His Rejected Moon Blessed Mate

Chapter 5

Elizabeth’s POV

We were finally on our way to the carnival. I had a quick fix on my makeup, hiding the red streaks my waterfall tears left on my cheeks. I was glad that I took the time and spoke to Alpha Jackson; everything made more sense now.

We had exchanged a few other things between us, which I needed to clear up, and I left his office in a much lighter mood. The information still hurt like crazy that I was left by my parents, but I could understand the reasons behind it.

Alpha Jackson confirmed that my warrior training will now be pushed to two sessions a day and that some of my housework chores will be lessened so that I can focus more on my training. That’s if I can behave. I laughed at his statement; he knew me all too well—I would get into trouble somehow. It was just a question of when, where, and with whom.

Our pack required that we start training at the age of three. It does sound ridiculous to start that young, but warrior training didn’t only involve fighting, shifting, and sparring.

Our training had different aspects and levels. It ranged from hiding and camouflage to helping a fellow wolf in need and then, obviously, the hard-core fighting. Pups needed to know where to go if we were under attack. What to do and how to keep composure. This made us the number-one pack of the strongest warriors in the land.

Our training introduced us to natural earth healing and the use of plants to help our warriors or the members of the pack if they get hurt. So the younger we started to train, the better we were. The stronger the pack.

Oh, and yes, training had its perks, especially when it came to me. I mean, camouflage and pulling pranks did have their perks. I was extremely good at that. I smiled at the idea that was brewing in my head. Tracy would be my next victim, and it would be so worth it. She should keep her filthy claws off my mate.

We had reached the clearing where the carnival was being held. It was centered in the clearing to have enough room for all the horses that it kept. It was tradition to have our annual autumn carnival, and everyone came. The music could be heard from the packhouse, and the excitement of the pack was visible in the air.

I used to just bypass it and use the excuse that I had too many chores to do. Well, to “bypass” it, I created some diversion, which got me into trouble, of course. I still don’t remember why I don’t like carnivals.

One of those idiotic pranks of mine ended up with me almost burning down the school and stinking it out for three days.

Oops, my bad.

Okay, okay, it was not the official plan or on purpose, but my science experiment, which was obviously not supervised by a teacher or senior, had gone wrong. I got the stink eye from everyone thereafter… excused the pun…

You see, I tried to create a stink bomb to pull a prank on the jocks. The reason for that, well, I just had enough of Alex and his so-called mutt gang that thought they could rule the school and do as they pleased.

Yes, they were "the" popular; not that I wanted to be branded as one, but I believed that we should have some respect for others who were not popular. After all, we were a pack, and we should at least respect one another and their boundaries.

The last straw that broke the camel's back was when the group decided to humiliate a poor, self-conscious she-wolf. Alex and the gang were up to no good. I overheard them discussing that they were going to pull the humiliation card on Candice Clearwater.

Candice was a soft-spoken, 17-year-old introverted she-wolf. She didn’t interact a lot with anyone; she was worse of a loner than me. She kept to herself; she was a bookworm by trade, and she did pretty well with medicine. She was pretty, with big golden eyes and freckles on her nose.

James, Alex's future Delta, had some problems with her. It seemed that he was mated to her, and he didn’t want a weak, pathetic excuse for a mate. He claimed that his perfect mate had to be the ultimate s*x goddess that walked the earth; she needed to have this perfect body, a shining attitude, and be a cheerleader. Maybe I should introduce him to Stacy. She was more his type...

James needed her to reject him first, which gave him the power over her to accept or reject him.

Well, we know what the downfall is with rejections, but what gave him the upper hand on this is that should she reject him and he doesn’t accept, he could still go on with his life and f*ck any she-wolf as he pleased and not worry about going insane.

When he is done with his playboy days, he will find her and then maybe settle down. In the meantime, she will be forced to always be on the sidelines and might lose her mind in the process.

James’ wolf could also not interfere with his human part in sleeping around due to his mate’s rejection.

They had planned to do this at halftime of the game in front of the whole pack. In the meantime, James had seduced Candice and played his part as the perfect mate—the wanting and needing mate. What he had planned and how he would proceed with it were mysteries to me. I missed those details.

I planned to have the stink bomb created in the science lab and then release it in the boys' locker room just before halftime of their match… We used to have a “friendly” game before the opening of the carnival… (No werewolf football game was ever friendly.) (Thank the goddess for her super healing abilities.) All went as planned until I mixed too much of the stuff and the toxic vapors and the open flame met and decided to make love… Toxic love, I tell you! Hear the sarcasm.

Yeah, I didn’t see that one coming.

I didn’t know that the toxic vapor didn’t like open flames.

The rest is history. The class went up in flames, which I blazed down, at least. But to my stupidity, I opened the windows and door to escape the smell, leaving the stink bomb smell running down the corridors, ending up on the football field, and everyone running for their lives at the horrific scent.

The plan... sort of work… The only issue was that, except for me being punished for my stupidity and damage to the lab, I smelled like rotten eggs for 3 days.

I quivered and pushed the gross thought out of my mind. I almost got expelled from school because of it…

I am seriously not doing that again…

Candice got a tip; an anonymous short note was left in her locker explaining what had been going on, and she requested to transfer to a different pack until her mate would grow some balls and mature. I had never seen Candice so livid and upset in her life.

Who could have thought that this shy girl could get even?

Candice, of all she-wolves, announced this, with the Alpha’s permission, at a pack meeting, revealing what the group of boys was planning.

The group of boys was in big trouble!

James' father, Delta Calvin Greenland, was furious at his son. All I know is that Delta Calvin and his wolf had a long, very long, deep talk with James. He was grounded and had to apologize to Candice and her family. He was almost disowned by his father and stripped of his rank. It served him right!

The conversation between the three of us was mostly light in the clearing. The two didn’t ask why Alpha Jackson had called me to his office, though, and I was not ready to share my misery.

“What are we going to ride first?” Jeremy had his index finger on his chin, as if he were thinking very hard. I couldn’t help laughing at the gesture.

“You tell me, you two are the experts in this area.” It was true. I was the expert at creating other obvious things.

Don’t misunderstand me; my two friends were just as into my mischief as I was. They usually help me set it up. I just take full blame for it. The few times they were caught, I told Alpha that they tried to talk me out of it.

Yes, I know I lied and covered up for them, but where would the fun be in that if all three of us were stuck in detention or would be punished with housework?

I have to say that only once did all three of us get sentenced to two weeks of hard labor. Alpha Jackson caught us red-handed. It was one of the dumbest pranks that I ever pulled, and we all got caught.

See, we have this beautiful fountain in the middle of the pack house. Everyone loved sitting there.

The fountain area has a big, twenty-meter-radius bowl with areas where you can sit. In the center, there are four howling wolves facing north, east, west, and south, with a statue of the Moon Goddess placed in the center between her children and her creations.

Each wolf symbolizes the four different wolf species: North, the Spirit Wolf, which was only a legend and a myth; East, the Lycans; West, the werewolves; and South, the Creepers.

Anyhow, we thought it would be fun to make this place extra enjoyable and colorful. We poured some liquid soap and thick blue, red, green, and yellow food coloring into the water for each wolf. The scenes were spectacular, the bubbles were colorful, and the cleaning up was not so much.

It took us a week to scrub the fountain clean. Our hands were red, raw, and full of blisters from all the scrubbing.

Who could have thought that food coloring could stain marble statues?

Lesson learned: do not, I repeat, do not use food coloring near white marble.

Did it keep us from misbehaving? Not as much.

We paid our entrance fee and took off for the food court. I was starving. The rides have to wait just a little bit longer.

I got myself a hotdog and sat at the table with my friends, shoving half the hot dog down my throat.

“Slow down,” Jeremy warned.

“Why?” I spoke with my mouth full.

“Your food is not going to grow paws and run away,” Amy teased.

“I’m hungry; it’s my birthday; I’ll do as I want.” I gave them a cheeky response.

Both chuckled. “So, what’s the plan?” I looked at both of them, taking another bite.

“Well, no crazy rides for you at the moment,” Jeremy said, eyeing the half-eaten hotdog in my hand.

“Why not?” I pouted.

“The biggest rule at any carnival is: don’t eat before the rides. You will get sick.” Amy warned.

“O. So, where are we going first, then?” I was busy getting excited.

“We need to have your stomach settled first. Why don’t we go to the House of Mirrors first?” Amy suggested, and I was keen on seeing it.

“Sounds like a plan?” I nodded.

It was the very first time I set foot in a structure that was covered in mirrors, and I was thrilled. I was surprised at how it could manipulate our looks. I have read about them, and I knew they were those mirrors that distort your reflection. Sometimes, you appear tall and thin. In other mirrors, you appear short and fat. There are all sorts of variations.

I remember reading about how it works; it is all to do with reflected light and our brain’s ability to perceive it. Our brains think that all light comes directly from a source without reflection. It then interprets the light through our eyes and allows us to see. Normal flat mirrors don’t have a problem with distortion because they reflect light in a straight line.

Bowl-shaped and curved mirrors alter the way light is reflected. Our brain can’t see it as it regularly does, so we drastically change the shape. Even if you look straight ahead, the light that is being reflected into your eyes is either slightly below or slightly above your eye line. That is why moving back and forth will further change the image; the brain is trying to make sense of the change in light reflection it is getting.

I found it fascinating, to say the least. It was all great fun until I was hit by his intoxicating smell of oranges and dark chocolate. For a second, I wondered what I would smell to him when it hit me that I was trapped.

I looked up, desperately trying to find the direction the smell was coming from. His 6’4 frame covered the entrance of the building with his goons behind him, his raven curly hair moving in the draft that followed him into the building. I got down low, almost crawling, and watched as he made it inside. His muscles flexed under his white t-shirt. Man, he was crafted like a Greek god, with a strong jawline, high cheekbones, and a straight nose. Did I mention his eyes? No wonder women fell for him left, right, and center; he had these deep pools of ocean sapphire orbs. Absolute perfection.

I caught myself staring and gave myself a mental smack.

“Kona?” I called to my wolf, desperation evident in my voice.

*****