Chapter 12: Chapter Twelve

Alexandria

It takes me a minute to figure out what Annie is talking about. I know I heard her, but I guess my brain is a little slow this morning.

“What? No way. It can’t be.”

“And why not?”

She seems to think that my mate is James and that can’t happen, he is a total asshat, he is a...douchecanoe. No way. I will lose my mind if he ends up being my mate. Why would the Moon Goddess curse me with someone like him?

“Don’t even go there, Annie.”

I say as I roll my eyes and begin my trek back towards my first class of the day.

“Let's get to class maybe you will find him in there.”

She seems pretty determined to help me find my mate today, we know he is in this school we just don’t know who it is exactly. As we make our way to class, I get this weird feeling I’m being watched again but I don’t turn around this time and just continue to class.

By the time lunch rolls around Annie and I make our way to the cafeteria room for lunch, I am starving and ready to eat. Annie and I make our way to our table to sit and eat, then that scent hits me again, I begin to look around to figure out where it's coming from, I can’t seem to figure it out. When I look around, I see Jackie with her cronies chatting it up with James and his goons. When I make eye contact with him it hits me suddenly and I feel like I am going to be sick, I feel myself grow pale and I all of sudden am no longer hungry. The words that keep replaying in my mind is what makes me feel this way. I keep hearing over and over.

“Mate. Mate. Mate”

“Alex, what’s going on? Are you okay?”

I can barely make out what Annie is saying over the blood pumping in my ears and the feeling of my heart in my stomach.

“Umm, yea, I’m okay, I just...I need to go. I’ll catch you later.”

“Are you sure you’re okay, you look like you’re going to pass out?”

“Yes! I said I’m fine!”

I realize now that I was shouting at her, and I never shout at Annie, she is my best friend.

“I’m sorry, look I need to go, I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Okay, I’ll text you later.”

I get up to leave and I can feel James’ eyes on me like he is watching me to see what I do next, but I don’t care what he does, I am not going near him, I need to get out of here and go home or...anywhere…but here. I make it out to the parking lot, and I almost make it to my car when hear someone call my name.

“Alex, wait!”

I don’t want to turn around I know that voice and it makes the blood in my veins turn ice cold. But when I hear it again, I am forced to turn around and face my fate of meeting my mate who I despise more than anything else on this earth. He has made my life hell here at school. He is the worst. But I feel the need to turn and when I do and when I meet his eyes every horrible feeling I have for him seems to vanish into thin air, The stupid mate bond that I apparently have with him makes me want to run into his arms and press my nose to his neck and inhale his wonderful scent.

I have to remind myself of the hell I have been put through, I need to remind myself it's just the bond that is having this effect on me. I regain my composure and clear my throat and stand tall and put as much confidence into my next words as possible.

“What do you want James?”

That’s when it registers what I am to him and for a split second, I begin to wonder if everything is going to change between us and I begin to think that maybe he could be my true mate and begin to love me the way a true mate should. But all that comes crashing down when I hear those words come out of his mouth.

“I, James Benton, Future Alpha of Blue Moon Pack REJECT you Alexandria Wilson of Blue Moon Pack as my true mate and future Luna.”

As the last of the words come out of his mouth, I feel this horrible pain run through my heart and my whole body and it just about knocks me to the ground, but I refuse to let James see me crumble, it makes me want to scream loud enough that the heavens and Moon Goddess above would hear me, but I won't give James that satisfaction to know he has caused me such pain.

I regain my composer and stand tall and face him before he can turn to walk away, I manage to pull as much confidence as I can manage and call out to him.

“James, before you go.”

I look him in the eye and draw in my confidence.

“I, Alexandria Wilson also reject you James Benton as my true mate.”

I manage to catch a small glimpse into the pain he feels, and I can't help but feel smug about what just happened between us because now he knows the pain I feel. I manage to turn away from him and climb into my car and pull out of the parking lot and I manage to make it the rest of the way home in one piece.

Somehow, I manage to make it home, and I feel like I am in a fog, thank the Goddess my parents aren’t home right now because I feel like I just need to be alone and process everything that has happened. I can't believe the Goddess would curse me to be mates with someone like James.

Why would she do that to me, did I do something wrong to have her pair me with him. What could I have done to end up with such a fate? I make my way upstairs to my room and strip out of my clothes and make my way to my shower I feel like I need to wash away the day.

I climb into the shower and turn the water on. As I begin to wash my body and I wash my hair I find myself sliding down to sit on the shower floor and sitting under the water falling on top of me.

When the water begins to turn cold and I can longer handle being in the shower, I climb out and walk into my room and throw on my favorite black leggings and my favorite white tank top and climb into bed and I begin to feel myself crying and I curl into a ball under my blankets and just let myself go. What a wonderful day to end my birthday.

Before I know it, I am fast asleep in a world of darkness and begin to wonder what it would be like to find a mate who would love me and what it could be like to find someone who could care.

When I manage to wake up, I hear my mother trying to wake me from my slumber.

“Alex, Honey are you okay?”

I roll over to see my mom’s face full of concern because she knows I normally wouldn’t act this way, especially today of all days. But none the less I put on a smile for my mom.

“Yea, I’m just feeling a little tired today.”

I can tell she doesn’t believe me, but I am thankful she doesn’t push for the truth.

“Okay sweetie, dinner will be ready in a couple of hours, your dad got held up at the border again, but he should be home in time for dinner.”

I can't bear to tell her right now that I just found my mate and was rejected all on the same day. So instead of that I just tell her okay and give her a smile and she gets up to walk back to the living room and I roll back over and start to think about what my life could have been like if I was paired with a mate that actually cared and loved me the way a mate should.