'It hurts.'

A woman groaned as she was crouching on the floor.

Her face was covered in messy, sticky black hair like a rat in a gutter. Her whole body felt so heavy and hurt all over the place that she couldn't help but shiver.

She blinked her eyes stupidly. All she could see with her blurry vision was a pair of feet, which seemed ready to kick her face at any moment.

"I reject you, Hazel Harzebloom, as my fated mate."

'Huh?' Her pupil shook.

The man spoke again. "Not only are you wolfless, but now you're even a sinner."

In his chilling laughter, he added, "Did you think I spared you because we are a fated mate, and you're my wife?"

'What is it?' Her brain, which had been in a gutter for a moment, slowly turned its gears. 

The danger siren starts spinning in her head, and cold sweat runs down her stiff neck as the man's voice resonates above her.

"You dare ignore me again," he snorted and then added, "Sam, make her talk."

The woman gaped like a fool. 'Sam? What Sam?'

Just before she could grasp what was going on, a blunt object struck the back of her neck. Her whole body jolted. It felt as if everything was torn apart as electric shocks wreaked havoc in her insides.

The barbaric act lasted only for a few seconds, but the pain felt like an eternity.

She groans, gasping for breath. 'It hurt. It hurt! Just what did I do wrong to get all of this?' 

"Just accept it now, Hazel Harzebloom. I reject you as my mate."

She felt like chewing a stone. 'He kept saying Hazel this, Hazel that. I'm not even Hazel! I am Maya Maureen! Why does he keep calling me that woman's name? What the heck is going on? Where am I?'

Her throat's veins tightened as if not allowing her to speak. This frustrated her, as she couldn't even mutter a word, let alone correct him. The only sound that came out of her mouth was a painful groan.

The man raised the corners of his lips as he looked down at the woman.

"Come on, Hazel. What makes you believe you can remain my mate after what you did? Your stubbornness will only be seen as a joke, even by the Moon Goddess."

Following the next attack, her whole body floundered like a fish under the heat. Her heart pounded so wildly that it would burst at any moment.

She wished it was better to stop.

"Or, do you want me to do worse than this so that you will accept this rejection, Hazel?" He spoke calmly and smiled like a gentleman, but his words were unbelievably barbaric.

"Come on, only if you accept the rejection can we end this sickening bond. And then perhaps I'll be kind enough to end your suffering."

Her eyes began to fill with tears. 'Why do I have to go through all this suffering just because he thinks I'm Hazel? No, from the start, everything was that woman's fault. She took my joy, and now, this?!'

"Hey, talk. Cat caught your tongue?"

'I can talk only if you stop torturing me, dimwit!' She choked on her tears.

'Just how the heck did he mistook me for that woman when we're not even alike? Who is he? Why is he the one rejecting that b-tch? If anything, it was supposed to be Alpha Sharx that rejected her. Huh?'

Her brain's gears stopped for a second, then turned faster. After all her struggle, she finally raised her head.

As soon as she looked up, she was greeted with cold eyes staring at her. An icy and freezing look as if to tear her soul apart. But the mocking smile etched on that cold face screamed something else.

'Oh, this man is?'

A gorgeous, wild, and sexy man.

His whole existence exudes sensuality.

His upper body is covered in a see-through pajama robe as he stands straight and looks down at her, presenting an otherworldly view. His tightly woven muscles ripple with his every little movement.

They are as delicate and beautiful as the carefully carved statues in a great church somewhere dreamy.

She frowned unconsciously at its glamour, and her eyes started brimming with tears upon recognizing that face.

'Alpha... Sharx?' 

Yes, it was the face of the love of her life. Her long-time crush, her ultimate one-sided love, her first love, the man who had tied the knot with another woman a month ago.

But now she's in front of him instead, as if the world is mocking her misery.

She tilted her head. 'Is it really him? But why is he here?'

The next moment, the man's lips twisted. "I can hear the gears in your head turning loudly. What are you planning now, Hazel?"

'It's really him!' The woman's jaw dropped in delight.

She thought. 'Aha! So this is a dream, huh? A dream! Yeah, right. There's no way Alpha Sharx is in front of me right now. Of course, all of this silliness is just a dream.'

A soft, relieved chuckle followed her widening grin.

She looked up again. Instead of rage, as she had felt until a few seconds ago, her gaze shot a laser beam of love at the man before her. 

Alpha Sharx grimace. "Crazy b-tch. You don't fear me, huh, seeing you can chuckle in front of me. Sam?"

"Yes, Alpha."

'Again?!' 

She writhed in pain, but this time, a faint smile appeared on her face as she believed all of this was just a silly dream.

Alpha Sharx clicked his tongue. "You're smiling? Disgusting."

'Whatever, it's just a dream anyway~'

Her giddiness was short as she asked herself. 'Still, was I supposed to feel so much pain? It's a dream, though?'

"Ha, then, I have no choice." His swinging claws clearly showed his killing instinct.

"Wait, wait!" She squeezes out her voice to spit out those words.

Thankfully, it was enough to stop his claws from digging into her skin. But not enough to stop her racing heart.

'He... really want to kill me.'

"This is your last chance.Now tell me."

"Uhm..." She racked her brain, but nothing useful came up. 

She mocked her foolishness. 'Am I so jealous of Hazel that even in my dream, I wish to be her? Haha, how low can I be?'

"Hey," Sharx called out to her coldly.