Chapter 2: Rejected

REBEKKA

Mate!

I awoke with a start, I could have sworn that I heard a voice in my head right now.

I felt weak and drained, go figure, I had just given a portion of my blood to the alpha's son.

Oh my goodness!

I sat up with a start, did I just save the life of the son of the alpha? Did I just do something worthy for my pack?

I felt so excited as I sat there looking around the room, the bed beside me that was previously occupied by the alpha's son was dressed and empty.

My dream was to follow in my master's path and become a healer so the fact that I managed to do such a deed as save the alpha's son made me feel accomplished.

There was a box on the table close to my bed and there was a small note on it.

I took the note and read it:

"Thank you for answering the call and standing up for your pack! Your reward is inside the box"

My heart was thumping in my chest and I was smiling at the same time, who knew the day would come when I would be recognized like this.

Hurriedly I undid the bow on the box and yanked it open.

Inside, neatly arranged in piles was money... more money than I had ever seen in my life, money and a golden bracelet with a diamond inlay.

Oh my goodness!

I had to blink twice to make sure that I was not dreaming. All these were for me?

I had never seen this much money before, what the hell was I going to do with it?

I decided there and then that I would give half of it to my master, without him letting me get tested, all this would have never happened.

I'd keep the remaining half and the special bracelet.

The door opened and a nurse came in carrying a tray of food.

"You are awake?" she sounded shocked.

I nodded and gave her a weak smile, my vision suddenly blurred and I felt dizzy.

"You must be so exhausted after all that." she said coming forward and setting the tray down.

"All that?" I asked.

She shook her head, "We almost thought you won't make it, given how much blood you gave, anyways, eat up and regain your strength."

I smiled politely at her, "Thank you," I said and took the plate of food.

Even the nurses were extra nice today, today was definitely a good day.

Mate!

I tensed and looked around, where was that coming from? I shrugged it off and dived into my meal.

By the time I left the Doctor Purcell's clinic, it was evening.

I had already split the money from the box and kept half in his office with a small letter. My own half was hidden in my room, although I took a bit to spend on myself.

I had no idea what I was going to purchase but that was part of the fun, I was going to enjoy myself. The bracelet was in my pocket, I was too scared to wear it out.

Mate!

I turned in the direction of the voice, I didn't see anyone but up ahead, a party was raging.

For some reason, I felt a strong pull to go there.

I had never been before, why did I get the urge now?

"Lord Stephan is throwing a banger, c'mon we are going to be late!" an excited girl said and bumped into me as she and her friend ran towards the party.

Lord Stephan?

Why would someone who just got treated from a near death injury be throwing a party? I wondered.

I had to go see for myself.

As soon as I got inside, a strange scent filled the air and an animalistic instinct grabbed hold of me.

It was like some primal force from within was controlling me.

Mate!

The voice in my head snarled.

I began pushing through the crowd with intent, I was being drawn towards something... towards someone!

To my shock, the man that was standing before me was none other than Lord Stephan.

He was putting up a Hawaiian shirt with the first three buttons undone giving a clear glimpse of his chest and upper abs.

He was laughing with a group clinking bottles when he stopped and suddenly turned to look at me. He arched up an eyebrow, "Yes?"

Before I even knew what I was doing, the words escaped from my mouth, "Mate!" in a low snarl.

He looked amused as he looked at me, "Are you drunk?"

I stepped closer to him and sniffed at him, "You are my mate!" I said again, still being driven by something deeply primal.

The crowd fell silent and all eyes were on me.

As soon as I said that, the hold on me was broken and I realized what I had done.

Lord Stephan frowned.

I couldn't look at him, I cast my gaze on the ground.

He slowly covered the distance between us and using his right index finger he lifted my jaw up so I could meet his gaze, his crimson eyes were smoldering, "What's your name girl?" his voice was deep.

I trembled, "Rebekka Kent"

His gaze searched mine and then he grinned a small wicked grin.

My cheeks felt hot with embarrassment.

 "Rebekka Kent......" he paused. "I reject you... I reject you... I reject you as my mate. Now get lost before you see a side of me you'll regret!"

It felt like a sledgehammer was slammed into my heart.

I staggered back clutching my chest as tears filled my eyes and blurred my vision.

He looked away from me and continued his discussion as if nothing had happened.

"Isn't that the low life girl that saved your life, Stephan?" one of his comrades asked and laughed.

I ran.

I didn't want to hear anymore, I could not take it, this was shattering, I didn't want to exist anymore.

I had survived being an orphan, not knowing anything about my parents, surviving being a weak omega that could not even shift, surviving being at the bottom of the ladder but for some reason I didn't think I could survive this rejection.

I ran to a cliff and decided that I was going to end it all, there was no way I could live with this humiliation and pain.

I took a step forward, my right leg was hanging over the edge of the cliff and I closed my eyes as tears spilled from them.

"Don't!" a deep voice filled with urgency said out of the dark.

My body stiffened in shock.  

As I turned around to see who was speaking... I slipped!

Chapter 3: Claimed

REBEKKA

I let out a short gasp as I felt myself free falling into the nothingness below.

Suddenly I didn't want to die again, whatever it was that I was feeling before, the overwhelming fear of death seized me and I wanted nothing more but to live.

I screamed at the top of my lungs and flailed my hands helplessly, praying and hoping that a miracle would happen.

How could I be so stupid as to think that the way to deal with all the pain and embarrassment was to kill myself?

I didn't want to die, I didn't know what I had to live for but still, I wanted to live, I was not ready to die yet.

"Help me!" I screamed and closed my eyes feeling gravity drive me downwards.

A warm palm closed around my wrist in a tight grip and I suddenly stopped falling.

I opened my eyes, they were still wide with fear as I looked up at my savior.

Looking down at me was a very handsome man.

I could not make out all his facial features because the moon was behind him and casting a dark shadow over his face but I could see the outline of his strong jaw, his long black hair billowing in the breeze and those enchanting blue pupils that looked as if they could see through me.

Effortlessly, he raised me up as he got back up to his feet then he dropped me down on my feet gently.

My legs felt weak and I crumbled to the floor.

He was standing over me, still backing the moon, "That was very stupid..."

His voice was flat, not insulting or demeaning.

"Thank you," I said in a timid voice as I looked down at the grass around me.

"You saved Stephan's life, didn't you?"

I looked up at him.

Did this stranger just address the alpha's only son by his name as if they were equals?

I nodded.

My interest was rising slowly as the adrenaline eased out of my system and left me shaking.

"What is your name, girl?"

"Rebekka," I said and then averted my gaze again.

"Rebekka, tell me, how does someone with a Bloodline such as yours end up as a slave?"

I looked up at him and my brows furrowed.

He cocked his head at me and then he dropped down to the grass too and sat with his legs crossed.

Finally the moonlight hit his face and I saw his full features, high cheekbone, pointy nose and a light stubble. He was incredibly handsome... How did a man like this exist?

"How did you end up as a slave Rebekka?" he asked, staring at me with those probing blue pupils.

"I... was born one," came my timid reply.

He scoffed, "What about your parents?"

"I don't have any," I answered.

Wait, was I having an actual conversation with someone?

This must have been the longest someone has gone talking to me without shouting or uttering some sort of insult.

What was the catch?

I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, surely, it was not possible for someone to be nice to me.

"Your Master," he shook his head, "The doctor, Purcell, he didn't tell you anything about where he found you or who your parents were?"

I shook my head sideways.

He seemed very interested in my origins, the fact that someone was even giving me this type of genuine attention just felt wrong.

I fiddled with my fingers.

"Hmm," he stroked his stubble. "You went from being the slave girl who saved Stephan's life to being the slave girl he rejected as his mate."

Again there was no malice in his voice but that didn't stop my cheeks from burning with embarrassment and my heart aching with pain.

"That's okay, I am glad he rejected you!"

I looked up at him, tears were starting to well up in my eyes, why was he saying this?

He gave me a sexy smile that made my broken heart flutter a little, "From now, you are mine!"

I blinked, "What?"

"I am claiming you as my mate... you are mine!"

Was this some sort of joke? Was this handsome stranger making fun of me?

I got to my feet, then bowed low, "Thank you very much for saving my life, sire, but I have to be on my way now, my master would be worried about me." I started to walk off.

"Are you rejecting me?"

The seriousness in his voice stopped me in my tracks. Was he being serious? "Sire, if this is a joke, please stop it."

"Does it sound like I am joking?" his tone was even much more serious than before and it caught me off guard.

He got up and turned to face me, "Rebekka... Kent right?"

I nodded.

"I am Caleb Chase and I declare you as my mate. From today, you will be under my protection and you will be mine!"

My mouth hung open, I tried to speak but the words didn't just come out.

What the hell was going on now?

I didn't know who this man was but he just saved my life and now he was claiming me as his?

A part of me could not help but think that this was some prank by the pack people to further humiliate me.

"She claims that the alpha's son is her mate but throws herself at the first man that she sees."

I didn't want to believe him, how could I?

He walked closer to me and used the index finger on his left hand to lift up my jaw so that I could look up to him.

He was so close to me, I began to breathe hard and when his finger touched me, I felt a trickle of electricity course through my body.

"From today, you are mine," he said up close, the words washing over me.

I opened my mouth to speak but then... his lips pressed against mine, silencing me!

Chapter 4: Ditch

STEPHAN

"Isn't that low life girl that you kicked out now the one that saved your life, Stephan?" Claude, the son of one of my father's betas asked and laughed loudly.

What?

My eyes narrowed.

I turned back to take another look at the weird girl that just accosted me out of nowhere but she was nowhere to be found, she must have taken off.

Wait, was that the girl that saved my life with her blood? No way... Claude must have been pulling my legs.

"Haha, very funny Claude, you have outdone yourself this time around!" I was not smiling.

Claude looked at me with disbelief, "Wait, don't tell me you don't even know who saved you?" he chuckled.

I stifled a growl, was he being serious right now? I looked back again, in a faint hope that I would catch another glimpse of her but she was gone.

The party was back to full boom now and people were swaying and bobbing to the beat with plastic cups in their hands.

If I saw her again, would I even recognize her? I doubted it.

"Wow, Stephan, that's another level even for you," Claude added.

"Shut your mouth and go get me another drink!" I barked at him.

Claude giggled and then bowed mockingly, "Yes my alpha... to be." He laughed out loud and then ran off.

No one else would have gotten away with that but Claude was like a brother to me, we had been tight since childhood.

"Baby!" a worried voice came from behind.

I turned around.

"I warned you not to go, didn't I? I told you I had a bad feeling about it, now look at you," Vanessa put hands on my face and began turning it from side to side, her eyes wide with worry.

I grabbed her fingers and slowly brought her hands away from my face, "I am fine, okay... good as new, didn't even leave a scar!"

"Liar, let me see!" she pouted.

A naughty sneer formed on my lips, "You just want to see me naked," I said.

"Oh please! Like I haven't already seen it all before," she slapped my arm playfully, "Show me!"

I hiked up my shirt and pointed to my side which had a long lethal injury not so long ago, "See, no scar... Whoever that girl was, her blood healed me up so well."

Vanessa was staring at me and frowning, "Well, whoever she was, I'm sure your dad settled her fairly, you don't have to be drooling about it!"

I sighed and dropped my shirt down, "I'm not drooling!"

If that was really the girl that saved me, then I had fucked up badly with the way I treated her. I needed to remedy that.

"So what happened? How did you get injured," Vanessa was still looking at me, she slowly grabbed and squeezed my hand bringing me away from my thoughts back to the party and her.

"I'm sure you have heard all about it from Sophia and the rest of the gossips you call friends."

"That's not a nice thing to say about my girls," she pouted.

I sneered, "I didn't lie, did I?"

"I want to hear it from you," she said, avoiding the question.

"It was supposed to be a routine hunt but then we were attacked by warlocks, I got injured in the attack."

"Is that all? C'mon Stephan you always do this!"

"What? What more do you want to know?" I raised my hands in gesticulation.

"You are the alpha's son, no ordinary person can give you such an injury, what really happened."

I walked past her then stopped, "I don't know what you want me to say, Nessa. Maybe I got careless."

She nodded, "Maybe you got careless..." she repeated, "Fine, be that way," she turned and bumped into me as she stormed off.

"Hey Nessa," Claude waved as he approached with two plastic cups.

She ignored him and kept walking.

He whistled after her, checking her out before looking at me, he shook his head, "I don't know why they keep coming back, I mean, what do they see in you?"

He handed me a cup.

I took it and downed it quickly, "Was that really her, man?"

"Who? Oh, you mean your savior? Yeah man... that was really her!"

"Damn it!" I clenched my fist, "You should have told me, man!"

"Chill, she is a nobody, why are you getting worked up?"

Claude was right, by her clothes and the way she carried herself, she was a nobody, why was I getting worked up?

"I need to find her, man," I said, handing the empty cup back to him and taking his drink.

He scoffed, then looked at me, his eyes narrowed, "You are serious?"

There was a sudden surge within me and then my heart started beating intently, my breath became labored.

Claude got to me in seconds, "What's wrong man, you are scaring me."

I held onto his shoulder for support, "I have to find her!" I repeated and then pushed him aside and stumbled out of the party.

"Stephan!" Claude shouted after me for a while but when I didn't stop he gave up.

I didn't know what it was, it felt like I was scared, my body was showing symptoms of fear but my mind was telling me that there was nothing around to be scared of, what the hell was going on?

All I knew despite the disconnection between my mind and body was that I needed to find that girl... I could feel it, the answers that I needed lay with her.

A gust of wind blew and with it came a strange scent. I caught a whiff of it, it was feminine, I could tell and I had a strong feeling that it was hers and that it would lead me to her.  So I began following it, moving as fast as I could.

I came just in time to see her talking with a tall... handsome gentleman.

I paused in the woods and looked on.

He was standing too close to her, for some reason, it made my blood boil.

"From today, you are mine," he said to her.

Before I could process what that meant, he kissed her under the moonlight!