Rejected and claimed

~Xyana~

'Pig, fat,' and ugly' have become names I'm now accustomed to. I used to think I was beautiful until recently. All thanks to our Alpha's rumored mate, Oksana.

Ever since she started deriving pleasure in dehumanizing and abusing me because she thinks I'm too fat for her liking, my life got enveloped in an endless stream of never-ending chores.

She will call me 'Pig' over and over again and I'll always answer her with a 'yes ma'am.'

She makes sure I don't get to enjoy a moment of rest during the day. I work at the farm, the pack daycare, the kitchen, I scrub the floors; I literally do everything. Yet she's never satisfied.

**

Today, Mrs. Sal, the pack's Matron, assigned my best friend, Jiya, and me to clean the Alpha's living room.

She must have taken pity on me and decided to give me an easy task that I'll spend most of my day doing.

As Jiya and I focus on our assigned task for the day. I suddenly feel the hairs on my neck prickle. A dull pull follows, drawing me towards the large private balcony outside the room where rumor has it that the Alpha plunges in his stick into readily available holes in the pack.

Since the strange pull I'm feeling wouldn't stop, I let it guide me. Jiya frowns when she sees me moving towards the entrance of the balcony. "I'll be right back," I whisper and she nods.

Getting to the entrance, I peek out of the corner of my eyes and see Alpha Kedar's back. The pull still won't stop. So, I step out to get a clearer view.

Excitement shoots through my veins. I feel my wolf's excitement. She's ecstatic. After many years, I feel her again; how is that even possible?

My wolf is demanding. 'Him, him, him. He's ours!'

I raise my eyes to Alpha Kedar and meet his gaze as he turns to see who is behind. I'm supposed to look down, 'You don't meet an Alpha's eyes.' That would be seen as a challenge.

He's going to have them hang me outside the pack house because I just challenged him. But I can't help it.

'Mine, mine, mine.' Juno, my wolf, mewls.

She paws at my ribs, wanting to come out. But I don't even know how to let her anymore, and that is crazy.

'Mate,' Juno whines louder pleading with me to let her out.

How is Alpha Kedar my mate? Isn't he rumored to be mates with Oksana? Kedar turns slowly, offering me his face first, and his body follows. Then I see Oksana, standing up from in-between his legs. She was sucking him off in a barely secluded balcony.

'Such an irresponsible man!'

The balcony might be shielded with large carved balustrades that might prevent one from getting a clear view of whatever they might be doing, yet it doesn't change the fact that they're being irresponsible by making out here.

People from downstairs can still see their upper body. Let's not talk about the steps connecting the balcony down.

'This man cannot be my mate.'

Oksana stands up and glares at me, placing her arm around Kedar; she calls me, "Pig, what do you want?" She kisses Kedar on his mouth.

'No. Ours!' Juno lets out an inhuman wail that fills my ears from inside my skull.

Suddenly, I'm shifting. My spine rips out of my skin. Pain explodes over me at the splintering bone and shredding muscles. I'm getting torn apart. I scream, collapsing to the ground.

And I lay powerless on the floor, staring unblinkingly at them. Oksana's jaw dropped. Kedar is raging; his fists are clenched as if he's straining to control himself.

My vision is now sharp and focused. I can hear voices far and near, murmurings, sounds... I can smell everything. Semen, Blood, stale food, even Oksana's perfume, and she's rubbing it all over my mate.

Enraged, I leap, baring my fangs. Whatever made me think I could attack Oksana?

I lunge at her and she dodges me so easily, mocking me with her laughter. I hear gasps and whispers around the stairs connecting the balcony down and realize we now have an audience.

Yet, I can't seem to be able to stop. 'Fuck this mate bond.' Oksana laughs again and kicks me in the ribs. Then she snarls. Suddenly, she shifts so quickly that I'm not prepared one bit to meet her wolf, a beautiful, off-white, big she-wolf.

She instantly goes for my throat. Her fangs sink into my collarbone, ripping a chunk of my skin. The pain is blinding and I instantly slump to the floor.

"Enough!" Alpha Kedar yells.

I'm losing blood, I'm fading by the second and none of them is doing anything about it. They are willing to just stand there and watch me bleed to death?

Oh no!

"Shift," Kedar commands.

My bones instantly obey, cracking again, even the broken ones, snapping back into place, and I'm back to my human form.

Naked and exposed, I curl into a ball and watch as Oksana slips into a free dress someone brings for her. But nobody gives me any clothing.

Oksana smirks, licking my blood from her lips. I draw my knees close to my chest as I tremble. I dare to look at Kedar's face, he's glaring down at me.

My stupid wolf mewls for him. She can't seem to understand the situation of things.

"Stand up," Kedar snarls, his voice low. But I can't, everyone will see everything... my body. "What's the meaning of this nonsense you just did?"

I swallow a thick saliva and muster the courage to say it since he's pretending like he has no idea. "You're my mate," I whisper back.

Oksana laughs like she's raving mad. Kedar stares at me like I've gone nuts. He squats down to meet me.

"The Moon goddess won't mate me to a spineless, defenseless, weak, and worthless Elephant like you." He says and even with his cruel words, my wolf whines and cries out to him. "I have a mate and a type. Clearly, you're neither of both. Someone like you can never be this pack's Luna."

I start to cry. Nothing hurts more than this. Not even the pains Oksana has been subjecting me to all these years. Juno cries with me.

'Why is he rejecting us?' She cries in my head and I shake my head as the tears slip down. I don't know why he would reject us.

Kedar signals to his Gamma, who seems to be blocking our little audience from coming closer. When he approaches, Alpha Kedar points at me, anger evident in his voice.

"Get this fat, shapeless Cow out of my presence. She attacked Oksana. Have her punished from now till dusk. She deserves nothing but death for what she just did."

Gamma Reeder nods and turns to me, "stand up, or I'll drag you up," he says to me.

I finally stagger to my feet, struggling to cover my nakedness as much as I can. As we climb down the stairs, squeezing ourselves among the crowd at the stairs, the males leer and smirk. Some of the females, too. A few of the elders present are staring at me, disapprovingly.

Mrs. Sal and Jiya are standing very far away, horror on their faces. They don't dare come closer.

When we climb down, more crowd are gathered downstairs. I take my walk of shame. As I walk, my love handles flap, my thighs juggle, and the shame is unbearable.

Everyone sees everything, and no one, no one stretches out a piece of clothing to me.

~Xyana~

I stumble behind Gamma Reeder, shame oozing through me with every step.

My mind is still reeling from Alpha Kedar's words, the disgust in his voice, the name-calling, and the humiliation that burns deeper than the wounds Oksana physically inflicted on me.

My wolf "Juno," whimpers in my head, confused and heartbroken. 'He's ours,' she repeats weakly, but I can feel her spirit gradually dying down as if she too is beginning to accept the harsh reality.

The pack members whisper as I pass, their eyes filled with cruel amusement. I catch glimpses of mocking smirks, and knowing looks exchanged between them. They revel in my humiliation, every single one of them.

"Pathetic," someone scoffs.

"How can this fat thing try to fight a real wolf?" Another voice says.

"She attacked our soon-to-be Luna." I hear someone else accuse me from the crowd.

I clench my teeth, swallowing the lump in my throat. I will not cry in front of them. I refuse to give them that satisfaction.

We finally reach the courtyard, where punishment is usually carried out. My knees nearly buckle when I see the wooden post in the center, the same one used for public floggings.

My stomach churns. I want to scream, to beg for mercy, but I know it won't change a thing. Gamma Reeder turns to me, his face so mean. Coldness rushes through my skin.

"Kneel," he orders.

I hesitate. I still have my pride, even if my body is being exposed for the pack's viewing pleasure. But a sharp slap across my face sends me crumbling to the ground. The sting burns, but it's nothing compared to the shame boiling inside me.

"Don't make this harder than it needs to be," Reeder mutters, and snaps his fingers.

Two warriors approach us, their faces devoid of sympathy. One yanks my arms behind my back while the other wraps thick iron shackles around my wrists, binding me to the post.

My bare skin presses against the cold wood, and I suppress a shudder. If only my parents or even my sister were to be alive, I wouldn't be treated so disrespectfully.

Who would have thought that after my family's sacrifice for this pack, that the only surviving member of my family wouldn't be treated with even a flicker of respect.

The whip makes a 'swish' sound through the air, and the first strike tears through my flesh like fire, sending shockwaves of pain rippling through me, and forcing my thoughts back to the present. I bite my lip so hard I taste blood.

'I won't scream. I won't.'

But the second lash breaks me. A strangled cry escapes my lips. Soon I break into wailings of pain and sheer agony.

No one comes to my rescue... no one begs for my release... No one cares...

Juno growls weakly. I finally get to feel her after years of her abandoning me and now this?

The whipping continues. Ten strikes... Fifteen... Twenty... I lose count somewhere after that. My body twists as pain blends into exhaustion. I'm drowning in pain...

"That's enough." A voice cuts through my punishment.

It is Alpha Kedar. I hear his footsteps approaching.

His presence puts me on an anticipatory edge. My body tenses as he crouches beside me, his scent overwhelming my senses.

Juno whines and calls to him to save us. I lift my head, barely able to keep my eyes open. His golden eyes burn into mine.

"You disgusting thing," his voice is so low only I can hear. "Whatever bond you think we have means nothing to me." His words are knives slicing into my soul. "You will never be my mate," he continues. "When you look at yourself in the mirror, you'll understand why. Now listen, I have a mate of my choosing. So, you'll keep your mouth shut about any of this mate bullshit, or I'll make your life more miserable than it already is. Understood?"

Tears sting my eyes as I nod. He stands, turning to Reeder. "Leave her here until tomorrow." He orders.

I hear Oksana's laughter somewhere in the background, but everything is fading... My vision darkens, and my head droops forward. Tiredness, pain, shame, and hate overwhelm me. Eventually, I lost consciousness.

Sometime in the middle of the night, I feel something poking my lips and I struggle so hard to force my eyes open. It turns out to be my best friend, Jiya.

She's trying to offer me food and water. But I can't eat, I'm too weak. My whole body is on fire. I'm in so much pain that I fear if I as much as move my muscles wider to accommodate food, I might pass out.

I manage to drink the water, and when I'm full, I murmur the only words that come to my lips.

"He's deceiving all of you. He's my mate, but he calls me worthless and says I can't be a Luna." My voice is barely a whisper, not because I don't want people to hear me. But because I don't have the strength to speak louder than I currently do.

"Who, Alpha Kedar?" Jiya whispers back.

"Yes, him." I force out just before exhaustion takes over me again.

**

The next time I open my eyes, I'm being handed over to a group of three strange men by one of the guards from my pack. Once he's given some cash by them, he runs off leaving me behind.

'Goddess! I've been sold off to strangers. What am I going to do?'

We are in an unrecognizable part of the woods; my hands are bound together with a scarf, and one of the men is dragging me along. Luckily, I'm barely covered with a piece of material.

'Better than nothing.'

"Where are you taking me?" I make the mistake of asking them.

The man dragging me halts and turns to face me. He flashes a very hideous smile that gets my skin crawling.

"Crimson pack. My master will be delighted to meet you." He replies.

"No!" The screams tear through me.

That's the cursed Alpha's pack. No, no no... They can't take me to Crimson Pack. I'll be dead in a heartbeat.

'You caused this.' Juno whines in my head. 'You sent our mate away. You are not good enough for him. This is all your fault. You are not worthy.'

"No, Juno, no, please. Don't do this to me. I can't take it if you turn against me too." I'm sobbing painfully now, and my voice is so loud that the men stop and stare at each other in confusion.

The sound of heavy footsteps pulls us out of our brief trance. The men hurriedly circle around me, making some inaudible incantation-like murmurings.

A wave of unconsciousness begins to hit me. 'Why am I suddenly dizzy? What are these men doing to me?'

Slowly, I let go, fading into unconsciousness right before I hear one of the men ask the intruder with the heavy footsteps; "who are you?"

~Gaston~

The pain I'm feeling is excruciating; my head is spinning uncontrollably as my chauffeur, Killian, keeps driving farther away from the source of my pain.

"Pull over," I tell Killian.

The car hitches to a stop almost immediately and he stares at me through the rearview mirror, his face lined with worry.

I groan into my palms painfully as my veins go through bouts of painful constrictions. "What can I do, Alpha?" Killian asks.

"Turn the car around," I tell him, "and drive until I ask you to stop."

He nods and kicks the car into gear, pulling it into reverse. We started heading back to the same route we were coming from.

A few minutes into the ride, the maddening pain starts to fade gradually, getting replaced by an unbearable intense pull that is almost pulling me out of the car.

"Killian, stop the car." I groan.

The car halts instantly. I push outside, staggering towards the nearby woods; the exact direction of the unbearable pull.

I don't have the time to tell Killian what's happening to me, because even I don't understand it yet. But I know he will be alert and super attentive, awaiting my command through the mind link.

I am being pulled deeper into the woods. I soon break into a frenzied run when the pull becomes overwhelming.

Suddenly, my heart starts to feel like it's been ripped out of my chest. I crouch down, squeezing my chest painfully. The pain stops almost as fast as it came.

'Something is wrong'. Drea, my wolf tells me.

"I know, I can feel it too," I reply.

Taking a deep breath, I let Drea take over my senses, letting him sniff around for something, anything that can offer us a clue as to why we are here.

'Nothing,' he growls in frustration.

But I can feel something... I know he can feel it too. Gentle air blows across my skin, pushing a faint scent into my nostrils.

'Goddess! It's a woman'. Drea says. Before I can say a word, he gasps 'What is she? She's here, Gaston,' he adds, jumping excitedly. 'But she's in danger.' He tells me while readying himself for a fight.

"We're not fighting today, Buddy." I tell him, "I'm too dressed..." Another scent pushed through my nose.

"Blood," and It does something intense to me.

The hairs on my neck stand on end, and an overwhelming need to protect something... someone overtakes me.

"Sorry, Drea," I say to my wolf as I tuck him away.

I start with slow, gentle, and inaudible incantations. It didn't take more than a few seconds before the invisible barrier of whoever was hiding from me got broken.

They appear just a few feet away from me. Three men, one of them holding a blade to the neck of an unconscious-looking girl who he seems to have nipped her skin unknowingly. I instantly summon Killian to join me in the woods via the mind link.

"Who are you?" One of the men asks, surprised that I could break their barrier of magic.

I shrug and reply, "Your worst nightmare, I guess."

Two of the men rush at me with whips and machete.

'Old fashioned fools'.

I can feel Drea tugging at me, pleading that I let him out for a fight.

"Not today, Buddy," I tell him and hear him whine angrily.

I teleport myself swiftly to the man holding the unconscious-looking girl and rip out his heart before he can understand what's really happening.

The other two turn back to look at me when they hear the thud of their colleague's body. I wedge the weight of the girl with my body frame, before sparing a glance at my audience of two.

"Surprise?" I ask, flashing a devilish smile.

"What are you?" One of them asks, completely terrified.

"But I told you already," I reply.

The brave one among them pulls out a knife and a stake from his pocket. I catch sight of the silver on the blade of the knife and smile.

"You want to kill me?" I ask him.

"Oh, so now you're scared." He laughs crazily.

"Indeed, I'm scared." I reply, "for you, actually."

He looks at me and our eyes meet. 'Worst mistake of his life.' Our eye contact let me take over his mind, controlling him. His hands start moving towards his chest involuntarily.

He struggled to put his hands away, but he couldn't, not when I was controlling his mind and body. I offered him a soft, wicked smile when the knife and stake were just inches away from his forehead and chest, respectively.

"What are you? Free me from your spell, you demon!" He yells.

I can do this all day because it somehow keeps me entertained. Especially this part where the aggressors realize they're going to die and there's nothing they can do about it.

"Do you have a fuckin holy-water, Clarence?" He asks his colleague who is busy chanting stupid incantations that will have absolutely no effect on me.

"Yes," Clarence answers. "But I can't move my body. He's tied me up somehow."

The brave one is now sweating profusely. "You can take her if you want her that much. We didn't..."

The knife and stake dug into his forehead and heart before he could finish speaking. He slumps and dies.

Pleased with myself, I turn to Clarence. He averts his gaze immediately, refusing to look at me.

"I have holy water with me." He challenges.

I pull the unconscious girl into an embrace and walk over to him. With my free hand, I dipped a hand into his pocket and located the bottle of holy water.

Then I empty it on the ground while he watches. "What else do you have for me?" I ask him.

The fear in his eyes tripled. "What are you?" He asks.

I smile sweetly. "Your death."

He is on the floor the next minute, lifeless. Killian chooses the moment to arrive, his eyes bloodshot, ready to fight. But he sighs regrettably when he realizes the show is over.

Pulling the unconscious girl into my arms, all the while chuckling at Killian's sore mood.

I stare at the girl's angelic face, 'Yes.' Drea hums with excitement. 'She's the one.'

"She's the one for what? Drea, what the hell are you saying?" I query my wolf.

The rustle of leaves interrupts our discussion as I watch a figure escaping the woods. I raise my hand and stop Killian from going after the intruder.

'She's the Moon-made Luna.' Drea says, leaving me utterly dumbfounded.