Josie’s POV
I sat staring into the lake, my legs crossed beneath me, listening to the sounds of the leaves rustling in the wind, the sun shining down on me, feeling thoroughly miserable. Today should have been a special day. Today should have been a day of celebration. I should have been rejoicing with my family. But instead, I was out here, alone, feeling as though my heart had been torn into pieces. I didn’t have the willpower to stand up, let alone go back and face my family. How did I tell them, my mother and father, who wanted the best for me and my brothers, that my mate, the one who was supposed to love me unconditionally, had just rejected me point blank and for the most ungodly reason there was. I tried to hold the tears back. I stared miserably into the water.
It was my eighte
