[Stephanie's POV]

It's 23:40.

It was 20 minutes before I turned 18. I was standing in front of the bed with two dresses and two new pairs of shoes, trying to decide which piece of clothing and which pair of shoes to wear for my date.

On the left side, there was a pink dress and a pair of flat heels sent from Carl, my boyfriend and mate. On the right side, they were my favorite light blue knee-length skirt and black high heels.

Yesterday, Carl messaged me he would be waiting for me by the White Star Lake after 12 o 'clock to celebrate my 18th birthday with me. He also said he would give me a surprise. I finally chose the pink dress and flat heels to satisfy my mate.

23:58, I took off my pajamas on my body and waited quietly for shifting. I knew I would succeed in shifting since I had already known my fate mate was Carl on his 18's birthday two days ago. So, it would be easier for me to shift directly compared with other unmated she-wolves in the pack. It's 23:59. I couldn't wait to meet my wolf, looking forward to going to the White Star Lake with my wolf.

0:00. After a short moment of pain, probably only a few seconds, I opened my eyes and saw the wolf with amber fur in the floor mirror of my room. I knew I had succeeded in my shift.

"Hello, Stephanie, I'm Rose." The voice of my wolf, Rose, came to my head.

"Hello, Rose, happy to meet you."

"I suppose you don't want me to put on your delicate dress to meet your mate, do you?" Rose giggled. It seemed she was in a good mood. So was I.

"Maybe you can try later." I made a joke and then shifted back to my human form and quickly put on my pink dress and flats. Although I was so happy and excited now, I still couldn't help missing my dead twin brother, Patrick. If he were still alive, by now, he'd met his wolf and find his mate, like me.

"Oh, sweetheart, are you missing your twin brother? Don't be so sad. You still have your kind dad and handsome boyfriend. Your boyfriend is your mate, and you both grew up together. Also, he is the future Alpha of your friend pack. Is there a girl luckier than you? I can't wait to see my mate now." Rose comforted me.

Rose and I shared all my memories from birth to the present. She knew Carl had turned 18 and shifted two days ago. Carl had told me that the moon goddess had arranged me as his mate, and I couldn't find anything better than it.

"It's mint!" My favorite scent came from the direction of White Star Lake. A werewolf's mate would exude his or her favorite scent. I remembered Carl told me he would meet me near the White Star Lake.

The White Star Lake was 500 meters away from my packhouse. The closer I got to the White Star Lake, the stronger the mint smell in the wind. I noticed my handsome boyfriend standing under the street lamp. He possessed brown eyes and curly chestnut hair, which I shall never forget. That man was my mate, Carl, the future Alpha of the Demon Forest Pack.

"Happy birthday, and congratulations, my dear princess." He put his hands behind his back, and his smile was full of tenderness and love.

"Carl, thanks to the moon goddess. I'm so excited to be your mate." I told him, holding tears in my eyes.

We've known each other for more than ten years. Me, Patrick, Carl, three of us were in the same class, and we also became good friends with Freya, the transfer student in our class. Four of us often caught hares in the Leyte Mountain, or we had a picnic near the river. During holidays, we went shopping and watched movies in the town. Carl had always been there for me. He was always by my side to help me get through my hardest time when I lost Patrick. I knew he had been a part of my life.

Although my 18th birthday was a new moon when the moon goddess was not in the sky, I was grateful to her. She was the one who let me meet Carl and arranged for him to be my mate.

"Someone said he would give me a surprise today." I smiled and reminded Carl kindly.

"Here's the surprise!" Carl took my arm and pulled me into his arms.

As his soft lips pressed on mine, I smiled and put my hands around his neck, enjoying the happiness feeling filled within my whole heart.

Ouch! Suddenly, with a sharp pain in my heart, I looked down and saw that Carl had stabbed my birthday surprise into my heart.

"I, Carl Charles Dodgson, future alpha of Demon Forest Pack, now reject you, Stephanie Amber Woodville, as my mate. "He spoke out the coldest words in a voice full of magnetism and seduction, with a look of pride.

I was in shock when I heard Carl clearly reject me.

"What the fuck?" Rose howled in my head.

I looked down and noticed the silver dagger in my heart emitting a disgusting eerie black aura. Was it a silver weapon that had been enchanted?

I heard from dad that werewolves were stronger and lived longer than humans. However, except for the wolfsbane, which was almost extinct, silver weapons, even a silver fork, as long as they were enchanted with a kind of special magic, could kill werewolves.

Why? Why did Carl want to kill me?

I felt a burning pain in my heart, and Rose screamed in my head. The blood filled my mouth, and I could smell the blood scent like rust.

"Darling, why don't you kill her until she formally accepts your rejection?"

I looked back and saw our best friend, my bestie Freya jumping from the lush tree canopy. She held two silver arrows in her hands. The arrow bodies were made of metal, and their heads were silver with some black aura around them. She straightened her pink dress, walked past me, and kissed Carl on his thin lips.

"The dying mate doesn't have to formally reject me. The moon goddess won't allow me to maintain a mate bond with a dead woman. I don't feel any pain in my heart right now, and this is proof." Carl said.

The way he looked at me was like he was staring at an abandoned doll. I couldn't feel any love and gentleness in his eyes. Instead, I felt I was facing an ice cave. It's freezing and bottomless. But when he turned to Freya, the expression on his face changed back to the tenderness and fascination I'd seen so many times before.

I immediately realized that this was all Carl and Freya's plan. Carl wanted to kill me so that the mate bond between us would break without me having to officially reject him. He wanted to be with Freya. They betrayed me.

What a wicked plan! He and Freya really looked down on me. I was the daughter of Alpha of the White Star Lake Pack. If Carl directly told me that he loved Freya, I would be sad, but I would definitely choose to fulfill both of them. Now, Carl selected to use such a cruel way to reject me. That made me feel more resentful than just sad.

"Steph, take out the dagger. Shift. I would kill them." Rose shouted in my head. She dragged me to reality. She was right. I didn't have time to feel sad and judge them now.

I held back the severe pain in my heart and spat out the blood in my mouth.

"As the future Alpha of White Star Lake Pack, I, Stephanie Amber Woodville, now, accept your rejection, Carl Charles Dodgson. "I spoke out every word clearly. Ignoring the shock on Carl's and Freya's faces, I immediately tried to pull out the enchanted dagger.

Suddenly, Carl grabbed my wrists and pinned me down on the grass. Just then, Freya stabbed me in the wrist with two arrows in her hands, one in my left wrist and the other in my right wrist. Both arrows penetrated my wrists. I was nailed to the grassland.

"No!" I screamed in pain.

I couldn't be killed by the two betrayers. I couldn't die here.

"My heart, she won't live much longer. Let's call Doctor Dave and announce Steph's death." Carl put his hand on his heart.

I had formally accepted his rejection just now. It must make him very painful. I heard Rose chuckling. She told me that son of bitch deserved to experience the pain of being rejected by his mate.

"Carl, take it easy. Steph is a newly shifted werewolf. She must have a stronger healing ability. We can stay here a little longer." Freya looked at me and gave Carl another kiss.

"Don't call me Steph, you monster!" I glared and shouted at my former bestie.

Freya had given Carl and me her best wishes yesterday, and now she was snuggling up to Carl's chest. Both of them called me my nickname with the expression of expectation that I would die soon.

"We really should go, my love." Carl gave me a stern look. He urged Freya in a whisper.

"No, Honey, I want you to fuck me right now, in front of my lovely Steph. Trust me, you will feel better after we have sex."