Her Second Chance is Four Vampires

Tormented

Sometimes people set you up to be hurt. But how could the goddess of the moon do that to me- Penelope's pov

"Penelope, the wild coyote pack is our home. They will always have your back. You can trust them." 

"Penelope, promise me when the blade comes down that you won't cry. Don't cry, baby. Mama loves you. So so much. You're a strong girl. And by the statue of our goddess, you will not die until you have lived a happy life."

And to think that on that day, I actually believed those words to be a blessing. But now I know, they were the beginning of my curse.

Cold water smacks me in the face, drawing me out of my dream induced state. The first thing that registered to my broken mind was the pain. It laced itself through my skin causing me to flinch, and twitch uncontrollably. I batted my lashes, forcing them apart so I could see all that was around me. 

Two people, Omegas by their scent, are peering over me with a menacing glare. I remember them. They aided HIM in beating me. That's why I'm in pain. 

My throat thickened with emotions, but I took my mother's words to my heart. I have never cried in front of anyone. And that is not about to change. 

"Get dressed b***h, you're going on display in ten hours. The alpha has requested that you look presentable."

They didn't even wait for me to reply. Their bodies turned towards the only door, and they left. 

They left me alone in a cold bathtub, trying to gather my bearings and force my body to stop shaking. Yesterday was supposed to be great, I curved my body up into a ball and let my tears pour freely. 

There's no one to see my pain, so I'm allowed this moment to cry. And even if there were people here, they would feel no remorse. Have you ever felt so much pain? All in one day?

Ten years ago my parents were publicly slaughtered by the alpha of our pack, as a warning to those who opposed him. He did this because he had found out that they were part of an alliance that had betrayed the pack years before I was born. My father explained that they joined the alliance and rebelled as the masked wolves to get the alpha to listen to the cries of the people in his pack. 

But when they saw he wasn't hearing their message, they called it off and went on acting like they were not the people who had once gone up against him. 

They never thought he would find out. And until they died, they never discovered who told him. 

My mother had this horrible faith that the pack would take care of me because she had friends, and sisters here. 

If only she could see. Hell, I bet she's tossing and turning in her grave. Right, they didn't give them a grave.

Ever since that day. The day I was forced to watch the alpha murder my parents, my life has been hell. I've forgotten what it's like to be happy. Everywhere I turn, it's physical or verbal abuse. 

I just wanted it all to end. 

I still do. 

I had a little bit of hope that when I turn eighteen, all will be right. I'll meet my mate, he will defend me against the pack's abuse and remind them to be good people. And that it is not my fault that my parents tried to fight for what was right.

I couldn't have been more wrong. I understand the people of my pack hurting me, I can behind that and say that's because they're mortal. They can never be trusted. 

But for the goddess of the moon to do that to me, I was crushed. 

It happened yesterday, so fast it's a blur in my head. Here in the wild coyote, once you turn eighteen you get this mark on your body that reveals your wolf to you, and your rank. 

I am an omega. But to my shame, I have a mute wolf. 

I don't care that Aphrodite is mute. When I first felt the burn on my skin, I was just happy to have someone else with me. But she can't talk, and we haven't had a chance to establish how to communicate, because only minutes after I was laughed at in front of my entire class for having a mute wolf- because I stupidly revealed that I can't hear her voice, which they took immediately as her being mute- something else happened. 

Something that turned my heart to dust, and made me realize that even gods can and will disappoint you. 

|FLASHBACK|

The whole class is in an uproar of laughter, and I'm still standing in front of them. The names they call me, I will never understand what I did to everyone. They hate me so much become of my parents. 

I kept my eyes strong, never let your enemies know that they've gotten to you. 

"What a f*****g loser? A mute wolf? When have you ever heard of that?" Becca, the prodigy to be the Delta of the pack, burst into a high fit of laughs. Hate burned in the pit of my stomach. 

She is the fruit of my mother's sister. My aunt who casted me away because she didn't want to have a bad omen in her house. 

The class joined her in laughing and poking fun at me. Can you believe, in a pack of three hundred wolves, not one of them has a shred of human decency?

At this point I'm used to it. Today might not have gone the way I wanted, but there's still the hope of finding my mate. And when I do, they'll all see. 

They'll see the man the goddess chose to be my knight in shining armor, they will watch him swoop me off my feet and defend me. He will be the one star in the dark clouds of the wretched pack. 

I inhaled deeply, and gave a bow to the class. The was mandatory for every student to receives their wolf mark to come to the front and summon their wolf. 

I know her name is Aphrodite, I can feel it in my heart that that is her name. But she comes with a disability. 

That's okay, the goddess put us two together for a reason. I bet the other wolves bully you too, but that doesn't matter. 

You have me now. Penelope and Aphrodite. We'll be the best of friends. 

I returned to my seat, and the rest of the school day went on that way. People kept making rude sign gestures towards me, and it made me want to scream and pull my hair out. 

To just say, f**k all of you. People are mute in this world, and it very rude of you to make those gestures at me just because my wolf doesn't speak. 

I scoffed as I made my way down the empty hall to the math class, I had forgotten my notes and school was coming to an end. Everyone spent the day praising Becca for how beautiful her mark looked, and the powerful aura her wolf displayed. 

She had also felt the spark of her mate. 

But she didn't reveal who it was connected too. 

I don't understand why she kept sending me a proud look all day. As if I should care about the unfortunate soul that was blinded to her. 

Becca this, Becca that. If they gave as much effort into their personal lives as they give to her, our pack wouldn't be ranked one of the lowest in all of Rhode island.

I pushed the door open, and walked in. Immediately coming to a halt when a hefty scent shot up nose. A scent that made butterflies squirm in my stomach, and made my palm feel clammy. A scent that made my heart pick up a faster pace. The reason I'm not moving is because I can see who is giving off that scent. 

I must be the most unlucky girl in this whole damn world.

The male in question takes a whiff into the air, Ryker Davenport, the alpha's son. The next in line to run this pack. The school's most beloved, and all around macho Chad. 

But most importantly, Becca's boyfriend. And my biggest bully. The ground can open up now. I'm ready to be swallowed. 

His gaze shifted, he brought his eyes away from the brunette that he had pinned to the wall. Once they landed on me, a look of disgust courses through his features. I ignored the way those butterflies died. The feeling went from burning excitement, to ice cold in the seconds it took for him to look at me.

The brunette is Becca, she leaned to the side to see what had caught her boyfriend's eye. 

"What do you want, b***h?" Her hiss was sharp. But my eyes hadn't left the man that was now slowly stalking his way to me. 

"You're my mate?" He asked, there's a dark chuckle in his voice as his features let up. Revealing a more calmer expression. 

Gone are the days of hope and believes, Ryker Davenport is the devil in the body of an angel. 

I can't believe….. the goddess would do this to me. My mark starts to burn up, I feel like Aphrodite is trying to warn me about something but I'm too stunned to process anything. 

"What?!" Becca shouted. She fixed her pants in a hurry, and ran towards us. 

Ryker was closing the space between, I wanted nothing more than to get as far away from him as I possible could.

"I- uh-" I fumble over my words and he laughs. 

"That is so cute. Little Penelope. Flower girl." I wince. That nickname, he gave it to me. When his mother was forcing me to clean their house after they'd thrown a party, I was ten at the time, he pushed me into a large bouquet of flowers. They were next to a potted plant. 

I cut myself on the glass but no one cared.

I remember his mother whipping me until I passed out for damaging her flowers and tricking her son into putting his hands on me. I will never forget the smile he had on his face as he watched me suffer. 

He muttered; flower girl. 

"Ryker, she-"

"Shut up." He said firmly, and Becca was quiet in an instant. 

Ryker placed both his arms on my shoulders. All the fantasies I had about my knight in shining armor dissolved as I felt my insides turn cold. 

My heart was beating because he is my mate. The one I feel the most connected too. Or so I've been told that's how it feels to be in front of your mate. 

But the feeling of him being my mate, and the years of me knowing who he truly is are fighting with each other. 

What if…. What if he actually feels something for me? What if he wants to give us a try? What if he makes my life worse?

"I, Ryker Davenport, the soon to be alpha of the Wild Coyote pack, reject you- Penelope Rogan- as my mate."

My body trummed as something ripped in between my chest. My throat constricted, breathing became an issue and I couldn't help but crack in the façade I placed over my face. I felt my cheeks wet with tears. 

He didn't even hesitate. With the smile on his face, he-

This filthy son of an ass. He did not hesitate. He didn't even take a moment to think. Why would he? This is Ryker. The self righteous bastard that tormented me for years.

Why did I expect anything different?

I swallowed, and shook myself out of his hands. It might hurt, but he's doing me a favor.

"I, Penelope Rogan, accept your rejection. I would rather feel this cold cutting pain than to live the rest of my life mated to you. So thank you for doing me a favor. What degenerate would want to be stuck with you forever? I'd rather sell my f*****g soul!"

I don't know why I said that. Maybe it was the hurt all at once. The anger. The fact that the goddess set our souls together and he just rejected me without a second thought. I should have known that his fragile ego would be bruised.

But Ryker's expression changed faster than I could blink, and before I knew what was happening, he was balling up his fist and striking me in the face.

|END OF FLASHBACK|

My body has managed to stop with the twitching, and I turned the knob on the tub. Allowing water to fill up.

I can't recall the exact reason why I angered Ryker, but after he hit me. Everything went to s**t. He dragged me out to the front gate of the school. Told people that I had threatened to cut Becca because I discovered we were mates and he didn't want to be with me. 

He lied that he tried to end it politely, and Becca played the part of crying. 

Everyone ganged up on me. 

I touched my hands, seeing the bruises had faded, which is strange. Wolves don't self heal. At least, we don't do that anymore. Not after the curse. 

But my entire body was fully healed, no more cute. My teeth seemed to have regrown. And my skull, I touched the center, it was find. 

I remember Ryker kicking me in the center, and that was what caused me to black out. 

I can still feel the pain. Every single bit of that pain, I feel it all. But my body doesn't look, damaged. 

They must have healed me while I was unconscious. And they stripped me too? How long was I out?

Did that man say I was going on display? For what?

I guess my answer will come once those omegas return. I rinsed off my body, still wincing from the pain. It's unbearable. My skull is throbbing. 

I dunked my head under the water, and just thought about laying there forever. There was a burn to my right arm, another sign when Aphrodite is saying something. 

I just don't know what it is. Perhaps she's telling me to get up.

To not give up and let myself drown in the tub. 

But will it be worth listening too? 

A rough hand wraps itself around my forearm, and yanks me out. I spluttered and coughed. 

My palm moves to wipe the water out of my face. 

"Wha-" I cut my words by biting on my tongue. 

Ryker. He's running his eyes over my nude body, and there's that smile. God, it makes my heart ache even harder. 

"You don't get to die, flower girl. Not until you've gotten your birthday gift."

My jaw dropped. He remembered… scratch that. He knows my birthday?

"What do you mean?" His grip tightens, and fear pricks at my heart. 

"Didn't you hear, the pack is in dead need of a saviour and you've been nominated."

What the f**k does that mean?!