Luna of the Golden Moon

Rejection

It was nighttime when I finally wandered back.

The big mansion, made entirely of wood, was in the distance; it was magnificent but rotten to the core, like the man ruling it.

My injured and muddy feet were a painful reminder of the long journey. The Beta relentlessly pushed me deeper into the woodlands, avoiding any paths and stepping on every rock and twig that didn't affect them as wolves.

My legs trembled from exhaustion, and I felt every step I took on the smooth dirt ground. I yearned for water; my throat dries from walking all day!

Delta Vivian was the first to see me coming down the path to the house, giving me a scowl when both of my guards parted ways. They hadn't spoken with me once, and I knew they had been talking to each other since I could hear the huffs and grunts when they did!

"Emilia, what happened?" Delta Vivian stared at me with a scowl, clearly not pleased that I was beaten up by thorns and bushes. My body had rips everywhere, and I wasn't far from just passing out.

"...you sound just like mother..." I smiled sadly when her dark eyes shifted, showing me she was worried and wanted honest answers, not just half-truths from the men leading me here.

"You're lucky I'm not! If I were your mother..." Delta Vivian stopped speaking, exhaling deeply when her hands were on my shoulders. She was shorter than me and looked like she wanted to help, and I didn't understand why, according to everyone else, I deserved this.

"stupid girl, why didn't you just shift?" Delta Vivian scowled more at my unhappy face, not wanting to cry again; she had no idea I wasn't allowed to... I sniffled, hating that everything was hurting; my feet were the worst, numb but still having cuts deep enough to make me want to cry out for every step if I wasn't too proud, still standing on the front porch of the wooden mansion.

"I can't..." I didn't want to say more, my eyes wandering around the empty hallway, scared that someone would hear me.

Delta Vivian followed my eyes around before nodding like she understood when I sniffled. I just wanted to shower and sleep; whatever the head would punish me with, I wouldn't be cleaning the toilets.

She took me downstairs, back to the same shower room I had been in for two weeks. Someone had moved a tub inside; it wasn't big, but it wasn't me standing up either, getting undressed by the older wolf, throwing Kyle's shirt away in a bag, and giving me a look like she knew the same story; everyone else did. That I had s*x with Kyle.

"Vivian..." I was crying when she steered me down the tub. The water wasn't even that warm, just enough to not make me freeze when she stopped her dark eyes on me. She wouldn't tolerate me calling her first name but would ignore my sidestep this time.

"I miss my mother." I had been quiet for too long when she was washing me. I stared into the wall, making her stop scrubbing my foot that was out of the tub before she gave me a sigh like she knew.

I never really thought I would miss the scoldings she gave me; at least back when I was living with my parents, I was protected, and I never really understood that until now, exposed and wounded in a house that didn't care about me being its Luna, to them, I was just an exiled Delta not worthy of becoming the second most powerful crown in this house.

"That's because you are a child..." Delta Vivian scoffed, lifting up my other foot, ignoring my sad eyes on her, still trying to help wash off my feet with burns and cuts that had started to fade.

I was an Alpha, and still.... my thoughts disappeared when the faint knock was heard, making my nervous eyes turn towards the door, being opened and showing me the last person that would come and see me right now after he left me, turning his back on me in the woods.

"Alpha..." Delta Vivian was still washing me. She cared for me like a child, not a grown-up in an old bathtub, trying to cover up how awful I felt; Delta Vivian was right. I was a useless child.

"Delta Vivian, leave us." She scoffed like she thought we were both immature pups. She gave Caleb the same un-approving look that made him ashamed for a second before looking stern and cold, just like his father.

Caleb was wearing a dark suit, his hair neatly on his head. He looked perfect against me in the tub, with wild eyes and naked skin still covered in grime and dirt. I grew up in the city and felt like an animal, trying not to get up and splash water all over that perfect face!

He smirked, hearing me, and still, he wasn't coming closer; my chest ached to see him keep his distance, just like he did before he marked me. Was he here to reject me back, make sure to end this mateship, and get that perfect Beta female?

"I know you were with Kyle..." I whimpered, getting more hurt by his harsh voice, his eyes still on the wall behind me, like he was standing before the head and not me, his mate who still was lost and hurt; I didn't sleep with Kyle; I swore on my life, how could he not believe me!?

He huffed back, accusing, breaking his scowl, making my chest hurt more from his distress, rolling out over my body, making me grasp the edges of the bathtub. I understood that what I had done was wrong, but I was sick of getting hounded, as Kyle was. We just wanted to have fun, just like him!

"Just like me?" I nodded at his sarcastic answer. Yes, I saw him having fun, talking to different girls, and he couldn't lie to me; I was being punished, the same as Kyle, and he was having fun, laughing, and drinking while I was scrubbing toilets, isolated from everyone in this pack except for Delta Vivian!

"I wasn't having fun! I was being pushed by Father to start looking for a different Luna; he still wants me to come down here and rip away my mark from your neck!" Caleb's eyes had shifted, becoming yellow when I whined loudly, covering the mark with my hand, closing my eyes from the intense rage that was pushing over me; if he was here to take it, I couldn't fight back; I started the rejection, and he could quickly finish it for us.

Goddess.

I started to cry inside the tub; the water was cold now, same as my heart; not even brave enough to look up at his face, still feeling the intense rage and shame that was coming from the both of us. I loved him so much, but he wasn't letting me inside; he just kept doing what the head told him, and I couldn't agree with that, never.

"That's what the head is f*****g for, but you don't get that, just like everything else around here!" Caleb was staring at me, his wolf pushing out from frustration and anger, making me whine more; this wasn't fair! He didn't get punished, that's why I ran away!

I got up, sick of being blamed for everything; I wasn't the one who had almost killed Kyle or couldn't stand up to my own father; in fact, I still couldn't even see my parents, but at least if he rejected me back, I could go back home!

"Emilia... I can't take back the mark..." I stopped when Caleb's voice made every hair on my naked body stand right up, seeing his grave eyes on my scared face; why was he trying to say to me??

"It will kill you..." I sat right back down into the tub, water splashing around, and I started to cry loudly, not caring if this whole house could hear me wailing; I had given him everything, and now he was going to kill me for sleeping with Kyle, did I get that part right!?

"yes." Caleb came closer when I looked up, my eyes spilling over from how scared I was; my own mate was going to kill me; I didn't know that it worked like that; my mother never said that mates could hurt each other; we were supposed to be inseparable!

"You are my mate, and I do love you ..." Caleb had sat down next to me on the same chair Delta Vivan had used, giving me a sad look that he was sick of this, of me constantly breaking the rules and not wanting to follow him like I was supposed to, disobedient.

"Caleb, whatever it takes... whatever, I will do it, okay?" I had my hand on the edges again, sniffling when he sighed and rubbed his chin; I knew he didn't want to kill me because I could feel him; no other female was good enough for him, only me!

"How about you start acting like the Luna in waiting and not like you hate this life with me more than anything else?" I felt terrible hearing his words. He was hurt, the same as me, Goddess. I just wished that I could take back this night, just take it all back, and pretend that I didn't wake up naked in the middle of the woods with Kyle!

"I don't hate you..." I whispered it to his eyes, lighting up a tiny spark of happiness when I did a sad smile back; I didn't hate him or the rest of this pack, unlike he believed. I loved him more than I could say or think, and I was sorry for running away, dancing all night with Kyle... that was so stupid.

"Let's go back upstairs. I want to sleep next to my mate tonight." I purred, hearing my mate's darker voice tugging at our bond. Yes, I wanted that too.