Chapter 2

Diana's POV

A shiver of fear slid down my spine when the people who had been standing a few feet away from me at the start of the ceremony, started to quickly move away like I was with a contagious disease. A small sob started to well inside of me almost immediately, as a feeling of confused helplessness settled over me heavily. It was still all so confusing and unclear, and it had happened way too fast for me to be able to fully comprehend yet.

One moment back there, I was waiting to feel my wolf start to stir inside of me, and the next moment, I was being declared wolfless.

There was nothing worse than being wolfless here on earth, and it was very obvious because everyone was pointing fingers at me while mothers tugged their pups into their arms like I was going to swoop forward and steal their pups away from them. I glanced at my stepsister who had gotten merged with her wolf along with everyone else, only to see so much fear and disgust written all over her face.

I knew I wasn't her favorite person, but I didn't know she hated me to the point of not even caring about me a little bit, and that broke my heart even more.

Everyone except the priestess was still standing in the open space, a few feet away from me, and the crowd slowly fell silent when she started to speak.

"She is without a wolf, which as everyone here had guessed, automatically makes her a stealer." The priestess called out to the crowd and once again, the noise went up a few notches just as I felt all the hope I had been clinging to, suddenly vanish into thin air.

There's that word again, 'stealer'.

I wasn't a stealer, I was a werewolf, and I had a feeling my wolf is probably deep in slumber compared to everyone's wolves, which was why it was yet to awaken because my wolf didn't awaken at the end of the spell chanting doesn't mean that I was without a wolf and was automatically a stealer, I thought to myself as I tried to get myself together, as I tried to desperately hold unto something inside my heart, to avoid me from completely breaking down at this very moment.

I took a couple of steps forward after a few seconds, determined to ask the priestess to perhaps reread the spell, for my wolf to finally awaken because I refused to accept my newly pronounced fate just like that.

The thought of going back home with my parents today was frightening enough, and worse, it would be without a wolf, coupled with the fact that I knew I was going to answer a lot of questions about where I got the seized bracelet from– all slammed into me and gave me all the courage I needed to close the distance between the priestess and tried to tune out the way the noise around the crowd went up a few notches.

The priestess turned around before I could touch her robe and held a finger up which she shook in my face a couple of times, as she slowly shook her head. It was obvious she meant I couldn't touch her, and tears finally started to slowly run down my cheeks.

I wasn't contagious, I didn't have a sort of deadly disease that she was going to get if I made physical contact with her– or anyone else, but I didn't think anyone was ready to listen to me as it seems.

As soon as the priestess turned on her heels and started to make her way away from me, a frightened and panicked gasp flew past my lips as soon as I noticed a bunch of rough-looking men start to make their way toward me before I could blink.

A scream tumbled out of me as I spun around and attempted to run for my dear life because it seemed like those men were about to do something to me that I wasn't going to like, and a part of me guessed that no one was going to even attempt to stand up for me.

A large hand grasp my elbow before I could take a second step forward and I tried to kick the person in where the sun doesn't shine, to be able to still attempt running forward but the owner of the hand dodged the kick just as another hand took hold of my other flying hand, rendering me completely powerless.

Tears stung my eyes and made it harder for me to see, but I didn't miss the way other wild and rough-looking men who shared the same horrible scent all swamped around me as they all tried to sniff at my neck and wrists at the same time.

What was happening to me? I asked myself as more tears slid down my cheeks. This wasn't how I imagined today to turn out, it wasn't how I imagined my eighteenth birthday to turn into.

I was supposed to get merged with my wolf and to get mated with Jeremy—

At the thought of Jeremy, I whipped my head around until I saw him, still sitting in the spot I had sighted him at, when he had sent me a small smile of encouragement, some time ago.

Why wasn't he ordering these men to let go of me? Those words echoed around in my head in the next moment as I trashed and tried to not breathe in the men's scent, who were still hell-bent on taking in my scent for only goddess knows what.

I thought he loved me…

I thought to myself as more tears slid down my cheeks. It didn't help once again that I sighted my parents, with Lucy being held by my mother, who had a disgusted facial expression on.

Lucy and I were both adopted, but I had no idea why I was deeply hated and while Lucy was greatly loved by my parents.

I refused to believe they were callous to the extent of completely abandoning me here, and so I attempted to call out for help to them, my voice breaking with each scream. They acted like they didn't hear the fact that I was obviously calling out to them, and instead kept on staring at me with so much hate and contempt in their gazes.

My family deserted me, completely turned their backs on me… and my boyfriend, the man I was in love with, the man I was supposed to get mated with today, didn't make any move to do anything.

I was completely helpless and left with zero choices.

I could do nothing but sob and tried to desperately believe that all that had recently happened, was nothing but a really bad dream.