REJECTED TO FIND MY TRUE MATE

The feeling of getting married to the person you love and also loves you back is absolutely unmatched and that is exactly what is going on with me right now. I couldn't keep calm ever since the two family met to discuss our marriage talks, it only meant that our wedding is at the door.

"Larry's family will be coming over this weekend, we have decided to take a step forward like you both wanted" my mother, Ariana informed me as she came into my room with a tray of freshly baked snacks.

The aroma of her homemade cookies is surely a signature that no one could copy, not even me. She had been my dear mother since I have been in her womb and I could swear that I felt every bit of her love since the day she knew I was in her body.

I sprang up in joy as I leapt all around the room, feeling my mom stare at me speechlessly. Everyone knew how crazy I and Larry is for each other, we love each other shamelessly and we were even tagged the lovebirds.

Happy hormones surged through every cells of my body at the news, it was like a dream come true. I have always dreamt of this moment and seeing how it's coming to a reality, I was moved to tears, I love Larry so much.

"You should take care of your health and skin as from now on, a bride shouldn't look shabby" my mother told me and I nodded, dabbing the stray tear at the corner of my eyes. "You are such a cry baby" she mocked me and I couldn't help but giggle.

Larry and I have been dating for the past four years and we never for once had any big fight that would lead to the end of our relationship. He was always gentle with me and understanding, I was an egg to him, I must never have a crack not to talk of breaking. He rarely argue with me, even if he wants me to see things from his point of view, he would table it in an appealing, gentle and loving manner that I would have no choice to follow his words. He is a perfect gentleman!

My shoulders would always rise up in pride anytime I hear the ladies gosh over him and gossip about how I was lucky to have him. Some even said I didn't deserve him because he is the Beta's son while I was just an Omega but who cares? I am a lucky lady like they had said.

I just finished having dinner when he came over to our house. My mother greeted him with the due respect as soon as he came in and he also returned the greetings with manner, she will be his mother-in-law soon after all.

"Fred is not around for now, he went out a little earlier" she informed him about my dad, "If he doesn't come back before I leave, I will come back to greet him some other time" he responded and my mother nodded before leaving us to talk.

I grabbed his hand, grinning in happiness and he was also returning the gesture as he gazed at me lovingly. "are you that happy?" was his next question and I didn't even wait for him to finish asking before I nodded aggressively and jumped on him.

My wolf howled a bit but I ignored her, she was always interrupting the important moment. Her howl was a signal to take it slow but I couldn't care, someone so hot is in front of me and she's telling me to take it slow? No, not today!

I was carried away in the moment but thankfully, he was still sane and cool headed enough to restrict my raging desires. "I think we should calm down a bit" he groaned as he tried to lift me off him but I only pouted in protest.

I whined a little "Why?" but he just grazed my cheeks.

"We will be getting married soon and I will be yours fully so let's just wait a bit. I don't want to touch you and ruin it, you are a flower that should bloom beautifully at its right time" he gently stated and I melted! How can one be this lovely and romantic? This man right here in front of me has it all.

"But.." I wanted to protest but he pecked me on the lips to shut me up instead and enveloped me in his arms, I had no choice but to surrender.

We ended up talking about many random things that I had even forgotten about the sudden horniness that overtook me several minutes ago. We discussed a lot of things till we were interrupted by the sudden voice of my father who came back from his outing.

He rose to his feet and said "Your father is here, I should go and greet him". I also stood up and supported with a tiny "Let's go".

***

Weeks passed by and both families did discuss our marriage, our marriage date was picked and it was fast approaching. In order to look good in my wedding clothes, I started cutting down on my foods, I didn't go out that much to keep my skin intact and my mother understood the assignment by making sure to feed me only healthy foods and getting me skincare herbs to improve my skin conditions.

We spent all day talking about life after my wedding with her giving me advice on how to handle things as a wife, how to support my husband and make sure to build a powerful home that is befitting the standard of a Beta's lineage.

"I should meet up with my friends, I won't be able to see them often when I move into the Beta's family" I informed my mother and she told me to have fun.

I hopped happily to the venue we agreed upon but if I had known that would be the location of the biggest tragedy to befall me, I would have just sat down at home. I would have turned them down, I would have given them excuse but I didn't see it coming, I trusted them, they were my friends after all so why doubt in the first place? I was mistaken.

I got to the house we picked and saw Jamie and Tomi going out of the house. "Where are you both heading to? I only got here now" I protested but they gave an excuse of having to deliver something very urgent so they will be back soon.

"What of Dan? Is here around?" I asked scanning everywhere and they replied a solid "Yes, he's inside so wait for us with him, we will be back soon" before sprinting up.

I entered Dan's house and greeted him cheerfully, he's the only male friend I have so we were free with each other. He is also a very good friend with Larry since we all grew up with each but we were closer than he was close with Larry.

"Welcome, the newest bride in town" he shouted with joy and I posed happily with a giggle as he ushered me in. "Jamie and Tomi will be back soon, we will start our party then" he informed me and I agreed before he extended a bottle of coconut shake which was my favorite to me.

I took it with appreciation and gulped it down without hesitation but little did I know that was the poison that would break apart my entire world. My head felt numb and my whole body was suddenly weak, my back fell on the sofa as my eyes struggled to stay open but the struggle wasn't long before I finally gave in and my eyes was closed shut.

Darkness greeted my eyes as I opened them slowly, everything was oddly unfamiliar for the first few seconds. I tried moving but my leg snapped with a great pain that sent a groan of agony out of my throat. A rush of pain gathered at my lower part as I struggled to sit, everywhere down there was aching so much.

Confusion set on my face as I wondered what was going on with me, a sudden blow on breeze kissed my inner thighs and that woke me up with a full force. I shakily stared down to see what was happening to me and a piercing scream left my mouth. I jumped up ignoring the throbbing pain as I held unto my naked self.

Shame washed over me as I gazed at my below that was bare, the only cloth on my body was my top that had even been torn by the side. Blood trickled down my thighs as I wondered what happened to me but wasn't it obvious? I have been raped! But by who? Was the question running through my mind.

"You should cover up and go home, will you leave the blood dripping down on the floor of my house?" was what cut through my thoughts as I raised my head to see the culprit in front of me. It was Dan.

He stood in front of me with a disgusting look, he folded his arms staring at me with the bitterest disdain in his eyes. "You.... You... what.. did.. what did you do to.. to me?" I asked, crying with a shaky voice but he only chuckled.

He was laughing? What was funny? The helpless and shameful sight of me? My disbelief? My confusion coupled with shock? What exactly was making Dan laugh?

My lips trembled as I struggled to find the right words, my mouth parted several times but nothing came out of it. I was overwhelmed with shame, it was traumatizing and tragic. My chest constricted in pain as I clutched my hands on my chest, pain of betrayal shook through my entire body and my whole world went dark.

"Why? Why did you do this to me? You are my best friend so why?" I questioned, tears streaming down my cheeks endlessly. "Friend? Did you just say best friend? We were never one! You only thought I was your friend because I was your box that contained your rants, that allowed your emotional downpour. You only remember me whenever you were in need of someone to rant to. I was never a man to you, you never saw my feelings no matter how I tried to portray them, you were too comfortable to see me as someone who loved you" he shouted at me but the words coming out from his mouth were too ridiculous to believe.

It was true that I always told him my emotions freely, there was barely anything he didn't know about me. He was my confidant and the best person after my parents and Larry. Never have I ever underestimated him or thought of him as nothing but my rant box, why should this happen between us? What went wrong?

"I never.." I started to explain but he just cut me short with a loud "I don't want to hear anything from you, get out of my house" and that shocked me. He was the one brimming with happiness few hours ago but he was now talking to me with spite? Where was the Dan I knew?

"Dan" I called softly but I was only met with a slap. "Don't call my name with your dirty mouth, you slut" he glared at me and shoved me out of his house. I only managed to gather my clothes as he threw me out into the dark night, naked!

After dressing up in heavy tears, I headed home with a ripped heart. I was shattered to pieces, everything felt like a dream that I pinched myself so much to see if I would wake up but the sting from the pinch was reminding me every time that I was not dreaming at all, I have been raped by my best friend, just few days to my wedding.

Thankfully my parents were not around when I got home, I crawled into my bed where I unleashed fresh tears under my blanket. I felt useless, betrayed and stabbed in the back. There was no way this stigma would be washed away no matter how I tried to shower it off many times, the guilt just stuck with me.

"What will I tell my parents? What will I tell Larry? I was a virgin until few hours ago. What will I tell him happened to my virginity? How will I explain to him that it was taken away by my best friend? Who will believe my story?" were what I kept thinking about as I stared helplessly at the roof of my room, I was doomed.

My mother noticed my mood since I refused to come out of my room or even eat and that made her troubled. She kept pressing me to tell her what was wrong with me but how could I tell her such a thing? She will be totally disappointed in me, I was her pride but I had messed myself up.

"I am just feeling tired, nothing else" I lied but she was not buying it, she knew something was wrong with me. "I am your mother, no one will understand you like I will so let me know what is wrong" she persuaded me but my lips were tightly shut, I couldn't bring myself to open up to her.

"You are going to get sick at this rate, did something happen between you and Larry?" she queried and that struck my heart. I still don't know how to face him, he might be a gentleman but will he even listen to the absurd story not to talk of accepting me? My life was on a cliff.

My mother left my room after trying all she could to get me to talk but I didn't. Series of lies flowed through my head as I thought about what to tell Larry but there was no one making sense, he is not dense to believe those kind of lies. "How exactly do I go about it? Should I just keep quiet about it and get married? He wouldn't throw me out when we get married, will he?" I thought to myself but my heart almost jumped out of my mouth when I heard my mother announced that Larry was here.

I jumped off the bed and sprinted to the bathroom to wash my face. I must never let him catch me being down and moody, I might have resisted the urge to confess to my mom but not him. He will make sure I spit all out before he leaves and I don't want that.

Larry walked into the room as I was coming out of the bathroom and I welcomed him with a bright smile. "Hey, you are here" I waved as I walked to my bed.

"I had no choice to come over since you didn't show up. We agreed to meet today but you didn't come" he responded and it dawned on me that I had forgotten our meeting, thanks to the ugly situation I found myself.

I palmed my forehead as I muttered "I have forgotten totally" with my eyes closed but he told me it was okay.

He only came to check up on me to see if I was fine. "Since you are fine, I will be on my way because I have to attend to something" he announced and headed for the door to take his leave.

I rushed to hold his hand making him look back in shock. My eyes were trembling with fear but I quickly sealed it off with a smile, "You love me dearly right?" I asked and he smiled back before patting my hair, "You didn't know that all these while?" he answered and that was the reply I wanted, he did love me dearly.

"Are you sure you are fine? There is nothing you want to tell me?" he asked once again and I shook my head, "There is nothing going on with me" I replied firmly and he took my words for it, he left.

I decided to brush it off and just brush it off like nothing happened. I just need to pretend was what I kept telling myself, the marriage is only few days to go so I just have to push through. Even though I was weighed down with the guilt of what I was about to do, I kept a straight face. Everything went by as normal, I returned to my normal self and did everything to cover up the fact that I was hurting.

I didn't step a foot out of my house ever since that day, I lied to my mother that I didn't want to get tanned by the sun and I was on strict skincare whenever she scolded me about going out and she had no choice but to leave me alone.

My plans were becoming perfect and it seemed like nothing would disrupt it until the night to my wedding. I was informed that Larry was around at the front of the house and I ran to meet him happily. "You couldn't wait till tomorrow? Do you love me that much?" I blabbered as I rushed to meet and hug him but he drew back to avoid me, making me puzzled.

"Did I perhaps do something wrong? Why are you avoiding me?" I stuttered and a loud scoff came from him, my heart beating furiously, did he by chance find out? I was hoping its not so but why else would he avoid me like that.

I slowly looked into his eyes and was met with saddest look I have ever seen him wear. Something about the glare in his eyes was screaming betrayal, a disdainful look etched on his face as his forehead folded into a frown. There was no need for anyone to tell me, he found out already. That bastard called Dan.

"Where you planning to hide it from me all along? You wanted to marry me with that huge secret? Did I even mean anything to you? How dare you?" he growled so loud that everywhere shook.

His eyes were flashing between red and silver as he fumed. I have never seen him that angry, he kept beating the tree beside us to unleash his anger and I covered my mouth when he delivered a huge blow on one of the branches making it shatter into pieces. My eyes quivered as I trembled in fear, my feet felt weak but I managed to drag it and ran to his side to hold him by the waist.

The sudden jab on my hand sent me flying backwards, I landed hard on my behind and groaned in pain but he wasn't even concerned about my wellbeing. He turned to me with watery eyes and clutched his hand at chest, "Gwen, it shouldn't have been you, you shouldn't have done this to me. I really loved and cared for you, I don't deserve this kind of treatment from you" he cried and my heart wrinkled.

I made the man I love cry!

"Larry.. please let me explain" I pleaded with water falling from my eyes but he kicked the air in anger, "So you can lie to me again? I can never believe anything that comes out of your mouth!" he bellowed and I went on my knees immediately, rubbing my palms together in a pleading manner.

"Please you just have to listen to me. I promise to tell you nothing but the truth" I cried but he shook his head. "You should have told me before I found out. You should have opened up to me. I didn't have to hear it from Dan! He told me by himself! How you have been sleeping with him but you were pretending to be what? A virgin! Spare me that trash!. You are nothing but a slut, now I see the reason why you have been trying to force yourself on me" he lashed out and my knees went weak, they buckled and couldn't support me any longer, I fell on the ground.

"My coming here today is to inform you never to show up for the wedding, I will not tell anyone the reason but do not ever step your feet in the venue if you don't want everyone to find out what you have done" he added and I rushed to clutch his ankle, I could not bear the news he just broke to me.

"Larry please don't do this to me. I am very sorry" I begged desperately but he just kicked my hands off his ankle and left.

"Don't show up at the wedding, for your own good" he declared for the last time and went out of my sight.

I wanted to run after him but I was too weak to even stand properly, everything was happening at a speed of light. My whole world that was always full of light with Larry turned dark in a split second, everything went downhill.

I locked myself in my room, crying profusely. My wolf was getting disturbed and concerned at the extent of my tears. She kept rumbling and was restless but I didn't give her a chance to take over, that was her way of comforting me but I know she would turn things into a mess if she dare come out, she will tear Dan apart and that would be another scenario, it will be a disgrace on my end at the end of the day.

"I should just die! Why am I living? I don't have any hope. I cannot let my family bear this shame" I cried to myself and stood up to search for any poison I might see or a knife that is sharp enough to get rid of myself within a short period of time.

I was searching through the kitchen to find anything when my wolf, Annie shouted at me. "Why will you kill yourself? Are you that crazy? Will your death make you marry him? It was never your fault" she howled at me and I argued, "I should just die for all these to end, what am I supposed to say to my parents tomorrow?".

"What happened to running away? You should run away. We will figure out what to do when we get somewhere" Annie suggested and my brain clicked, I never thought of that.

I didn't waste any time before I packed a small bag and dashed out of the house. I didn't even wait to check on my parents, I ran endlessly till I entered the thick forest outskirt the pack. Annie took over and raced deep into the forest for hours, I didn't eat much that day so she eventually got tired and had to shift back to the wolf form.

I looked around to see if I would find anything to eat and finally saw a pawpaw tree standing in the forest. With joy, I plucked and munch on it hungrily not even noticing anything, I was so famished. By the time I was able to figure out my environment, I was surrounded by soldiers. My heart skipped a bit at their presence and was looking for means to escape when they all bowed.

"My Princess" they greeted and the pawpaw slid off my hand in shock and confusion.