Chapter 2

Aria

The pain was undeniably excruciating. It suffocated me. It was killing me, little by little. My heart shredded into pieces as those words came out of his mouth. I couldn't help but cry as I digested those painful words.

Just when I thought the torment was over, he leaned down to kiss my sister in front of my face. I felt betrayed. My devastation couldn't be expressed in words. That hurt me a lot. How could they do this in front of me like I didn’t exist?

“There’s still a way to get him back, Aria. Tell him that he is wrong. Tell Adrian that we are not weak!” My wolf yelled at the back of my head. However, I silenced her as I didn't want her to take over without my prior knowledge.

“Wake up, Aria! We will lose our mate if you're not going to tell him the truth!"

My fist clenched as those words were uttered by my wolf, Cleo. I could feel her agony. She was in deep pain as well after witnessing our mate kissing another woman.

Cleo was already frantic, and she was begging me to speak up. But no words formed on my lips. Something stopped me from unveiling the truth to our mate about who we really are.

However, I had no plans of telling him the truth because he didn’t deserve that. He wasn’t entitled to that anymore after he hurt my feelings.

It was every werewolf’s dream to find their destined mate. At least, that was what I grew up to believe. I waited for him, dreamt of him, and longed for him. I waited for years to finally have a connection with him, only to be rejected like a worthless piece of shit.

Should I just accept this cup of suffering? Of course, not!

“Y-you can’t do this to me, Adrian!”

My legs trembled. I fell to the ground, kneeling in front of them, asking and waiting for whatever Adrian could respond to me. I was aware that my sister was prettier and more powerful than me, but would this be a valid reason to disobey the goddess's will?

Cassie looked at me with disdain. She rolled her eyes twice and cared less about how I begged the man she was trying to take away from me. I knew that in the first place, Cassie didn't treat me as a sister. She didn’t want to be associated with her regular-looking, weak, and unpopular sister.

“You, slut!  You’re really saying those things in front of me, huh?”

I was shocked by Cassie's sudden movement. She grabbed my hair and made me get up from kneeling on the ground. I was howling in pain when I felt my scalp stretch, almost to the point of tearing. My sister was fuming in rage.

”Cassie, please... It hurts. Stop it, please!" I begged for her to let go of me. And with every strike that she made, a buzzing sound rang in my ear. Cassie finally let go of me after a minute, throwing me onto the cold ground.

My gaze turned to Adrian, who remained unaffected, still standing in his position. I thought he was going to side with me after what Cassie did, or just to comfort me from my shameful beating, but he did not. Instead, he let my sister hurt me. He just watched like nothing was happening. And what was more painful? He even kissed my sister—the woman who attacked his mate.

I was enraged. My teeth gritted, fists clenched, and eyes darkened as anguish filled my heart. I rose to my feet to attack them, to make them feel the pain that I had gotten from them.

However, a strong hand stopped me from my plans. The rhythm of my heart raced when I recognized that familiar warmth of the man. Ash, my brother, was holding my hand above.

“What are you planning to do, Aria? Are you crazy? Why would you hurt our sister?"

Tears fell from my eyes when Ash asked me those questions. His cheeks turned pink, and I knew he was furious at that moment. However, his face softened as his gaze turned to my face. He let go of me, looking worried.

"Where did you get this? Who hurt you?" He asked worriedly, and I swallowed my saliva in fear.

"I was the one who smashed Aria's face, Ash. And believe me, I didn't do it on purpose."

Cassie spoke up, admitting what she did to me. But I was surprised when she began sobbing. Her green eyes were already filled with fake tears. I knew she was faking it because Ash was here.

“What's your reason for hitting our sister, Cassie? You shouldn't do that!“

I couldn't stop myself from smiling when I saw how Ash cared for me. Aside from Mom, Ash was the second person who treated me like family. He cared for me.

“Aria tried to destroy my relationship with Adrian, Ash." I was shocked by what she had said. Her evil face earlier turned into an innocent angel. “She tried to seduce Adrian, and when he rejected her and told her I was his girlfriend, she started attacking me!”

I could feel my mouth widen at the lies that Cassie told Ash. “It’s not true, Ash! Cassie is lying. I didn't attack her!" I explained myself, begging him to believe me.

“Just don't lie, Aria! You did that!“

“Shut up, Cassie! I wasn't lying.“

“Oh really—“

“The two of you! ENOUGH!“

Cassie and I shut our mouths when Ash's voice echoed in the whole area. We both knew our brother. It was not good to make him mad. And by staring at his face, Ash's aura darkened. He was gritting his teeth, and his eye color changed, threatening that anytime, his wolf would take over.

Ash looked at me, and I could feel my legs tremble. And then, he spoke. “You explain yourself, Aria.“

I gulped and gathered all the courage within my system as I explained myself to him.

“Adrian is my mate, Ash. I just learned about that early this morning.“

Ash opened his mouth widely as he heard those words. “What did you say, Aria?“

And I replied, “Adrian and I are mates. I'm not trying to seduce him as Cassie said. We just—“

Pak!

I could feel time stop after Ash's hands landed on my face. I couldn't believe he would do that to me. The only man whom I thought was my ally had also turned his back on me now.

“I know how desperate you are to find your mate, but you don't have to do this. Stop lying, will you?" He exclaimed, and then I bit my bottom lip to stop tears from flowing.

“I wasn't lying, Ash! Adrian and I are mates!” I shouted back.

Pak!

Ash smacked me in the face for the second time. My heart seemed to crash into pieces because of that.

“Talk again, or I'll beat you more!” I just cried at those painful words. I didn't talk, as no words would come from my mouth because of the extreme shock.

And then, Ash turned to Adrian. “Alpha, sorry for the trouble that my sister caused. Please tell me anything you want; I will be willing to be punished in her stead.”

“No worries, Ash. Just make sure that she won't bother me and Cassie anymore.” Adrian said, tapping his shoulder while planting a kiss on Cassie’s head.

Ash bowed his head. “Thank you for your kindness. I will make sure Aria will no longer cause you any trouble.” He left after that without looking at me.

I was hurt by what my brother did. But what could I do? He didn’t believe my words like he used to.

Cassie wrapped her hands around Adrian's waist, and Adrian did the same. My sister even smirked at me as they both walked away, leaving me in vain.

I slowly took a couple of steps backward, trying to process what had happened. I felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest. My wolf was howling in pain as well. I clung to the hope that this was just a bad dream, a nightmare that I would surely wake up from.

If my mate couldn’t love me, what more could I expect from the people around me?

So, I ran. No, I sprinted. I ran as fast as I could. I desperately wanted to get away from that place, from everyone, from everything.

I felt a cold brush of wind on my cheeks as I went deeper into the forest. I ran as long as there was land to brush my feet against.

I never prayed for an alpha or an alpha heir to be my mate. I couldn’t care less if he was an omega. All I wanted was a man who would love me for being me. The whole me. Only me. All of my flaws, all of my ugliness, all of my shortcomings. Everything about me.

But the moon goddess, once again, proved that she hated me. She had given me a cold-hearted man for a mate, who cared about nothing except for his status and position in the pack.

I ran through the forest with tears still falling from my eyes. Nothing could ever explain the pain that I felt right now.

I woke up feeling hopeful that I would finally have a taste of heaven with my mate. Too bad I got a heartbreaking rejection in return.