I could feel my whole body shaking as I held onto Max. My body felt stronger than before but it was still taking a lot out of me.
"Trip's my fated mate," I whispered.
"What!" my father shouted.
"What!" Beta Jesse gasped.
"Did you reject him? You better have!" Father shouted.
Beta Jesse gave him a strange look.
"Why would you want her to reject my son, Alpha? We all know how hard it can be to find your fated mate. Also, he is next in line to be beta?" Beta Jesse asked.
"Because … because she's not worthy of your son!" he insisted.
"Why isn't she worthy, Alpha?" he asked. "Willow has taken care of this house and pack for years, just like her mother had. She cooks, cleans and takes care of anything the pack needs like a true Luna should do. She even did it whilst working hard in school, she was a straight-A student if I remember rightly. I would be proud to have her as my daughter-in-law."
Beta Jesse smiled proudly at me and I managed a weak smile back. Especially, when I saw the glare Luna Megan was giving him.
"Thank you Beta Jesse but I wasn't told to reject him, he told me to accept his rejection. My Father was so sure that no matter who my fated mate was they would reject me. I had no idea I could reject them too," I told him.
I took a deep breath. I didn't want to disappoint him after what he'd said but I couldn't lie.
"But when I learned that Trip was my fated mate, if I had known I could reject him I would have, straightaway. He's not as bad as Father but he and Julie have always made my life hell."
My body felt heavy but Max's support helped. I chanced a glance at Beta Jesse, I had expected him to look angry or insulted instead he looked confused. He had no idea what his son had been up to.
"Can you explain," Alpha John asked. "About your father and your mate."
I cast a worried glance at my father who was glaring at me. Max tightened his grip and leaned into my ear.
"He can't hurt you now, Willow. I promise I won't let him."
I nodded and took a deep breath.
"Father ordered me to cook and clean not long after he mated with Luna Megan. He moved me out of my room and into the attic so I wouldn't get comfortable. He said she couldn't be expected to do all of that. I had assumed he meant at first but I soon realised he meant what he said."
I kept my eyes on Alpha John afraid to look elsewhere.
"If I made a mistake he would punish me. Sometimes he would refuse to allow me to eat or sleep. most often the punishment would last for several days."
"You lying little ..." Father started but a growl from Alpha John stopped him.
"Father would call me worthless and useless whilst giving his mate everything she could want. Luna Megan would taunt me too, knock into me or lie to my father, telling him I had talked back to her or gone to throw something at her so he would punish me."
"Don't you dare …" she started.
"Silence your mate, Alpha Nicholas!" Alpha John warned before turning back to me. "Go on Willow."
"I had thought once I graduated I'd be able to leave here but Father wouldn't pay for college and I for some reason didn't meet the criteria for a scholarship."
"What about my son?" Beta Jesse asked.
"I'm sorry Beta Jesse but he could be just as bad. He and his mate would push me over, or trip me up. They would taunt me, call me names and get others to do the same. It was worse at school, as there were no adults from the pack. On my eighteenth birthday, whilst at school, I discovered Trip was my mate. He had been wrapped around Julie when our eyes locked," I made my voice sound stronger.
"During lunch, he pulled me into an empty classroom and told me he wasn't happy with me being his mate. He told me he was planning on rejecting me but he'd changed his mind. He said it would be more fun to neither accept nor reject me."
I placed a hand over my chest as I remembered the first night of pain and the realisation of what he meant.
"It wasn't until that night that I found out what he meant. At first, all I felt was pain, then my wolf howled in my head. She knew he was with another woman … with Julie."
"He did what!" Beta Jesse growled.
Without a word, he then stormed out of the room leaving us all staring after him.
"Did he mate with her that night?" Alpha John asked.
I shook my head, "No, it wasn't until after your warriors arrived."
"You should have seen her, Alpha," Max added. "She openly flirted with us as soon as we arrived, even though she was introduced as his future mate by her soon-to-be father-in-law. She was very eager to show us around, quite happy to leave her lover, but as soon as Willow was called over she was all over him."
Just then, Beta Jesse, Trip and Julie walked in. The latter two looked surprised to see everyone. When their gazes fell on me with Max's arm around my waist they looked pissed. I couldn't figure out why either of them was angry. One rejected me and the other was a power-hungry slut who just got what she wanted.
"What's going on?" Trip asked his father, bowing to his alpha.
"You tell me, son," his father growled.
Trip's eyebrows furrowed as he looked around the room.
"What's going on? Why is Willow standing with that shifter from another pack?" he asked.
"None of your fucking business!" Max growled at him.
"She's from my pack, that makes it my business!" Trip growled back.
"Since when have you cared about her?" sneered his mate. "If she wants to sell herself to him then let her. After all, he holds no real value to his pack, he's no one important."
"I'm the future beta of my pack, just like your mate. If I'm no one important then so is he," Max sneered.
Julie gritted her teeth at him and I smiled. Then she smirked triumphantly back at me and wrapped her arms around Trip's waist. I expected the pain to hit me, expected to gasp and cry out.
Instead, I felt nothing. I felt a little sad at the loss but it was nothing compared to before. With a smirk, I stood tall and stared back at her. Julie faltered a little and gave Trip a confused look who looked pissed.
Though I have no idea how it feels when your mate rejects you, it must have hurt a little, enough for him to know what was going on. Did he think we were still mates? Did he think whatever pain he felt wasn't me breaking the bond?
One thing was for sure, if he did know he didn't tell Julie. She tried again and I felt brave so I moved in front of Max. His presence behind me was soothing and empowering all at once.
"There's no point Julie, I've rejected him already. The only reason I didn't before was because I didn't know I could. It wasn't because I wanted him, I've never wanted him," I looked directly at him before glaring back at Julie.
"Ever since you learned I was his true mate, you've been parading around with him as if he's some prize you stole from me, expecting me to hurt. I honestly don't care, never have, he's all yours. After all, you two are now mated for life. Good luck with that."
I felt triumphant as I watched a series of emotions wash over her face. Annoyance, anger, frustration, realisation and horror. She touched her neck and almost looked like she wanted to cry.
"Willow!" Trip growled at me, warningly.
Before that would have frightened me, but not anymore.
"Save it Trip, for someone who cares. You chose to be a jerk and this is the price you have to pay. You seriously thought I would want you after the way you've treated me? If I had known I could reject you, I would have done it in a heartbeat!"
The look of shock followed by rage had me laughing. He really thought he was god's gift to women and that everyone wanted him. I may be weak and pathetic but I'm not stupid.