“I, Riccardo Saviano, future Alpha of the Gray Shadow Moon Pack, reject you, Artemisia Guerrieri, daughter of Alpha Franco of the Blood Moon Pack, as my mate and future Luna.”
I flinch as my feet touch the surface of the cold water and groan as the flashback of the day in which I accepted the rejection of the love of my life resurfaces from my memories.
Rick and I had been together forever. Since the day we met in our strollers, we had been a thing.
Or at least I thought we were.
We started dating officially after he stole my first kiss in high school and even if my mother had given me long talks about how I should preserve my virginity until I met my mate, I gave him my everything as we went to college and were allowed to live together by the elders of our packs.
As our packs already shared a lot of land and facilities, our bond was very well seen by everyone. And I guess I was not the only one who couldn’t wait to find him as my mate. My father had talked plenty about how our bond would lead to a really strong alliance.
Well, shit.
He turned twenty a few months before I did and as he was acting strangely, I was scared about the possibility that he might have found out that I wasn’t his mate. So, on my twentieth birthday, I was immensely relieved.
Up until the moment that I wasn’t.
As a popular and love-spoiled girl, I never imagined I’d get rejected without any explanation on my birthday. As my dreams and plans for my future were crushed on what should have been the happiest day of my life, I needed quite a while to rise back up from my ashes.
The only bright side was that even if I was ready to give up on everything, I didn’t and kept going with my studies as I was too ashamed to go home and face my family.
While my father and mother took it more on the pragmatic side, mourning the loss of the alliance more than my pain, my brothers were fuming. I guess I prevented a few pack wars as I held back my brothers from killing Rick.
It’s now been four years since I got out of college and back home. I recovered alright and was able to train as a doctor for our pack hospital. My heart, alas, couldn’t get back on track. It seemed as if the pain was just too much to bear.
I sigh deeply as I watch the children play on the other side of the lake.
As for Riccardo, he got back and took over his title two years ago. He got mated with his chosen mate while he was still in college and now has two kids, aged six and four.
Yeah.
I discovered the reason for my rejection pretty soon after it had happened. His mate was already four months pregnant as I found out.
The roaring my wolf released at this was as crushing as the heartbreak itself. My heart shattered in a way that made me think that it wouldn’t be able to be mended ever again.
‘This is all your fault! You should have done more to please our mate!’ my wolf, Cassandra, hissed.
‘That’s not true!’ I cried as her voice boomed through my head painfully, ‘I did everything he wanted me to!’
‘Not enough!’ she retorted accusingly, making me whimper.
The next few days I tried to get her to talk to me again. I begged her to, but she ignored me, and never showed herself to me again.
If not to reprimand me for my behavior in my daily life.
Our relationship with our inner wolf is essential to our kind. Losing her at such a crucial moment amplified my pain.
I was still able to train as a doctor as I was the Alpha’s daughter, but I surely was the most useless being in the pack, and everybody knew that.
“Missy!” I turn around as I see my younger brother, Fabio, kick a stone in his path. “Mom wants to talk to you about Gio’s coronation.”
I groan, picking up my shoes and getting up. “I’m going to help, but I won’t go!”
“You have to. Gio will be sad if you don’t.”
My older brother would indeed be sad if I were to miss his coronation ceremony. He and his mate have been training for this moment for months and I know exactly how nervous he is. But even though I boast about being over Riccardo at every possibility I’m given, I fear the moment of meeting him at the ceremony. Facing him without a partner by my side is always the worst thing to live through.
But the things you’d do for your family.
Walking back with my younger brother, who doesn’t stop talking about his sparring classes at school, I reach our pack house pretty fast. Due to my large family, only a few of my brothers live with us, and the Beta’s family lives in a pretty house near the market square.
The mansion is ridiculously huge. On the lower levels are the quarters of the omegas working at the mansion, the unmated warriors and guards on duty as well as the dining halls, the entertainment and common rooms, the kitchens, and a small library. The floors above are where I live along with Fabio and my younger twin brothers, Zaccaria and Zeno, my eldest brother Giorgio and his mate, as well as my parents.
I love my family dearly and the only thing making this better would be my elder twin brothers, Cristian and Costa, living with us too.
I find my mother in her office and knock at the open door, making her turn to me with a big smile. “Ah, Missy. There you are.”
“Hey, Ma. Is there a chance I could help without having to go?”
She chuckles, moving her glasses up her nose by pinching their frame.
“Honey, we already discussed it. We all must show your brother our love and support. What will people think if you don’t show up?”
I take the paper she’s handing me over her desk and slump into the seat facing it with a groan.
“I need you to memorize the names of the guests, so we can make a good impression.”
“Mom! These are hundreds of names!” I shout, looking at her, agape. She waves dismissively.
“Oh, I’ve highlighted the important ones, and you have a few days.”
Scrunching my nose, I check the list and murmur, “You have to be kidding me.”
She’s humming along happily as my eyes fall on a special name.
“Blackwood,” I whisper to myself, attracting my mother’s attention.
“What was that, honey?”
I turn the page for her to see and she squints her eyes at it. “You invited the Blackwood heir. From the Blood Fang Pack?”
She nods as she lifts her glasses to read better. “Yeah. We had to.”
“Why?” I ask, standing up from my seat.
She sighs, scribbling something in her notebook.
“The treaty that we have with them is really important for us. It’s already unstable as it is.”
“Treaty,” I scoff, slamming the papers back onto her desk. “They break that useless pact at every given moment.”
My mother sighs, lifting her finger to my face. “That’s why we have to be extra nice to them. They’re just playing with us because they’re strong. Imagine if they attacked for real. That would be horrendous. Now, be a nice little lady, and help me pick out the flowers. Luna Diana showed you the dress she picked, right?”
“I can’t believe you all!” I yell at her, risking getting punished for my insolence. “No wonder they keep playing us like violins! Those arrogant bastards don’t deserve to ruin his ceremonial coronation as well as everything else they show up for!”
My mother looks at me with a displeased expression, pursing her lips. “You’re going to calm down this instance and moderate your tone, or I’ll have a little chat with your father. You’re certainly not in the position to evaluate this type of situation. And I warn you, you’ll behave at the ceremony.”
“Don’t worry, Mom!” I scoff, already about to storm out of the room. “I’ll hold still if they choose to attack me.”