VALENCIA'S POV
I struggled to breathe.
This wasn't right. It wasn't supposed to be like this.
I stepped back as the door closed on its own, making me want to vomit as the bile rose in my throat from the disgust I was feeling.
It was painful. Almost as if someone stabbed my heart with a sharp dagger and twisted it down to my abdomen.
Alpha Tyler, the man who saved me all those years ago was my mate. My mate, who was having pleasant sex with my sister.
Judging from how he turned 18 around one and a half years ago, it was clear he knew I was his mate all along and still chose to date my sister, right in my face.
Why?
I thought he cared for me because he pitied my situation. And stupidly I was okay with it.
I was okay with the idea of him pitying me as long as he looked my way, as long as he held my hand to ask if I was okay, and as long as he smiled at me to comfort me.
Was I not worth it? Was I really that weak in his eyes? I didn't need him to tell me why he didn't choose me. Maybe in his eyes, I wasn't -
'Shut up, Valencia. I am suffering from heartache too, and I have no heart to console you in your self-loathing at the moment. Don't you dare disgrace us by calling yourself unworthy! Unworthy are those who disrespect you,' My conscience reminded me, and I bit my lips before nodding.
She was right.
I had been acting like a perfect pack member, taking everything these people threw at me, but at the end of the day, what did I receive in return?
Betrayal? Humiliation? Pain?
His anger when I talked about Dylan, his care when he saw me crying and wounded terribly.
Everything started to make sense.
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I stammered back, holding the railings to support myself. All those emotions were clear as daylight.
"Valencia, do you think it's time for you to roam around freely? Get your ass-"
The maid of the pack house came to me, but as soon as she noticed the look on my face, she stopped.
The sound of the door opening snapped me out of my thoughts, and I turned around to face that one person who was the culprit of this situation and ruined my biggest dream.
'A mate is someone who is bound to love you till eternity, someone who will cherish and want you all the time. He will be someone for whom you will be his world.' My grandmother's words echoed in my head as I looked into the eyes of Alpha Tyler.
"Valencia, let me explain -"
"Why?" I asked, looking behind him at my sister who was standing there with a smug expression, dressed only in Tyler's shirt.
The pain in my chest increased visibly and I almost lost my balance, tightening my hold on the railings.
No. I couldn't appear weak at a time like this. Not when I was faced with a scum like him and a b*tch like my sister.
All the good thoughts and ideas about him shattered like a piece of glass, and I smiled in self-mockery.
People were right. Once you see someone's true colors and remove the blind of love from your eyes, you really see the ugly personality they behold.
That was exactly what I was seeing.
I wasn't looking at the man who saved me. I was looking at the man who let me get tormented for four years despite feeling for me.
This man wasn't someone who comforted me. This was the man who got into a relationship with my sister, despite knowing how much she hated me right on his eighteenth birthday, probably the time when he found out I was his mate.
"Can you stop creating so much drama here? What are you crying for? I haven't even laid my hand on you," Matilda scoffed, and I glared at her.
'This b*tch! How dare she talk to us like this after what she did?!' My conscience said the words that I wanted to say.
This time, I wasn't going to give my sister any satisfaction by walking over to me today.
"Matilda, I am not in the mood for your games and plays today. So you better shut your pathetic mouth and close that loose dr*pping p*ssy because the pungent ugly smell is making me vomit," I seethed.
I could feel everyone gathering in the hall as they heard what I said.
The expression on Matilda's face immediately changed, and she seethed with anger.
"You b*tch! How dare you insult me -?" Matilda started, and I felt a sudden rush of anger rising inside me. Without waiting for a second, I kicked her away as soon as she raised her hand on me, making her body hit the wall, probably wondering how the omega got the beta's daughter.
These people probably keep forgetting that I was a beta's daughter too.
Everyone gasped in shock, but I couldn't care about anything anymore.
"Tell me why you did it?" I asked, hardening my glare, wiping the rogue tears that weren't stopping today.
"What do you want to hear, Valencia? You already know the answer. I am an ambitious man. Taking this pack to the highest position it deserves is my only priority, and for that to happen, I need a strong partner -"
"A strong partner like the beta's daughter Matilda, and not a MATE like me, right?" I completed his sentence, and he pressed his lips into a thin line before sighing.
"Valencia, you are uselessly extending this matter. This doesn't have to be like this. We don't have to be like this. It's not like I am rejecting you or anything. If I wanted to reject you, I would have done it when I found out you were my mate. But I don't want to do that. You can live and enjoy the luxuries of being an alpha mate, but as for the position of the Luna, Matilda is the best fit for it," Tyler said.
I stood there stupefied.
Was this the same man who I liked for four long years? Was this the same man who used to smile at me and care for me?
I blinked my eyes. He wanted me, his mate, to be his slut while Matilda enjoyed the title of the Luna of the pack.
And it wasn't even about the title, it was about dignity. It was about self-respect.
My grandmother said to me if I found my mate, I shouldn't ever let him go ...
I looked into Tyler's eyes before nodding my head.
He was right. A lantern like me didn't deserve to be the Luna of this pack, this pack that only respects the powerful and bullies the weak.
"Okay," I whispered.
'Val! Have you lost your mind? You can't be serious. Are you ready to accept it just like that? No. Please, don't do this to yourself. You will be dead inside if you accept this humiliation,' My conscience screamed at me, and I smiled softly, looking at Tyler's relieved smile.
"I want to see you happy too," I whispered before I looked at all the people gathered in the hall to see the drama before I looked at Matilda who had a smirk on her face, as if basking in my defeat.
It was good.
It was a clear indication that today the world who loved power and strength won, and my heart lost.
Love, lost.
"I... " I gulped, taking a deep breath, and seeing Tyler's eyes widening, I knew he could see what I was doing.
"Valencia, have you lost your mind? This is a fair opportunity! Do you think the outside world is so good?" He growled at me, losing his patience with me for the first time.
Then again, didn't he lose his respect in my eyes first?
"I am sure that the outer world is still better than the world this pack created for me. A 14-year-old girl was forced to starve for 5 days every week because she couldn't change into her wolf. If the council hadn't been coming to check up on me and threatened your alpha position, my so-called dad, a pathetic excuse of a father, would've killed me already. That's exactly how everyone treated me too, like I was a lifeless doll who couldn't feel pain," I chuckled through my tears.
"Wait. You guys knew I was in pain. Weren't my cries actually music to them? I really wish what happened with me happens with none of your daughters," I looked at all the elders.
"Since I am already dead, it doesn't matter whether I am dead in this pack or outside the pack,"
"You have humiliated me thoroughly and it's time for your payback," I whispered before looking straight into his eyes.
"I, Valencia Brooklyn, the daughter of the moon goddess, under the full moon, and in the presence of the pack members of Hazel Moon pack, hereby reject Alpha Tyler Anderson as my mate and alpha. I might be a lantern, but I will never take a disloyal mate who cherishes power over the mate bond established by the goddess.
And with that, I reject the pack bond with the Hazel Moon Pack and hereby declare myself a rogue and a free soul until I decide so," I said, stumbling back in the pain as my head swayed.
However, the pain on Tyler's face as he stumbled back with his hand clenched around his chest was worth it.
I turned to the pack members and looked at my so-called mom and dad with contempt.
"A child is a boon that the moon goddess gives to you. Look at those people who can't bear a child. But you treated your child like it was a curse. I rejected the pack bond today, but you took away the home from me 4 years ago already. I wasn't a disgrace to this family. There are other lanterns in the world. But you were definitely a disgrace to humanity," I turned to the people who were my regular bullies and shook my head.
"You have ambitions to take this pack to the top? An Alpha who thinks the mate decided by the moon goddess is worthy of being a second woman, and a chosen partner is worthy of being a Luna, will rule over some disgraceful pathetic wolves who don't know the basics of humanity. I would like to see how far this pack goes," I said before turning around to pack my belongings and leave the pack forever.
Today, I not only rejected the mate bond and pack bond, but I also rejected the idea of suffering and letting people be okay with my emotions.
From now onwards, I won't let anyone treat me badly. It was a promise I made to myself.
I wiped my tears, finally feeling all the pain I had been stuffing inside, surfacing as a scream left my mouth as soon as I exited the pack.
'Don't cry. Valencia. You are not alone. I am with you,'