Inez sucked in a breath; the scent of bonbons was overwhelming and her wolf was frantic. Of course, these two things had no connection whatsoever but both of them were driving her crazy.
She could practically feel her wolf thrashing against her surface, pleading, whining and crying to get out and rub against her mate.
But the restraints held her back.
Inez had always felt sorry for herself as she could not shift but this time around, she was glad. Because if she was able to shift, she would have torn Eve's head for leaving marks on their mate.
However, somewhere beneath the worry, fear and confusion, she felt thrilled. Maybe he did care? Maybe he still had some feelings for her? Thoughts like these swirled in her mind, causing her to feel giddy.
"Ah yes." Mrs Fawectt frowned as she turned to look at Dominic. "I don't want to come out as rude, Alpha Cherith. As your company had done such a fine job in preparing for my Mother-in-law's ninety-ninth birthday, but this nanny—that you have prepared—my son is not satisfied with her."
Inez threw the bones in the trash can as she turned to look at Dominic, who was studying her. His gaze was appraising rather than lusting as hers; a heartbeat later he smiled and turned to look at Mrs. Fawcett before saying, "I see. Has she upset you?"
"Very much."
"I understand," Dominic nodded, his voice still as frustratingly calm as usual and it irked Inez. Why? Why was he reacting as if he couldn't sense that they were mates?
No, he did sense they were mates—but he simply did not care enough to show it, and it made Inez angry. Soon she could feel her anger much more clearly than the heat that was coursing in her veins.
The way he was reacting —it was as if he didn't even deem her important enough to react. But the second he glanced at her, Inez wished he hadn't even acknowledged her at all.
Dominic turned and glanced at Inez lightly before saying, "Please don't worry, she will be punished thoroughly." There was a sadistic glint in those eyes, which terrified Inez.
This was how Dominic looked at her when he was about to hand the most soul-crushing punishment to her.
A sense of foreboding rose in Inez's heart as she warily eyed the man in front of her.
"No." even though Inez didn't have the slightest bit of idea what the man was going to do, she still shook her head and pleadingly spoke to him. "Don't do this, Dominic."
Maybe instinctively she knew what the man was going to do.
Dominic ignored her just like he had ignored her pleas in the past few months.
He parted his lips while staring at Inez coldly.
"I, Dominic Cherith, Alpha of Blood Moon Pack—"
"Dominic, NO!" Inez shouted but Dominic continued speaking, "Reject Inez Sinclair as my mate. A traitor who has betrayed her alpha and pack does not have the right to be my Luna."
It got so quiet in the banquet hall that Inez could even hear her breathing along with the crushing noise of her crumbling heart.
Rejected? Dominic's words ring in her ears. Traitor who has betrayed her alpha? When did she!? She tried to recall the things that she had done in the past few months and other than not attending Abertha's funeral, Inez couldn't recall doing anything that could make Dominic hate her.
There was also the part of her being part siren—but even if he knew that she was a siren, neither of these two reasons was enough for Dominic to reject her.
Unless he never cared enough for her. Or maybe he was waiting for a moment like this where he could humiliate and hurt her in this way.
Maybe her existence was nothing less than an inconvenience to this man, which was why he rejected her.
After all, how could a latent like her who couldn't even shift become the Luna of this pack?
Inez roared but at that moment she couldn't hear anything other than the mewling of her wolf as she cried for help.
She was half blood, to begin with — and with this rejection, her wolf had weakened even more.
There were thousands of questions that Inez wanted to ask but when she opened her mouth, only one word spilt out of her lips: "Why?"
"You know why," Dominic answered coolly and Inez curled her lips in a watery smile. Though her eyes were filled with tears, she refused to cry.
"That's the thing; I have no idea," Inez retorted. Her wolf exhaled in agony as she tried to reach forward and called for Dominic's wolf. That besotted wolf was still hoping that their mates would change their decision.
However, neither Dominic nor his wolf showed them any mercy.
Inez felt her wolf howl inside of her head and she closed her eyes.
She drew a ragged breath. "Fine," she was sweating so hard that her clothes were sticking to her skin. Inez could sense and feel the gazes of every single person in the banquet hall.
She knew that by tomorrow morning, rumours of how she held such less importance in Dominic's eyes that he rejected her over a brat's tantrum would spread all over the pack as well as the other packs.
Somewhere she heard someone snicker.
It was horrible —the pain, the humiliation and on top of the heat and rejection. All of the emotions were jumbled and she was about to lose her head.
"I accept your rejection." Inez chewed the inside of her cheek as she accepted the rejection. She didn't think that their relationship would come to this but now that it had, she knew that she had to come to terms with it.
Another pain sliced through her. It was sharp and deep, almost making her faint. It was a terrible longing. A loss filled with despair.
Somewhere inside of her —there was a crack like her very spine had broken.
And just as the pain intensified, it suddenly disappeared.
Though her body was still shaking because of the pain, Inez could at least breathe. She raised her head and looked at Dominic, who was staring at her with an appraising gaze, like this wasn't what he expected.
Laughter bubbled in Inez's throat. What else did he expect? Did he think that she would get on her knees and beg him? Like how she had been doing for the past few months.
Three years ago, she left the pack because her maternal grandmother was seriously sick after losing her mate.
As she was part siren, Inez wanted to use her half-baked skills to save her grandmother, which was why she left the pack. Back then everything was fine; Dominic and she were still friends.
Her other three best friends also treated her well.
But when she returned, every single thing had turned upside down. Dominic, who had once stood by her side and protected her, turned his back on her.
No, it would have been better if that was all there was to it.
He had tormented her, turned her into the pack's punch bag and she had accepted it. In return, all she had asked was for Dom to tell her the reason why he had turned his back on her, and yet he had never once answered.
Now, Inez had enough of it. Since this was what he wanted, this was what she would give him.