My Forbidden Barbarian Mate

Prologue: Rejection

Jade

Pain ripples through my body, and I groan. The bumps in the road only make the pain worse. It may seem funny how I got here. I wasn't even supposed to end up here, yet here I am wallowing in pain as the truck I am in takes me to the deadliest pack there is the Black Hounds pack. It's called the deadliest simply because the prisoners that are taken to that pack barely make it out alive. You already guessed it; I am the prisoner, and I honestly wonder if I will make it out alive. This pain keeps getting worse the further we move away from the pack.

Each bump in the road shakes the car, and it takes me back to what has happened these previous days.

Let me start from the beginning, right where the chaos all began.

I decided to travel back to my pack after my best friend Ella told me to take a break from work for a while just to protect myself from her crazy ex. It's been a long time since I ever went home—more like years. To put it in simple terms, home never felt like home. I never used to fit in with the other wolves; they hated me, and I knew exactly why.

I have been home for over a week now, and I just spend time in the house. I do this mainly to avoid trouble, and the less people know I am back, the better.

"You need to go out more; I am sure some pack members missed you and would love to spend time with you," Mum says, giving me a warm smile, which I can't return.

"I highly doubt they missed me. They never once cared about me. I am sure they were happy when I left for school early." I answer back as truthfully as possible.

"Come on, Jade, I hardly doubt that. Some asked about you after you left. There will be a nice pack celebration tonight. You should go and spend some quality time with the rest of the pack." Mom’s jovial mood doesn't falter; it's quite contagious.

"Alpha Anderson is having his mating ceremony tonight."

Now that is something.

"He found his mate?" I ask instead.

She shakes her head and says, "No he couldn't find his true mate; he chose one instead. She has been someone he has loved since they were young. Though I bet their relationship began after you left." She explains, flipping off her hand.

"I will go,"

Only because I want to see who this woman is and because I have missed having some drinks.

Mom pushes herself into the room and sits at the foot of my bed. She gives me a worried look, and I already know what issue she will address.

"What about you, honey? Have you found your mate?" She asks softly.

I groan, throwing my hands up. "I haven't yet found one."

‘ Only because you won't listen to me.’ My wolf interjects, and I groan more.

It's probably someone who hated us when we were young.

"You should go out more; your mate might be around here somewhere. I have a feeling about that."

Well, so does my wolf, but I doubt anyone from here would be thrilled to have me as their mate.

They don't have the balls for that anyway.

"Yeah, I think so too," I reply, just to make her feel at ease.

Well, I already know he is here, and we will be at the party tonight.

I left the pack when I was 17 to go study law. And after I achieved my goals, I stayed in Italy among humans and never went back home.

‘ You have to find a mate; he is around here.’ My wolf, Athena, tells me, and I ignore her.

I have been doing so for the past few days, and tonight she will be happy. That for once I am listening to her.

The rest of the day cruises by fast, and I prepare to go out.

Mom is in my room once more, looking at me in awe.

"I can't believe you have grown this much." She gushes, her eyes taking me in.

"It had to happen," I reply bluntly. "Where is Dad anyway? I haven't seen him around today."

"He has been quite busy with today's preparations. Helping out the Alpha and all."

Yeah, because he happens to be the gamma of the pack. He loves the position so much that he wouldn't give it up for anything.

"I am off, Mom; see you at the party. That's if you will be coming." I wave as I step out of the door.

I take a deep breath, feeling the night air. It touches the exposed parts of my skin, mainly my thighs and back. The tight black dress I have on reaches mid-thigh, shaping me up and leaving my back open. I have wild blond hair up in a bun, just for control.

The noise of the party can be heard even from here. It's at the pack house, which isn't far from home. I walk there at my slowest pace. I finally reach it, and just as I expected, it's buzzing with life. Everyone is excited that they will finally have a Luna. I can't help but roll my eyes. Luna, my ass; she isn't even his true mate. How can the pack be stronger if he can't be a patient man?

I gulp down the first drink I see, and I smile at the burning feeling it brings down my throat and through my chest. This party is swinging all right.

" Jade!!!!" That squeaky voice again! It makes me groan, and to think over the years she would have changed.

"I didn't know you were back!" Yeah, me neither.

"It's so good to have you here, that's if you still ain't the troublemaker you were."

I highly doubt I was.

"Thanks for that, Mom!"

Olivia glares at me, and I smirk. Gosh, she can be irritating. "You don't talk to your new Luna like that." She scolds me, and my smirk widens; she doesn't want to do this.

"Oh, I thought the new Luna hadn't taken that position yet. From what I can see, you don't even have a mark yet."

I peep at her neck, and her hand goes to the spot where the mark is meant to be. I grin, and she growls, "Continue with this bullshit talk, and I will have you out of the pack when I am finally Luna." She snarls before she walks off, making me happy.

I continue with another drink, this time taking it slowly. I walk closer to the stage. I don't want to miss anything. Now that I know who the new Luna will be, talk about bad choices. No wonder I left this place; I was so happy in the human world.

So engrossed in my drink and walk, I bump into a hard wall, and the drink spills out of my wine glass and onto the man’s tailor's white suit.

"OH, s**t!!" He growls as he turns around.

Wait man!!! I thought I bumped into a wall. I look up, and our eyes meet. His delectable scent evades my nose. And gosh, he smells heavenly, and that's when my world melts. My wolf was right!

‘ MATE!!’ She screams in my mind, making me wince and breaking off the eye contact we had.

I rub my temples, and he just watches me speechless.

" Jade!" He sounds surprised. He proceeds to take off the white jacket that I have ruined with the red wine. I give him a guilty smile and he smirks, shaking his head.

"Alpha Anderson!!!" I am equally shocked. Don't tell me he is my...

‘MATE!!!’ Athena beat me to it.

No s**t Sherlock!

"You are my mate," I voice out, looking into his ocean-blue eyes that match mine.

"And so are you," he replies softly.

This can't be f*****g happening. "And you are mating someone else." Finally, the realization settles in.

He pulls my hand, and the sparks instantly ignite where his large hand clumps. He leads me away from the crowd, and I don't object. Not when the sparks have me in a daze. He remains composed and I wonder if I am the only one who is affected. He takes me inside the packing house, straight to his office. He let go of my arm like he had just touched fire.

His dark chuckle meets my ears. "Come on, Jade, even if I met you before Olivia, do you really think I would take someone like you as my mate?" Harsh, but I never counted on it. This is what I was protecting my wolf from, but she didn't see it coming.

He takes my quietness as his cue to continue opening his filthy mouth: "I can't have a mate who will challenge me all the way. Your wolf is dangerous and unruly. No one wants to mate with such a wolf. Everyone in the pack had been afraid of you. And you think I can take someone everyone was afraid of as my mate?" He lets out a humorless chuckle: "This makes things even easier for me to reject you."

My wolf whimpers, and I stand strong. I won't give that satisfaction. "Honestly, I would never want a weak man such as you as my mate."

Hurt passes through his eyes, and I smirk. I can't be the only one suffering.

"I would have rejected you right now, but I have a mate to mark!" He announces it as he walks out of the office.

I finally crumble and sit on top of his mahogany office table.

My wolf keeps whimpering inside my mind. The main rejection hasn't even started, and she is already acting like this.

I walk out of his office and decide to go home. Someone blocks my way, and it's the b***h. What could she want with me now?

"Oh, I heard, my mate told me, how happy he is that you are his real mate, and he will reject you. The irony is that I am getting mated to your mate. I doubt the only reason he is rejecting you is because of your deranged rogue wolf. Deep down, we all know you are a w***e!" She exclaims, and the party dies down.

I had planned to ignore her, but after this, disrespecting my wolf and me like that….

"Oh, I bet...

I don't even give her a chance before a slap hits her face. Her head jerks to the side, and she spits out blood. She tries to say another thing, and another hits her face, shutting her up instantly.

"Don't think you have the right to tell me s**t just because that filthy man has picked you over me." I spit, and she cries out.

Her body begins to shift, and she shifts into her giant wolf, which instantly attacks me. We fall to the ground, her growling wolf above mine. I throw it away with all the power I have. It lands on the ground, and I shift into mine too. Everyone gasps as they move away; this is what they have been afraid of. My very big wild wolf. Everyone knows Olivia is no match for me, yet she attacked me.

My wolf circles her smaller one, who starts to whimper, tucking its tail between its legs. Well, this went down fast. My wolf turns to leave, and that's when Olivia latches on to my back like the filthy parasite she is.

My wolf easily throws her off and finally attacks, biting into her shoulder. Her wolf howls in pain, and mine gets thrown off hers by the Alpha’s wolf. Athena hits the nearby tree and crushes to the ground. We feel the pain throughout our body. He caught us off guard. Athena growls at his wolf, who growls back with as much fierceness. He doesn't scare us in the least. I face him and growl. I can sense some fear in him, but he hides it well. He has been afraid of Athena since I was young.

She takes a step towards him, and that's when something sharp pierces our leg. She turns to see the source, and it was the Beta who shot a dart laced with wolf's bane and silver to my thigh. I make another step toward the alpha, and the beta takes more shots at Athena. She finally lets me take charge, and I shift back to my human form.

I lie on the ground, stark naked, and Jayson shifts to his human form. He stands near my head and looks down at me, you can imagine with his d**k dangling between his legs, he lets out a powerful snarl that doesn't move either.

"This is why I would never want a mate like you. I love my woman to be docile—someone who will listen to me and not challenge me the entire time. I, Jayson Anderson of Blue Rise pack reject you, Jade Parker as my mate." He announces it to everyone. Embarrassing me in front of the whole pack. I am sure they are rejoicing, seeing me in pain both physically and emotionally.

Pain ripples through my body, both from the shots etched on my thighs and from the rejection that hits me in waves.

"You better accept the rejection, Jade. It will be better for you. You shouldn't have come back; none of us have ever wanted you here." He bites me with his words once more.

"I, Jade Parker, of Blue Rise Pack, accept your rejection." I whimper as more pain ripples through my body as the bond between us begins to break.

He is right about one thing. I should have never come back here. The first night out of the house, I got rejected in front of the whole pack.