VIOLET

“Why not just do the world a favor and die, you ugly bitch!”

If I could count the amount of times I had been told that, I’d probably get tired at some point and just call it quits.

It was something that all my pack members had never hesitated to repeat over and over again. The man who had pushed me to the wall sent me an ugly sneer before letting out a huff and walking away.

I should be used to such treatment by now. It shouldn’t be something that affected me anymore. And yet, I couldn’t fight back the tears that spilled down my cheek.

I bit my lip, lowering my head and walking up the flight of stairs. It was better to keep my head down till I reached my room; no point in angering any more pack members.

I was lucky to be done with all my work for the day. The main house was already clean and all the house chores had been done.

When I shut the door of my room behind me, I let out a sigh I never knew I’d been holding.

My whole body ached from working all morning. The sun was already setting when I looked out the window.

My room was a calmer term for the broom closet. I’d changed it into a make-shift room. It wasn’t all that small if you squint really hard.

It was near the toilet so it was near impossible to ignore the horrible stench that filled the room whenever someone used the toilet.

I let myself fall back on the mattress, a sigh escaping my lips as I did. I tried to push back all the thoughts that threatened to surface.

My life up until this point wasn’t really much to talk about. Except for the bullying and torture that I’d faced at the hands of my pack, West Creak Pack. It was a really big pack that held esteem over all the other packs.

To the outside world, they were a pack that cared about the well-being of their pack members and always did their best to make sure that everybody was alright.

All a lie.

Behind closed doors, they were a pack of hungry wolves that devoured the weak without a single sliver of remorse. Unfortunately, I fell under the bracket of the weak.

I had lost my mother at birth. My father had fled, abandoning me without a single thought. That was the day my suffering started. It had continued till now.

I shook my head, trying to push out all the thoughts that threatened to surface and consume me completely.

Today was the day of the mating ceremony. The mating ceremony was always held on the last full moon of the year.

It seemed it had come far sooner than I had initially anticipated. My heart beat sped up at the thought of finally finding a mate. I tried to push back my excitement.

For years now, I’d held onto the hope that I could finally find the one who was meant for me; my mate.

Every year, the hope would be dashed as I ended up being the one left behind. It only added to the mockery I faced at the hands of my pack members. They liked seeing me tormented each year.

Not anymore.

“It’ll be different this time around. I might finally find my mate.” I said, trying to convince myself more than anything.

It seemed like an impossible dream but I knew I had to hold onto the hope. What would be the point of giving up so easily?

I took in a deep breath and got up from the bed. I grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom, making sure to scrub myself clean.

Once I was done with my shower, I made my way out of the bathroom. I headed straight for the small makeshift closet I had and rummaged through it for what to wear.

I pulled out the only presentable gown I had and put it on. It was a baby pink gown that was just barely that went all the way to my ankles. It wasn't a perfect fit but it would do.

Once I was done with that and satisfied with my appearance, I made my way downstairs and outside the house where the mating ceremony would take place.

It had been beautifully decorated with various lights and steamers strung to give the venue an aesthetic and pleasing vibe. I stood in a corner and bopped my head to the low beat of the music.

There were already so many people here and I didn't really feel like interacting with them.

“Yes. I, Liana Frey, accept you as my mate.” I turned my head just in time to see a girl pull her newly found mate into a hug.

My heart ached as the thought of never finding my mate crossed my mind. Was I forever doomed to never find my mate?

” Esteemed members of West Creak Pack.”

I raised my head to see the Alpha of the pack addressing everyone. Tristan Black was the Alpha of the pack and the embodiment of Adonis himself. As far as beauty was concerned, he had the body and face of a Greek God.

“In this mating ceremony, may the goddess bless us with our other half.”

Everybody clapped and cheered at his words. I found myself clapping too, unable to take my eyes away from him.

All of a sudden, it felt like the whole world stopped. All I could see and hear was him. He had turned in my direction as well, unable to take his eyes off me.

I didn't realize when I slowly started making my way towards him. I stopped when I was just a few feet away from him.

Mate

My wolf wouldn't stop howling the word in my ears. This was it. I had finally found my mate at long last.

I didn't expect the next words that left his mouth.

“I, Tristan Black, reject you as my mate.”

VIOLET

There was no single remorse on his face as he said those words. I wondered how someone could reject you without even looking like he cared at all.

My mouth remained open as no words would come out. This couldn’t possibly be happening. Why was he doing this to me?

It felt like my heart was being shattered into thousands of pieces and there was nothing I could do about it.

“W-What?” The words left my mouth in a stutter.

“You heard me. I don’t want you as my mate. The sooner you get that into your head, the better.” He looked at me with disgust, written all over his face.

If looks could kill, I’d probably underneath the earth. I wondered why he was looking at me with such hatred in his eyes.

Like I was some vermin that had crawled from hell. I felt like collapsing into a puddle. This couldn’t be happening.

“You heard what he said.” A voice said from the crowd.

I watched as the slut of the pack, Sienna, gingerly walked up to meet us. Tristan’s eyes were set on her, watching her every move as she stopped before him. I watched as she snaked her arms around him.

Her long black hair fell to the small of her back. Her lashes seemed to flutter the more she stared at Tristan.

She was looking at him with hearts in her eyes. I felt like throwing up. It was all so disgusting.

He wrapped his hands around her face. I couldn’t help but watch in remorse as she crashed her lips against his.

He let out a hum as he fervently kissed her back, both of them oblivious to the stares of the crowd around there.

With each second I stood and watched them, it was another second that my heart seemed to shatter into pieces even more and more.

They didn’t care that I was standing right there before them or that my whole world was crumbling right before my very eyes.

They finally stopped after what seemed like forever. Tristan turned to regard me, his face twisting in disgust.

“I could never accept the reject as my mate.”

He pulled away from Sienna and turned back to me, disgust creeping back on his face. I could tell whatever he was going to say again would shatter me completely.

My heart thrummed violently against my chest. I didn’t think I could take another onslaught of it. Unfortunately, he didn’t look like he cared much.

“I don’t like you. I have never liked you. I will never like you. As a matter of fact, we don’t need a retch like you in this pack.” He closed the distance between us.

He was so close; I swore I could feel his breath on me. The whole place erupted into murmurs of agreement. I looked around, wondering if there was anybody, anyone at all that would come to my aid.

What I saw was something I expected…it didn’t make it hurt any less though. They were all looking at me with disgust written all over their faces.

They didn’t care one bit. I bit my lip, my body trembling with both heartbreak and anger.

All this while, I had suffered through nothing but pain. Yet, they had decided to pay me back this way.

After everything I had endured from them. Tristan had noticed my trembling and was staring at me.

“I won’t take it.” My voice was low, I barely even heard myself.

“What?” Tristan asked.

“I said I won’t take this.” I whipped my head up to glare at him. “You think you can just do this to me? After everything I’ve been through?”

I pointed at every single one of them present, the rage welling up in me the more I looked at their pathetic faces.

I refused to accept their mistreatment any longer. They thought it was okay to treat me however they liked. Like hell, I’d accept that.

“You call yourself an Alpha. Yet you remained silent and watched them all treat me this way. You let them do this to me. You let them bully and punish me. You let them treat me like a maid and all for what, huh? Because my parents aren’t here anymore? Is that it?”

My rage would not be caged or controlled anymore. Something in me wanted to stop and just cower into a corner but I was done doing that.

I would not remain silent in the face of this injustice any longer. I turned back to Tristan, my eyes burning with hate and anger

“You might call yourself an Alpha but you’re nothing but a fucking coward.”

For a split moment, I was happy that I had let out all the things I wanted to say. Immediately, I started to wish I hadn’t said that.

The hard look on his face let me know that I had definitely stepped on the wolf’s tail.

Before I even had any time to react, my face whipped to the side and I collapsed on the ground. Tristan had just slapped me. I looked up to see him glaring down at me like I was some ant beneath his shoe.

“You really had fun running your mouth like the bitch you are, huh?”

He spat on me before proceeding to kick me in the stomach. I let out a pained yelp, my eyes fluttering close as the pain seemed too much to bear.

“Morris! Jay! Grab her.” Tristan ordered.

Just as I opened my eyes, two male pack members grabbed me and hefted me up to my feet. I was now staring Tristan straight in the eye.

“Since you’ve proven that you’re not worthy of all the kindness we’ve shown you in this pack, I thought of doing you a favor.”

My eyes widened as my heart rate sped up. I had a feeling I already knew what was coming.

“From this day onward, you are no longer a member of West Creak Pack.”

It was then, I felt my world crashing down. I didn’t bother fighting the darkness that consumed me.

VIOLET

My eyes fluttered open, the rays of sunlight falling on my face. It made it hard to fall back asleep.

It felt like someone had put sandbags on my eyelids. It was so hard getting them to open but eventually I did.

It took some time before my eyes finally adjusted to the light. With a groan, I pushed myself up into a sitting position and looked around. I was on the floor outside the main house.

I looked back at the tall building that had served as my home and prison for twenty-two years. The torture and torments I had endured in that house wasn’t something I liked thinking about.

All of a sudden, memories of the previous night began to flood my mind. I clutched my chest, feeling like my heart was going to give out.

It was still hard to believe that all of it had happened. I had been painfully rejected. The worst part was that he had embarrassed and humiliated me before the whole part.

I took in a shaky breath and got up to my feet with a few groans. There was no point in hating myself over what happened.

I didn’t regret a single word of what I had said last night. I meant every single one of it.

I would no longer take the horrible treatments of the pack members. What happened was very clear.

Tristan had made his choice very clearly and decided who he wanted to choose over me. The battle line had been drawn and I would not be succumbing.

“Mark my words Tristan Black. I will make you pay for everything you made me endure.” I swore to myself.

I made my way to the back of the house where I knew the window to my room would be. I looked around and my eyes landed on the tree.

I looked down at what I was wearing. I was still in yesterday’s gown. It would be impossible to climb with it.

I began to rip at the seams until I knew I would be able to freely climb up. It was a shame I had to ruin the only beautiful gown I had but I knew it was necessary.

Taking in a deep breath, I began climbing the tree.

It took some time before I finally made it to the branch that extended all the way to my window.

I looked around, making sure no one was watching me. It was still pretty early in the morning so most of the pack members would still be asleep by now.

I crawled into the room through the open window and landed less than gracefully. There was no time to waste.

The rest of the pack would be waking up any minute from now. I quickly took off the gown, grabbing a shirt and some black jeans before putting them on.

Grabbing the bag and packing most of my essentials into it was easy. Once I was done, I put on my hoodie and flipped the hood over my head.

Standing by the window, I took one final glance at my room. Blowing out a breath, I got out of the window and climbed down the tree with my bag still in hand. I landed on the ground with a small thud. I quickly looked around, making sure no one saw me.

“We’re good. We’re good.” I tried to reassure myself as I bolted for the forests.

It wasn’t all that far from the main house and soon enough, I had made it there. I looked back, the houses already in a far distance. My heart thrummed in my chest as the thought of what I was doing echoed in my head.

It was for the best. I deserved this. I needed to do it for myself. I let out a breath before turning and heading deeper into the forest.

All my senses where on alert as I walked through the forest. I didn’t have a phone that I could use so it only made my journey the more difficult.

My main aim was to find someone that could help me beat Tristan Black. When I thought about getting revenge, there was only one person that came to mind. The one person that I knew Tristan hated with every single cell in his body.

Alpha of rival Dark Moon Pack, Lucian Sinclair.

He was well known as a monster among wolves, with a ruthless reputation and a knack for defeating his enemies in the most brutal way possible. Was I sure if I could even find him? How was I sure he would even agree to help me?

I pushed away all the insecure thoughts and focused on my goal. I had to have faith that I could find him.

I had a map that would direct me where I was headed. I took multiple stops and breaks, occasionally foraging the forest for some food.

I would then get up and continue my journey. This continued for almost five days. By the fifth day I was already tired of everything.

It was as if my mission wasn’t yielding any success at all. I could feel myself on the verge of giving up. What was the point in doing anything?

By now, West Creak must have realized my absence. I tried not to think about it as I forced myself to trudge on.

It was already late afternoon and I had barely even eaten anything all day. I decided to rest against a tree when I felt my feet were about to give out. This was all so hard.

It was hard holding on to my resolve with each passing day. I could feel myself slipping further and further.

Would this even work? What if I even succeeded in finding Lucian? Who’s to say he would even help me?

I was still deep in though when a howl made me freeze. After some seconds two more howls followed the first one.

My body tensed as I already knew what it could mean. There was only one possible meaning to those howls.

Rogues.