Rise of the Rejected Luna

Kiara "It's today," I said excitedly as I threw the windows of my bedroom open. Outside, the clouds in the east were lightening a little with the faint tinge of dawn. It was more than an hour before I had to wake up, but I was too excited to stay in bed much longer. I threw on some clothes, tied up my sneakers, and headed out for my morning run. I felt a wave of sadness when I looked at the woods surrounding my home and remembered that I couldn't run wild and free the way my kind did.

"Focus, Kiara. Focus," I muttered to myself again. I shook off the sad mood and focused on the significance of today as I ran down the deserted street.

Today, I turned eighteen. Today, I would get to find out if Jason was my mate. Of course, he would be. We had been dating for over a year now and we loved each other to distraction. I couldn't think about Jason without thinking about all the good times we had together. My steps slowed to a walk, excitement, and anticipation making butterflies take wing in my belly. I kept imagining how happy Jason and I would be after we'd accepted each other as mates. We would get married, and then have kids eventually, maybe a few years from now. I would always be there to welcome him when he got home and...

"...crazy freak." The words brought me back to the present. With a visible start of surprise, I realized from the position of the sun in the sky that it had to be about two hours since I had left the house. Two girls around my age were looking in my direction. The one who had spoken saw me looking and whispered to the other. I suppose I did look a little crazy with a goofy grin on my face and the fact that I wasn't paying attention to where my feet were taking me. I had just been about to step into a large puddle of muddy water.

I turned to head back the way I came, realizing for the first time that I had gathered quite an audience. All along the street, people were staring, and whispering. A man was even pointing at me while talking to someone even though he knew I could see him. I shrugged and kept on walking. I was used to the insults and stares by now, so they didn't affect me much. Kiara, the freak; that was one of my kindest nicknames. Still, I schooled my expression as I headed home, not wanting to give anyone more reasons to think that I was off my rocker.

My father and stepmother, Lucinda were in the dining room having breakfast when I got in.

"Hi, Dad. Hi Lucinda " I greeted, doing my best to infuse warmth into my tone. My dad glanced at me, grunted, and resumed sipping his coffee. Lucinda didn't even bother looking at me. She just gave a jerk of her head in response. I got my food from the kitchen and took a place at the table.

A slight squaring of his shoulders was all the indication my father gave of my presence. When my dad was reading the newspapers, he began to talk to Lucinda about some new business prospects.

"Dad, you know what day it is?" I asked during a break in their conversation.

"It's not a public holiday, surely," he said, giving me an impatient sidelong look.

"No. It's not. Seriously, Dad. You can't remember?"

"What is she talking about?" Lucinda demanded, not deigning to look at me. She never asked me directly if she could help it.

"How should I know?" he growled and promptly resumed his conversation with her.

I grabbed my plates and stomped off to the kitchen, angry and hurt at their indifference. I didn't expect much from Lucinda. She was so engrossed in Erina, that she didn't have room for much else, but how could my father forget?

Turning eighteen was a big deal among my kind. I took several deep, calming breaths as I did the dishes. Things would be better soon. When I got married to Jason, I wouldn't have to live here with them.

A knock sounded on the door of my room that afternoon, while I was lounging on my bed.

"You have a letter," my father said from the other side of the door. Something hit the floor as he walked away. I opened the door and picked up the formal-looking envelope. It was an invitation from Jason stating that he was throwing a mating ceremony party at the pack house.

"Oh, Jason," I sighed, love and longing in my voice. He knew as I did, that we were destined to be mates. He was obviously throwing this party to claim me as his in front of everyone.

I immediately threw myself into preparations for the party. It took me quite a while to decide on what to wear, and a longer time to decide on a hairdo, but I was in time for the party that evening. The pack house was lavishly decorated. Everyone in my pack turning eighteen was there including those who had already found mates and those who would find mates next year.

They stood in groups talking, laughing, and dancing, but glancing from time to time at the large clock placed strategically on the most visible part of the wall. I wandered around the large room, looking for Jason.

Finally, I found him giving instructions to a waiter.

"Jason," I called. My words were drowned out by the music. I pushed my way to him and hugged him around the middle.

"Oh, Jason. I'm so excited," I said, smiling up at him. He didn't return my smile. He merely gave me an awkward pat on the back and stepped out of my embrace.

"Yeah. Me too," he said tonelessly. "Listen, I er- have to go check on something." He was walking away before he even finished talking to me and I was left staring at him in confusion.

That was weird, really weird. I shrugged it off and went in search of something to drink. There was a lot of finger food to munch on, so I took a lot of that as I swayed to the music in my corner while watching the dancing couples.

As midnight approached, the sense of anticipation and excitement crackled like electricity in the air. Someone had thrown one of the windows wide open so a beam of moonlight filtered into the room. At ten minutes to midnight, the dancing and merrymaking mostly stopped. Most couples stood in tense groups of two. Again, I sought Jason out and went to stand by him. I touched his arm and gave him a smile. He glanced at me, then away. His gaze was fixed on the open window. The moonlight made him even more beautiful, outlining his dark, wavy hair, high cheekbones, and green, deep-set eyes.

Five minutes to midnight. A minute to midnight. There was a hush in the room as the full moon rose to its peak. I counted the seconds in my head. And then it was midnight. There were whispers of 'mate' from all around me as people found the ones they were destined to be with, but I had eyes only for the man at my side. I felt an irresistible pull towards Jason. It was stronger than anything I had ever felt before. By the trembling in his arms and shoulders, I knew he felt it too.

"Mate," I cried. I jumped about a foot in the air and ran to launch myself into his arms, to feel his lips on mine. The next moment, I found myself stumbling backward. It took me a second to realize that he had pushed me away.

"Jason, we are-" I began.

"No," he snarled. "Don't you dare say the word!" I gaped at him.

What was happening? Why did Jason look so angry? What had I done?

"But..."

"I don't care if we are... mates-" He spat it out like it was a swear word. "I won't be burdened with you, Kiara." He drew himself to his full height, his green eyes glinting angrily.

"I, Jason, hereby reject you as my Luna."

"NO," I screamed. "You can't! Why-" "Why?" Jason's face hardened.

"You ask me why? How the hell do you expect me to have a Luna who can't shift properly? No hard feelings, Kiara, but I can't have the blood of my future kids tainted with yours, not when I have someone better, someone more suited to me.

From among the crowd that had gathered to watch came the sound of a familiar giggle. Jason stepped into the crowd which easily parted for him. He emerged holding the hand of a tall, willowy blonde- Erina! He looked around the room before raising their entwined hands and saying,

"Erina will be my mate."

My shouts of denial were drowned in the cheers and applause that erupted from everyone.

"Way to go, J," said a man who had his arms around his mate as the crowd around us began to disperse.

"Some of us actually thought you would actually end up with the freak."

Erina hid a grin. Jason shrugged and everyone else close enough to hear, laughed.

This had to be some mating ceremony prank, trick, or joke. I tried to hold on to that thought, but the rational part of me knew that it was no joke. The man I loved had been cheating on me with my sister.

If I had any doubts about that, I only had to see the way he looked at her. Jason and Erina drifted across the room together, accepting congratulations. Erina parted from Jason and went over to a group of her giggling friends while Jason made his way to the back of the room.

Jason loved me. I knew it. He was just confused. I took a step, then two, and ended up flat-out running to him. I wiped my streaming eyes to get him into view, clutched at his sleeve.

"Jason, please don't do this," I begged. He slapped my hand away and took a step backward when I tried to take his hand.

"Kiara-" he warned.

A sob tore its way through my throat.

"You can't reject me. I love you. I know you love me-"

His lips curled in disgust as he continued to back away.

"Look, stop making a scene. You are ruining my party. Stop with the sniveling, okay?" He turned his back on me and disappeared into the crowd, taking a large chunk of my broken heart with him.

I pressed a hand to my chest. The pain I felt there was almost physical. It was like I had a hole punched right through my insides. I hugged myself tightly and groaned in agony.

"She is not going to have a fight, is she?" said someone to my right with a hint of hopefulness.

"Maybe if she does, she will finally be able to shift properly," said another. Raucous laughter greeted this remark.

"Poor little, Kiara, heartbroken and sad," someone said in a singsong voice.

"Those the poor little baby wants a hanky?" A handkerchief was thrown in my face. I looked up and stared at Erina's clique of friends with hate-filled eyes that were getting mistier by the second.

Choking on a sob, I bolted out of the room and gunned for the stairs, shoving people out of my way. All I remember about my run home is that I fell a lot. My arms and legs were maps of scrapes and bruises by the time I got home. I locked myself in my room and looked around wildly. I had to leave. There was no way I could remain in the pack. The thought of running into Jason and Erina day after day after day...

"I will go mad," I croaked. I began to cram most of my clothes into a large suitcase. I took the petty cash I had saved up and lugged the heavy suitcase down the hall.

My father, who was crossing the corridor stopped in his tracks. He glanced at the suitcase, completely ignoring my tear-streaked face.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm leaving," I wailed. "J-Jason-" Oh damn! It hurt so much to say his name. "-rejected me as his mate in front of everyone. He chose Erina instead- and everyone was laughing. They called me names and-" I dissolved into tears.

"Is that all?" His question temporarily stunned me into silence. My life was literally ruined and he was asking if there was more.

"Dad, I told you-" "I heard what you said! You got rejected by your mate.

"So what? Life's hard. Get used to it. Get that stuff back into your room now and stop acting like a spoilt brat. If you make another move to leave this house, you'll suffer something much worse. You know I don't make idle threats." He stormed off, muttering something about useless, ungrateful daughters.

The next few days were a nightmare. Word had spread to everyone in the pack about me getting rejected. Once, I thought I had a hard life. It was nothing compared to what I faced now. I would gladly have spent all my days locked up in my room alone, but Lucinda was not having it. She sent me on stupid, irrelevant errands and I knew it was just so people could point, stare, laugh, and jeer at me.

Whenever I returned from these errands, she would stare at my reddened eyes hungrily, eagerly waiting for a tear, and then her face would droop in disappointment when I stubbornly refused to cry. But I made up for all the tears I refused to shed, in my room, bawling my eyes out. As if all that wasn't torture enough, I wasn't allowed to eat my meals in peace. I was forced to sit at the dining table with Lucinda and Erina chatting excitedly about Erina's relationship on one side, and my father, hanging on to his wife's every word on the other side.

Then Lucinda and Erina would pause to ask why I looked so unhappy and why I wasn't excited about my sister's good fortune.

"Fortunately, Erina will soon move in with Jason," said Lucinda to my father one time with a disdainful glance at me, while I tried to swallow past the pain and clog my throat.

"The way Kiara looks at Erina sometimes... like she wants to murder her..." Lucinda shivered delicately. My father let out a humorless laugh and patted her hand.

"Nonsense, love," he said. "Kiara wouldn't dream of hurting Erina." And he glared at me as though he would have liked to murder me instead.

I felt my sanity being chipped away bit by bit as several more days passed. And then one day, my father came into my room with Lucinda on his heels, while I sat curled up on myself, staring blankly out of the window.

I stared at them dully, wondering what new methods of emotional torture they had devised for me now.

"Kiara," he said in a deep, grave voice. "We have come to the conclusion that you have to leave-" I got to my feet without having a memory of moving.

"Yes," I said eagerly. "Yes. I will leave. I have to. I- My gaze fell on my suitcase which I had never really unpacked.

"Listen," he said sharply and I fell silent. "A few months ago, we took a loan from Alpha Ryder for the expensive course of medical treatment I had to cure for your shifted problems. A waste of good money but now we are up to our ears in debt-"

"Because of you," Lucinda finished.

I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Instinctively, I knew something bad was coming.

"What has this got to do with me leaving?" I asked.

"Everything!" my father snapped, anger breaking through his enforced self-control.

"Alpha Ryder demands you as his maiden to pay off the debt."

"No." My mouth widened into an O of horror. Rejected by my mate and now sent off to some man as payment? This couldn't be happening.

"Yes. You will pack your belongings to go live with him."

"I won't," I gasped. "I won't go. You can't make me."

"Do you have any idea what he will do to us if we don't pay?" Lucinda shrieked.

"Are you going to put all of us in danger just because you are too proud, too stubborn to do as you're told?" She tugged at my father's arm frantically. "I told you! I told you we shouldn't have taken that loan."

"Calm down, love," he soothed with his angrily flashing eyes fixed on me. "Don't you dare make me regret trying to find a cure for your condition, Kiara. You will get married to Alpha Ryder and that is the end of it. If you refuse, may the goddess help me, I will..." He clenched his fists, making the threat very clear.

"Get packed and ready to leave in thirty minutes," Lucinda had hissed as she left my room a few minutes ago, or was it an hour ago?

The concept of time meant nothing to me now. All I was conscious of was the never-ending pain that went on and on and on. A door slammed shut somewhere in the house and I figured it was time to go. I picked myself off the floor, pushed to my feet, and shuffled over to my suitcase. I emptied its contents and mechanically began to fold and pack my clothes.

My door creaked open, but I didn't look to see who was there. I simply concentrated on the motions of packing, while I wished I had something to numb the pain.

"You are finally leaving." Erina's voice came from the direction of the doorstep. My jaw clenched as I bit back an angry retort. Of course, she would never miss an opportunity to gloat or torment me. This was the last chance she was going to get before I was whisked out of her reach forever.

"I can't say I am sorry to see you go," she continued. "You are weak, a freak, a burden, so I am sure that I am not the only one who will breathe more easily around here with you gone."

My teeth ground against each other as I yanked at a blouse so hard that it split along the seams. I flung it away.

"Ignore her. Ignore her," I chanted under my breath.

"What was that?" Erina cocked her head to the side. She was so close now that her skin nearly brushed mine. She let out a derisive peal of laughter.

"You are talking to yourself now? Only crazy people do that, you know. Don't tell me you have added insanity to your... condition. Oh well, even if you are actually crazy, I suppose it won't matter now. Someone else will be responsible for you from now on."

"Get out of my room!" I ground out. Erina's painted lips curved into a cruel smile.

"Finally," she crowed. "For a moment there I was concerned that you had gone deaf as well as dumb." She snapped her fingers impatiently at me when I just stood there, glaring at her hatefully.

"Go on. Pack! The sooner you are done, the sooner you will be out of here."

I didn't want to, but I heard the car start up and stop somewhere close to the front of the house. If my father came in and saw me... I packed my stuff faster. Erina heaved a sigh.

"That is better. I am sure Jason will come visit more often when he finds out you are gone for good. It is hard for him to be around here when you're always moping about, looking like something the cat dragged in..."

The rest of the words were drowned by a roaring in my ears. At the mention of Jason's name, I saw red. Rage tasted like metal on my tongue. My voice shook with anger when I said,

"Keep Jason out of your mouth."

"Or what?" She smirked and tipped me a conspirational wink.

"Honestly, it is hard to literally out of my mouth, especially when he is kissing me like I am"

With a choked roar of rage, I lunged at her. Laughing, she took a step back and wagged a finger at me.

"Easy there, princess," she said.

"That better be the sound of packing I hear in there, Kiara," Lucinda called from somewhere in the house. "Or would you like to leave home without any clothes?"

I took several deep breaths, forcing the anger back down. Going to Alpha Ryder's pack with only the clothes I had on my back would be terrible.

"Were you about to hit me?" Erina questioned. "Because of Jason? Get over him, already. He never wanted you. Never will."

"That is a damned lie!" I yelled back at her.

She raised one finely arched brow.

"Is it now? I hate to break it to you, but Jason fancied me even when you two were dating. It is not my fault that you were too blind to see the signs."

"You're a backstabbing little-"

"Language, Kiara. Language."

"You betrayed me, took what is mine. But I promise you, Erina, karma will catch up with you," I said to her.

"Karma is a concept for fools like you to believe in to make you feel better, dear stepsister. Life is not fair or didn't you get the memo?"

"Why aren't you done yet?" my father asked, glowering at me from the doorway.

Erina twiddled her fingers at me and sashayed out of the room. Under his watchful eyes, I threw the rest of my things into two suitcases and carried them out.

"We want to talk to you," he grumbled and jerked his head towards the living room.

"Finally." Lucinda sighed theatrically when she saw that I was ready to go. My father took his place at her side.

"We only think it is fair to let you know what you are up against," he said. "Once you get to Alpha Ryder's pack, you have to be on your best behavior. He is a hard man. You have to do what you are told without hesitation, understand?" I nodded numbly.

He started to turn away, but Lucinda, with her eyes fixed on me, pulled him back.

"I don't think she understands yet," she said. "Alpha Ryder is a ruthless man. He expects respect and immediate obedience at all times. There are rumors, terrible rumors..." She paused dramatically.

"Of what he does to people who make him angry. I am tempted to believe that all those rumors are true."

I couldn't suppress a shudder. I too had heard dark rumors concerning Alpha Ryder.

"I think she has got it now," Lucinsa said happily. "Let's go."

In no time at all, I was in the backseat of the car. The next moment, I was having a last glimpse of the house I had grown up in. The image was tainted with the sight of Erina waving cheerfully at me from an upstairs window. I curled in on myself as I watched the road unfold before us.

When we got to the borders of my pack, my father accelerated, making the car go even faster. We were on the road for hours, and then I began to perceive strange, unfamiliar scents that told me we were nearing another pack. Finally, he came to a stop at a spot with a thick expanse of forest on either side of the road.

"We are here," he said to Lucinda.

As though his words had called them forth, three heavily built men detached themselves from the muted browns and greens of the forest. Lucinda and my father were already out of the car before they got to us.

"She is in there," said my father with a nod in my direction. As one, the men turned their flat, back eyes to me. It was then that I lost my nerve. I stumbled out of the car, fell painfully on one knee, got to my feet, and made a beeline for the forest. My one thought? To get away.

"Get her," I heard Lucinda shriek. I didn't even hear them come up behind me. The next thing I knew, my hands were pinned behind my back. I looked into the merciless eyes of one of my captors. As I opened my mouth to scream, something hit me in the back of the head, knocking me out.