Rejected By One Claimed By Three

The Scars She Hid From The World

REGINA MCBRIDE

The heavy iron gates of the Wilderness Correction Camp groaned as they released me after three years of state-sponsored hell. I stood on the dirt road, clutching a plastic bag that held my entire life, waiting for the family that claimed they sent me there for "rehab." My brother, Brady, picked me up in a luxury SUV only to throw me out onto a deserted highway in the middle of a brewing storm. He told me I was a "public relations nightmare" and that the rain might finally wash the "stink" of the camp off me. He drove away, leaving me to limp miles through the mud on a snapped ankle. When I finally dragged myself to our family estate, my mother didn't offer a hug; she gasped in horror because my muddy clothes were ruining her Italian marble. They didn't give me my old room back. Instead, they banished me to a moldy gardener’s shack and hired a "babysitter" to make sure I didn't embarrass them further. My sister, Kaleigh, stood there in white cashmere, pretending to cry while clinging to her fiancé, Ambrose—the man who had once been mine. They all treated me like a volatile junkie, refusing to acknowledge that Kaleigh was the one who planted the drugs in my bag three years ago. They wanted to believe I was broken so they wouldn't have to feel guilty about the "wellness retreat" that was actually a torture chamber. I sat in the dark of that shed, feeling the cooling gel on the cigarette burns that covered my arms, and realized they had made a fatal mistake. They thought they had erased me, but I had returned with a roadmap of scars and a hidden satellite phone. At dinner, I didn't beg for their love. I simply rolled up my sleeves and showed them the price of their silence. As the wine spilled and the lies crumbled, I sent a single text to the only person I trusted: "I'm in. Let them simmer." The hunt was finally on.

Modern Revenge Scheming

Download the Book on the App

APRIL'S POV

"Are you out of your mind?" Alpha Winston growled as he flashed a cold stare at me.

I shuddered.

"I know you feel the mate bond as much as I do." I muttered.

He sprang from the large bed and stalked over to where I stood by the closed door. We were in his private chambers, alone. Tension hung low in the air as he approached me.

"Say that again, April" He said. He was now a few inches away from me, and his height towered above my small figure.

My mouth ran dry as I clutched unto the basket of clothes in my hands.

"April, I dare you to repeat yourself!" He ordered in a low tone.

I broke into a cough and looked down at my feet. "Alpha Winston, I am-am only saying that there is a mate bond between us and—"

"That is my point!" He barked. "I know fully well that you are my mate. May the Moon goddess curse me if I ever let you become my Luna. What would my subject even say of me?"

My mouth dropped open. What was he even talking about?

He edged backwards, running his eyes over my figure. Then, he spat on the floor.

"You are only a weak omega! Do you need me to remind you of how unworthy you are to even be my mate?" He asked.

I remained silent. I felt numb as I rolled over his words in my head. A moment passed and he was still glaring at me.

"Do you know how shameful it would be if everyone out there knows that I've been mated to the weakest link in the rogue pack??" He asked again, rasing his voice.

I shook my head, "I am so...sorry—"

"Keep your nasty apologies to yourself!" He snapped, wagging a finger in my face. "It's a good thing we are having this conversation now. There is one thing you must do."

I glanced up at him, a sudden eagerness to please him settled over me. "Anything, Alpha Winston."

"You will keep our mate bond a secret. No living being must hear of it, until I am ready. Do you understand?"

"But—"

"The moment you spill a word of this, consider yourself as dead. I will make sure I snuff life out of you!"

Cold sweat broke on my forehead and I stiffened. The air in the room suddenly felt too heavy for me.

"April, have I made myself clear?" He asked.

I nodded slowly and lowered myself in a bow, "I swear by the moon goddess, I will not reveal anything about our mate bond to anyone."

His lips twisted in a smirk and his eyes shone with satisfaction. "Good for you. Now get out of my chambers!"

His words hit me with a force. Yet, I remain rooted to the spot.

"I know you are not deaf, April. Leave now"

I turned on my heels and left the room, holding back my tears which threatened to break free.

This was it!

This was the kind of life I had been reduced to. A useless omega that who is hated so much by her mate. What other misery could one get?

***************

I stood in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection. I could barely recognize myself as I had grown so pale over the weeks. Even after Alpha Winston had warned me never to tell anyone that we were mates, he kept making secret advances at me. One night, when he had just returned from a meeting with the council of elders, he called me into his chambers.

My heart pounded in my chest as I walked in that night.

"Alpha Winston" I had mumbled.

He swiftly strode across his room and came up to where I stood. Then, he cupped my face in his large palms, his breath fanned my face, causing my skin to tingle. Without a word, he kissed me and took me to his bed. I had no memory of what had happened afterwards, because I was too giddy with excitement that he wanted me, at least so I thought.

The following morning, I woke up in his bed with a spot on my neck that throbbed with pain.

Marked.

I had been marked by the very man who didn't want anything to do with me. After that day, he avoided me like a plague, but that didn't bother me. He had marked me, and it meant something. Somehow, it gave me hope—hope that one day, he would publicly acknowledge our mate bond.

Read Now