Chapter 3 The Beginning Part 3

• "Claire, do you want to know where your mother and brother are?" A woman's voice asked me. I could hear her well but I couldn't see her.
• There was a wisp of light in the center of the dark - this dark place to which I assume was a room. There were no walls, ceilings, nor floors. It was plain darkness tinted by one single light coming from the small wisp like a candle flame at the center.
• "Yes. Please tell me where they are," I responded. Unexpectedly, my voice sounded calmer than I thought it would be.
• I remember making a huge scene earlier, after all. My emotions were all over the place and my fear for my family's lives made me even more anxious. I couldn't help but lose my sanity and myself back then.
• "They are in a safe place, Claire. But I am afraid to tell you, you can no longer see them in the world you're living in," the voice continued to explain to me.
• "What do you mean?" I asked.
• "They are not dead, but they aren't alive either," the woman replied vaguely.
• I frowned, feeling something was wrong. I swallowed down my fears and bravely asked, "What's the cause of this? And what should I do to see them again?"
• It didn't matter what the future held or what the things I would need to do were. If it meant being able to see my mother and brother―my only family members left―then I was more than willing to sell my own soul to the devil. Or whatever creature it was I was talking to.
• "I'm afraid I cannot tell you more than this as fate dictated you're already bound to know it all yourself. But as for the reason, I can tell you some things. I believe it is a curse, a dark spell given to your race after experiencing a rejection."
• "A rejection?" I couldn't help but feel my body turned cold. Rejection? Why would I suffer from a rejection? From all I know, only mates could do something such as this rejection. And it was a painful process too.
• "Your mate is an alpha," the woman said, making my eyes wide in surprise. "Unfortunately, your mate rejected you. And as a consequence, your mother and brother disappeared..."
• "What did you say...?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Both my mother and brother... disappeared... because of me?
• "It is something beyond your control, Claire," she said with a gentler voice, "A witch cursed your family race a long time ago. If one of you gets rejected by his or her fated mate, one or more of the other living family members and his or her mate's family members, will vanish. They or they may not continue to live in another world, lifetime, or timeline, as completely different people."
• "What does that even mean..." I muttered between my breaths. I couldn't decipher what she was saying at all. Mates, rejection, living in another world...
• In the first place, wouldn't this happen at all if not due to me and my recklessness? Just who was it that was rejected and caused the entire family's demise?
• It was me. I was the one who caused it. All because I was rejected.
• But by who? Who was my mate and why did he reject me? Was it because I was an omega? But how did he know? And when did he reject me? Didn't they say only after being confessed to about fated pairing and mating, could a werewolf "reject" his or her mate?
• When did I ever confess my feelings to? And who was it that rejected me?
• As I began to ask more questions in my head, the small wisp of flame before me began to disintegrate with the dark and slowly, I felt my eyes open. An unfamiliar white ceiling immediately welcomed me, paired with the soft fabric beneath my body.
• Almost dying out of dehydration, I began to open my lips. My weak hearing that resembled an ordinary human failed to notice another person was, in actuality, in the same room I was in.
• It was only after a while when I regained some more senses and strength to move my fingers that I realized the other person's presence. It was Ajax.
• And he was sleeping right next to me.
• With surprised eyes, my heart began to pound loud in confusion, anxiety, and fear. What was I doing in Ajax's bedroom?
• From what I knew, this was the concrete house of the Larwoods family near the city. It resembled the ones being used by humans of high statuses like Alphas did in our pack. I had only been here for a couple of times and they were only whenever I and my family were asked to lend a hand in cleaning and doing some maintenance to this house. After all, such a huge house was ever barely used by the Larwoods family. As per tradition and origin, they still preferred to live near the Northern woods where their real territory was located.
• Suddenly going to this mansion... Why was Ajax doing this? Didn't he hate this mansion?
• I remembered it clearly. It was only an accident but I once heard Ajax arguing with his father. As it turned out, Ajax refused to stay in this mansion as he didn't want to live near creatures such as humans. He hated them for some reason.
• But then again, after hearing his words earlier while I was begging to look for my family, it might be that I was wrong again.
• Perhaps, Ajax hated us omegas more than he had hated humans.
• Just thinking about this possibility made a twinge in my heart. I couldn't believe I was too blind to see for myself. Ajax clearly didn't like us, omegas, not even a bit...
• So that led to the question―why did he bring me here? And why was I in his bedroom?
• A thought began to cross my mind. An extremely ridiculous one.
• With a heart almost jumping out of my throat, I slowly looked down at my body, beneath the white covers. My face almost fell and my whole world stopped as I found out―I was naked.
• And when I glanced over Ajax, I found out that he, too, didn't wear any single clothing...
• Alarmed, I tried to move slowly, eager to leave. But before I could produce any sound or make a move, Ajax's eyes opened. Blazing, deep blue eyes stared right back at mine as he slowly parted his lips.
• "Where do you think you're going?"