Ophelias POV

BEEP.

I hit the button on my alarm. I wasnt asleep anyways. I havent been able to sleep all night. My anxiety is through the roof about today. Its finally the day I get to find my mate and Goddess I am so excited. I hope he is a good guy. I dont really care about looks, I just want him to be kind and sweet. If he treats me the way I deserve, then I am going to be happy with him.

I just finished curling the last piece of my golden-brown hair into waves. I decided to look nice for my mate today. I am wearing a light blue sundress with white daises on it, my favorite white heeled wedge shoes, a gold bracelet my mom gave me as a gift and some gold moon earrings. My hair is down, and I even put on a light layer of makeup. I usually just wear a t shirt and yoga pants with my hair in a ponytail or messy bun so today is a lot different. I decided my mate deserves my best.

BEEP.

My second alarm rings telling me I need to get out of the house, or I am going to be late. I run down the stairs, kiss my parents good morning, grab a banana, and then start rushing towards the front door.

"Wait! Happy Birthday Sweetheart," my dad yells.

"Happy Birthday Sweetie. I cant believe my baby is all grown up already," mom says with tears in her eyes.

I rush back over to the table where they are sitting, eating breakfast together.

"Thank you guys so much. I love you both and I would love to sit and eat but I am going to be late for school so I will see you guys tonight for the party."

I practically run out my front door and walk all the way to school with a smile on my face and a pep in my step. I know I am already going to be late for class but honestly, I dont care today. Nothing can ruin my good mood. I walk in the front door of the school and am immediately assaulted by the most amazing smell. It smells like spicy cologne and pine trees and I just know its my mates scent and I need to find him. I start to follow the smell only to be yanked by my wrist into an empty chemistry classroom. I know its my mate who grabbed me because I could feel the lighting tingles in my wrist when our skin touched. I turn all the way towards him and look up into the eyes of my mate and I am blindsided.

There must be a mistake, or a joke being played on me. There is NO WAY Derrick the asshole is my fated mate. Judging by the scowl on his face, he isnt too happy about this either. He takes a deep sniff of the air and his eyes flash silver. Yup, his wolf knows I am his fated mate.

"No." Thats all he says. One word. Thats it.

"No?" I ask.

He goes to grab my arms but thinks twice about it. The more we touch, the deeper the bond gets.

"NO! I am not going to have a mate who is a worthless waste of fucking space and cant even defend herself. I am the future Alpha of this pack. I cant have a Luna who doesnt even have a fucking wolf. I also want someone who isnt ugly as shit and has nice tits and an ass, which you obviously dont have either. I need someone who can protect and serve the pack and that is NOT you," Derrick sneers in disgust.

I know what is coming next. I can see he has made his decision. You arent supposed to reject your fated mate, but it does sometimes happen. All the stories I have heard say that the pain is excruciating.

"I, Derrick Heinrich, future Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack reject you, Ophelia James, as my mate and future Luna," he says with no emotions.

Suddenly, a fire starts burning across my chest, spreading throughout my entire body. I hold back my screams long enough to say "I, Ophelia James, of the Blood Moon Pack accept your rejection, Derrick Heinrich."

I finally drop down onto my knees and start screaming but Im not the only one. Derrick is clutching his chest while on his knees. If the pain wasnt that bad, I would laugh at the fact that I finally brought this childish man to his knees. But I cant focus on anything else except the pain shooting through my body. Derrick recovers a lot faster than I do because I dont have my wolf and cant heal as fast. I am still screaming so Derrick says to his friends, that I didnt even notice were here, "Shut her up before someone comes in here to see whats going on. I dont want anyone else to know I had to be fated to this bitch even if I did reject her."

Ryan stuffs some kind of cloth in my mouth and it muffles my screams but Im growing weak from all of the pain and the screaming, so I just lay there on the cold tiled floor.

Derrick looks at his friends and starts getting frantic. "I wont be able to get a second chance mate if I just reject her. It doesnt work that way. Oh goddess, I cant be stuck alone my entire life. Im going to need a Luna."

"What do you want to do?" Ryan asks him.

"We can take her to the pack border, kill her and say we have no idea what happened to her. We can set her over the border and either the rogues or another pack will take care of her body," Derrick says way too calmly. Almost like he has had this planned for a while. It honestly wouldnt shock me if he had since he has hated me for a long time.

I am just laying on the floor while they plot out my murder, but I cant force my body to get up and move. I am too weak right now. Goddess, do I wish I had my wolf right now. I am going to die today because some deranged man wants a different mate.

Ransley backs up with wide eyes on Derrick. "ARE YOU INSANE?" He screams at Derrick. "I may have watched you make fun of her and stuff like that, but I am NOT helping you kill her because you dont want her as your mate." Ransley shakes his head in disgust at Derrick but Derrick just smirks at him.

"Either you help us, or I will tell my dad about the money you stole a few months back to pay for your little gambling problem."

I guess that got Ransleys attention because he just shut his mouth and stood still. One minute, Im on the ground and the next, Im slung over Ryans shoulder like a sack of potatoes. My body is weak from the pain of the rejection so I cant even attempt to fight them. I just hang there as the boys leave out of the side door of the building and head into the forest.