[IRIS POV]
My eyes widened with horror.
Caius was my fated mate.
My half-brother was my fated mate.
Those two lines kept rattling in my head, causing the world to spin. I felt dizzy. A wave of nausea rushed up my throat, and I felt the need to gag.
I couldn't tell who the Moon Goddess hated more. Him or me?
"I'm… sorry, but I cannot have you as my fated mate," I said, forcing the words out despite the pain that started to creep through my chest. "Caius Wagner, I reject you as my fated mate."
As soon as those words left my lips, Caius bowled over with pain. He coughed, clutching his chest as he looked at me with bloodshot eyes.
His hand shot out and grabbed my wrist before I could back away.
"Why… I don't even know who you are! You can't reject me without giving me a chance to get to know you!" he choked out.
"You don't need to know! There is no future for us!" I wrenched my hand out from his grasp and ran back down the stairs as though the devil himself was hot on my heels.
The skin where he touched was burning as though he branded me. I grit my teeth and yanked my arm free. He was severely weakened by my rejection, even if he didn't properly accept it. I didn't wait around for him to accept it either, not when his reaction would be like this.
Before he could say anything else, I turned on my heels and ran. The moment I returned to my room, I stripped myself bare before locking myself in the bathroom. I scrubbed every inch of my body raw, determined to remove all traces of Caius's scent from my body.
By the time I stepped out of the room, my skin was red, and all I could smell was the cheap body soap I used. However, I could sigh in relief, my heart dropped to the pits of my stomach.
My room was a mess.
As the Alpha's daughter, even if he hated me, I wasn't sent to the omegas' quarters. I lived in a side wing, in a small room far away from my father and Caius. As such, it only took one look to see everything that was here.
Or rather, everything that wasn't.
The room was ransacked. But more than that, my clothes from last night were missing. I had left them on the floor in my haste to shower, and now, they were gone. However, I couldn't for the life of me figure out who would take a pile of trash.
Could it be Caius? Did he manage to track me down?
No, that wasn't possible. Knowing Caius, he would've kicked down my bedroom door and strangled me then and there instead of stealing my rags.
But who else could it be?
My hands instinctively touched the necklace around my neck. Thank goodness I hadn't removed it, or it might've been stolen as well.
But even after an hour-long paranoid-fueled search around the perimeter, I couldn't find anyone suspicious. Whoever had burglarized my room had taken my things and left.
Good. I needed to get rid of them anyway. Now, Caius would not be able to use them to track me down.
Or at least, that was what I told myself.
+++
"What is going on?" I asked a random omega, who was practically bouncing on her toes in excitement. I think her name was Janice. "Why is everyone lining up?"
I had woken up late.
Throughout the night, I was tossing and turning. Sleep refused to come to me. The entire time, I was so worried that Caius would barge into my room that even when I finally fell asleep, I was awoken by nightmares of him killing me after realizing his fated mate was none other than the half-sister he loathed.
Needless to say, that also meant I reported late to my duties.
She glanced at me, eager to reply. However, the second she noticed who I was, she rolled her eyes and scoffed.
"Caius has ordered every young woman to line up," she said, her tone bored and dismissive. "Apparently, he found his fated mate last night at the ball."
My blood chilled over immediately.
Caius was right at the end of the line, interrogating every woman who dared to step forward like Prince Charming looking for his Cinderella. His eyes briefly met mine from across the room. The mate bond compelled me to hold his gaze.
However, instead of sparks flying, he merely gave me a scowl before turning away to smile at the next young woman.
I let out a breath that I didn't know I held. But at the same time, I felt my chest pinch tightly.
Caius as my future Alpha, and me, his slave. That would never change, no matter what happened the night before. It was a good thing I rejected him last night. It was the right thing to do, even if he hadn't accepted it.
Women after women lined themselves up, waiting for Caius to judge them. The blondes were eliminated almost immediately, while those with darker hair stayed for a few questions. However, he would turn them away quickly enough.
With each woman who failed his test, Caius became more upset. I knew him enough to recognize his frustration creeping in.
The line of eligible women got shorter and shorter by the minute. He grimaced before his eyes darted in my direction once more. This time, he didn't break his gaze immediately.
I held his gaze as well, refusing to back down.
Deep down, satisfaction rushed through me. I had to admit I was a little gleeful at the fact that he wasn't successful, and he wouldn't be. I hadn't joined the queue. Even if I did, someone would push me out of it and call me all sorts of names for even dreaming of becoming Caius's fated mate.
Every pack member — even those who had already been rejected — lingered by the sidelines. They were all eager to see who was the lucky woman who would become Caius's mate and the future Luna.
Well, they'd be waiting for a long time. I had no plans to reveal this particular truth.
"Why isn't she queuing?" One young child asked her friend, pointing a discreet finger in my direction. "She's a girl, too. Maybe she's his fated mate!"
Heads turned to me at her innocent question, and I was faced with a barrage of disdainful expressions.
"Are you crazy? She's his half-sister. There's no way she's his mate," her friend scolded her and pulled her away.
Even a child knew it was impossible between us.
Caius's eyes once again darted to my face.
"Iris, come here," he ordered.