Astrid

“I hate you.”

I snarled at him but the idiot actually chuckled. He seemed satisfied at my doom. Just so he could satisfy his own greed. Not only do I hate Derek. His whole lineage of users disgust me.

I was a little girl when my father betrothed me to the Knightdale pack.

I was given to the younger out of the two brothers who would be the future successors of the pack in exchange for a rise in political power and rank for my father and the whole of our own pack and also a position of being an alpha made available for Derek to inherit in our own pack.

Now I see why the Knightdale pack would easily agree to marry one of their sons off to our low rank pack.

Maybe Mother had known this day would come.

Maybe that was why she taught me to hide.

It was for moments like this. In her words, “They are inevitable. Just be careful Astrid.”

She foresaw this even before it happened.

And she couldn't even be here to see me through my ordeals. Death took her from me a few weeks to my eighteenth birthday. I miss her so much now.

I stood up feeling downcast but I have had enough. I won't let them stump on my dignity.

“Good. You finally woke up from the delusion that he loved you.” Laila lips curled. Her hands went to encircle his waist as if to prove a point.

“It doesn't mean he loves you too. He's with you because you have his heir.” I taunted her.

“What are you saying?” Derek stepped forward but I grew bolder.

“He will never love you.”

Laila slapped me across the cheeks and before I could stop myself or think. I slapped her hard across the cheeks. My fingers imprint on her cheeks.

Derek's wolf roared in anger at my face.

“How dare you hit her.” He roared and I tried not to tremble.

“She slapped me first.”

“Then you should have taken it.”

"I'm your mate.” I screamed at him but all the emotions he had left of us were gone. I was wasting my breath.

“You are nothing to me.”

He grabbed my arm and dragged me out back to the hall which was still filled by our guests. And like a piece of rag he dropped me in a heap on the floor.

My eyes filled with unshade tears as I stared at them through blurred vision.

“I reject you.” His voice thundered furiously.

I turned to look at Derek whose wolf was furiously angry. Gasps and uproar filled the hall. I rapidly shook my head, my mind still in denial of what was about to happen.

“You can't do that. You were the one who cheated on me.”

“Yes I can.”

The wolf bond started destructing and intense pain ran through my whole body. His mark of claim on my neck began clearing up. Sparkly light erupts from my body, their opening burning like fire. Each minute of it felt like pure torture.

“No.” I groaned, “You can't do this to me. I'm not at fault.”

“You should have considered you are nothing before being all dramatic.” He pointed his index finger at my face.

"I never loved you, Astrid. The only thing I ever wanted from you was your pack.”

He turned and through my messed up vision I saw him hold Laila's hand. She looked really sad, a facade she wore perfectly behind the ugly person she actually is. Her expression certainly won people over because they started chanting her name like cave men.

“After careful consideration I have realised a mere omega with no wolf would never be fit to be my Luna.” Derek pulled her closer.

While she dramatically rubbed her flat tummy in slow deliberate circles.

“I, Derek Knightdale, new alpha of Night Aim pack hereby accept Laila of the Sagamore pack who is currently carrying my heir, the future heir to Night Aim pack, would be my new Luna.” His teeth sank into her neck claiming her instantly.

Everyone cheered. They actually cheered.

Moments ago I had been their Luna. They cheered for them as well. Now I'm nothing. I'm just wolfless omega playing Luna they have always wanted to get rid of even though they won't say to my face.

I stood up, pain making my movement unsteady. I grabbed Derek's hand wishing to do something to preserve my dignity. To make him see reason.

He was stronger than I am. He snatched his arm and flinged me off, the force sent me flying across the room. I didn't have any wolf spirit that could help me to brace for impact. I hit my head on a hard surface. The next thing I saw was him turning away from me to hold his new Luna. He left me.

I stared unblinkingly at the shiny chandelier. Laughter filled my ear. They were all celebrating mocking me in their own disgusting way.

I fade into their background and I don't know how long I laid there, hours? Minutes? I don't know.

No one made an attempt to help. Not even my own father. No one.

My whole body was covered in blood. I snapped out of it as pain shifted my adrenaline up.

I half crawled, half dragged myself out of the mocking festivities till I got outside.

The cold air bites dangerously in my lungs every time I drag in air.

My whole life flashes before my eyes. The year I spent loving Derek. Are all nothing now. He's nothing.

I had made a wrong decision of ever trusting him. I had rejected many for him and now he chose her. And he used me to gain the alpha position of my pack.

The sky looked really dark but the moon was brighter and I wished I could rewrite things.

It was supposed to be a day of joy for me today, not a night I'll feel life drain out of me.

I stared up at the moon. Silent, still and bright.

Looking up at the moon normally brings me peace but not tonight. I feel shattered, my heart was in broken pieces I fear it would never be mended.

My mate had betrayed me.

My pack had willingly abandoned me.

I have been humiliated and dirtied by someone I trusted the most.

My life was over.

Yet as I felt a strong wave of darkness overcome me, one desperate move of clinging to life overclouds my vision.

“Moon Goddess… If you can hear me...

Grant me one more chance.” I croaked as a single tear slipped out of my iris. “Please. This time I'll change things.”

Astrid

I jolted awake with a loud gasp. My heart beat drummed loudly in my chest and my whole body is sticky with sweat.

My hands flew to my neck. No mate mark. No blood. Nothing.

My breath caught because the last thing I remembered feeling was pain. My whole body had burned with the pain of rejection from Derek.

My alarm sounded behind me, I jumped, startled. I turned to look and the bright red lights of words flashed back at me. Mating ceremony day.

One year ago?

How? What the hell was going on?

I grabbed the alarm and hit it several times to make sure it's working right but the lights still blink back those terrifying words. Still in doubt I grabbed my phone and the date on it was still the same. Panic surged through me. I shakily walked to my mirror and stared back at my reflection. My hands slowly tracing the curve of my neck. The skin there was smooth and clean. No scars of mating marks were visible on it.

I released a sigh of relief but an important thought remained.

The memory of Derek's rejection. And my death.

I certainly did.

The pain was too vivid to be a dream. It clawed at my chest so hard I knew without doubt I'm in my second life.

It worked.

The moon goddess actually gave me another chance.

I'll make them pay.

The maids and stylists came in to dress me up for the ceremony. I was beautified to perfection and it irks me when I realize how much time I had used throughout my life to make myself look beautiful for Derek.

“I would love my hair down today, please.” I told the hair stylist who looked at me in surprise but she didn't say a word.

When she was done I stared back at the mirror, my hair falling down my shoulders gave my face a look I haven't had the pleasure to see over three years since I started cosplaying as Luna. I look alive. Not just breathing. I'm done being what Derek likes.

The ceremony hall was already full to the brim and Derek was standing on the podium. If it had been Astrid of yesterday I would have gloated about him being handsome. All I could see now is a bloody betrayer.

He smiled when I joined him, his smile bright and reassuring but I knew better.

“You didn't wear my mating gift.” He pointed at my neck which was bare if the necklace he had gifted me the day before.

“No. Not my taste.”

The ceremony started but my mind wasn't there. I knew what I had to do to change things now. I won't allow my fate to be dictated by Derek. Not anymore.

“It's time for the groom to mate his bride.” Everyone cheered and I turned to look at Derek, my gaze cold.

He moved forward to touch me.

I stepped back. He furrowed his brows in suspicion.

“I, Astrid Wood, refuse this alliance.” I said out loud for everyone to hear.

The hall went dead silent, everyone puzzled.

Derek stepped closer, his hand brushing my skin. The impact burned and what he had done to me resurfaced. “What are you doing, Astrid?” He asked in hush tones.

With indifference and a deadpan look in my eyes, I repeated,

“I don't want to be your mate. Not anymore.”

“What! Why? I love you.” He looked really confused.

“Did I do something wrong? I'll apologize right away.” he held my hand softly.

“You have done enough.” I smiled sadly. He stared at me in shock, completely taken aback that the timid and naive girl could have the courage to refuse him.

“You can't do that to me Astrid. We are a team.”

“No, Derek. We were never a team.”

“I'm begging you. Don't hurt me like this. Don't break our perfect bond. We are good together. We will conquer and rule together.” He looked heart broken but I can't allow myself to go back into the depth I'm trying to get out of.

“You can't just break up. It would hurt my ego. People are watching.” He said, silently pleading.

“No.” I said coldly.

“Astrid!”

I turned to see my father match up towards me. Anger coating his every feature. Before I could say a word he slapped me hard across the cheeks. My head snapped sideways and I thought I might go deaf.

“You had better apologize to Alpha Derek right now!” He shouted, veins standing up on his neck. It dawned on me, I hadn't seen my own father rise up to defend me when I got rejected. He's my only family and he couldn't stand up for his daughter as he watched her perish. And now he slapped me because of a stranger. So cruel.

“I don't want to mate with Derek,” I said, staring him dead in the eye. “ And he's not yet an alpha.” I shouted.

I looked around and saw only hatred from people watching.

Their whispers were loud enough I could hear.

“An ordinary omega rejecting her betrothed to a powerful beta.”

“She's so full of herself.”

“She should be killed.”

Too bad I already died and I won't be doing it again anytime soon.

Derek grabbed my arm, his hand tightly incising burns in them. The fake love in his eyes gone replaced by a livid glare.

“You are hurting me.” I struggle to free myself but he won't let go.

“Hear this, Astrid. You had better agree when I'm still being nice. I won't let you disgrace me. Never”

“No.” I stood my ground.

“Your father already contracted you to my pack. I don't have to remind you of the details. Whether you like it or not, you are stuck with me. And this pack is mine.” He growled.

A small smile curls my lips. That's the real Derek right there. He just said what he wanted aloud. It would be over my dead body will I allow him the satisfaction of getting it.

“I would rather die than be with you.”

“You realize it was our pack that gave your measly and rotten pack a chance when your father came begging years ago right? You won't escape me.”

“Yes I will. I'll make it my life's mission to leave you. You rotten bastard.” His face was shocked. I was shocked. The prim and proper Luna I had cosplayed for years never uses curse words and now I think I like it and will make use of it more often.

I successfully snatched my arm and turned to leave, but stopped short in my tracks when a long trail of guards entered the hall. The murmur quieted down and I looked towards the entrance in confusion.

A captivating smell filled my nostrils, rich and addictive. My instincts picked up and my eyes glued towards the door, my heart racing rapidly in my chest.

Finally a man stepped through and my mind went blank.

He towered over everyone in the hall. His shoulders were so broad he made the all black outfit he wore look way tighter. He is massive and an alpha aura radiates heavily from him.

And those golden eyes, cold and calculating were impossible not to recognize.

Alpha Knox. The Alpha King and Derek's older brother.

Everyone bowed in respect, even powerful alphas in the room paid obscenses. Whispers followed him as he walked to us.

“Alpha Knox, the feared Black Wolf. Why is he here?”

“He's horrifying.”

“He eats people for breakfast.”

I stood right in my spot not knowing what to do.

Those eyes fastened on me and held mine as he walked to us. His every step with precision and confidence.

From the corner of my eye, I saw fear flash across Derek's face as he bowed in respect and I quickly followed suit.

“An unwilling mate cannot be forced into an alliance.” His eerily calm voice boomed throughout the hall sending shivers down all our spines.

However, what he said made me look up, surprised. My mouth fell open and I stared up at the golden eyes looking down strongly at me.

He looked dangerously attractive for an alpha rumoured to be a monster.

“Should I remind you about pack law, brother.”

Astrid

Time stood still.

Everyone in the hall froze, processing what Alpha Knox just said.

When it finally seemed as though I had not imagined it, that it had actually happened. I jerked away, my legs moving back a step. No one had stood up for me before. Not even my own father when I was branded a disgrace. And now the Alpha King? He doesn't even know I exist.

And now he stood up for me? My mind couldn't easily come to terms with the fact quickly enough and when I looked back at him he was still staring at me. His golden eyes scanned me like an open book.

What does he want from me? He surely didn't help me because he felt sorry for me. Everyone knows he had no sympathy.

“Should I, Derek?” He repeated calmly, a type of calm that speaks volumes. I watched Derek fidgeting for the first time since I have known him.

“I uhmm… I don't…” Derek stammered, his jaw clenched and his fist tightened so hard they literally turned white but he couldn't dare say the wrong things. And despite myself I almost laughed. At his woes.

“She's already betrothed to me though.” He finally spat out looking furious but definitely helpless.

“She belongs to the Knightdale pack. That was the agreement brother.” Knox replied, his calm exterior not filtering.

“If she doesn't want you you can't have her.” He glanced at me again and my heart skipped.

My father never told me I had been betrothed to the Knightdale pack and not just Derek. In the pack law. It means if I reject or was rejected by Derek, I would automatically get betrothed to… Alpha Knox?

I won't be free.

Oh my moon! No!

The pressure of just standing right there listening to someone else dictate my fate wasn't how I envisioned my rejection of Derek. I realize unfortunately I do not have any one at my side. Not my father, not my people and certainly not this dangerously attractive monster.

“This isn't right.” My father stepped forward. I almost thought he also wanted to speak up for me. Hope rose in my chest but it shattered almost immediately. He faced Knox instead of Derek. “I won't allow my daughter to be paraded around. She made a mistake. Astrid is perfectly content with having Derek as her mate. She has for the past two years. Alpha…I mean beta Derek is the perfect man to be the Alpha of Night Aim pack after me.”

“Dad?” I called feeling my heart turn apart. Again.

“She has been his betrothed since she was young. And she had been working towards this day for over two years. Preparing to be his Luna.”

“Dad, stop.”

“Alpha Knox,” My father completely ignored me, and he went on rambling about my past foolishness. It made me so embarrassed at how stupid I once was. And also angry my own father couldn't support the only decision I made about myself, by myself since I was a child.

“Astrid has only developed cold feet. She doesn't mean what she said. Please ignore her.”

“Dad, please don't do that. I said I do not want to be Derek's mate.”

“Do not interrupt.” He snapped at me, “We need Derek.” He said to me hushly and my eyes widened in shock. I wanted to scream out loud that it was my life. I should surely defend myself since no one is willing to. But when I took a look around. I realized sadly, no one here is my friend.

And my own father values power more than family.

“ You have forgotten the deal you made. So soon.” Alpha Knox prompted and Dad instinctively stepped back, sensing the dangerous aura he had arrogantly ignored beforehand. “I said she belongs to no one if she has rejected her betrothed.” Knox growled out, his voice dangerously low. “So next time, if you are not spoken to, do not speak.”

“Brother why are you doing this? You don't even know her. You don't give a shit about her. So why?”

“It's pack law.” Alpha Knox simply said.

“And I also have a say in my own future.” I spoke out loud. My voice is completely different from how I'm feeling. But I refuse to break again. I refuse to be betrayed again, I refuse to die the same death twice and I'll speak up for myself rather than watch being sold to the highest bidder like I don't matter.

“I won't stay here and not say a word in my defense. I don't want to be your mate Derek.”

“At least tell me what I did wrong.” He snapped.

“You will end my life in the next one year!” I wanted to scream at him.

“You keep saying you don't want me. Well guess what, I don't care about that. But whether you agree or not you are my mate. I'll see to it that you change your mind. And I'll be the Alpha of the Night Aim pack.” He blurted out.

I felt like punching his face, he had just confirmed I made the right choice insisting on rejecting him. Being Alpha of a pack that isn't his, matters to him more than me.

The whole time, Alpha Knox just stood watching the outburst. He didn't say a word, he was just observing.

“Do you also realize if you are betrothed to the Knightdale pack, you can't leave. If you won't be my mate then you have to be my brother's. And trust me you do not want that.”

I looked at Knox for a second and he still remained calm, watching.

But I never knew about this agreement in the first place. I never knew about being bound to the pack as a whole. It means if I decide to leave I would end up being with the Alpha king. The unfeeling cold monster.

“It's better than being with you.” I said feigning indifference.

“You owe that to me at least. I've been mated to you even after you never wolf. You owe me everything you are right now.”

“I've been under your control all my life.” I laughed dryly.

“Living as Derek's mate when in fact we haven't even mated. I lived as your pet. I was never Astrid with you. I was your tool. So get your facts right. I owe you nothing!”

I must have been super brave or incredibly stupid, because Derek's nostrils flared. His hands clenched and unclenched rapidly. The veins in his neck stood out, and his wolf flashed in his eyes. But I feel more in control and stronger than I had been in my past life.

“That's enough.” Knox's voice cut through the tensed air. “This is not open for debate.” He said simply and turned to leave. But as he was about to pass by me, he paused.

His eyes looked down at me for a second.

He's an alpha, he would surely want nothing to do with a wolfless omega. Now, I can finally be free.

Instead his index finger went under my jaw, and he lifted my face to meet his. His touch was barely there, yet I felt heat rise through my neck, staining my ears. Just for an impossible second, something inside me stirred in the back of my mind. It felt alive, not in a way I have felt before.

Knox's nostrils flared. For the first time, a crack appeared in his calm expression.

His cold golden gaze narrowed, staring into my soul. And he watched me carefully, studying me. Almost possessively.

His expression returned blank making me super nervous.

He smelled of cedar and clean rain, rich and captivating. It made my senses reel and I felt another stir in me like something in me is trying to wake.

I swallowed hard and my lips quivered slightly but I stubbornly maintained eye contact.

“The alliance stands. She'll remain under my house till I say otherwise.”

With that he turned and left. His smell still stitched into my brain.

He doesn't scare me,

he just weirdly makes me feel safe.

Is that normal?