The Rejected Luna (one night with the Alpha)

I can tell you the exact moment when everything in my life began to crash and burn. The time when everything came tumbling down and I no longer knew what I stood for. The familiar became the foreign and I was left with nowhere to go and no one to run to.

It all happened when my best friend and boyfriend chose his mate... by himself, tossing me to the curb like I was nothing more than a piece of crap to him from the very beginning.

Michael and I had been a thing for most of my life. We started off as friends in kindergarten, and when we became early teenagers, we turned into best friends.

When I turned fifteen, the feeling of friendship quickly blossomed into romance. He asked me to be his girlfriend and I accepted, and ever since then, we became inseparable.

Everyone who knew us knew that we were a thing, and in this small pack of ours, it was impossible for anyone not to know us. I clung to him like a vice, almost suffocating him with love but did he ever complain?

Hell no!

Michael happened to be the Alpha's son and so with his influence, he was able to get me to always train with him as I never had friends to train with in the first place. His friends were my friends and I was cool with that!

I was so gullible back then, hanging onto every word that he sputtered out of his stupid mouth like a hormonal teenager; but then, you wouldn't blame me though, because I was indeed hormonal... And was also a teenager!

Deep down in my heart, I was so sure we would be mates. I mean, who would think otherwise? We were like two perfect fits to a puzzle, and damn, we were destined after all!

I had this same delirious mindset up until his twentieth birthday party, the event where everything crashed and burned.

-

That day, Michael picked me up from my house at exactly 9:00 pm. He pulled up in front of my house in his shiny black Mustang and tapped on the car before jumping off it carefully.

There were times when I joked that he loved his car more than me, and even though he would sometimes laugh it off, I knew deep down that it was true.

My family was never in support of me dating Michael. They knew the risks of getting myself, a lowly girl, involved with someone of Michael's caliber but like a child, I ignored them.

I never really understood why my mother always told me that he wasn't good for me though; but for my Stepfather and his child, I pinned it on jealousy, telling myself that the only reason they were against my relationship with Michael was because he was a Royal.

I hopped into Michael's car, not thinking for one second that he hadn't opened the door for me, and as soon as I got in, I was met with an eye roll.

"What is it?" I asked in confusion.

"Why didn't you wear something a little more... revealing? What's with these ugly drabs you always wear all the time?!" He barked, never for once taking his eyes off the road.

I sighed dejectedly and frowned, looking down at the beige-colored dress I was wearing. It was old, but at the same time, there was nothing wrong with it.

"I told you, my stepfather will not allow me to buy new clothes, especially not for a birthday party that isn't mine!" I explained, wondering exactly what must've gotten him in such a bad mood.

"Whatever," he mused under his breath, increasing his car speed, "...just know that I hate them sometimes and it gets on my nerves that you do not see that!"

I rolled my eyes at his childish tantrums, knowing fully well that he would cheer up once he had a few drinks in him.

Michael was a complainer, he complained about everything, especially my raven hair. A lot of times in the past, he had tried to convince me to paint them Blonde but I never grew the balls to.

At one point, I had gone to a salon and picked the shade of blonde that I wanted but as soon as the hair stylist combed out my hair to start the process, I picked up my stuff and ran... and I never went back.

I sat in silence as I listened to Michael rant on and on about something. He always seemed to have a problem with everybody. We continued that way until we arrived at his mansion and as soon as we got out of his car, he pulled me in to plant a kiss on my neck.

"Are you finally going to give in tonight?" He whispered into my ear, whilst playing with a tendril of my hair that had escaped the high chignon I styled it into.

I found myself smiling back, ready to give him the answer that he had been waiting for for months now.

It was only a matter of hours before I was declared Michael's mate. He had been nagging me for months now to sleep with him, to allow him to take my virginity. Each time, I had turned him down, asking him to wait for this night because somewhere at the back of my mind, I had doubts.

When it was late at night and everyone had slept, I always asked myself what would happen if Michael and I didn't turn out to be mates, and this thought, as negative as it sounded, was the only reason I couldn't give myself freely to him.

"Yes, I will." I smiled up at him, looking into his deep green eyes.

His smile deepened as he pulled me in for another kiss, and with a playful dance, he mumbled; "it's about damn time!"

-

We went into the house and met up with his friends. With my arm linked through Ariana's, we talked over the blaring music, making fun and laughing.

Ariana was one of those people who were easy to hate but fun to be with; and as I grew older, I realized later on in life that I was just like her; shallow, bitchy, mean even but fun at parties.

We chatted away for a while and after a few hours, when the party was already coming to an end, and the effects of the alcohol had already begun to seep in, Michael quickly rose to his feet with so much force that it almost sent me, who had been sitting beside him, flying.

"The hell babe, what's wrong with-?" I started to say but stopped when I saw the crazed look on his face.

"Do you smell that?" I heard him mumble under his breath while I watched my entire life begin to crumble.

He ran around our small circle like a maniac, sniffing on everybody's dresses, and when he got to me, he stopped, inhaled deeply, let out a moan from the back of his throat, and gasped; "Mate!"

My heart did a little happy dance as soon as I realized what that meant, but before I could fully celebrate this win, I stopped when I saw the deep frown etched on Michael's face.

"Babe, what's it?" I asked, rising to my feet. I tried to touch him but as soon as I stretched out my hands, he recoiled in disgust.

"No!" He yelled angrily, "no, it can't be!" He continued, eyeing me up and down in disgust.

"Is there something wrong? I don't get it babe!" I exclaimed, watching him. Embarrassment made my face go red and for a while, I couldn't help but notice how everyone turned to stare at both of us in confusion.

"I wouldn't continue with this madness! I refuse it!" He growled, storming away from me but then before running away from the party, he grabbed Ariana by the arm and stormed out.

I stood rooted to the spot in confusion. I wasn't sure whether to be happy that I was his mate or be worried at the turn of events.

I wasn't a full-blown werewolf yet but then, I was sure that I had smelled anger from him, and disgust. I could feel my entire body trembling as my brain fought to process what had just happened.

Michael had found his mate, who was me but it was w quite obvious now that he didn't want it to be me. I couldn't hear anyone now, couldn't focus on anything.

For a moment, I could swear that I had seen one of his friends laughing hysterically. Then like a completely rational teenage girl, I turned... and ran!

Aurora's POV

Michael broke up with me over the phone later that day, but he did it in the middle of the night, probably expecting that I would be asleep by then but I wasn't.

In fact, I was at my friend, Jasmine's house, devouring a large cone of ice cream to calm my nerves when I got the notification of his text.

Jasmine and I had been really close around freshman year, but then we drifted apart a little because that was exactly when Michael had decided to step up our friendship game a notch, and like the bitch that I was, I had abandoned her, focusing instead on the stupid thing I had going on with Michael; and now I regretted it.

I couldn't even look into her eyes for fear of what she would say to me about it. Fortunately, she said nothing... until Michael texted.

"So this is it?" She cried incredulously, pointing at the screen of my phone as if it was some sort of vile object. "He's just gonna dump you after everything? Even when you're both mates?!"

At the mention of the word 'mate', I doubled over as if in physical pain and held my chest. I could feel a burning sensation in my chest but I had no idea what it was.

In a bid to calm it down a little, I scooped some more ice cream and dumped them into my mouth, but instead of feeling better, I felt worse!

It felt as though something was ripping me apart from the insides. I cried out in pain as I fell to the floor. I couldn't breathe, couldn't say a word. It felt as though my world was being ripped apart and I could feel it as it was being torn down, bit by bit.

"It hurts!" I cried, grabbing at my chest and writhing in pain but Jasmine neither said nor did anything as she sat by me, patting my back.

At first, I wanted to yell at her to get help because I just couldn't fathom why she would decide to just watch me when I was in obvious pain but I couldn't open my mouth to speak.

The pain went on for a few more minutes and after it had successfully subsided only a little, I snapped; "why didn't you call for help?"

Tears streamed down my eyes as I screamed but right now, I wasn't sure if it was because Jasmine had refused to call for help or because Michael had just broken up with me. I just knew that I felt sad, so sad that I could no longer control my tears.

"Why?!" I yelled.

"Arie, I'm sorry but trust me you wouldn't want anyone to see you like that... it's shameful and I feel bad that I had to witness it." She said softly, causing my eyes to widen in surprise.

I had no idea what she was talking about but from the looks of things, the thing that had just happened to me wasn't a mere chest pain. It was something more, something that I had no idea of but Jasmine knew all too well.

"Jasmine?"

"I'm sorry," she interrupted, waving her hands dismissively. It has happened already, and trust me I won't tell anyone about it!"

Her words seemed to throw me off every time she said something new, and with confusion burning my insides, I sat back down on the cold floor, the ice cream cone next to me was totally forgotten.

"Would you believe me if I said that I do not understand a word you say?" I asked quietly, looking down at my hands like it was suddenly the most intriguing thing in the world.

My face flushed in embarrassment when I saw the look of shock on Jasmine's face, and with a derisive laugh, she muttered; "you mean, you did not know you just felt your mate bond get ripped off?"

As soon as he said those words, my eyes snapped open in shock. "What do you mean?!"

"What I mean is, Michael's already rejected you... and being the coward that he was, he couldn't do it to your face but rather waited till you were supposed to be asleep, thinking that it'll help nullify the pain maybe just a little."

A sudden silence descended in my head. I couldn't make out anything anymore; nothing made sense to me aside from the fact that I had just been rejected. I felt tears well in my eyes, burning on my eyelids but they never dropped.

"...you were always better off without him, let it go!" She said softly but as soon as she said those words, my anger flared and with it burning my insides, I rose to my feet and snarled;

"You cannot tell me to simply just let it go because I can't! Do you know how long I've doted on him?! Do you know how happy I felt to be his mate? Only for him to simply just turn around and leave like I was nothing but a bug he's been trying to get rid of! Do you know how that feels?!"

"Of course I do!" She shouted back, rising to her feet to be at the same height as me. "I know exactly how it feels because I've also been there once!" She added, causing my eyes to widen in shock.

I stared at her for a long while, searching through her eyes to see if she was simply making this up but then when I saw the unshed tears in those deep cerulean eyes of hers, my heart broke again, but this time, it wasn't for me... it was for her.

"You forget that I'm a year older than you are... and so, I am supposed to have found my mate by now." She mumbled under her breath, causing me to feel more sympathy toward her than I felt for myself.

"Oh,"

"He's Trevor, the head of the school's baseball team," She said and as soon as she mentioned his name, I gasped in realization.

Trevor was the perfect bad boy of our pack school. He had every girl's pants in a twist, well aside from mine because I was busy clinging around Michael to notice anyone else.

At some point, there were rumors about him and Jasmine but then it quieted down, and nobody said a word again. Maybe it was that time! I thought about asking her about it but then, after deciding that she talked at her own pace, I simply said;

"Who doesn't know Trevor?"

Jasmine laughed at me, and then with a small forlorn smile, she added;

"Trevor found out that we were mates, and then told me about it. I was elated that I had one of the hottest boys in school but do you know what? I was wrong!" Her voice trailed off as she cried.

"On my birthday, I finally felt the bond... and to celebrate it, we went to a party. We drank, we had sex, and did all sorts of nasty things, even way worse than you can imagine."

"In the middle of that same night, he rejected me and then went off to tell all his friends that he had popped my cherry!... So you see? I've gone through it, and worse." She exclaimed, causing my eyes to widen in shock.

"I believe that Michael wouldn't stop tormenting you now though, so you just have to be prepared."

Her words made me gasp in shock. I couldn't believe that someone could be that evil and to think that he still jovially called her out whenever he walked past her in the school halls made him even more evil.

I slumped back on the floor, picked up the now-molten ice cream, and gulped it down.

All these were just too much to take in...

Aurora's POV

"I love it here! I could live in this moment forever!" I screamed drunkenly, smiling when the loud music drowned out my loud voice.

Jasmine and I giggled as the waiter popped two shots of tequila in front of us. As it stood, we were already on our eleventh shots and we were crazy drunk but we didn't want to stop, not when it was a lot more fun here than in our different realities.

After the shocking revelation of Jasmine's and Trevor's sour love life, she had decided that we came here to forget, and that was what we intended to do!

We both gulped down our shots, laughing hysterically as the liquid burned its way down our chests to our stomachs and as soon as it hit our guts, we jumped up, screaming like crazy banshees as we ran to the dance floor.

For the first time in my life, I felt free, I lived freely and danced freely... all on my terms. Because Jasmine and I had gone on our own, we had no dance partners and decided to dance with each other instead.

The chilly December air combined with the heat emanating from the people's sweaty bodies filled me with a sort of high that I couldn't explain. I danced like a wanton, causing a few people around to turn and stare.

We danced holding our drink in our hands while our handbags were glued to our shoulders, giving ourselves some lit choreography like we had rehearsals before coming down to the club, we needed no third party because we were good by ourselves.

Suddenly, I felt the urge to urinate. Instantly, I signaled Jasmine that I was coming; the loud music wouldn't make her hear me anyway so she nodded in agreement.

I ran to the bathroom in a hurry but just as I arrived there and was about to run into one of the open stalls, I bumped into something so hard that I stumbled backward, almost toppling to the floor.

To my utmost horror, I raised my head a few seconds later to meet the burning stares from a young female blonde and a male whose powerful aura nearly sent me toppling to the floor for the second time.

From the looks of things, they had been smooching and I had just walked straight into them; and to make matters worse, I had even spilled my drink on the male's expensive shirt.

"I'm sorry," I muttered quickly.

"Oh, be sorry for yourself! Are you blind?!" The young man growled, causing me to flinch in fear and irritation.

"I just said I am sorry, I didn't mean to mess up your shirt. Heck, I didn't even see you there!" I exclaimed exasperatedly.

I could notice how the young man stared at me from head to toe like I was a piece of shit, and truthfully, it made me quite uncomfortable. I shifted under his gaze, expecting that he would look away and probably go back to what he was doing but after what felt like the most excruciating forty seconds of my life, he growled;

"Were your eyes closed?! Didn't you see I was in front of you?" He scolded.

"I'm sorry but I just said I didn't see you," I explained again apologetically but this time, I could feel my nerves snapping. If he tries as much as to yell at me one more time, I may not be able to hold my tongue any longer.

"Cut the bullshit, what am I supposed to do with this stain on my shirt?!" He growled, pointing at the stain from the spilled drink as he took intimidating steps toward me.

At this point, I knew that this large guy was up to trouble, and if that was what truly he wanted, then hell, I would gladly give him that.

"Take off the shirt then and shove it into your mouth!" I snapped, noticing how his eyes widened in surprise.

"I have apologized to you, Ogre, what else do you want me to do?! Do your laundry?! Please, get out of my way!" I growled at him, shoving him out of the way as I sidestepped him.

He looked taken aback for a minute but just as I tried to step into the toilet stall, he grabbed my upper arm painfully and pulled me back.

"Who the fuck do you think you are to talk to me the way you just did?" He seethed angrily, causing several goosebumps to rise on the surface of my skin. From the corner of my eye, I saw his lady dearest cower in fear and I immediately began to wonder who he was that his partner couldn't even talk to.

His eyes bore into mine as if looking into my soul and for a minute, I could swear that I felt myself getting drawn to him, mesmerized by his deep gray-colored eyes.

The anger in his eyes seemed to cause tiny gold sparks to swirl around his orbs. It was so beautiful that it had me gasping for a nanosecond; totally forgetting the dipshit that he was.

I subconsciously felt myself lift one hand as I tried to touch his face but before my hand could make contact with his skin, I was immediately snapped out of my trance when I heard him say something to me.

"Huh?"

"I said, you're nothing but a cheap whore!" He spat in my face, soliciting a kind of anger that I had never felt before.

Every wanton thought I once had immediately flew into thin air, even the urge to urinate instantly fled from me and I was left with no other thought but to fight.

In a rage, I hit him hard with my handbag. Hearing him growl out in pain was supposed to make me stop but surprisingly, it didn't. I cursed loudly as I continued to hit him over and over again until I could hear the sound of my old leather bag tearing.

Suddenly, he grabbed me again, pulling me close but this time, I didn't fight back, not because I was drawn to him in any way but because I was suddenly so nauseous, I wanted to keep my lips sealed and my body unmoving to prevent myself from puking.

"Now, you can no longer speak huh? The kitten no longer has claws right?" He snarled, shaking me violently.

My eyes rolled to the back of my head as I opened my mouth, and without thinking, I allowed it out, exhaling as I expelled every damn thing out of my mouth.

I could hear his agonized growl, could hear shouts. Heck, I could even feel how he shook me violently but I was too weak to open my eyes.

The entire place suddenly went silent, and so did the noise inside my head...

~^***^~

I woke up to the sound of water splashing against a surface, and when I did get up, the first thing I noticed was that I was in an unfamiliar room... and on an unfamiliar bed!

In fear, I sat up, wincing when a sharp pain shot through my midriff and between my thighs.

Apprehension gripped me as I rolled off the bed only to shriek when I noticed that I was stark naked and that there was a wide red patch in the middle of the bed, signifying my lost innocence.

"No!" I screamed, crying when the realization hit me that I had just had sex.

I limped around the sparsely furnished room with nothing but the bedsheets around my body as I picked up my discarded clothes, and all this while, all I could think of was how I got in this sort of situation in the first place.

"Heck, who did this?" I wondered aloud, also wondering who it was that was in the bathroom.

My body hurt like hell, especially my legs and between them. It felt as though I had been hit by a moving train. Just when I had successfully shimmied into my almost destroyed dress, the bathroom door was pushed open and someone stepped in... someone I never expected.

"You?!" I cried, as my mouth fell open in shame. It was the man from the club, the one that I had bumped into!

I couldn't believe this, couldn't believe that I had allowed myself to be taken advantage of...

"What-" He began to say but before he could get the full sentence out of his mouth, I turned and fled, crying all the way and cursing myself for getting drunk...