Rising From The Ashes, The Vengeful Luna

Beaten: Hope POV

I lay there on the floor, unable to move, the blood trickling from the various wounds on my back. I felt sickened, licking my dry lips and fighting back constant nausea as I drifted in and out of consciousness. Kobe hadn’t held back, clearly angered by my attempt to escape and determined to drill it into me that he would not abide such behaviour again. I knew all too well what he had in store for me, but it never stopped me trying to leave. I would try until the day I died.

“Kobe” I whispered, glancing towards the empty stairs and looking painfully at the locked door leading into the basement. “I won’t forgive you for this. Just you wait. I’m going to make you pay for everything that you’ve done to me. I don’t care how long it takes” I added, feeling my chest tighten as my head flopped down and I became lost in a memory. So many memories and yet one still haunted me more than the others.

“We’re mates” Kobe’s voice was filled with repulsion as he eyed me in disgust, shaking his head at me and looking as though he wanted to throw up at the mere mention of it..

I blinked. It couldn’t be true. Kobe hated me, despised me and tormented me in front of other members of the pack. Why had he waited until now to speak to me and why was he telling me at all if he didn’t want to be mates? This had to be some sort of sick joke or another hurtful prank of his. I refused to believe it.

“I don’t understand” I said, confused. “If we’re mates then why have you treated me so badly?” I whispered, looking up at him under the night sky.

“Because I don’t want a mate like you” he growled “you’re nothing but a weak pathetic mutt. I had hoped that when you got your wolf things might change, and you would prove to be useful in some aspect, but you couldn’t even do that right” he snarled.

It wasn't my fault that I had failed to shift. Tears flooded my eyes. I had waited so long to find my mate and Kobe had known all along. He’d turned eighteen before me and felt the mate bond first. I stared at him in disbelief. He'd intentionally said nothing to me, allowing me to think that he was nothing more than a bully, full of his own damn arrogance. The truth hurt so much more.

“If you don’t want me then reject me. You don’t have to have me as your mate” I blurted out, feeling my chest squeeze painfully at the suggestion. “You can take a chosen one instead!” I declared, eyeing him with contempt.

The words almost killed me inside as I said it. I had grown up believing that a mate was something sacred to be respected but if Kobe didn't want me, then he could go to hell!

Slap. My body stumbled backwards from the sheer force of his strike. I hadn’t expected him to slap me like that, let alone so hard. I put a hand to my burning cheek, unable to hide my contempt for him. What kind of person was able to lay their hands on their fated mate so easily and have no remorse for doing so?

“How could you? I’m your mate and yet you still lay hands on me. If you don’t want me then just do it” I argued, as he continued to stare at me, his hands clenched into fists by his side.

He looked so angry right now. As though I had done this intentionally, but it was up to the moon goddess who blessed us with our mates. I had nothing to do with it. As it was, I couldn’t feel the mate bond fully with him, although I had felt tingles and sparks as he slapped my bare skin, not to mention overwhelming hurt. Why hadn't I put it together? How could I have been so blind and stupid?

“You know what the purpose of a mate is” he snarled, looking down at me with a frown. “Your mate is meant to provide you with added strength. Everybody knows that. Its why so few shifters reject their other halves. Damnit” he growled “why did I have to get stuck with the likes of you.”

It felt as though he had struck me with another blow as I flinched from the anger in his voice and the dripping venom. He acted as though I was something disgusting that he could not bear to lay eyes on. Two could play that game! He wasn't anything special either, just because he was the Alpha!

I’d had enough. If he wasn’t going to reject me, then I would do it for him. I had too much pride to simply listen to his constant complaints. I wanted a mate who cared for me, not this bastard. I took a deep breath and looked directly into his eyes.

“Fine, if you won’t do it then I will” I declared, flattening my lips while a mutinous expression crossed his face.

I took another deep breath and then exhaled it slowly, knowing I was doing the right thing for myself. Maybe it the moon goddess was merciful she would grant me a second chance mate.

“I, Hope Deluca of the Nightingale Pack, hereby reject you Alpha Kobe Richardson as my mate, now and forever more.” I blurted out, meeting his eyes in defiance..

Pain shot through me. The pain of rejection can be excruciating. I put a hand to my chest, feeling as though my heart was being torn into tiny shreds. Kobe glared at me and then grabbed me by the neck, lifting me up as though I was some sort of ragdoll as he shook me violently. I leto out a small cry of pain. The bastard was hurting me and he didn't even care!

“You think you can just reject me?” he sneered as I tried to claw his hands away from me. “It’s not that easy Hope. I won’t let you” he added as my mouth parted open in shock. “I need you. Heck, I need heirs at some point in the future. So what we’re going to do is keep this secret for now and I’m going to make you my slave. You will do everything that I tell you to do” he warned, while I continued to be limp in his arms “and I won’t have to punish you. You try to ignore me, or escape and the punishment will be severe.”

“What if I refuse?” I gasped, feeling my lungs trying to draw in oxygen.

I should have known better than to question him, but I was pass the point of no return, my own rage beginning to take over all commonsense.

He dropped me and then as I fell to the ground, my body hitting it with a thud, he kicked out at me, causing my ribs to break. I let out a yell of pain. This would take days to heal. I glared up at him, my eyes welling with unshed tears.

“This is just a little taste of what I can do to you. You think anybody in this pack is going to care enough to intervene or try to save you?” his tone was nonchalant. “Good luck. In the meantime, stand up” he ordered.

I hesitated, but the pain in my ribs was excruciating and I knew he hadn’t used his full strength that time, holding himself back. I gave a small sob and got to my feet, my hand clutching my ribs as they continued to throb. Without a wolf, it would take days before I recovered. The bastard knew that. He narrowed his eyes.

“Start walking to the pack house” he said darkly “I’ll have a room made up for you. I think you’ll like it” he added as I looked at him suspiciously.

I doubted it. Whatever room he put me in was not going to make up for this. Not ever.

“What about Evelyn and Tiffany?”

I was clutching at straws. I knew that my stepmother and stepsister didn’t give two figs about me. They were as abusive as Kobe but he didn’t care. Nobody in this godforsaken pack did. They all turned a blind eye to it. This pack was nothing like the others I had heard about when it came to taking care of it's pack members.

“I’ll tell them you are working as an omega for me. Your stepmother wants you out of the house anyway” he said callously.

I bowed my head. I knew Evelyn hated me, but it still hurt to know that Kobe was aware of it too.

“Tiffany will be glad you’re gone” he added, and I gritted my teeth, unable to dispute that.

As sisters went, Tiffany and I were anything but civil to each other. We hated each other and it was no secret, but Tiffany was the one who manipulated things behind the scenes and encouraged the pack and her friends to constantly humiliate and belittle me.

“Move” he snarled, losing his temper. .

I felt as though I had no choice but to comply, my legs beginning to move stiffly towards the pack house while my head remained bowed low. He might think I was submitting to him right now, but I would keep trying to find new ways to leave this pack, even if I had to become a rogue in the process. Kobe might think that he had won, but I would win in the end. I would not let him break me. Him or whoever he decided would be his chosen mate. I would get my revenge on the both of them.