who sent you here?” he shouted imperially, the golden crown shining at the top of his head.

I didn’t have the time to enjoy the fact that I was the Luna – things were too chaotic for the moment for me to rejoice in my survival.

“N…no one,” the rogue stammered in fear, shrinking back as Braxton roared in fury, the process of him taking over almost complete. He only had to wear the crown now that he’d marked me. And then he would have his full Alpha powers.

“I will only ask one more time,” Brax enunciated in an autocratic tone. There was something oddly different about him, like he was already taking up the role of the future Alpha. He would usually allow his father to do the questioning while he would have sat back to watch. The roles, it seemed were currently reversed.

“It was no one,” the rogue repeated in a firmer voice. “I just happened to land here and was waiting for the ceremony to challenge the Alpha.”

“That’s not possible,” Bee replied to everyone’s surprise. “It cannot be a coincidence. You knew the exact time when to attack. Somebody must have tipped you. How do you even know about the crowning ceremony?”

“I s... spied on you. I have been tracking your movements ever since I arrived in New York and discovered a whole pack of werewolves here. When I knew there was an Alpha, I knew that I had to challenge him and take his place. Then I discovered that the crowning ceremony was due shortly, so I waited for my chance.”

“That’s total bullshit!” Bee shouted angrily much to my shock. I didn’t know she would be so assertive against such a villain. It must have been the aftermath of the fight which was giving her unusual energy. “Why don’t you tell us who you’re working for?”

At that point, I wished I could also participate in the interrogation as I felt oddly left out. It would look odd if I just repeated what Bee had just uttered though – like I was competing with her. I tried to catch her gaze, but she was not paying the least attention to me.

“I am all alone,” the rogue protested with his head bent in defeat. “Why the hell won’t you believe me? I work with no one. My name’s Isaac and I was part of the Black Moon pack once upon a time, but I was rejected by the Alpha of the pack.”

“Why were you rejected?” I intervened before anyone could, and I felt the direct gaze of the rogue landing on me which cause shivers to run down my spine. I was such a coward sometimes.

“I failed to help my Alpha when he was in danger,” he informed in a dull voice, and my heart thudded in my chest. I had a lot more in common with that rogue than anyone else in that room.

Braxton scoffed. “That’s not a good reason to reject a wolf,” he said in a disbelieving tone. “An Alpha should be able to protect himself and the members of his pack.”

“I was the beta,” the rogue said in a gruff voice. “I was supposed to be at his side but…but I was busy with my mate at the time he was attacked. The members voted against me staying in the pack after that and I was considered unfit to stay within the pack.”

“Is that possible? For members of the pack to decide who was worthy to stay in the pack or not?” Bee was musing out loud in a statement more than a question. It was the first time that we were hearing of such rules. Since we lived amidst the civilization, we were cut off from the folklore rules and there were many things which we weren’t aware of.

Isaac shrugged. “It is. If the werewolf has failed his or her duty, it is legitimate enough to oust him from the pack.”

I swallowed hard, suddenly feeling a dark premonition washing over me. The story he was spinning was eerily familiar to what had just happened with me, just a few modifications. Was my imagination working overtime again?

It was Bee’s turn to sneer. “That’s not true. I don’t believe him! I mean if that were true, does that mean we can vote for Zelda to be ousted from the pack because she has failed to protect the Alpha just now?”

There was a moment of loaded silence, and I was too shocked to even splutter in outrage or offense. Where the hell was Bee trying to get at with that stupid question? I bulged my eyes at her in warning as she locked eyes with me, and she remained impassible as she returned my gaze.

“Where is that coming from?” Braxton was the one to spew outrage on my behalf, for which I was eternally grateful. “What the hell do you mean by that statement, Beatrice? Care to elaborate please?”

In that moment, I felt fiercely glad that I had forgiven Brax for his small infidelity. I could have hugged him for defending me. Finally, anger settled in as I faced Bee for her effrontery.

“Bee, what’s wrong with you?” I asked in a pleading voice, begging her silently to stop her vendetta or whatever it was.

“What’s wrong with me?” she addressed me savagely. “Something’s definitely wrong with you, Zel! You can’t even speak to me without flinching in fear. How do you expect to be the future Luna of this pack? Not only you couldn’t even protect the Alpha, but she stood in the way of Alpha Braxton without even realizing. You couldn’t even move when faced with danger. What if something had happened to Alpha Finn because of her stupid weakness?”

Stupid tears were welling in my eyes, and I blinked them back furiously. Confusion clouded my mind, and I could no longer interpret reality. Why was Bee speaking in such a ruthless way about me? Why was she betraying me now? What was wrong with her?

“You tell me,” she addressed the crowd who had remained suspiciously quiet as Bee had lashed out at me. “You tell me whether you agree with the fact that she becomes our Luna? She’d proven to be a weak and pathetic creature every time, but she’s just become our Alpha’s mate only seconds ago. How can she still behave like a coward?”

There was a unanimous murmur among the crowd, and I shuddered violently, hating myself for my extreme reactions. Why was I so weak? Enraged with myself, I clenched my fists tightly in two balls. This was not happening, not after all I’d endured.

“I am not a coward!” I exclaimed calmly, the tears spilling on my cheeks as I could no longer retain them. I was raped by my own boyfriend for Goddess’s sake, only to become a Luna. And to have my dream come true only for a few seconds before it was snatched away from me was totally unfair.

“Yes you are!” Beatrice retaliated back in a much harsher tone. “You just stood there while the rogue attacked our Alpha. After you became the Luna. How can you protect the pack in the future?”

“She’s right,” Mrs. Anderson agreed heartily. That woman had never liked me because I had reported his idiotic son Harry Anderson to the principal. It was normal that she wouldn’t side with me. But the rest of the pack had no grudge against me. Surely, they would support me. I had always helped them in one way or another.

There was Miller whose daughter I taught Math lessons for free. And Johnson who needed a babysitter and I volunteered without charging any fee. And little Danny who had problems speaking and I brought him to the doctor once a week for two whole years out of my own volition.

They all seemed to nod, albeit a bit hesitantly and the reluctance wasn’t out of respect for what I did for them. It was only because they feared the new young Alpha. I reigned in my indignation and placed all my hopes on my parents.

Surely, the ones who sired me wouldn’t betray me?

“I’m afraid I agree with the community,” my father spoke in a bemused voice. “My daughter has greatly disappointed us, and I am ashamed of her.” My mother remained speechless at the side of my father; her eyes carefully averted as she made it clear that she was also agreeing with the rest of them

My heart felt like someone had just punched inside my chest and ripped it out. I staggered in hopeless defeat against the onslaught of the emotion the betrayal was causing me.

In a final entreaty, I turned to the only person who would become my savior. My hero. Braxton Cooper. The love of my life.