Chapter 1 : Thrice Rejected

**Kora

“I accept your rejection.”

A searing pain suffused my cheek after I said the words. I knew a third scar had just appeared, showing I had been rejected as a mate three times. It’s a curse, for those who went against the will of Moon Goddess.

For those who were unwanted.

Warm blood trickled down my cheek down to my jawline as the occupants of the ballroom—a flurry of fated mate hopefuls—began tittering around me. I was not dressed in anything resembling the finery the other women had donned for the occasion. I wasn’t there to be mated at the ball.

I was only there as a guardian, a warrior for the pack.

Maybe I was worthy for everything, but no, not a mate of Family Hale.

Mason Hale, the Alpha of the Blackfoot Pack, gave a nod, his chin raised a bit with wounded pride.

I couldn’t blame him. I was the daughter of a pack traitor. Which was how I was in this situation to begin with. I was a warrior, an Omega unfit for mating.

“She’s less than worthless,” Giselle, a former friend, simpered, going to Mason’s side. “I can’t believe the Moon Goddess could have found it in her wisdom to even suggest she be your mate. What a cosmic joke.”

I shrugged it off. Giselle was only saying what everyone was thinking. “By your leave, Alpha,” I said, giving a small bow and starting to leave them to their commiseration.

“Wait.” Hale’s Alpha order froze me where I stood. I couldn’t have moved if I wanted to.

“Yes, Alpha?” I asked, wishing he’d just let me quickly go to the buffet table for a napkin. At this point, I was dripping blood on the floor, and I could just feel the house staff Omegas’ eyes boring into the back of my head.

“You are forgetting something.” Then Hale turned to those gathered. They stopped laughing immediately, not wanting their Alpha to think they were laughing at him.

“The rejection ceremony will take place in two weeks.”

What he said reminded me. Yes, just like my first mate who’s an alpha and rejected me as well. Different from other werewolves, if an alpha wants to reject the mate, he or she needs to hold a rejection ceremony, otherwise the rejection will not be fully completed.

“I will vow before the Moon Goddess to reject this mate. That is all. Please enjoy the rest of the ball.” He simply said.

Giselle clung to Hale’s arm as he made a move to leave. “Don’t let that unworthy b*tch ruin your good time, Alpha. Enjoy the rest of the ball with us.” She batted her eyelashes at him.

‘With me, more like,’ I thought to myself, resisting the urge to chuckle. Giselle didn’t change at all, she had been after Hale since we were kids.

When we were friends.

I turned to Hale. “Alpha? Might I go now? I understand the ceremony is to be in two weeks. As always, I am at your disposal. Just tell me when and where and I will be there.”

Hale didn’t even spare an eye contact and turned around directly, leaving me behind without a second thought, which made Giselle chuckled happily.

But next second, he stopped and jerked his chin in the direction of the buffet table. He still didn’t say anything, but I knew it meant “go clean yourself up.”

I pretended not seeing others’ glaring and hurried to the buffet table. Not only had I sullied the hardwood, but I was sure I must have quite a stain on my uniform now as well. The house staff was going to be incensed, and I was going to suffer for it.

As I dabbed a napkin over my new scar, I could still hear Giselle wheedling at Hale to stay. “But Hale-y-boo,” Giselle pouted. “The ball won’t be nearly as fun without you.”

“I’ve had quite enough, Giselle,” Hale grunted, and somehow managed to extricate his arm from her grasp.

I was sure he meant he’d had enough of HER, not just the ball. But Giselle let it whoosh right over her head.

“Aww, Hale-y-boo, don’t be like that,” she whined.

I covered my lips with the napkin to keep from laughing at the disgusted look on Hale’s face when he turned away from Giselle. Maybe he thought no one would see, but I did.

“No,” Hale said. “I’m leaving. Have a good time, Giselle. Hopefully, you’ll meet your mate.” He then made as quick an exit as he could. He was Alpha, after all. It was hard for him to simply disappear without a word.

Giselle was disappointed. And angry. Very angry.

I knew she was angry because she rounded on me immediately. “You stupid b*tch! You ruined everything!” Giselle hissed in my ear after marching my way.

Giselle looked at the buffet table, then picked up a glass of red wine and poured it on my uniform. “Oops,” she snickered. “I didn’t see you there.”

Yes, the house staff were going to murder me in my sleep. Or drop spiders in my bed. Though, perhaps this time they’d get more creative.

I simply picked up another napkin and began blotting at the stain.

Not satisfied with my response, Giselle took a quick look around, then subtly kicked one set of table legs out from under the buffet table.

Wine glasses shattered, and silver plates and platters bounced everywhere. Food sloshed and rolled across the floor.

Giselle plastered on a wide-eyed, innocent face and brought her hands to her mouth. “Kora, what have you done?! Just because ALPHA HALE rejected you, doesn’t mean you should go destroying things!”

I squeezed my eyes shut and sighed in my heart. I was in for it now.

The crowd came over and yelled at me.

“You idiot! How can you ruin the Alpha’s things this way? You’re lower than dirt. You’re not worthy to be in the Blackfoot Pack, yet the Alpha’s family allows you to stay! THIS is how you repay them?!” one roared right in my face.

I took a small step back quietly. The eardrop I was wearing was a new one Shawn made for me, I didn’t want any saliva on it.

Giselle didn’t notice my little trick and smirked, lapping it all up.

“She’s so hopeless. I don’t know why they bother to keep her,” a friend of Giselle’s said, fanning the flames.

“She’s not just hopeless,” Giselle announced. “She’s a coward! If it weren’t for me, the whole pack might have been destroyed today! I found scouts from another pack sniffing about—”

When Giselle had shrieked and run away, and I found those scouts.

“—and Kora just ran away! I alerted the perimeter guard—”

Smack!

A sharp slap was thrown at my bleeding face. The wound split open and blood instantly stained my clothes and Giselle’s hand.

“Does it hurt?”  Giselle chuckled, flung the blood onto the floor and kicked me to the ground. “Lick the floor clean!”

“By your order. Beta Giselle.” I looked into her eyes stilly.

I wasn’t stupid enough to shrug in the middle of a mob that was just missing pitchforks, but honestly, I didn’t really care. I didn’t really care if I was pissed, if I was humiliated, if I was…rejected.

This was a daily occurrence for me. I just happened to be standing in a larger group than usual.

Besides. Lowering my eyelids, I hoped my emotionless mask was still working as well as usual.

Until I got what I wanted, it was not wise to infuriate them.

“Hey, Kora.” Shawn Norman, a fellow traitor’s child, came walking over to me. The crowd parted like the seas, obviously amazed he’d dared to speak.

He ignored the others and gave me a bright smile. We were equals, after all. “Why don’t you let me take the rest of your shift, and you take mine later? Looks like you need a change of clothes.”

My eyes shining with gratitude, even though I couldn’t smile back, I gave a quick nod and quick-marched out of the ballroom.

I heard the music strike up again behind me. With their favorite entertainment gone, I guess dancing was back on the menu.

With stealth born of years of trying not to be seen or heard, I dodged any encounters with angry house staff and made my way toward a servant’s entrance at the back of the mansion.

Diana, another familiar face, ducked out of the kitchen, full vodka bottle in hand. “I heard about what was going on, so I sent Shawn in,” the housekeeper whispered to me, pressing the vodka into my hand. “Here. Take this. Go relax.”

She paused for a moment, rubbing my back. “We all know you are the best warrior, Bloody Kora. Forget these people.”

“I already have,” I said with the slightest of smiles.

The nervous creature bobbed her head and scurried back into the kitchen.

***

I went out the side door with the vodka.

It took less than fifteen minutes to reach my destination, loping along on my long legs. I didn’t shift, but I was still pretty fast without becoming a wolf.

The cliffs were tall, sheer, sandstone, and beautiful. I come here often to rest, relax, and think. Not that there was much to think about today. Fourteen years. A full fourteen years had passed since the bloody night my kind father rebelled. I was almost there, so close to the goal.

Mated to the Alpha? Please.

Unscrewing the bottle cap, I sat down in the grass and swung my legs over the edge of the cliff. I was just about to take a pull from the bottle when I heard a noise behind me.

Thump. Thump. THUMP.

I turned my head, blinking as a large, black wolf came barrelling toward me.

“What in the—?!” I gaped, setting the bottle down and scrambling to my feet.

Before I could shift, the black wolf leaped into the air. When he landed, he was a man again.

It was Alpha Mason Hale.

“What…” he snarled at me.

His naked upper body pressed against my soaking wet top, hot breathing brushing against my neck. He grabbed my wrist so tight, as if I was about to fall off the cliff, as if the cold Alpha at the ball was an illusion.

“What in the ROYAL HOLY do you THINK you are DOING?!”

Chapter 2 : Off a Cliff

**Kora

“What am I—?”

Hale cut me off, yanking me into his chest so hard I bumped my nose against his collarbone. “Nothing is ever so hopeless that you need to do THIS, Kora Monroe!”

Do…what? I was nearly suffocating against his skin. He smelled nice—like soap and sage. I felt his warmth through my shirt, and was terribly, terribly aware that he was quite fit.

And quite naked after shifting.

“It’s just a rejection. You’ve had two already. It’s not any reason to kill yourself,” Hale scolded me, finally giving me enough room to breathe. He looked down at me, chaotic darkness in his eyes but a scowl on his face. He turned to pick up his boxer shorts that were lying behind him from before he’d shifted and slid them on.

The way he spoke to me, I was reminded of the days when we were younger when his father had still been alive. We’d been best friends, but I didn’t miss it.

A nervous laugh escaped me. It was all just too ridiculous. “Alpha, I’m not here to kill myself.”

Hale wasn’t listening, or he didn’t believe me. His eyes turned to be furious. “Monroe!”

I lifted my shoulders in a shrug, and the vodka nudged against his hip.

Hale looked down and snarled. He snatched the bottle from me and shook it in my face. “What is this? You’re a guardian, for Goddess’s sake. You’re not supposed to be drinking!”

“My shift is over, Alpha,” I sighed, a headache forming behind my eyes. “I just got rejected again today. It’s painful.”

Painful. As I said it, I suddenly realized that this was not an excuse. Yes, it’s painful.

I always knew that, but pretended not to. Was it the sudden concern that made me vulnerable?

“Then you should bear it.” Hale’s eyes were cold as ice, so was his deep voice. “Bear the pain you deserved. And stay here. Forever!”

“Yes, I am.” I smiled, and carefully extricated myself from his arms. “Alpha, maybe it’s best you just leave me alone.”

Hale studied my face, but as usual, it was blank. I gave nothing away these days and didn’t care to. Emotion was a weapon that could be turned to be used against you.

“You want me to leave you alone,” Hale said slowly, “while you’re standing at the edge of a cliff.”

“I was sitting on the edge of a cliff,” I deadpanned. “Now, I’m standing on the edge of a cliff.”

“Two more inches and you would have been laying at the bottom of a cliff,” Hale snapped.

“Guess those are two important inches, then,” I said. I looked at the vodka in Hale’s hand and knew there was no chance of me getting it back. Pity.

Hale must have seen me eyeing the alcohol because he shoved it behind his back. “Go back to the Cave,” he ordered.

As it was an Alpha’s order, I couldn’t resist it if I wanted to. I nodded and started in the direction of the mansion.

“Monroe,” Hale said, stopping me for the second time that evening.

“Yes, Alpha?” I inquired.

“A traitor,” the silver moonlight reflected in Hale’s deep eyes, “is not permitted to kill herself.”

I gave him what I thought might be a reassuring smile, even though I didn’t owe him that. “No, Alpha.”

Hale’s features somehow became shuttered.

But I had the distinct impression he didn’t believe me.

***

The next week was strange to say the least. From the time I gave Hale a lackluster reassurance about having no intention of committing suicide, he suddenly began popping up in my vicinity much more often than usual. Drill, patrol, and even kitchen work seemed to have become suddenly interesting to him.

It was a relief to find myself a spot on the riverbank as I was resting on patrol. Though the river was dangerously deep, it flowed quietly. Still, kids in the pack were forbidden to come here. I thought I was alone, but then the foliage rustled.

I was instantly on my feet, ready to do battle. Only it was Hale’s Beta, Eddie Brookfield.

“Stand down,” Brookfield said.

I lowered my defenses. “Beta Brookfield?”

Brookfield walked down to the water, examining it, then my bare feet, then my boots a few feet to my left. “The river had been requisitioned by Alpha Hale for his own private use. You will need to leave.”

I blinked at him. “I apologize, Beta. Does… does Alpha Hale want the… the whole river?”

“Yes,” Brookfield responded. “Gather your things and go.”

I swallowed my frustration and pulled on my boots, chalking this up as just another in a litany of indignities I was supposed to endure in this life. I didn’t even spare Brookfield a sigh. I simply gathered my things and left.

The following day, we were practicing drills in a field near the mansion. I was paired up with Shawn, which was a nice change.

Unfortunately, during our sparring, I cut my finger.

Shawn apologized profusely and offered to bind up the wound, but was called away to spar with someone else.

I turned to face my next opponent, ignoring my bleeding finger, when Beta Brookfield showed up again.

“Beta?” I asked, staring into the wide wall of his chest.

“You’re hurt,” he said. “Go to the medical wing and get that looked at.”

“I…” I looked down at my finger in confusion. “Beta, it’s just a very small cut—”

“Did that SOUND like a suggestion?” Brookfield barked at me.

I straightened up. “No, sir!”

“Where are you going?” Brookfield tested me.

“The medical wing, sir!” I said obediently.

“Good. I’m glad we understand each other. The whole team of doctors are waiting for you.” Brookfield raised an expectant eyebrow at me.

I turned quickly on my heel and all but ran to the medical wing.

As I sat on a cot with a frowning doctor binding up my finger, I mulled over the events of the last week.

“Take better care of yourself,” the doctor grumbled when he finished. “I don’t want to catch hell from the Alpha again.”

Catch hell? Something truly bizarre was going on. Did Hale really think I was suicidal?

I really shouldn’t have cared. On most levels, I really was indifferent. What did I care what Mason Hale thought or didn’t think?

But a little imp in me, confused over being monitored this way, took my feet to the library in the middle of the night. Hale left it free for public use.

There was one old man there, reading under a green lamp at a wooden table. He glanced at me as I searched along the shelves for something that would prove my theory.

I pulled down a copy of “One Hundred Suicide Puzzles,” tucked it under my arm, and wandered out.

Sure enough, the next day, the whole shelf where I’d gotten the book from had been cleared.

The old man was still there—or there again—his eyes following my every move.

“No books on suicide, huh?” I asked.

“No,” he said coldly. “The Alpha decided they were dangerous.”

Dangerous. To me. “Thank you,” I said, going back out the way I came.

When I got to the room I shared with another female guardian, I felt something was amiss. Things on the dresser had moved slightly. Drawers were just barely ajar. And I was not surprised to find that my bed had been remade—and the book was gone.

“I can’t believe he actually cares,” I mumbled to myself, confused.

“THERE you are!” came an unwelcome, nasally voice.

I turned to the doorway and saw Giselle standing there with her hands on her hips.

“If Alpha Hale knew you were such a lazy slug, he’d have words for you,” Giselle went on. “Obviously, someone needs to tell you what to do with your time.”

I was on my one-hour-long break for lunch, which Giselle would have known, but I didn’t say anything.

“Well?” Giselle said. “Hurry up and come with me!”

I followed Giselle out of my room and down to the kitchen.

Giselle gestured at a heaping pile of dishes. “Do these.”

Do these. The dishes were Giselle’s responsibility. Dishes she’d clearly let pile up for two days while she did Goddess only knew what.

“Hurry up,” Giselle said with a nasty grin, folding her arms.

Apparently, she intended to watch. I didn’t say anything, and rolled up my sleeves, starting the water. No interest in arguing with a twenty-five-year-old kid.

“Ugh, you are so useless,” Giselle complained when it took me too long to fill the sink.

“Why do they even bother to keep you around?” she added when I took too long scrubbing dried-on two-day-old scum off a plate.

“You’re not even trying. Put your back into it!” Giselle snapped when I couldn’t get all of the baked-on greases off a pot.

I scrubbed some more, but it was hopeless. The staining was old—older than two days, probably older than two years.

“You are one dumb b*tch. You can’t even scrub a pot properly,” Giselle said snidely, though she did not offer to come over and help.

I finally set the pot aside and reached for a knife.

Giselle grabbed me roughly by my hair. “You’re not finished with that pot!”

I jumped and felt the knife touch my wrist.

Then there was a crash, and Giselle was gone, replaced by a hand wrapped solidly around the wrist of the hand that was holding the knife, so hard my bones creaked and rubbed together.

“Drop it,” Hale said.

Chapter 3 : Leaving

**Kora

I dropped the knife, and it hit the dirty dishwater with a final plunk.

Only then did Hale let go. “Honestly, Monroe. I didn’t take you for a coward, like your father. Stabbing my father in the back after all those years of serving him loyally. Stabbing him in the back!”

I took a step back and didn’t answer. I’d heard this story many times before, but Hale seemed determined to tell it again.

“Your father let Lyle slither into our packlands with an army that decimated us! Do you even remember how many lives were lost beating him back?!” Hale took a step forward.

I slightly turned my head, averting my eyes from meeting his.

“And now you want me to feel sorry for you? Watch you kill yourself?!” Hale shook his head. “You are unbelievable. Weren’t we friends once? How could you do this?! Are you determined to make me suffer as your father made this pack suffer?! Don’t you think HE made me suffer enough?!”

Even till now, as long as I shut my eyes, the world dropped dead, only the bloody moon that night up in the scarlet sky. Cries. Screams. Shouts. Blood. Blood. Blood.

Under the bloody moon, I’d sworn that day. No matter what it would take, I would sacrifice all I had to take revenge, for those dead souls who couldn’t rest in peace, for their families who were still drowning in sorrow.

They must pay. I was on Hale’s side. The culprits who caused all these tragedies must pay.

But……The first time today, I looked into Hale’s eyes. My father had been beaten back along with Lyle’s pack. He was with them now.

‘Papa, please tell me. Were you really involved?’

“F*ck.” Hale stepped away from me.

I didn’t speak, hoping he would be the one who couldn’t tolerate the dead silence first, and leave me alone.

Honestly, the current position was a bit weird. Alpha Hale was known for his taciturnity and dominant, and it’s true that he seldom made mistakes. It’s been a long time to see him acting in a such emotional way like today.

“So, this is your answer.” Hale laughed while gritting his teeth, “You’re not gonna say a word.”

“What do you expect me to say, Alpha?” I slowly lifted my eyelids, “I will say whatever you want me say.”

However, what he said next immediately tore off my mask of pretended indifference.

Hale looked deeply at me and announced. “I’m exiling you after the rejection ceremony. I’m not going to deal with this. Whatever you do after the ceremony makes no difference to me, or this pack.”

My heart pounded. Exile? That would completely ruin my plans. It hadn’t even occurred to me that he might exile me! Children of traitors were meant to be warriors in the pack and die protecting it. I’m sure that Hale knew this. Exile was unheard of.

“With all due respect, Alpha, I would rather not be exiled,” I remained calm. “It is my duty to protect the pack. I have no intention of abandoning that duty.”

Hale stepped closer, I could feel his gaze from above.

Next second, he lifted my chin, forcing me to look at him.

“You want to kill yourself in the pack conflict.”

An assertive sentence, but not a question. He already had a conclusion.

All these years, I couldn’t quite believe the man whose gentle face still lingered in my mind had really betrayed Hale’s father, the former Alpha. I was desperate to find answers to the mystery that remained—namely, why? Why had he done what he did? If I was exiled from the pack, I would never find out.

“I prefer not to be exiled,” I repeated.

Then Hale had both my wrists, and pulled me close to his chest. We stared at each other, breathing each other’s air. “So this is your plan? Kill yourself before the ceremony, on the battlefield or by the blade, or maybe off the edge of a cliff, huh? You want to destroy my wolf, is that it?”

“Pain?” I furrowed, trying to free my wrist.

“Don’t you know, as my mate, every time you try to hurt yourself, you cause me pain?!”

I couldn’t help but blink my eyes.

There was no logic in what Hale just said, now he looked like a kid losing temper just because he didn’t get what he wanted.

“I’m sorry for your pain,” I apologized no matter if his words were true, deciding to end this conversation by myself.

“But it won’t be a problem much longer. I won’t be a problem much longer. In two weeks, there is the rejection ceremony, and our bond will be severed. Then you will care nothing for me, and I can… Alpha, I’m not suicidal. Don’t you want me to disappear from your life? Isn’t that what the rejection ceremony is all about?”

“Disappear from my life?” Hale repeated, somehow, I thought his eyes darkened though I didn’t know why.

“Yes, disappear from your life,” I reiterated impatiently. “You won’t need to worry about me. Honestly, Alpha, if you are so concerned about me, why reject me at all?” I gestured to the third scar on my face—HIS scar.

He didn’t say anything, but the silence was already an answer.

“Exactly,” I said. “I’m the daughter of a traitor. I couldn’t possibly be your Luna. I will always be unforgiven for what my father did. It is my fate to die for this pack, and it is your fate to lead it. That’s where we are.”

Hale looked to be on the edge of another tirade, so I tilted my head to the side and pretended to hear something.

“My leader is calling. I need to go, Alpha.” I stepped back from him, gently extricating my wrists from his grasp.

I didn’t understand his reaction. I didn’t understand my reaction. I couldn’t believe I’d spoken so forcefully to the Alpha of our pack, as though we were children and friends again. As though I had some right to speak to him.

I’d even dared to lie to him.

But when my hand was on the doorknob, I suddenly heard Hale’s voice again.

“You made your decision, and I will make mine.” He said.

“I’ve got to go,” I repeated, and this time, I didn’t look back.

***

I saw Giselle in the hall outside the kitchen, holding the back of her head. Her eyes flashed at me, but for once she didn’t say a thing. I wondered what had happened, but was still trying to make my escape, so I didn’t stop to ask.

Not that I would have, anyway. I was a traitor’s daughter and was not allowed of speaking to her first. Then there was also the fact that I’d long since stopped caring about her wellbeing.

I made my way back to my small quarters in the warriors’ section of the dormitory—often referred to as the traitors’ cave. It was dingy, not well-maintained, cold, and generally uncomfortable. A perfect place to put all the pack traitors.

My roommate was asleep. That seemed like a good idea to me. I’d missed my usual patrol by half an hour, speaking with Hale, and would be punished just as harshly whether I arrived late or not at all.

I closed my eyes, glad, at least, that I’d made my point clear. Any punishment was worth severing ties with Hale. I had things I needed to accomplish in this pack before I could even consider any “exile.” Hale’s hovering attention just made the task more difficult.

He wouldn’t come to me again, that I knew. After feeling the mate bond flare between us, he would know just as well as I did how dangerous his obsession was. I wouldn’t see him again until the rejection ceremony.

Now the only question left was whether or not I’d convinced him to let me stay.

With that lingering worry in my head, I closed my weary eyes.

I’d sleep on it. My father had always said, if you couldn’t find a solution right away, you should sleep on it.

He’d also said you should sleep on it before starting an argument. I hadn’t done that very well today, I supposed.

But at least this was the end of Mason Hale interfering in my life.

***

I didn’t know how long I slept. Our door banged open, and my roommate and I both jolted upright.

Mason Hale was standing in my doorway.

What did he want?

“Kora Monroe, get out of bed and come with me,” the butler standing next to him ordered.

With an obedient nod, I slid off of my cot and pulled on my boots.

I walked over to them, head bowed. “What is your will, Alpha?”

Hale didn’t answer. The butler did instead. “Stay out. You’re leaving.”

I frowned slightly. He couldn’t mean to exile me already. “Alpha, the ceremony will be next week…”

“Move,” the butler said.

I kept my eyes on the floor as I went to our two-drawer dresser and emptied my things out onto my bed.

As I began packing it, I noted the other maids who had arrived with the butler looking repulsed by me.

My eyes flicked up of their own accord to Hale, and our gazes met. There was definitely a burning… something… in Hale’s eyes. It created a funny feeling in my stomach I didn’t want to examine.

But when I was going to turn back to my suitcase, a man’s hand stopped me.

I turned around.

And met Hale’s cold eyes.

Chapter 4 : Never Come Back

**Kora

Mason Hale.

It’s a name taste bitter than wolfsbane.

If someone told me that one day I would be associated with suicide when I was eight, I would have laughed at him.

But Mason would punch him.

Though it’s sheepish to say that, I guess I was lovely…seriously speaking maybe quite lovely before all those things happened.

I was always on the way doing all sorts of crazy things at that age. And of course had always been up for trouble. But in that way, Mason had been my best friend, even though he was two years older than me. Well, he and Shawn. And Giselle.

Once it started, the past came flooding back.

There’s one time that we planned to dye our nanny’s hair black. Mason and I prepared a pail of black ink stolen from Alpha’s office and put it on the top of the door. So when nanny opened the door, a full well of black ink would toppled off the top and landed in her gray-streaked hair.

A long shadow fell over us when soaked nanny heaved a sigh of relief, and Mason and I both turned around.

Alpha James Hale was looking down at us with his arms folded.

“Father,” Mason squeaked.

“So,” Alpha James asked, looking from one of us to the other, “whose idea was this?”

“Mine!” I popped up, wanting to protect Mason from his father’s wrath. Not that Alpha James was particularly wrathful. I’d just never seen him so… mad.

Alpha James raised an eyebrow and turned to Mason. “Mason?”

“It was mine,” Mason blew out in a long breath.

“I thought so.” Alpha James turned to Nanny Roberta. “You can go ahead and go get yourself cleaned up, Mrs. Jones. I’ll handle these two.”

“James, did you see?!” the loud chortle of my father echoed down the hall. “The two little miscreants got ink all over Nanny Roberta! Remember when we put worms in Nanny Clara’s bed? I swear these two are almost rising to our level of gen—”

“Oswald,” Alpha James coughed as my father approached. “I was just thinking of how to punish our two miscreants right now.”

My father also coughed and put on a stern expression. “Yes, of course. Of course, yes, punishment.”

“It's bad, this young lady,” he cleared his throat, “I mean it's very very bad……”

……

But everything changed then.

Life was not easy to a traitor’s descendent, I didn’t believe much after that, except one. I believe I don’t deserve any forgiveness.

Even now, I could vividly remember the day that we’d been sent to the Traitor’s Cave. Everyone is pale, skinny, and emotionless. Chains shackled our feet. And that’s when I saw Mason from the corner of my eyes.

He was wearing all black, stood in the crowd with his mother who coldly eyed the traitors’ line. The boy yesterday seemed to have grown up as a man overnight.

Fierce and intense. I could feel his gaze fixed on me. I stood in the traitors’ line and looked straight ahead, pretended that I didn’t notice.

But just then, a woman’s gasp sounded first, then came the rapid footsteps of a boy. Mason wrenched himself from his mother's grasp and ran in my direction.

“MOVE! NOW!” It’s Mason's mother, Luna's hysterical squeal, “Put all those traitors into the CAVE!”

The guards, looking uneasy, began to push the line of traitors forward, urging us to move more quickly. Mason tried to push his way through the crowd, desperate to reach us.

The way he looked at me was as if I was never coming back. I was, indeed. I was going to be sent away, far, far away, away from our normal life, and away from the happy past. What’s meaning of chasing a traitor’s daughter now? Our lives had been different, though I did nothing. Pathetic. Kora. Pathetic.

He stretched his hand, trying to reach out to me – and he caught my wrist.

Almost instinctively.

I slapped his hand away.

The last thing I saw was Mason’s eyes widened in pain.

***

PRESENT TIME

I held Hale’s eyes - or he held mine - I wasn’t sure which. The look he gave me was so intense, I didn’t notice the maids wander into our room until I was summarily pushed away from my suitcase.

“Excuse me…” I furrowed, tried to figure out what's going on.

The maids ignored me, as did the butler. But Hale still had his intense gaze focused on me.

“Alpha. What is…?” I began, fearing the worst. He couldn’t exile me tonight. He just couldn’t. I didn’t have the truth I sought. I couldn’t just…

Hale raised an eyebrow at me.

“You will eat, live, and work by my side until the Rejection Ceremony takes place in a week. I won’t have the Moon Goddess frown on me or this pack because you take your life before I can properly reject you.”

He made the announcement nonchalantly as if he was talking about what the dinner menu was today.

Not that he was going to take a traitor by his side.

“Wh-?” I stuttered in disbelief.

I was relieved not to be exiled, of course, but…live with who?

But hold on. My eyes slightly widened.

If I were in the packhouse, I would be closer to places I could search for information on my father’s betrayal. Like Hale’s office…and the confidential files kept there.

Perhaps this was actually good fortune thrown my way at last?

I was too distracted by my own thoughts to see the maids had packed up more than just a suitcase. Startled as they passed me with all of my meager belongings, I looked back at Hale.

“Alpha, I only need a suitcase. I’m coming back here after the ceremony, after all,” I emphasized 'coming back' deliberately. If he was not going to exile me after the ceremony, I would probably get a positive response here.

There was a long pause. I couldn’t read the emotion in Hale’s eyes. But I could feel that something had shifted. Something I didn’t understand.

And the last cold gaze he landed on me sent shivers down my spine in an instant.

“You are not coming back here again.”