The Pack Outcast (The Fae Omegas, #3) [SAMPLE]

Chapter 1

Everyone simply believed what they had been told — that Amelia went crazy after her parents' deaths and became a psychopath.

As I walked past the young adult enforcers in training standing together, one of the Hall twin's friends sneered, "Serves you right! At least we don't have to worry about having a deranged Luna anymore!"

I didn't bother responding to him as I walked out to the Alpha's patio to get some air.

Unfortunately, the Alpha's patio also held memories for me. Sawyer and I had sat here together several times during the year we were set to become official mates.

I was sinking into the memories of my relationship with Sawyer in the past one year when someone's hand touched me on the shoulder, startling me out of my nostalgic feelings.

I moved away from that familiar grip and turned to glare at Sawyer.

It was also at that moment that I realized I was crying. "Why? Did you and Evelyn plan this from the start? Did she tell you to pretend that you were going to accept me as your official mate and then reject me a few minutes before your Mate Choosing Ceremony?"

"No, that's not it at all. I guess you deserve closure, so I'll just tell you the truth. I planned to mate with you because I believed in the power of the true mate bond. But since I went to the Pack Alphas Congress meeting with my father, I realized that the true mate bond wasn't as special as I'd thought. I mean, my parents and grandmother already told me you weren't right for me, but I thought the strength of our bond could make me more powerful, so I held on. Unfortunately, it only deepened my connection with my wolf and you."

"Sawyer! Are you saying you wanted to mate with me to boost your strength?" I had never seen Sawyer the way he was at that moment, staring at me with a haughty look that nailed my feet to the ground and made my heart hurt, on the same patio where he had confessed to loving me eight months ago.

While we were together, he had been a perfect gentleman. He cared for me, fought for many of the rights the Cooper family had stolen from me, and tried to help me ease my isolation from the pack. But now, I couldn't see anything on his face other than the calculating glint that lit up his green eyes.

"Yes and No. I actually liked you. Why do you think I would want to mate with someone as weak as you? From the time your parents died, you've never been able to win a single battle against your aunt and her family. They keep taking and you keep giving like the hopeless little door mat you are. How could—"

"You! You think the solution to my problems is me descending as low as the Cooper family to—"

"And that self-righteous behavior of yours is so ridiculous. It must result from being trained by the 'ever' honorable Galvin Byrne from early in your childhood, but, Amelia, look around you. Your father died because of that so-called 'honor', leaving behind his little girl to suffer in his mate's sister's hands. The bad guys always win, Amelia. Someone as weak as you, as 'honorable' as you, was simply born to be other people's stepping stones. I thought I could ignore that, but then I met a true mate couple in the Congress and realized that according to them 'the true mate bond only increases the tacit understanding and trust between mates and their wolves'. It has no power or strength boost of any sort. That's when I realized you were utterly useless to me."

The tears that had stopped falling welled in my eyes again. I could see from the haughty look in his eyes that all the care Sawyer had shown me before was probably acting. In fact, he may have never even liked me.

He closed his eyes, rubbing at his temples, and opened them again. "Frankly, between you and your cousin, I would have preferred you, but your Supernatural Council points is in the negatives. How am I to make powerful alliances in the future if my Luna's negative points are so high, she is almost eligible for a time out in a prison camp—"