Eleanor

“I just wanted to let you know, before you hear it from others, that I have taken a chosen mate, Eleanor. And I expect nothing but acceptance and submission from you. You will still be my fated mate, and first mate, and that is not going to change anytime soon. But I love Laurel, and can’t do without her.”

Alpha Zachary, my mate, said the words like he had just recited the alphabets, while I stood there, stunned as hell.

No. It wasn't possible.

I had to be dreaming, right?

I had turned eighteen just five months ago, and that was in the middle of Zach’s school break from the academy.

He had come to our pack for the crystal year anniversary, and we had met each other, the mating bond slinking into place.

The next two weeks until he had left had been a whirlwind, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Until now.

“How dare you?” I heard myself ask lowly, as tears burned behind my eyes. “How dare you, Zach! We are supposed to mated at the next mating ceremony which is just a few weeks away, and you come here, telling me that the same girl you hated all school year is now your chosen mate? We share the bond of fated mates, Zachary!”

I had sat with him, been on calls with him, and listened as he complained about a certain she-wolf who went out of her way to make his life at the academy, hell.

Who would have thought...

He didn’t look bothered by my words, and instead seemed bored. “I haven’t marked you yet, so we are not bonded yet!” he snapped rudely, his eyes blank of any emotion.

I heard something shatter inside of me at those words, and realised it was my heart.

Why did it hurt so much?

“What about everything we shared? You wrote to me all these months. You called every single day, telling me how much you loved me, and how much you couldn’t wait to finally mark me as yours? What changed?” I hated sounding like a weak and clingy woman, but here I was.

Mating bond or not, I loved him. Had imagined my whole life with him.

Had made so many plans to make sure we didn’t spend a second apart anymore.

The envelope quietly sitting in my drawer was evidence.

When Jared, the omega attendee to the alpha’s mansion had informed me I was needed downstairs, I hadn’t expected it to be Zachary.

He was supposed to come in two days.

Or at least that was what he had told me.

And definitely not to come tell me I was to play house with him and the girl he had apparently fallen in love with.

Zachary growled in annoyance, disgust etched on his face, which further broke my heart.

“Quit being a needy she-wolf and wake up. You are just a worthless stray the Alpha picked from nowhere or else you will be rotting with the rogues by now. I actually did you a favor by not rejecting you that night, when the moon goddess thought playing a prank on me by mating us together was funny! I wouldn’t have even agreed if not for_” he paused, then gestured towards me. “I cannot be with someone like you. You have no history, are nothing special, and I am an Alpha. I need a strong Luna by my side. And Laurel is everything I need. You are not dumb, at least, so you should understand!”

I was too stunned to speak.

I do not know how, but I felt my hand move, and then a loud resounding crack as hand met face.

My palm stung, but the look on Zach's face was worth it. "How dare you! How could you utter those words to me after I opened up to you?!

Rage was an understatement, for what was burning in my veins.

Tears burned behind my eyes, but I struggled not to let them fall as I looked at the man I had fallen in love with.

At twenty, Zachary was every girl’s dream. Tall, with striking dark brown hair that matched his green eyes, and muscles for days.

I could still remember the envious remarks from a few she-wolves when we had recognized each other as mate.

He was the son of the Alpha of Daysette Pack. One of the four strongest packs in the whole country.

Who wouldn’t want him as a mate?

Had I been so blind that I couldn’t see that he was just a cruel asshole?

An empty being with a dark heart, hiding behind that handsome facade?

Was that what he thought of me while kissing me in those two weeks we had spent together?

I had told him certain things about me that I didn't dare tell anyone, and he had now turned around to use same words against me?

The thought that this was the man I had been willing to spend the rest of my life with, made my skin scrawl.

Zach only looked like his pride hurt from the slap. "You fucking pig! You'll fucking pay when I have you locked and hidden in my pack! Fucking stray!"

The audacity! Did he think I was going to let him walk all over me?

Another cold shiver of shame and disgust crawled it’s way up my spine.

Me, a worthless stray? Me?

“I may be a stray to you, Zachary, but you, you are nothing but a disgusting brat who doesn’t deserve to be born into the prestige you were born into. You are a shame to the bloodline you come from. I pity any woman who ends up with you.” I spat in rage and heartbreak. “And no, I will not play into whatever stupid game you want to play, Zachary_”

His expression turned cold and dark.

“You can call me all you want, foolish girl. But you and I know you have no choice you are my mate. My fated mate, and you will do my bidding_”

I didn’t let him finish whatever nonsense that was coming out of his mouth, and raised a hand. “Alpha Zachary Daysette of Deysette pack, I Eleanor Winters, reject you as my fated mate, and let the goddess be my witness, because from this day henceforth, you mean nothing to me, and I turn my back on our bond and anything we ever shared.”

I felt the bond snap inside of me, almost bringing me to my knees. But what kept me standing was the fact that I knew Zachary was in more pain than I was.

He hadn’t seen that coming.

I was never every going to forget the look of shock on his face as I rejected him, or the way his handsome features contorted unactractively from the pain that came with it.

I turned my back on him and raced to my bedroom, instructing Jared to escort him out when he was done writhing in pain.

I mean, I was generous after all.

The tears didn’t fall at first.

Not until I pulled open my drawer and pulled the sealed envelop I had been afraid to open since it arrived the previous day.

My hands shook, and my lips quivered, but I tore the seal and pulled out the paper, carefully unfolding it so I could read it’s contents.

What I saw finally broke the dam that had been forming behind my eyes.

I had been accepted into the Moonlit Academy for Gilded Bloodlines.

The same on Zachary attended.

I had applied so I wouldn’t be away from him.

But now all the paper did was mock me for being the biggest fool of the century.

Eleanor

“You did what?” My aunt screamed, her eyes wide in horror after I told her I had just rejected Alpha Zachary as my mate.

I knew my aunt was going to overreact, but I had also miscalculated how loud she was.

“I just wanted you to be the first to know before you hear it anywhere else.” The words flowed from my mouth and I shivered in disgust as I realised they were the same words Zach had said to me before giving me the news that tore my hearts to shreds.

My aunt looked at me like I had gone crazy.

Contrary to what Zach had said, I did have family. I had family that loved me to a fault.

I had an aunt, and a man who had picked me and cleaned me up when nobody would.

Although I don’t think aunt Liv still haboured that love after what I had just told her. In fact, she looked ready to murder me.

“Can you hear yourself, Eleanor? You just threw away a chance at finally finding a home, a home of your own.”

A home?

I frowned at her. “This is my home, aunt Liv.”

And it was true.

Twelve years ago, my own father had killed his mate, Liv’s sister, and my mother’s dying wish had been for Liv to take me to the farthest place where my father could not find me.

We had traveled, hungry and battered, until we had gotten to Nairethorne Pack. It had taken us eight whole days because Liv, a trained warrior of my former pack, had done everything she could to lose our trail and scents and make it look like we had been killed.

How Alpha Carden had accepted us into his pack would forever remain a mystery to me.

Nairethorne was known for it’s strenght and danger, and Carden ruled with an iron fist.

But the man who had taken me into his home, was far from the man I had heard about.

In fact, I owed him my life.

Aunt Liv looked like she wanted to strangle me, clenching and unclenching her fists in frustration before finally placing her hands on my shoulder. “Please tell me you are joking, Eleanor. Please.”

Why was this so important to her?

She had been the most thrilled when I had told her I had gotten a mate.

“Did you hear me at all? The man said he has taken a chosen mate, while still being fated to me. Aunt Liv, I would die, slowly, as the mating bond eats at my soul. I can’t sit and waste away for a man who sees me as worthless!” I hissed, trying to shake her off, but she held on firmly.

“And so what, Eleanor?! You will not be the first, or the last she-wolf whose mate took a chosen mate! You are strong, you come from a strong bloodline. You are meant to fight for your place, Ellie. This world is tough, and you cannot remain in here, playing princess to a man who is not, and would never be your father!”

I wanted to see reason in her words, but all it felt to me, was like I had been slapped in the face.

Did she really think I was going to sit and let a man walk all over me?

Enraged, I peeled her hands off me. “So you think because I refuse to live like a second choice, I’m weak? No! I am strong, and that is why I am able to work away from a life of pain!” My eyes stung as I remembered my mother.

If only she had walked away earlier, she would have been here with me.

“What aunt Liv? I let him have his way and then put up a happy facade as Luna while he enjoys his time with his chosen mate who he loves. And then what? When I refuse to do his bidding, he turns me into a submissive punching bag! Hell no!”

Oh I was going to fight for my place, but not in the way she was insinuating.

I watched as her eyes widened at my words, and scoffed when I saw guilt flash in them. “Eleanor_” she started to say, but I interrupted her.

“Save it!” I snapped. “As for Alpha Carden, he may not be my father, but he has done a thousand times worth more than that disgusting man has, and will ever do for me. This is my home, and you have no right to say those things because just as he took me in, he took you in too!”

Aunt Liv could be harsh, but I never would have expected her to be this harsh.

I knew she loved me, and always wanted the best for me, but this time, she was wrong as hell.

I would rather slice my skin a thousand times with a bread knife, than play second for another worthless alpha.

“Eleanor_”

The door opened just then, cutting off whatever my aunt had been about to say.

We were currently in the huge library of the alpha’s mansion, and while I would have preferred the ground to open and swallow me, at that moment, I knew it was not going to be possible.

In the open door way, stood the very man I had thought was not going to be in the pack’s mansion until the next morning.

Alpha Carden.

“What is going on in here, Eleanor? Liv?” His thick brows with streaks of grey hair were drawn together. “And what is this I’m hearing about you rejecting the Daysette Alpha?”

I couldn’t tell if he was angry yet, as that was his tone on a normal day.

But the thick baritone had my heart pounding erratically.

In the twelve years since he took me in, I had done everything I could to make him proud and not disappoint him.

I had in fact, now done the very thing I had tried so hard not to do.

Aunt Liv rushed forward, “Eleanor and the Alpha are just having a lover’s spat, Carden. You know new mates, they can be a handful.”

I appreciated her trying to cover up, but it just annoyed the heck out of me that that was what she had come up with.

Couldn’t she remember that I reeked of rejection, and as an Alpha, he could smell it?

I sighed and looked down at the floor, unable to meet his gaze.

It's not like I was going to take Zach back, so I might as well just come clean.

“Actually, I did reject Alpha Zachary. He turned out to be worthless and undeserving of my time and loyalty.”

I should have chosen subtler words, but heck, I didn’t care.

Just thinking about Zachary caused rage to course through me.

I waited for Carden to yell at me, scold me, tell me how disappointed he was, but the voice I heard next did not belong to Carden.

In fact, it was when he spoke, that I realised the air had in fact, shifted.

“And may we know how you came to this conclusion and decision, Beetle?”

EZRA

Fuck.

She had grown.

How long had it been since I last saw her?

The plan had been to stay away from the pack till the next crystal anniversary, but Carden had requested my presence. And I knew he wouldn't force it if it wasn't urgent.

I definitely wasn’t expecting to run into her the very minute I stepped into the damn mansion.

Eleanor was easily five feet four, but she packed mean long legs, and the shorts she currently had on, put them on display for my helpless eyes.

I swallowed, forcing my gaze away from those legs of hers to her face.

Fuck.

Her lips had grown plumper than the last time I saw them.

I tried to focus on what she said about Zachary.

“Don’t call me that!” she snapped, her cheeks turning red as her green eyes met mine.

My wolf, Duryan jumped excitedly at seeing her, but I cautioned him.

She’s not ours.

And Eleanor was untouchable. Especially by me.

“I’ll call you whatever I want, Beetle.” I replied cooly, stepping fully into the huge library.

Carden let out an exasperated breath. “That’s enough, you two.” he scolded, then turned to his favorite person in the world. “Tell me, Ellie. Why did you reject Alpha Zachary? I remember how excited you were when you recognized him as your mate.” he moved forward and past Liv, stopping just a few meters away from her.

Eleanor flickered a guilty gaze my way, then back to Carden. “He didn’t really want me. He has taken a chosen mate..”

By the time she was done speaking, I was ready to rip Zachary apart.

I had warned him.

Hurt her and he was dead.

That bastard had not listened.

I swallowed my rage, watching her gaze flicker with uncertainty as she awaited Carden’s reaction.

When Eleanor had first arrived at our borders, he had immediately, without seeing either her or Liv, requested they be turned away.

I had been both annoyed and amused, even at seven, to hear that a little girl was demanding to see the Alpha or she wasn’t going anywhere.

And she had stayed put, even defying Liv, who had been in a weakened state.

I had snuck into Carden’s truck when he had gone to send them on their way personally, and I could testify that we had both been shocked to see the dark haired scrawny little girl who kept standing on shaky legs with her chin held high.

Nope.

She had him wrapped around her fingers.

“That bastard!” Carden bellowed. “How dare he treat one of mine like that!”

I could literally see the smoke coming off his ears.

I felt same.

I had been so pissed when I found out that of all the males the goddess had chosen for her, it had to be that asshole.

Girls pined for him, and it had gone straight into his thick skull.

Eleanor gave a small smile, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter, Carden. I have rejected him, and he is of no concern of mine anymore.” she sighed shakily, her eyes warm.

He may not be a concern of yours, Beetle, but he was certainly mine now.

“Eleanor_” Carden started to say, but she cut him off.

Huh?

“Before you say anything, I have something I wanted to tell you all.” She looked at all of us, then back to Carden, wringing her hands together. “I have been keeping this till I was sure, but now it has been confirmed, I think it’s best I say it now.”

I frowned, wondering what it is she wanted to say that was making her this nervous.

“I got into the Moonlight Academy For Gilded Bloodline.”

The silence was deafening, as we all gaped in shock.

My ears rang.

My heart dropped.

She had to be joking...

“No.”

“No.”

“Hell no, Beetle.”

Her face paled as we all voiced our disapproval at the same time. Her eyes widened, and the hurt I saw there wasn’t there when she had talked about Zach.

This one was different.

She looked like she had been slapped in the face.

“But_”

Liv placed a firm hand on her shoulder. “Look, the M.A.G.B is not for you, Ellie. They will eat you alive in there!”

Eleanor pushed her away, “Are you saying I’m not strong enough to be seen as gilded?” She snapped harshly, but Liv stood her ground.

“Think about this, Ellie. You have made enough bad decisions for today!”

“And how is this a bad decision?”

Carden stepped in. “We are not condemning you, Ellie, but there are other schools, proper for a girl like you.”

I scowled.

I disapproved for personal reasons. But Liv and Carden should have known Eleanor enough to realise they were only making matters worse.

And from the way her brows drew together, I was right.

What I didn’t expect, was to hear my name.

“But Ezra can go? I should go to a proper school for girls, but he can go to M.A.B.G? Remember how it was the topic of discussions for years until he got in? Why is it now a taboo for me?”

Carden hissed.

I raised my hands with a nonchalant frown. “Hey, you could make your point without bringing me into it.” I threw the words, knowing what I was about to say next would only get her to explode. “And they are right, M.A.G.B is not for a girl like you, Beetle. You should go to one of those princess schools or something.” I shrugged, then smirked when she physically moved to confront me.

It was Carden who held her back. I secretly wanted to see what she had been about to do.

Carden's next words had my shoulder's stiffening.

“Fine. You can go there. But on one condition. One academic year, and if you do not come out with the results you are supposed to come out with, you are out!”

I knew Carden couldn’t say not to her, but this was beyond being wrapped around her finger. This was straight up dark magic.

“This is bullshit!” I snapped, as Eleanor, though stunned, jumped into his arms. “You know how competitive it can get in there, and you are just going to throw her into the den? C’mon, man!”

He turned to me with a raised brow. “I’m sure she can cope. Besides, you will be there to take care of her. Won’t you?”

It was said with so much casualness, then if you didn’t know him, you would miss the threat beneath it.

I took one long enraged look at Carden, forcing myself to ignore her even if I felt her eyes on me, before turning and walking away.

“Make sure you are back here by dinner. We still have to talk!”

But I wasn’t listening to him.

I needed to be far away from them before I lost it in front of her.

How dare she?

Why did she have to be in my fucking face all the fucking time?

First my house...

And now the only place where I could escape her annoyingly angelic beautiful face...

My fucking school!

And now I was supposed to babysit the very person I had spent months getting her fucking green eyes out of my head!

“Fucking hell!” I growled, getting into my car.

I needed a distraction.

And I knew one.

Duryan, although annoyed at me leaving Eleanor's presence, took a dangerous stance.