Once Rejected, Twice Wanted

Elena’s POV

I stand at the far end of the field, watching all the other werewolves train, morphing into their wolves from time to time. It felt like they were rubbing the fact that they had wolves in my face. Although I know that is not the case, I had no one to blame for my ill fate. My name is Elena Hanson, and I am a twenty-two-year-old werewolf.

Well, I don’t think I am fit to be called that, especially since I had no wolf at my age. I was seen as a witch who was cursed by the moon goddess for reasons unknown to me.

Even my parents detested me. I can still remember the look on their faces when I failed to get a wolf on my 16th birthday. The hatred on their faces was palpable, and even up until this day, they never fail to remind me that I should have never been born. I am a disgrace to the family, especially since my father is the beta of the pack. It was like a slap on his face, having me as a child.

The thing with not having a wolf is that you also can’t sense your mate. They have to sense you first and then tell you. My mate could be in front of me, and I wouldn’t know. It was a curse from the moon goddess too, for werewolves like me. I had given up on finding a mate a long time ago. What werewolf would want to be with a cursed witch like me?

“What are you doing here?” My loving younger sister, Aliya, walks up to me from the training ground with disgust on her face. Note the sarcasm. “Nothing that concerns you.” I say this and turn to leave. I didn’t have the time to exchange words with her.

Even though she was my only sister, she hated me, just like everyone else. Aliya is a real-life bimbo. With her blonde hair that was always straightened to perfection, her slender figure, blue eyes, and perfect face, she was the pride of the family, while there’s me, the cursed witch of the family. Unlike Aliya, I had boring jet-red hair with brown eyes that held no emotion in them, a decent breast size, and my ass was on the bigger side as well as my thighs.

The two of us were nothing like sisters. We weren’t even friends, thanks to my parents, who kept planting the seed of hatred in her right from the day they found out about my curse.

The only thing I and Aliya had in common was that we both didn’t have mates. This wasn’t a problem for her because she was only 19 and already had a wolf, so it is only a matter of time until she is claimed. My story was entirely different. I had no friends, no family, no mate, and, of course, no wolf. Don’t you just love my life?

“You want to be there, don’t you?” I hear her sickening voice say it from behind me, and soon her footsteps follow until she is now standing a few inches away from me. I didn’t want to look her in the eyes because then she would see my pain.

She wasn’t wrong. I’d give anything to be like the others—anything to be there right now, training with my wolf. It hurts so bad, but there is nothing I can do about it. I do not say anything in response to her question; instead, I walk past her, but she uses her hand to stop me before leaning in to whisper into my ears. “Pray all you want, Elena. You’ll never be like us. This is all you can be, a pathetic wolfless werewolf.” She finishes off with a smirk before walking away, swaying her hips, and I ball my fist in anger, trying so hard to keep my tears in. I couldn’t even hit her because she was a lot stronger than me physically.

I notice that the others have taken notice of me and are beginning to throw mocking glares at me, so I run back into the pack house, not wanting to be used as an object of ridicule as usual. I barely make it to my room when I crash into a body and fall hard on the ground, my ass stinging from the force. A voice hisses in annoyance, and I freeze, recognising the voice. I raise my head slowly to confirm my suspicion, and I freeze when I realize that it is none other than Alpha Devon, the soon-to-be Alpha of our pack, the red Shadow Pack. His blue eyes pierced into mine, causing me to writhe in fear.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” He growls at me, his face twisting in disgust and annoyance. I am lost for words as I force myself to stand up. How the fuck did I not see him? “I'm sorry, Alpha. I wasn’t looking.” I take my lip in between my teeth as I apologize with my head bowed. I don’t dare look at him if I want to be spared.

Alpha Devon was as hard-hearted as his father, maybe even worse. He didn’t take any form of trash from anyone. A perfectionist. The fact that he was crazily handsome and had loads of cash, thanks to his father, didn’t make things better. Instead, it made him full of himself and look down on people. It was almost as though the world revolved around just him and his father. Just like me and Aliya, he also didn’t have a mate, which is why he hasn’t been made Alpha of the pack yet. He could claim whoever he wants, but as Alpha, his father believes that it is best if he lets the moon goddess choose a mate for him.

He doesn’t say a word in response, but his eyes stay fixed on me, as though he were searching for something in them. I wanted to raise my head and see why he was staring at me, but I was too scared to do that. I don’t even know why he is still here. He never paid any attention to me before, just like the others. The only time we ever saw each other was when I was being assigned to his room to clean, and he never uttered a word to me. Since I didn’t have a wolf, my mother said that the only way I could be useful to the pack was as a maid. “Look at me!” He commands, and I raise my head immediately, secretly rejoicing that I could finally look him in the eye.

There is a look of surprise on his face as he continues to stare at me, moving closer until he is only a few inches away from me. His expression changes to an angry one as he raises his voice. “How the fuck are you, my mate?” He growls angrily, and I freeze, my mind going blank. Did I hear him properly? Alpha Devon is my mate. “What?” The words finally leave my throat, and I blink severally as I try to understand what he just said. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” He throws his head back and releases a loud laugh.

From the corner of my eye, I see that the hallway is slowly becoming crowded as people begin to wonder what their Alpha is doing with a peasant like me. It is only a matter of time until my parents and Aliya get here. I’m so fucked. “I'd rather die than be mated to a witch.” He spits and backs away, eyeing me with disgust. The others hear this and gasp loudly before whispering amongst themselves. They were probably wondering how it was possible that the moon goddess would mate an Alpha with an unlucky werewolf. “I’m sorry.” I apologize, even though I had nothing to do with it. It wasn’t my choice to be mated to him. Hell, I wouldn’t have even known that he was my mate if he hadn’t said anything.

Does this mean that I will now become the Luna of the pack? Is that even possible? If I were to live as Alpha Devon’s mate, my life would be miserable. What use is it being mated to someone who didn’t even think I deserved to be alive? The entire pack was now gathered to watch this scene, and I couldn’t help but wish the moon goddess took my life right now. I could see the hateful glare from my mother as she stood among the crowd, watching Alpha Devon throw hateful words at me. Not that she cared. She wasn’t any better. None of them were.

Alpha Devon turns towards me with a stern look, and the next words that leave his mouth break me into a million pieces. “I, Alpha Devon Damien, reject you, Elena Hanson, as my mate.”