MoboNovel Lite
Chapter 1_ Rejected By My Mate
Meredith.
The Lunar Ball was supposed to be the most important night of my life.
A night of destiny. A night where the Moon Goddess would finally show me mercy by revealing my mate, binding us together forever.
But as I stood at the grand entrance of the Moonstone Pack’s glittering ballroom, with the weight of a thousand stares pressing down on me, I already knew—
This night would end in disaster. I could feel it in my bones.
“You little filth. Don’t you dare take off your veil today, even if a knife is put to your neck. Do you understand?” My father warned through gritted teeth, in a voice that only I and the rest of our family could hear. And immediately, my attention was pulled back to him.
I had, for a moment, completely forgotten that I wasn’t alone.
“I don’t even know why you chose to wear black of all colours tonight.” He grunted shortly before snapping his gaze to my mother, who was standing right beside him. “Didn’t anyone see her before leaving the house?”
“Darling, she is free to wear whatever she wants. It’s not like she is going to sit with us.” Mum’s gaze flicked to me, briefly. “No one has to identify her with us tonight.”
My father gave one last disgusted look at me before stepping inside the ballroom. My mother followed him almost immediately without sparing another glance at me. She was completely indifferent to my existence.
Next up were my two older sisters, Monique and Mabel. They both gave me a disapproving look and scoffed before walking away with their fancy feather hand fans, which they had wreaked havoc to get, especially for this event.
“Control yourself for a minute, you slut!” My older brother, Gary, suddenly barked in my ears, causing me to flinch and the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. I had no idea when he came up behind me. I didn’t know parking a car could be this fast.
“I can smell your disgusting pheromones from miles away,” he sneered before stepping away from me.
I quickly lowered my head, avoiding his gaze as the loud pumping sound of my own blood filled my ears. I was so afraid of Gary because of the way he punished me. And I wasn’t about to let him slap me in front of the thousand pairs of eyes waiting for my moment of ridicule because my own brother was capable of that.
Fortunately, my fear vanished a few seconds later after Gary concluded I wasn’t worth his precious time on such an important night and walked away, leaving me behind. Alone and in peace.
The air in the room was thick with the scent of floral perfumes, champagne, and lingering light pheromones as unmated werewolves searched the crowd, waiting for the fated pull of their mates.
But I felt nothing other than my own pheromones dealing blows to me, minute after minute.
No pull. No surge of warmth. No instinct whispered that my other half was near.
Because I had no wolf.
Because I was cursed.
Because the Lunar Curse had stolen my bond before I ever had a chance to feel it. And yet, even without the mate bond, I already knew who my mate was.
Marc Harris. Future Beta of our Moonstone Pack.
I had overheard the whispers weeks ago in the academy halls, my classmates pitying me behind my back, saying how tragic my situation was, and how I was going to be rejected.
Regardless, I inhaled sharply, praying—begging—that this would be my chance to start over as I cautiously walked into the room with several pairs of eyes still fixated on me.
For sixteen years, I had been my family’s golden girl—the pride of the Moonstone Pack. Then, the Lunar Curse appeared, branding me with the crescent-shaped mark on my shoulder and stripping me of my wolf.
From that moment on, I had become nothing.
Tonight was my last hope. If the Moon Goddess still had any mercy left for me, my mate would accept me despite my curse.
But fate had never been kind to me. I realized that the moment I saw Marc.
He stood near the centre of the ballroom, dressed in a fine black and silver suit, his arm draped around another woman’s waist. She was stunning—blond, curvy, the kind of woman who never had to beg for attention.
My chest tightened painfully. Not because I felt some mate bond pulling me to him. But because I felt something else. A faint, buried instinct—something deep inside me that wanted to react but couldn’t.
It was weak, distant—like an echo of a connection that should have been there but wasn’t.
And for the first time in my life, I wondered, if I hadn’t been cursed, would I have felt what everyone else did?
Would I have felt warmth instead of this cold emptiness?
Would I have been loved instead of abandoned?
I guess I would never know. Because Marc turned his head—and his blue eyes locked onto mine through the black veil.
The second he saw me, his entire body went rigid. His nostrils flared as if he had just caught my scent.
His wolf had recognized me, and in that split second, I saw the flicker of devastation in his eyes before he marched straight towards me with the woman he was with.
A hush spread through the room. The whispers started.
“She’s his mate?”
“The cursed one? The wolfless freak?”
“No way a future Beta would accept someone like her…”
Just then, Marc stopped in front of me and released the woman he was holding. Looking me straight in the eyes, he snapped, his fierce gaze burning a hole through my forehead, “God forbid that I marry, mate, or mark a woman like you!”
The entire ballroom stilled, every pair of eyes locked onto us. He had said that loud enough for everyone to hear.
My chest tightened, my throat burning with humiliation. I lifted my chin, trying to steady my voice. “Marc…”
Before I could say another word, he spoke the words that shattered me.
“I, future Beta Marc Harris of the Moonstone Pack, reject you, Meredith Carter, as my mate.”
The gasps rippled through the crowd.
I felt every stare shift toward me as something deep inside me twisted painfully. Not because the bond was breaking—I had no true bond to break, but because Marc’s words made it real.
And he wasn’t finished yet.
Chapter 2_ Scorned At the Lunar Ball
Meredith.
Gnashing his teeth until the pain from the bond severing was over, Marc’s lips twisted into something cruel, and his voice laced with mockery. “Did you really think the Moon Goddess would pair me with someone like you? A cursed, wolfless burden?”
Laughter rippled through the ballroom.
I hadn’t expected this. I had been hopeful the Moon Goddess would finally shine her mercy on me tonight. Instead, look what she did to me.
Now, the entire werewolf society knew I was cursed and unwanted. No one would ever accept me. Not even my own family, who were actually the first to reject me.
I felt the sting of hot tears, but I refused to let them fall as I watched Marc hold that woman’s hand and take a few steps backward.
No. I would not cry. Not in front of these people. Not in front of him.
But just as I thought the humiliation and disgrace couldn’t get any worse, my pheromones surged; a wild, uncontrollable scent—a sign of a female in distress.
Immediately, several men in the room reacted.
Some turned their heads sharply, their wolves snarling low in their throats. Others stiffened, pupils dilating as their instincts responded to the scent.
A man near the bar exhaled sharply. Another clenched his jaw, gripping his drink tightly.
One even took a step toward me before stopping himself. And then the whispers changed.
“Damn, she smells incredible…”
“That’s unnatural—what’s wrong with her?”
“Control yourselves! The Alpha is watching!”
“I can’t believe she has the nerve to release that seductive scent of hers just seconds after being rejected.”
“She is trying to drive all the men in this room wild with those untamed pheromones of hers!”
“What a disgrace to the Moonstone Pack.”
“I would rather remain childless than have a cursed child like Meredith.”
“My heart goes out to the Carter family. They are the ones feeling the heat of her disgraceful acts.”
Panic surged in my chest. No, no, not now. I reached for my perfume bottle in my clutch, desperate to mask the scent that drove men wild. But before I could move, a cruel hand ripped my veil from my head.
Gasps of shock rang out.
Cold air rushed against my scarred cheek—a jagged, ugly scar that marred my once beautiful face—was on full display.
I barely had time to react before someone sneered, loud enough for the entire ballroom to hear.
“Horny whore!”
Laughter erupted like a wildfire, sharp and suffocating. The sound stabbed through me, each chuckle cutting deeper than the last.
“How dare you try to seduce men with a face like that?” Cora, the daughter of Alpha Aiden of the Nightshade Clan, my worst nightmare when we were still in college, questioned with venom dripping in her tone as she came to stand in front of me.
She was the one who took off my veil, and now she looked mad because my ugly scar got me the attention of men she could never have.
I felt bare, disoriented, and vulnerable without my veil. My breath hitched as mild panic attacks set in, but Cora wouldn’t let me go. Not so easily.
She had to make sure I drowned in humiliation—more than I had ever known since the night the Lunar Curse marked me.
Cora jabbed a finger through my left chest, and, when I didn’t answer her question, I instead turned to walk away after I had found the courage.
Just as I bent down to pick up my veil, she pushed me from behind forcefully. The next second, I saw myself staggering before sliding to the tiled floor.
A gasp of pain escaped my lips as my hip bone struck against the hard floor.
Then, the mockery, finger-pointing, and disdain from the crowd that had gathered around me fired off like a rocket without warning.
Tears burned at the edges of my vision, but I refused to let them fall. Not for them. Not for this pack that had already abandoned me. One day, they will regret this.
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw my father clench his fists by his sides from across the room. He watched me get humiliated in front of a hundred pairs of eyes.
And to my surprise, he started taking quick steps toward me. He was coming to my rescue, not because he had any ounce of love left for me, but because he was the current Beta of our Moonstone Pack, and I was his daughter.
Being disgraced and scorned out in the open by others was like a slap to his face and a threat to his position.
But suddenly, my brother Gary appeared from nowhere and quickly grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.
My father’s brows furrowed as his gaze shifted to Gary, silently demanding an explanation, but all he could do was shake his head and mouth, ‘Don’t go, Father.’
He was telling our father to overlook me, his baby sister, who was being bullied by others in the middle of the Lunar Ball.
The pain in my heart skyrocketed as tears blurred my vision, but I persisted, holding it back with the last shred of dignity I was left with.
I wanted to run. I wanted to disappear. But my body wouldn’t move.
In the midst of my shame, pain, and raging pheromones, my breathing seized momentarily as the world blurred around me.
And then suddenly, a new scent filled the air. Not just any scent, but one with power, strength, and command.
The kind of scent that made wolves stop breathing. That made Alphas lower their heads in instinctive submission.
The entire ballroom fell silent. And a deep, cold voice sliced through the air. “What the hell is going on here?”
My heart stilled. Cora’s smirk fell. The crowd parted instantly, and then I saw him.
Draven Oatrun.
The Alpha of the Mystic Furs Clan. The future King of Werewolves. And the most dangerous man in this room.
His broad frame was dressed in a dark, perfectly tailored suit, his golden eyes scanning the scene with icy detachment. Then those golden eyes landed on me.
Everything stopped. Including time.
My pheromones—the ones I had never been able to control—suddenly vanished. Like someone had put out a fire. Like they had submitted.
Just then, Alpha Draven started making his way toward me, and my breathing faltered.
I forgot to breathe.
Chapter 3_ Claiming the Cursed Wolfless Deviant
Draven.
The Lunar Ball was a place for weak men to fight over their mates.
I had no interest in this event. No patience for the petty politics of desperate Alphas trying to shove their daughters into my arms.
But the moment I stepped into the ballroom with my beta and a few other important people, something changed. My wolf snarled violently inside me, forcing me to stop mid-step.
A scent hit me like a drug.
Something wild. Something untamed. Something… Wrong.
The entire room had frozen, every eye locked on the girl at the center of the spectacle.
She sat there on the floor, her silver-white hair spilling like strands of moonlight, her slender frame stiff with barely contained rage.
Even from across the ballroom, I could see the way her violet eyes burned with unshed tears. And then I saw the scar. A jagged, brutal wound slashed down her left cheek—a wound that should have healed if she were a proper wolf.
My wolf rumbled, unsettled. Then, the whispers reached me.
“Beta Marc rejected her. Right in front of everyone.”
“She’s cursed. She doesn’t have a wolf.”
“Then she had the guts to release her wild pheromones. Pathetic!”
My gaze returned to the girl—Meredith Carter. And then I realized something else. Her pheromones, which had been spilling wildly just moments ago, suddenly vanished like someone had flipped a switch.
That shouldn’t be possible.
I took another step forward, locking eyes with her. Her breath hitched, and for a split second, something ancient and dangerous clawed at my chest.
Recognition. Possession. Mine.
I ignored it. I ignored the way her scent curled in my lungs, the way my entire body tensed as if preparing for war.
I completely ignored the woman in front of her and focused on the fool standing to her right.
Marc Harris, the future Beta of Moonstone Pack. A man I had no respect for.
He stood there, smirking, his posture relaxed as if he hadn’t just humiliated his fated mate in front of a room full of wolves.
I could end him in seconds. I considered it.
Instead, I let my power roll off me in waves as I took steps forward. “What the hell is going on there?”
The laughter immediately died. Wolves lowered their heads, instinctively bowing. And Marc, to his credit, stiffened but didn’t kneel.
Brave. But stupid.
I stopped just a few feet away.
Meredith, the cursed girl, stared at me, her hands curled into fists, bracing herself for another attack as she finally got on her feet, wincing in pain. She didn’t lower her gaze.
Interesting.
“Marc Harris.” My voice was cold, sharp as a blade. “Do you reject her?”
Marc smirked. “I already did, Alpha.”
My wolf snarled.
Wrong answer.
I barely contained the urge to crush the bastard’s throat between my fingers. Instead, I turned back to Meredith. She was now standing tall despite everything.
The entire room expected me to turn away. To ignore her like the rest. They were fools.
I saw what they refused to see. The force curled beneath her skin. The rage simmering in her veins.
She wasn’t weak. She was caged.
And if there was one thing I knew, it was that caged creatures were the most dangerous. So I made my decision. And I burned the entire ballroom down with my next words.
“Then I will take her.”
Silence.
Absolute, stunned silence.
Meredith’s breath caught. Marc blinked, his smirk dropping. “What?”
I barely spared him a glance. “You rejected her,” I said simply. “She belonged to no one, which means she belongs to me now.”
A gasp rippled through the crowd.
I stepped closer to Meredith, watching her body go rigid. I expected fear, but I got fire. Her violet eyes blazed with defiance.
“I am not some object to be passed around,” she suddenly spoke, meeting my gaze head-on.
The room went still.
Interesting.
For the first time in years, I felt the corner of my mouth twitch in amusement. ‘Oh, little wolf, you have no idea what you are.’
But I didn’t say that. I reached forward—slow enough for her to jerk away if she wanted, but she didn’t move.
Good.
I took the shredded remains of her veil from the floor. Gently, I lifted it, covering her face once more, shielding her from their stares. Then I spoke.
“Tomorrow, I will take you. In two days, you will be my wife,” I stated, leaving no room for negotiation.
Another shockwave rolled through the room. Marc’s expression twisted with disbelief. “You’re joking.”
I turned my gaze back to him, my power rolling off me in waves. “Do I look like I joke?”
Marc paled, stepping back. The message was clear. I was claiming Meredith, and no one would stop me.
A gasp rippled through the crowd. No one moved. No one breathed.
Then, the next second, the room exploded with murmurs, gasps, and hushed arguments.
I expected it. Welcomed it, even.
Werewolves had their precious hierarchy, their obsession with bloodlines and ranks. A Beta rejecting his mate was unfortunate. But an Alpha claiming a wolfless, cursed woman?
Unacceptable.
I let the noise build for a few moments, letting the weight of my words settle like a boulder on their chests.
Just as the whispers exploded into chaos, another voice cut through the tension.
“Draven.”
I turned my head slightly as my childhood friend, Wanda Fellowes, stepped forward. Her red gown shimmered under the chandeliers, her green eyes sharp as they met mine with barely concealed outrage. Unlike the others, she did not cower.
Wanda had always carried herself with control, always calculated in her words. But tonight was no different.
“Are you certain about this?” Her voice was low, careful. Not a challenge, just a question.
I held her gaze. “You disapprove?”
“I question the wisdom of this choice.” Her attention flickered to Meredith, who stood beside me, silent but tense.
“This woman is cursed. She has no wolf, and she has no strength. Her pheromones are wild and unnatural. And look at her—” She gestured toward Meredith with an exaggerated sigh. “She carries a scar that will forever stain her face. Is that the Luna you want standing beside you? Is that the Queen you want to present to our people? You need a Luna who will elevate you, not—”
Not weaken me. That’s what she wanted to say.
I cut her off, my eyes fixed on her. “And you believe she weakens me?”
There was a brief hesitation. Then, quietly, she replied, “I believe you should be careful.”
We stared at each other for a moment. Wanda was not my enemy. But she would never understand this.
I gave her a slight nod—acknowledgement, but not agreement. She exhaled softly and stepped back. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
So do I, Wanda.
Before I could speak again, another voice cut through the air.
“Draven.”
I already knew who it was. I turned to see Randall Oatrun, my father.
He moved through the crowd like a man still accustomed to power, every step measured, every glance sharp. When our eyes met, I saw no anger. Only disappointment.
“What are you doing?” His voice was smooth, unreadable.
I rolled my shoulders. “Claiming my wife.”
His gaze flicked to Meredith, then back to me. “You could have chosen any woman here. Any strong, capable female worthy of a King’s side.”
And yet, I had chosen the most dangerous option.
He exhaled slowly, his tone edged with finality. “Draven, this is your last chance. You must leave this Ball with a wife. I gave you that ultimatum. And I expect you to make a choice worthy of our bloodline.”
I smiled. “Then you should be pleased, Father. I have chosen.”
My father’s jaw ticked. He had expected me to bend. I never had before, and I would not start now.
I turned to Meredith. She was angry. Confused. Furious.
She didn’t want me. That was fine because the moment I looked at her tonight, the moment my wolf had recognized something within her—
She was already mine.