Page 3 of Rejected By the Alpha

“It’s an unusual situation, but you make a compelling argument,” he said, to my surprise. “You have been my best friend for a very long time. I see no reason why this couldn’t be beneficial to all of the packs. You have my support,AlphaKillian.”

I breathed a sigh of relief as I realized what he was saying. I was going to be alpha. And I was going to win my true mate back.

Chapter 2 - Leah

“You didn’t think you should ask my permission before offering me up in marriage to the highest bidder?” I asked as my parents began packing up my room.

“Don’t be such a drama queen,” my mom snapped, tossing my clothes into a suitcase unceremoniously. “It’s hardly a sacrifice to become luna.”

“Besides, we aren’t selling you. We aren’t getting anything in return except a connection to an alpha,” my father added.

“We wouldn’t have gotten much for you if it were an auction, anyway,” my mother said.

It was always the same. One moment, they spoke as if they were giving me a gift. The next, they were insulting me.

“Most parents just let their children get married when they want to,” I pointed out.

“You ungrateful little girl,” my mother snarled, throwing the book she was holding against the wall. Her outburst made me feel like a small child again, and I felt myself shrinking away from her. “Do you have any idea what your father and I have given up to raise you? Any idea how much work it is to have a daughter?”

“Especially one as spoiled and rude as you,” my father said. “You owe your mother an apology.”

“I’m sorry, Mother,” I said quietly.

Years of experience had taught me that my punishment would be slightly less arduous if I apologized contritely before things got out of hand.

“When we are done packing up your things, you are going to clean every inch of this room. Do you understand me?” my father spat.

I nodded in assent as my mother stepped toward me. She placed her hand on my cheek delicately, and I looked up at her from my seat on the twin bed I had slept in since I was a small child and wondered about the expression behind her eyes. Was it possible she felt sad about the prospect of her only child leaving home? She had never shown me much affection before, but a part of me had always hoped that it would be possible for her to love me someday.

Her hand moved away from my face, only to return quickly with a sharpsmackas she slapped me across the cheek. I turned my face in shock and hurt at the abrupt contact as tears welled in my eyes.

“I expect that to be the last time you speak back to me, Leah,” she said coldly.

“Yes, Mother,” I replied.

“I hope you don’t speak to your future mate in that tone, either,” she added. “I hear that his pack is a very vicious one. Who knows what your punishment might be for disobeying him?”

They returned to packing up my things as I sat quietly, trying not to cry. My emotions were not welcome in this house, and I knew that if I allowed my tears to fall, my punishment would only get worse.

For my entire life, my parents had ruled me with an iron fist. I had always been regarded as the least important member of the family, even as a young child. I was useful to them but not loved. Some of my very first memories were of being forced to serve them and look after their needs, usually at the expense ofmy own. For twenty-five years, I had endured my miserable life of sacrifice.

It wasn’t like I was constantly mistreated, though. I had always had a roof over my head and usually had food to eat. They even occasionally showed me affection.

I glanced at the photograph near my bed—the three of us smiling on my fifteenth birthday. It was the day I had shifted for the first time, and I remembered how proud they were of me and my brown wolf, Destiny.

I smiled at the memory and did my best to recall other good times I had with my parents. The dollhouse my father had built me one Christmas stood in the corner of the room. It had been taller than me at age six and was one of my prized possessions.

But because it had meaning to me, my parents had often used the threat of its destruction to get me to comply with their demands.

That was the thing about my family. All affection felt forced, as if they were pretending for appearances or to get some kind of control over me in the future. And it never lasted for long. Any moment of happiness was usually followed by a punishment soon after, no matter how hard I tried to please them.

Now, they wanted one final form of payment from me: to give them the title they could never attain themselves. Luna, the wife to the alpha, the most powerful role in the werewolf community. I was being forced to marry a stranger because of their own sense of self-importance. But at least I might finally be free of them after today.

I had thought I could escape my parents one other time in my life. It was a year or two after I had my first shift. With eachpassing year, my parents’ treatment of me had gotten worse and worse.

But when I reached young adulthood, I met a man who had given me hope. I fell in love with a young rogue shifter, and we had been happy together for a time. It was only when Killian and I were together that I got a reprieve from the misery of my day-to-day life.

He’d talked about marrying me and getting me away from my abusive life, but ultimately, it wasn’t meant to be. He rejected me out of the blue one day, abandoning me to continued torment at the hands of my family and pack. That moment solidified the feelings of loneliness and low self-esteem that my parents had instilled in me.

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