Chapter 20

"Isabella will you just listen to me!" Damon frost demands as I try my best to walk away but he blocks my bath, his massive body filling the space of the hallway. A meeting with my retainers has just ended leaving me frustrated with the little progress we were making in finding where the Shadows were sneaking into our kingdom. Frustrated, I was on my way back to my office as I noticed an email from the Demon King, Killian Cyprian, and wanted to prioritize opening it and reading what he has to say about the Shadows escaping the Indian Continent to wreak havoc here in Canada before I continue to finalize the Royal Canadian Army draft sheet to send out to all Alphas. Unfortunately for me, I was met with an angry ex-mate that has been hounding me for days to talk to him.

"Alpha Frost, you will address me properly or be taken to the dungeons for punishment." I warn, allowing annoyance and anger to flow into my voice. I was tired of his antics, tired of him addressing me as anything but Your Majesty.

"I am your mate Isabella; I refuse to address you as anything but your name!" He argues back, causing me to growl warningly at him. He is walking a thin line of disobedience, one that will lead him to being severely punished soon. To think he would bring up us being mates when it did not matter to him six years ago when I begged him not to initiate a rejection.

"You seem to forget that you carry the mate mark of another woman Alpha Frost, now get out of my way or else." I growl out, shouting at the man that has become a thorn in my side since my coronation. I watch him flinch, watching the hurt and disappointment flash in his eyes. Gone is the strong and confident man I met six years ago. In front of me stands a hurt little pup.

"You chose to reject me Alpha Frost. You chose to hurt me before you even got to know me. You do not deserve anything from me because of this." I continue, cutting him off from saying anything else when he goes to argue back and refute my words. A gathering of maids and guards have appeared in the halls and come to watch, come to see what commotion is being made in the hall way. Now, the fact that I was rejected has become known and soon the news will spread like wildfire in Nightlock Thorns before spreading to all of Canada. Part of me dreads this, dreads anyone knowing of my weakest moment, but another part of me wants everyone to know that the so called Alpha of a Warriors only pack rejected his Queen as his Soulmate and lost the right to rule as Alpha King.

"Is what she is saying true Damon?" A voice calls out from my left. I watch as Damon stiffens, watch as panic settles into his eyes and inwardly smirk. It seems his Luna is right on time.

"Lilah, what are you doing here?" Damon demands, turning to face the direction of the voice and ignoring the question thrown his way. It seems Damon Frost is also a coward.

A light touch takes my hand as the smell of peppermint and pine wraps around me making me smile. Turning to see Liam who has a mischievous glint in his eyes, one that makes me want to enjoy a show that I brought in, I squeeze his hand lightly and decide to stay silent to allow the Frost couple a chance to talk. After all, I did invite Lilah here to take her mate home and away from me after nearly two weeks of his over-stayed visit.

"What I am doing is coming to see my mate who has not returned home yet. A mate I chose over finding my Soulmate because of the stupid fucking rule in our pack." Lilah Davis states, her anger radiating off of her in waves. Turning to face the scene, I see a short blond she-wolf glaring at Damon, her focus solely on the man that has now betrayed the both of us. There is no hurt and no pain in her eyes but anger and resentment to the man she mated.

"You should have stayed back at Frost Moon. They need their luna!" He shouts back, angry at the women in front of him. I scoff, thinking how much of a hypocrite he is being considering Malcom left two days after my coronation because Frost Moon needed its Alpha and Beta, but Damon stuck around, citing that He needed to attend the Alpha meeting and would return when done. Sadly, he stuck around like a thorn in my side.

"And they need their Alpha but here you are pining after another woman!" Lilah shouts back, japing her index finger into his chest.

"I became your Luna because you and I fell in love five years ago. You told me your mate died but it seems you lied. You lied to me and to our pack!" She continues shouting stepping towards Damon with her short body barely reaching his bicep. I remember Lilah from the Royal Tour, remembered seeing her sparing with a few wolves in their training room. She wowed me at first, never backing down from a challenge even if someone was stronger or bigger than her. She knew her worth and it was evident as she never hung around the pack whores and it wasn't until Ali stated that it was because Lilah had a crush on Damon even if the two were not Soulmates. At first I felt jealous, not liking the idea of another she-wolf vying for my Soulmate but after the rejection and deciding to become a better Queen for my nation, I forgot about her until Ali called to see if I was okay after the two had mated. It was a night that left me near death's door, the pain so unbearable that I thought I had died a few times.

That night a storm raged on in my pack, causing many to be unable to leave their homes. Moira had to come to sedate me, giving me a dose of wolfbane mixed with a sedative to numb my powers and the pain until the storm ended. I woke up seven days later from a comma, the pack dealing with the four feet of snow that the storm caused.

To learn that Damon Frost told everyone his mate had died stings, but not as bad as the rejection did. I guess he had to give the wolves of Frost Moon an excuse as to why he took a chosen mate.

"I did not die, although the pain he put me through with the rejection and mating you made me want to. Sorry to spring this on you Luna-"

"No, your Majesty, I am no longer the Luna of Frost Moon and you are the one owed the apologies for the pain we must have caused when we mated. Let me make it up to you." Lilah cuts me off, her eyes turning their gaze to me. There is no anger in her gaze, no hatred or resentment. There is only a look of gratitude and guilt.

"I, Lilah Davis, reject you Damon Frost as my chosen mate. I rescind my title of Luna to the pack of Frost Moon and hereby reject the pack." Damon lets out a scream of pain, the mark on his neck burning as Lilah rejects him for all to see. It surprises us, surprises me that this spitfire short blond would dare to reject a man that she chose.

"Thank you for giving Ali a call, my Queen. I was worried my ex-mate was cheating on me because there has been some strain on my mark but it seems I was wrong. He was here trying to reclaim his Soulmate." Her voice changes from the angry yelling that has been directed towards the now whimpering and screaming Damon Frost.

I feel pain watching him, pain knowing the man the Moon Goddess paired me with is in agony, but I push it to the back of my mind. He did not care for me six years ago. Did not care for me when he kissed me only to rip my heart out hours later with a rejection. This is his Karma, a Karma that is six years past due.

"I am sorry that you had to find out this way that I am his Soulmate, but just like you, I do not want him." I explain, turning to glare at the man on the ground, the smell of burnt flesh in the air.

"He rejected me six years ago and if I remember correctly, the words he used were "You aren't fit to be my Luna" and he is right." I state, catching the pained look in his eyes, my own holding nothing but contempt for this man.

"I am not a Luna; I am a Queen and I have a nation to rule over and protect. I have no time to deal with an Alpha who's ego is bigger than his balls." With that, I motion for a maid to come forward, asking her to take Lilah to a guest room while asking for a butler and ordering for arrangements to be made for Damon Frost to be sent home tomorrow with an escort of guards to make sure he has been sent there and wont be coming back unless called upon. Enough is enough and it's time for him to return to his pack and be an Alpha.

With arrangements made, I motion for Liam to follow me as I resume walking towards my office. I can sense the respect and awe my pack mates send my way, hear the words of encouragement they send me through their link and the praises of how strong I am to have survived rejection. I can't help but bask in their love and support, the feeling of being an outcast slowly disappearing. I can feel a change in the way my pack mates see me, feel a shift in our bond and I smile.

"What's with the smile Bells?" Liam asks, his deep voice close to my ear, his body heat radiating between the small gap of air that separates us as we walk down the hallway.

"I think the pack no longer fears me and my powers." I answer, turning to pull Liam flushed against me, placing a kiss on his chin.

"They are congratulating me for how I handled Damon Frost, for surviving a rejection and for putting them, putting our pack and nation first." Liam chuckles, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close.

"They know you care about them over reconciling with a man who hurt you. They are proud to call you their Alpha and Queen." He whispers, his fingers gently pinching my chin as his face lowers. Soon, Liam's lips are on mine in a slow and steady kiss, my eyes closing as I lean into his touch. This is how a mate should be, loving, kind and supportive, and soon Liam and I will belong to each other.