A SECOND CHANCE FOR BULLIED LUNA

LOUISA.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Dominic snarls as I stand at the entrance, frozen in terrified shock.

This is a nightmare.

I knew that whoever my mate would be wouldn't be happy about it but I didn't think it would be Dominic, the Alpha.

"How in the goddess's name does this make sense?!" he continues. "You can't even shift into your wolf? How are you my mate?!"

"I am so- sorry," I stuttered, head bowed to avoid his gaze. "I didn't- I am-"

"Enough! Goddess, you are pathetic. What was the goddess thinking? Pairing me up with you?" he mutters as he runs his hands through his hair.

I stay silent, unable to answer.

Honestly, I am wondering the same too. Why would I be paired with Dominic? The man hates me with a passion.

"Why are you still here?" he snaps at me.

"I am sorry!" I exclaim as I quickly look up, only to see the look of pure unadulterated loathing on his face. "You... you called for me... I don't-"

"Ugh," he groans as he walks towards me pushing me out of the way and heading out the door. "Weak and disgusting."

I stare at his back until he vanishes before I let out a sigh of breath.

"What now?" I mutter to myself.

Dominic Valor, Alpha of the Obsidian pack has always hated my guts. Ever since I came to live with his family.

My parents had died in battle, defending the pack from an enemy attack and the previous Alpha had taken me in as a means to honour them.

Dominic never liked that.

He didn't see the reason for doing that as it was every wolf's duty to defend the pack and if they died doing so, even more honourable.

The fact that I was the weakest person in the pack and who still didn't have a wolf didn't help matters.

He resents me.

Resented the fact that I was weak and yet still had a good life.

Something he made sure to destroy once his father passed away.

From living a sheltered but comfortable life to one filled with misery and insults.

From a protected orphan to an overworked slave.

Everyone's dumping ground.

A waste of space.

And now...

Now, I am mated to him?

Where is the logic in that?

What am I going to do now?

"He is going to kill me."

I stand there, still at the entrance of his office, unsure of what to do.

If he comes back and finds that I left without his orders, there will be hell to pay.

If he comes back and finds me here, still being pathetic and useless when there is a whole lot of work to do in the pack, there will still be hell to pay.

There is no good choice here.

I stand there for a few minutes, debating and running through different scenarios in my head before deciding to leave.

It's not like my staying would make any difference.

He will still find a way to make himself miserable.

And besides, finishing the rest of the chores will keep my mind off the devastating knowledge that Alpha Dominic is my mate.

And also, to prepare myself.

After all, he is going to reject me.

Right?

†

It is dark when I hear the front door opening.

Past two and I am still awake, waiting for Dominic to arrive.

I can't go to bed until he does.

Alpha's orders.

I hurry to the front door, fear in my veins but with no little choice, and come to a sudden halt.

He is drunk.

Alpha Dominic is drunk.

I have never, in all the years I have lived with him, ever seen him get drunk.

At the back of my mind, alarm bells go off, telling me to turn around, leave and damn whatever the consequences will be.

But I don't.

"Al- Alpha?" I call out quietly, standing a little distance from him. "Are you okay?"

I watch as he searches through the dark for my voice, head turning almost sluggishly before he sees me.

"Ah... if it isn't my mate. My weak, pathetic, wolfless mate."

He stalks toward me, an odd glint in his eyes that makes me take several steps back before turning to flee.

I don't get very far.

His hand snakes around my wrist drawing me to him before slamming against a wall. He leans his body onto mine, sweaty and stinking of alcohol.

"Where are you going, mate?" he slurs at me. "Aren't you happy to see me?"

The alarm bells grow louder in my head, so loud I can barely hear my own breath.

"Alpha? Alpha, please... you are hurting me," I plead, wincing as his hands tighten on my wrist.

"I am hurting you? I. Am. Hurting. YOU?!" he roars into my face. "What about me? Do you know how hurt and disappointed I am right now? Typical of a spoiled brat like you, only thinking about yourself."

"No... please," I beg as I fight back the tears caused by his tight grip on my hands.

My tears would only enrage him more.

And that is something that can't happen.

Not now.

"You must be elated now, aren't you?" he continues into my ear, his weight suffocating me. "You have the Alpha as your mate. You must think your life is settled right?"

"No... Dominic-"

THWACK!!

It takes me a few seconds to realise what has just happened.

My face is stinging with the slap he had landed on me.

"Dominic?" he spits. "How bold you have gotten. Very well, since you are so excited to be my mate, let's go finalise it," he says before taking me by the arm and pulling me towards his room.

No.

"No," I beg, trying to get out of his hands. The tears fall freely now, terror about what is about to happen filling my already strung out veins. "Please, I am sorry."

"Oh, I don't know about that, but I promise you, before the sun comes up, you will be," he says before throwing me onto his bed.

LOUISA.

The sun comes up to see me, huddled in a corner of his room.

Bruised, bloody, and hurting.

While he sleeps soundly without a care in the world.

I want to kill him.

The thought is as strong as it is alarming.

In all my years of living with Dominic, I have never resented him for the way he treated me.

Oh, I didn't like it, but I understood him.

So, I tried my best to never cross his path.

But this...

This makes me cold.

Not a sad kind of cold but a building rage that I try to tamp down.

It is every shewolf's dream to have a beautiful mating ritual, filled with tenderness and love from her mate.

I... I was brutalised. Raped and broken all because of his own misconceptions about me.

I never did anything to him.

Never undermined him or insulted him, why would he hurt me like this?

His own mate?

It's not right.

It's not fair.

It makes me mad.

And for the first time, I contemplate killing someone.

My own mate.

And yet, I don't move.

I just stay here, huddled in a corner, like a pathetic whelp.

Maybe he was right.

Maybe I am truly weak and pathetic. I can't even defend myself.

Lost in my self loathing, I don't hear the clicking of the heels until it's too late.

The door swings open and Harriet, Luna mother, walks in.

"Dominic! What is this-" her words cut off as she sights me in the corner. "Louisa? Louisa! Child, what happened to you," she asks as she rushes to me. "Why are you so bruised?"

Like her husband, the previous Alpha, Harriet was kind and good to me. She treated me well, like a daughter and whenever she was around, Dominic had to behave himself.

Unfortunately, she is not always around.

"Luna..." I cry out, the tears finding release under her concerned gaze.

"Oh, Rowan," she says as she pulls me into a hug.

I let loose on her, huge, body wracking sobs tearing out of me in a pin and anguish and she keta me.

Gently patting my back but offering no words of consolation. She understands what has happened and knows nothing could alleviate it.

At least not so soon after the deed.

Soon, I am calm enough that my tears reduce to quiet sobs and she gently pulls away.

"It's alright," she says as she wipes the tears off. "Everything is going to be alright."

I watch as she gets to her feet, her whole demeanour changing as she approaches the bed.

"DOMINIC VALOR," she screams as she whacks him across his face. "Get up, you disgrace!'

Dominic flails around in bed before noticing his mother.

"Mom? What are you doing here? When did you get back?"

"Don't mom me! You have disgraced me. Disgraced your father and the honour of this pack! I knew about your dislike for Louisa but I didn't think you would go this far to hurt her."

"Hurt- Louisa? What are you talking about he asks, running a hand across his face before he sights me on the floor.

I must look at him.

Braised, bloody, tear streaked.

I just hope the hate isn't showing.

"How do you explain this, huh?"

"Mom... it's not what it looks like... I can explain-"

"Can you explain?! It's not what it looks like?! Do you hear yourself?! You raped her. A member of your pack! The ones you swore to protect. Even if you didn't like her thud was too much for you... your father would be grieved-"

"She is my mate!"

"...-in his- what? What did you say?"

"She is my mate, okay? For some reason, the goddess paired me up with her!"

Harriet turns to look at me, "Is this true, Louisa?"

"It is true," I answer, my voice weak and hoarse. "I found out yesterday."

"And?" she asks turning to Dominic. "That gave you the right to rape her? Is that it?"

"No, goddess! Of course, not. I don't mean to do that... I don't even remember anything-"

THAWACK!

"You are a severe disappointment, Dominic," Harriet says while I stare at him in horror.

He doesn't remember anything?!

Is this a joke?

He turned me and he doesn't remember it?!

"Ugh," I groan out as I bend lower, unable to keep it silent as the pain -both physical and emotional - rips through me.

"This is what we are going to do," Harriet says as she walks towards me. "I am going to take Rowan to my rooms, clean her up while you will prepare for the mating ceremony-"

"WHAT?! I am not going to do that!"

"You don't have a choice!" she snarls at him. "This is an order. At the breaking of dawn tomorrow, you and Rowan will be mated for all to see. Am I clear?"

"Mother! She is weak! She doesn't even have a wolf, there must be some mistake-"

"Am I clear?!"

The both of them get locked in a staring match, a battle of wills, and neither is willing to give in.

"Fine!" he says. "As you wish."

"It's going to be alright, dear," Harriet says as she helps me to my feet and heads toward the door. "I am here now, and I am not going anywhere. Your life is going to get better from now on."

I don't say anything in response to that.

I get that she cares for me and is completely disappointed in her son.

But he is still her son.

I wonder, if I was her daughter and my mate did this to me, would she still insist upon getting mated?

No.

At the end of the day, she is doing it for her son.

It is popular knowledge that a wolf's strength increases with his rightful mate by his side and Dominic's power will definitely increase with the completion of the mating ritual.

But I don't want him.

I don't want to be mated to a rapist.

He will only make my life even worse.

I have to leave.

LOUISA.

News of Dominic and I being mates quickly spread across the pack and the general atmosphere is that of shock and tension.

Shock, because who would ever think that Dominic would be mated to me?

Tension because they know who he is and are wary of how he would act.

Hell, I am wary of his reaction but I don't plan on staying to find out.

I hear it in the quiet whispers of those who pass by Harriet's door and in how they try to look inside.

I see it in the tailor's look as she takes my measurements for the ceremonial gown.

I feel it in the sudden silence that envelops a place when Dominic walks by.

And through it all, there is just one resounding thought in my head.

Leave.

Leave before it is too late.

"This is a beautiful gown," Harriet comments as she takes an admiring look at me, standing on a podium.

I turn to look at my reflection and I will give it to her, it is a stunning dress.

The gown is made from smooth, pure white silk, adorned with intricate silver stitching that sparkles in the sunlight, resembling the shimmering reflection of moonlight on water. My neckline is demure yet captivating, showing delicate lace accents that follow the contours of my collarbone. The sleeves fall gracefully down my arms, sheer and airy like fluffy clouds, while the bodice fits my body perfectly before elegantly flaring out into a gentle A-line shape, trailing behind me in a beautiful but short train.

I hate it.

It is a sham.

It would have been perfect if my eyes were not so dead.

My usually sparkling green eyes appear muted and dead, my Auburn hair is lifeless and my skin pale.

No signs of joy in it.

"Oh, Rowan, sweet child," Harriet says as she walks up to me and takes my hands, looking up at me with beautiful concerned hazel eyes. "I know you two have had a rough start but I have no doubt that you will get over this rough patch and grow to love each other," she finishes.

Rough start.

Rough patch.

Her son has hated me from the get go and she calls it a rough patch...

What a joke.

"What do you say, huh? Can you give him another chance?"

I manage to muster up a smile - a weak one, but a smile nonetheless- and answer.

"Yes, Luna. I will try."

"Oh, no more of that. No more calling me Luna, you are Luna now. Call me mom."

Right.

"Of course, Lu- mom."

Luna.

Of a pack who has abused me.

Isn't that just hilarious?

"Thank you," she says as she pulls me into a hug. "Why don't you take off the gown now, and have a shower and a nap? You have had a rough day and don't worry, I will have someone bring in your dinner."

"Hmm, thank you."

I quickly strip out of the oppressive gown and hand it to her before dressing in the simple shirt and slacks she had provided for me earlier.

She leads me to the bed, tucking me in before she walks out.

Alone at last, I take the time to seriously contemplate the options before me.

If I stay, I can be sure to live a miserable life, looked down upon by my mate and by extension the rest of the pack. No respect, no comfort.

Leave and face a world of the unknown.

An unknown that offers a shot of a good life.

A peaceful one.

No matter how dark and unlikely it is.

In the end, it isn't that hard to choose.

I wait for dusk to fall and for a knock to signal my dinner has been brought.

Opening the door, I find Clarisse, one of Dominic's closest friends holding a tray and I quickly move to close the door.

"Don't," she says quickly while fixing her feet between the door and its post. "I am not here to fight, okay? Luna- I mean, Luna 's mother asked me to bring you dinner. That is all."

I am tempted to still slam the door in her face, but the gurgling sound of my stomach takes away that choice.

"Thank you," I say as I take the tray from her.

Without another word, she turns and leaves.

I quickly gobble up the simple meal before stacking the tray on the centre table and heading out of the room.

The halls are empty and silent as I move through them, my destination clear in my mind.

I manage to reach my own room without any hassle and begin packing the few things I have left to my name.

A simple locket that has been with me for as long as I can remember, my diaries, an old but well loved puff jacket, and a few clothes.

That done, I take one final glance at my room, - slightly bigger than a small pantry - before leaving.

I take the back door, careful to not make a sound as I skull my way along the property, heading towards the woods that will hide my presence and allow me to run freely towards the territory boundaries.

The plan is going fabulously well until I hear the sounds of snarling and growling from behind me.

Chasing me.

I don't look back.

Instead, I pick up speed, running faster than I ever thought imaginable or possible

But it is not enough.

I get knocked off my feet with such a heavy hit it takes my breath away and makes me see stars.

By the time I get my breath back, I realise that I am surrounded.

And in the centre of the circle with me is Dominic, who walks slowly toward me and squats down until he is at eye level with me.

"Going somewhere? Mate."

Are you running away from your Alpha, or rather from your pack.

Answer me Louisa !!!