We've spent the rest of the morning with the kids playing, making sure they had everything they needed, showing them where the first aid kit is and anything else they may need once we leave.
"Rain... Jessica." Called Joshy, a 14-year-old orphaned boy whose parents died along with Jessicas' parents in the rouge attack on the pack.
As we walked down the hall to the stairs, I was hit with the most amazing scent of cider and roses. If only I could bottle the scent and keep it forever. But as we got to the bottom step, my thoughts were pulled from finding the source of the scent to the chaos that was in front of us. The Alpha was standing in the living room with an adorable little curly brown-haired girl by his side, who smelled like a rouge, Ms.Leana, and two of the pack guards I didn't recognize. Apparently, they killed the little girls' father at the border after he crossed over into the packs' territory, and since there are laws about executing underage rogue children, they had to bring her to the orphanage.
While everyone was checking on the little girl and talking to each other about what the girl was and what to do with her, I stood in the corner so I wouldn't get in anyone's way. Suddenly I was yanked by my hair, and a hand came down over my mouth so I couldn't yell out. I was pulled into the storage space under the stairs. I looked around quickly to figure out what was going on, and froze when I met the son of the pack Alpha, the future Alpha Ian. With what I'm sure was confusion and panic written all over my face, I asked him what was going on, but he just looked at me with hatred and amusement in his dark brown eyes for what felt like forever before he spoke.
"I, Alpha Ian, future Alpha of the Blue River Pack reject you Rain, as my mate and future Luna," he says with a smile plastered on his face. "I would never accept a witch as my mate. Especially a worthless and weak orphaned witch like you! The Moon Goddess really screwed up pairing us as mates."
Alpha Ian walks out the door closing it behind him, leaving me alone in the small storage room. My mind starts to swirl with questions. What did he mean he rejects me as his mate? Do witches even have mates? Did he say worthless and weak? I'm not even 17 yet. I thought Jess said you have to be 17 before finding your mate. Did the Moon Goddess make a mistake? What am I supposed I do now? As I'm panicking, I feel a dull pain in my chest getting stronger and stronger, till I can't anymore and pass out.
When I wake up, I'm in our room on Jessicas' bunk. I look around in shock and try to remember what happened. As soon as Jess realizes I'm awake, she rushes to my side.
"What the hell happened to you? One minute you're standing in a corner of the Livingroom, and the next minute you're gone. Then I find you in the storage space under the stairs passed out on the floor. Are you okay? Are you getting sick or something?" She asks, on the verge of crying.
"I'm really not sure what happened, But you're right. We need to leave tonight," I say, sitting up before I feel a burning pain in the pit of my stomach, making me want to claw it out.
"Oh, My Goddess, You found your mate," She says in complete shock.
"Ian, it's Alpha Ian..." I say, trying to breathe through the sharp burning pain.
"he rejected you?" She asks, and I nod, not sure I could even speak right now.
"You shouldn't still be feeling the pains of his rejection. Did you accept his rejection?" She asks, and I shake my head no in response.
"I didn't know I was supposed to, not like he gave me any time to do or say anything before he walked out, leaving me in the closet," I tell her as the pain starts to dissipate.
"He knew you wouldn't know what to do. Now he's forcing you to feel the pains of his betrail on top of the pain of his rejection." She says, shaking in anger.
"What can I do to stop this pain?" I ask her
"Nothing right now." She says, trying to calm herself down. "We have to leave tonight. Once we get to the border, I'll denounce the pack, and you can accept Ians' rejection, and then we'll be free from this hell."
"Okay," I say, getting up to grab some snacks to put in our duffle bag for when we leave.
"Ohh, just one more thing," Jess says, and I turn around to look at her. "The new orphan girl, we have to take her with us."
"What? You want to kidnap an orphan? Are you out of your mind?" I ask, looking at her in shock.
"She's a rogue wolf. Not a pack member. Once she turns seventeen they will execute her." She says. I have no arguments because I couldn't bare the thought of knowing we left a defenseless child behind to be killed by these monsters, so I agree with her decision.