Reina walked carefully down the stairs with her brother, glancing around the ballroom hopefully as her wolf grew even more restless. She was excited to meet her mate but also very nervous. She hoped to end up with a kind mate, someone she could love and be loved by.

Her gaze drifted across the ballroom as multiple scents invaded her nose, none of them unique as a mate's would be. Her brother let go of her arm suddenly and she watched as he wandered off into the crowd obviously following a scent. She sighed, noticing her parents busy talking to another alpha and their mate.

Reina wandered through the crowds, heading for the table filled with drinks. She grabbed a drink, sipping at it as she continued her search, wanting badly to find her mate.

She suddenly froze, catching a whiff of a sweet scent, luring her towards someone. She eagerly followed it, making her way through the crowd, her heart pounding with anticipation. She could smell the scent getting stronger and she pushed on further needing to follow it, to find her mate.

She pushed through and found the advice of the scent; her mate. She noticed him freeze and turn around from whoever he was talking to, revealing a god of a man. Her eyes widened as they meet with his sparkling green ones, hinted with a haze of mystery.

She watched, frozen in heartbreak as he turned around and walked away as fast as he could. The wolf inside her howling in pain as their soulmate left them. Reina grit her teeth in determination and ran after him, gathering her dress in her hands.

She pushed through all the people, his scent getting weaker and weaker as she got more desperate to find him. When his scent finally disappeared, it took everything in her not to breakdown and cry. He had left her. The male meant for her...didn't even want her.

She felt warm arms wrap around her and looked to see her mom, her eyes soft and sad. "I'm sorry, Reina." She spoke gently, obviously having seen everything.

"Since when do you even care?" Reina sobbed, her eyes brimming with tears. She yanked herself from her mother's grip pushing through the crowd until she reached a hallway, not even hesitating before she headed down it.

She ran down the corridor, tears overflowing from her eyes. She stumbled on her dress but forced herself to keep going, wanting just to escape. She finally stopped, finding herself exhausted. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't run anymore. She had to stop.

She noticed her mate's scent, fresh in the hallway and she lifted her head, feeling heartbroken and yet determined for an answer, or a rejection, just to have it over with. She followed the scent, up stairs and deeper into the castle into she walked out onto a balcony, her mate standing at the railing, his head held in his hands.

Reina stepped towards him wincing as she stepped on something, making it crack under her foot. His head shot up as he turned to face her, his eyes wide in both worry and sadness. Her eyes met his and she watched as pure misery shot through his eyes.

"Why?" Her voice came out in a whisper as her mate watched her, her body quivering and her eyes overflowing with tears. "Why did you run away from me?" She questioned, her voice raising as she clenched her fists, wanting nothing more than to punch him.

"Mate, you don't understand." His voice, though weak with sadness and pain, sent shivers through her body. "You can't be with me...it's for your own good."

Reina glared at him, her years of sadness quickly replaced by tears of anger. "For my own good? Abandoning me is for my own good?" She spat at him. "You don't get to decide what's for my own good! You're meant to be my mate, the love of my life, you aren't meant to abandon me!"

"Darling, you're an omega...I can't protect you. My world is harsh and dangerous, I couldn't handle losing you." He spoke, confusing Reina even more.

"An omega? I am not an omega? Did you just guess I was? Do I look that weak to you?" Reina fumed, her eyes narrowing to slits.

Her mate's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "You're not an omega? But they told me you were?" He spoke, glancing at her nervously, seeing how furious his mate was.

"What do you mean- have we m-" Reina froze, suddenly realizing why his scent seemed so familiar, why he seemed so familiar. "You're that male in the park, the one I gave my bracelet to." She whispered, clutching her hands to her chest as her heart shattered even more. "You left me twice." She choked out, her eyes watering at the pain.

"Please, mate, I misunderstood, I thought you were an omega, I just wanted to protect you." He spoke quickly, stepping towards her as he watched his mate break down in front of him, his own pain of what he had done weighing him down.

Reina backed away from him, not letting him touch her. "Omega or not, if me being your mate meant anything to you, you wouldn't have left me. Obviously having a mate doesn't mean much to you." She told him. "Leave me alone, don't come after me. I never want to see you again." She turned away, gathering her skirts as she ran, blocking everything out, because she knew if he called her she would be weak enough to stay with him.

She ran through the castle, following old scents until she finally found her room. She laid in her bed, curling up as her pillow was stained with her tears, silent crying. Her mate had left her twice, all because he wanted a stronger mate. The thought of him not wanting her if she had been an omega, broke her heart. Now that he realized she was strong he wanted her.

She closed her eyes as the exhaustion weighed her down, slowly forcing her to drift off to sleep. As she slept, she didn't notice her mate's scent trickle under the door as he stood outside in the hallway, his own heart breaking as he realized what he had done. How stupid he had been. He turned, walking off, his head hung low. He had to make this right, he just didn't know how to.