The rejection
1094 Words
Malia felt her heart shatter into pieces at Lydia's words. Had Lydia been pretending to be her friend all this while?
"You've been pretending to be my friend?" Malia asked, with tears in her eyes.
Lydia smirked. "I was never pretending to you, dear. Like I said earlier, you are too naive, else you'd have noticed my advances. I was only using you to get close to my dream"
At Lydia's statement, Malia got angry and tried to hit her. She didn't care that Lydia's rank was higher than hers and she could be punished. She didn't care.
But she felt someone hold her hand and turned to see that it was Derek.
"Try to harm a single hair on her head, and I swear I'll have your head"
Malia had tears in her eyes as she stared at Derek and Lydia, but Lydia smirked.
"I trusted you with all my heart" She cried, but earned a scoff from Lydia.
"What makes you think I'll agree to take you as my mate? You are a weak and powerless wolf. You can't be my mate" Derek spoke up this time.
Malia's heart broke at Derek's words.
"I hate you," She said without thinking. She could be punished but at this point, she didn't care.
"I, Derek Riverdale, reject Malia Kalion as my mate. From today henceforth, you are no longer my mate and I'm no longer yours" Derek declared, his eyes not for once leaving hers.
Malia sobbed at his words. She felt an indescribable pain wash over her. The pain that comes with when your mate rejects you. She watched as Derek took Lydia's hands and led her to the front of the hall and they locked lips.
Unable to watch the scene anymore, Malia turned around and ran away from the hall.
Two days later, Malia sat at the fireplace lost in her thoughts. She was still feeling hurt and betrayed from the event two days ago. Derek had rejected her in front of everyone in the pack. Lydia had betrayed her.
She wiped her tears the umpteenth time. No matter how much she tried to act strong and pretend that nothing happened, she couldn't. She has anticipated the mating ceremony for over four months.
The sound of heels approaching tore her mind away from her thoughts. Her heart turned sour when she saw who it was.
Lydia walked into the room in that elegant walking step of hers.
Her eyes met with Malia's but Malia bent her head.
"Hey you, come with me"
Malia's heart sank. These past few days, Lydia had been trying to make her life a living hell. Heaven knows she won't allow it.
There was a silly rule in the Lionsdale pack that once a male werewolf rejects his mate, she would be treated as a slave. And Malia could testify to it. If she thought she was treated like a nonentity before, it is worse now. Many people looked at her with loathe and disgust.
That was one law Malia had dreamt of abolishing. There were many laws she wanted to abolish. Now that dream has been taken away from her, by someone she thought was her friend.
She would rather die than allow Lydia to maltreat her.
Without thinking about her next action, she stood up from the bench and tiptoed to the back door. She couldn't continue living here.
Once the back door of the kitchen was open, she did the one thing that has been on her mind for the past two days. She began to run away, into the woods.
"Who's there?" She heard a deep masculine voice behind her.
The guards.
Adrenaline surged through Malia. If the guards catch her, she would be dead and she won't let that happen.
"Arghh!" She shrieked when she felt someone grab her from behind.
"Where do you think you are running to?" It was one of the guards.
"I… I was only hunting" She said the first thing that came to her mind.
The guard that held her sneered. "I see. By the time I take you to the alpha, you will tell him what you've caught in your hunt so far"
Fear washed over Malia.
"Please… Please I beg of you. Don't do this to me" She pleaded, but all her pleas fell on deaf ears as the guard dragged her away to meet Derek.
A few hours later, Malia stirred awake. She gasped when she took in her environment. She was in a dungeon? How did she end up here?
Memories of hours ago began to play in her head.
She gasped again when it dawned on her that she was still alive. She had thought she would die when Derek ordered the guards to whip her. He even ordered them to snap her neck. What had she done to deserve such treatment from him?
She remembered vividly the look she saw in Derek's eyes. It was hatred and… She couldn't tell what the other look was. Was it irritation or revulsion?
She wondered how Derek changed in the blink of an eye.
Months ago, he had always looked at her with love and affection. What changed?
'What makes you think I'll choose a low bred like you as my mate?' Derek's words replayed in her head.
If he loved Lydia in the first place, why didn't he go for her instead? Hadn't he known that she was an omega before asking her to be his girlfriend?
It was obvious he wanted to humiliate her publicly.
Tears filled her eyes again as the memories of the mating ceremony replayed in her head.
She was still lost in her thoughts when the door of the dungeon was pushed open. She took her eyes away from her palms to see who it was.
Brad stood at the entrance of the dungeon, with a look of pity on his face as he stared at Malia.
"Brad?" She called softly.
"Come with me," He said.
Weeks ago, he had wanted to tell Malia to stop hoping about Derek, but he wasn't able to. Even if he had told her, will she listen?
What even made her think that a powerful man like Derek would agree to take her, an omega, the lowest rank in the pack, as his mate? Brad wondered.
'Is it time for her to be killed already?' Malia thought as she managed to stand up from the cold hard ground of the dungeon. Her back hurt badly.
"Where are you taking me?" She asked.
- Writer
