The next thing I heard was laughter. Deep bowels of cackling.
I stopped blinking for a second as the voice owner stepped out from the shadows.
It was Aria.
Who didn't know Aria? If she wasn't with a new boyfriend tomorrow, she was off making sure all the younger and older wolves got it hot from her. When I first arrived here, she was the first person I knew to avoid.
She was trouble.
"Lucius, you should know who she is." She gave a deep breath between each laughter as she looked at me intently.
Lucius didn't seem to grab onto what she was saying as he looked at her continuously.
"Mateless? Wolfless?" She echoed, and my head spun.
What did she mean by that?
Was there some sort of rumor about me somewhere?
"Oh! That omega?" Lucius exclaimed, and they shared a laugh at my expense.
I looked at both of them before deciding that I was not going to deal with any of this and turning around swiftly.
"Come back here!" Lucius shouted at me, and I stood rooted in my spot, the power of the bond holding me down.
I was still excited, and the last thing I wanted was to make him realize how much my juices had made art on my inner thighs.
I felt his hand caress my shoulders in a swift motion and my collar bones, and I ached for his touch.
I closed my eyes, unexpectedly craving more of his touch, but my skin received nothing.
"Aww…" Aria said, and Lucius burst out into more laughter.
My cheeks heated in embarrassment, and I prayed that none of them smelled my heat, or else this humiliation was just the beginning.
"You can let me go, you know." I finally spoke behind gritted teeth, and Lucius seemed to take note.
"So you can speak?" He said this and looked at Aria, who snickered in a corner.
"I can smell your arousal." Lucius' eyes suddenly darkened, and Aria burst into more fits of laughter.
"When I thought this couldn't get more embarrassing, you wanted some of this?" She asked and burst into more laughter.
"Did you think you were going to get mated? Aren't you a sight for sore eyes, Melissa?" Aria cackled some more, and Lucius joined in the laughter.
My tongue rolled in my mouth as Lucius circled me like a predator on prey.
Wait, how did she know my name?
"What did you think was going to happen tonight?" Lucius asked me, disgust seeping into his eyes as he looked at me intently.
"That I was going to just accept you because you've been mateless for how long? Or that you are on heat and need some relief?" He asked and scoffed.
"That I would associate myself with you just because you're supposed to be my mate?" He asked again, and I kept quiet. My head bowed low as shame engulfed me.
It wasn't my fault that I was an omega; my parents had died in a fire trying to help a stranger while a war was going on. I was immediately bestowed an omega upon being rescued by the ice stone pack, and it was rumored that the Lycan King had wiped my entire pack. Since no one could tell what rank my parents were before their passing, I was given that.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" He snapped, and I immediately shot my head up, having zoned out of the unnecessary humiliation he was making me pass through.
"I can't be mated to someone like you. I like your caliber." He trailed, and I felt his disgust wash over me with every sweep his eyes made of my body.
Aria giggled and snaked up on Lucius, entwining her body with his as if to claim her position firmly.
I eyed her, jealousy crawling up on my body despite the anger that boiled in my stomach as she knew exactly what it was that she was doing.
"What are we going to do about Lucius?" She whispered in a seductive tone, and I saw the effect on him.
With a sinister look and an even malicious smirk, he looked at me and inched closer.
"I, Lucius Hayden of the Ice Stone—
He began, and my eyes widened in shock.
This can't be happening. I just got my mate.
He wasn't going to reject me, right?
My eyes moved swiftly and steadily as my breathing started to change.
"I hereby reject you...
Hot pain seared through me as his voice grew even more malicious.
"What's your name?" I heard his voice through my panting and tears. I couldn't speak; I was fighting for my life.
"Her name is Melissa," Aria whispered, and I shot her a shocked look. How did she know my name? but she looked unapologetic; she looked very satisfied.
"I, Lucius Hayden of the Ice Stone Pack, heir and prince, reject you, Melissa, the omega of the Ice Stone Pack and filth of the earth," he said, and something inside Metorne. Metorneon my side as the pain moved swiftly through me.
"You're pathetic," Aria cursed from above me while Lucius looked at me, intrigued.
"A little rejection, and you have yourself wailing on the floor?" He asked and scoffed.
"How were you supposed to be my Luna? Your parents must have been very disappointed before they roasted in that fire," he said again, laughing heartily.
My ears bled from what he had just said, and I found myself getting up despite the pain in my limbs and the pain shooting from my heart.
"What did you say?" I asked, tears staining my face as anger welled up inside of me.
"What?" He asked, a smirk coming on his face with pleasure.
"That your parents were worthless, and that was why they died?" He said, but I didn't let him finish before Aria gasped.
The sting in my toes didn't compare to how much I loathed him—not as much as I had anger replace the pain that coursed through me.
It took me a minute to realize that I had just kicked the prince of the ice stone pack in the groin.
Whatever happened, I must never have been caught in the same room with those two, and I ran away.
My breath came in my pants as I ran for my life.
"Guards!" I heard a shout from the place where I had just passed. I brushed past some guards, knowing that the moon goddess had just blessed me with a good headstart.
I had just gotten out of the palace gates when the unmistakable sounds of footsteps running towards me were heard. I may have been wolfless, but I knew one thing that I had that they didn't have in their human form, and that was speed.
"Get her!" I heard another order coming from somewhere, but I wasn't about to find out how, why, or who. All I knew was that no one slapped a royal.
They didn't even touch a royal, less than kick one.
"Moon goddess, if you can save me! Save me!" I shouted as I ran towards the party.
That's it. If I can get into the party, then I could easily just blend in with the rest of the crowd; they wouldn't be able to catch me then.
As I approached the party, I began to pick out more guards than people at the party, and something in me knew that it was a terrible idea to hide out in the party.
I breezed past trees, not stopping for breath as I moved swiftly.
Tree after tree, I flew past each one. Each one resembled a monster from nothingness, and the wind whispered to my ears as I moved.
After about a few minutes of running, I noticed with relief how quiet the wind was, as I could only hear my breathing.
My legs ached the moment I stopped, and my back hunched to rest my hands on my knees as I forcibly allowed air to enter and leave my lungs, leaving this burning sensation in my lungs.
I wanted for what seemed like hours before straightening and holding on to a tree for support.
I eventually stopped panting, and my eyes began to adjust to the darkness that engulfed me.
The trees in this part of the woods seemed broader and larger. Mentally, my eyes searched for the blue mark that was always used to mark Ice Stone's territory, and after looking for it, I didn't see it. Panic began to set in immediately.
Where the hell was I?
My body shook as a cold breeze blew past me, and I shivered in fear.
There were worse things than getting humiliated by that brat, even though I knew that.
After searching for anything red for more than twenty minutes, I slumped against a tree as it suddenly occurred to me.
I was lost.
As I thought of the different ways that I could rescue myself, I heard the faint snapping of twigs at a close distance.
At the same time my eyes fell on the red mark on a very big tree.
I knew that, Mark, these lands belonged to the ruthless King Avalor.
Immediately, my eyes grew the size of saucepans.
I needed to get out of here now!