They say when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, but what if the lemons are rotten? What then? A more optimistic person would find something useful to do with rotten lemons, but not me. I was fed up of being dealt awful cards.
"What is this?" Noah growled. "You've got to be kidding me. What kind of sick, awful joke is this!?" He shouted, drawing attention to us. "What did you do!?" He glared at me with reddened eyes that I could not avoid.
"What's going on?" People around us whispered as the alpha's son cursed at me, his eyes alight with so much malice it seemed he wanted to bury me underneath it.
"Babe, what's the matter?" The blonde attached to his side asked with a pout, trying to get his attention back on her.
"Get off me!" He shrugged her off and stalked forward, taking purposeful strides toward me.
My legs trembled as I tried to flee but my body had gone into lockdown. It did that a lot when it sensed danger.
"You can't be my mate." He hissed the words into my face. "You're not good enough to stand beside me." His words were inaudible even to me. He spoke them as if he feared someone else would hear. He was ashamed of me and I didn't blame him. I was ashamed of myself too.
I was a shameful person. It was shameful that at twenty, I didn't have a wolf and it was even more shameful how I let these people toss me about without fighting back.
"I can't accept you," Noah growled into my face.
"Okay," I answered with a shrug that hid the anguish wrenching my insides apart.
It was my worst nightmare playing out right before me. I'd dreamt of finding my mate for so long but without a wolf, I knew the chances of rejection were high. However, it didn't mean I did not hope. Mates are two parts of a whole. Fated mates did not reject each other but my life had to be a contradiction.
"I know I am not good enough," I muttered to Noah who was still breathing in my face. "I understand." He reeled back in surprise at my calmness.
'What? Did you expect me to fall at your feet and beg to be accepted? I have a bit of pride, you know? I may be a wolfless omega but I still have my self-respect, no matter how small,' I thought.
"You–" Noah stuttered and in a minute, his pale face turned red. "You're not–".
"Baby, what's the matter?" Bella came forward and grabbed Noah's arm, clinging to him.
He gave me an irritated look before he grabbed Bella by the waist, pulled her into his chest and smashed his lips against hers. The girl gasped in surprise but she pulled him closer, her hands tangling into his hair. The people behind whistled but Noah kept his eyes fixated on me as he kissed another girl.
No matter how much I pretended to be fine on the outside, my insides were turning and twisting. My heart felt as if someone was stabbing into it with a blunt knife. My heart slowed for a moment and breathing because impossible. Through blurry eyes, I watched Noah's eyes light up before they closed as he got fully invested in kissing another girl while I, his mate, watched.
No blow ever hurt this much. No slap, no kick, and no harsh word ever caused me this much pain.
I swerved on my heels, my heart too heavy to continue watching the scene playing out before me but as I turned, a loud voice halted me.
"I found my mate!" Noah shouted in the hall and silence descended around me. In a daze, I turned to look back at him.
What trick did he have up his sleeve?
"Congratulations, Bella!" A girl shouted from beside them. "You're going to be the Luna as you said!" Just like that, people cheered and congratulated Bella. They didn't ask who Noah was mated to. After that steamy and public kiss, there was no need to ask.
Confusion shone in Bella's eyes as she looked up at Noah but his eyes were on me, his lips pulled up at the side as he watched my reaction. Following his gaze, her eyes came to rest on me and the small smile on her lips fell. A dark look crossed her eyes and a biting cold pierced my chest.
"That's right," she said in a cold voice. "I am Noah's Luna." She raised her chin into the air and smiled.
"Noah, my boy!" The Alpha ran into the hall where the welcome party for his son was in full swing.
I should be the one getting congratulated, not Bella. I was Noah's mate, not Bella, but I couldn't say that. Noah said with his mouth that I wasn't deserving of standing by his side and he was right. He just returned from the academy where he spent the last five years being educated to take over this pack. A girl like me did not belong by his side. Bella was more fitting. She was the beta's daughter, a pretty girl. Me? I was nobody.
