REJECTION
The air crackled with anticipation, or maybe that was just my nerves. Eighteen years. Eighteen years I’d waited for this day, the day I would finally meet my fated mate. Every girl in the Blackthorn Pack dreamed of a claiming ceremony like this, bathed in the silver light of the full moon, surrounded by the entire pack, the Alpha himself declaring you as his chosen one.
Except, this wasn’t a dream. It was more like a nightmare unfolding in slow motion.
I stood in the center of the clearing, the rough, cold earth digging into the soles of my bare feet. The entire Blackthorn Pack formed a circle around me, their faces a blur of expectation and… something else. Pity? Disgust? I couldn’t quite decipher it. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic bird trapped in a cage.
He was late. Dominic Blackthorn, Alpha of the Blackthorn Pack, my fated mate, was late.
Caleb, Dominic’s Beta and the closest thing I had to a friend in this pack, stood at the edge of the circle, his jaw tight, his eyes filled with a worry he couldn’t quite conceal. He offered me a small, almost imperceptible nod of encouragement. I tried to return it, but my lips felt stiff, unresponsive.
A ripple went through the crowd. He was here.
Dominic Blackthorn emerged from the shadows of the forest, the moonlight catching the sharp angles of his face, highlighting the ruthless glint in his dark eyes. He was everything an Alpha should be: tall, powerful, intimidating. My heart should have soared. My wolf should have recognized its other half, should have howled in joyous recognition.
Instead, a cold dread settled in my stomach.
He stopped a few feet from me, his gaze sweeping over my body, lingering for a moment on my worn dress, then flicking back up to my face. There was no warmth in his eyes, no spark of recognition. Only… disappointment?
"Aria Grey," he said, his voice a low, gravelly rumble that sent shivers down my spine. Not the good kind. "Eighteen years. And you stand before me, waiting to be claimed."
I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. "Yes, Alpha," I managed to whisper.
He took a step closer, and I instinctively flinched. His scent, usually intoxicating, now felt suffocating, heavy with a sense of… wrongness.
"The Council dictates that every wolf is entitled to a claiming ceremony, a chance to unite with their fated mate," he continued, his voice devoid of emotion. "But the Council also allows for… exceptions."
My breath hitched. Exceptions? What did he mean?
The silence stretched.
“Alpha…” I whispered, my voice cracking. “Don’t you feel it?”
He tilted his head slowly, expression unreadable. Then he spoke. “I feel it.”
Relief surged through me.
Until he added, “And I reject it.”
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
My breath caught in her throat. “What?”
He paused, letting his words hang in the air, the silence amplifying the frantic beat of my heart. Then, he spoke, his voice ringing with a cold finality that shattered the fragile hope I had been clinging to.
"Aria Grey, I, Dominic Blackthorn, Alpha of the Blackthorn Pack, reject you as my mate."
The words hit me like a physical blow, stealing the air from my lungs, leaving me gasping for breath. The world spun, the faces of the pack blurring into a single, mocking entity. Reject me? He couldn't. He shouldn't. We were fated.
A collective gasp swept through the pack. Rejections were rare, almost unheard of, especially from an Alpha. The shame… the humiliation… it was unbearable.
Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I would not give him the satisfaction of seeing me break. I lifted my chin, trying to project an air of defiance I didn’t feel.
"Why?" I choked out, my voice trembling despite my efforts. "Why are you rejecting me?"
Dominic’s eyes hardened. "The reasons are… complex," he said, his gaze flickering towards someone in the crowd. "Suffice it to say, you are not worthy of being the Luna of the Blackthorn Pack."
Not worthy? What did that even mean? I had always been an outcast, an orphan raised on the fringes of the pack, but I had never done anything to deserve this.
“But… we’re fated,” I whispered, clinging to the last vestiges of hope. “The Moon Goddess wouldn’t make a mistake.”
Dominic’s lips curled into a cruel smile. “The Moon Goddess has a twisted sense of humor, wouldn’t you agree?”
The pack shifted uncomfortably, their gazes darting away from my face. No one dared to meet my eyes. The silence was deafening, broken only by the whisper of the wind through the trees.
I wanted to scream, to lash out, to demand an explanation, but the words caught in my throat, choked by the weight of his rejection. I was nothing. Less than nothing. An embarrassment.
“You’re weak. Poor. A charity case,” Dominic continued, loud enough for the whole room to hear. “You think because fate tied some string between us, that makes you worthy of me? I don’t need a mate.” His voice dropped, cruel. “Especially not one like you.”
My wolf whimpered. Pain lanced through her chest like a brand.
“Dominic,” Caleb said softly, clearly uneasy. “This isn’t necessary—”
“It is,” Dominic cut in. “She needed to learn her place.”
Caleb stepped forward, again, his face etched with concern. “Dominic, are you sure about this? This isn’t like you.”
Dominic shot him a look that silenced him instantly. “My decision is final, Caleb. See to it that she is escorted off pack lands immediately.”
Escorted off pack lands? Banished?
My heart shattered into a million pieces. This was it. My life, my home, everything I had ever known, was being ripped away from me.
I couldn’t stay here, couldn’t bear to face the pity and scorn of the pack. I turned and ran, blindly, desperately, pushing my way through the crowd, ignoring the whispers and jeers that followed me.
I didn’t know where I was going, didn’t care. I just needed to escape, to get away from the pain, the humiliation, the crushing weight of Dominic’s rejection.
I stumbled into the woods, the trees blurring into a green tunnel around me. Thorns tore at my skin, branches snagged in my hair, but I didn’t stop. I ran until my lungs burned, until my legs screamed in protest, until I could no longer hear the sounds of the pack.
Finally, I collapsed at the base of an ancient oak, gasping for breath, tears streaming down my face. The world swam before my eyes, a kaleidoscope of pain and despair.
I was alone. Truly alone. I had no family, no home, no future. I was nothing but a rejected mate, an outcast, a pariah.
Suddenly, a low growl echoed through the trees. I froze, my blood turning to ice. I wasn’t alone.
From the shadows, a pair of eyes gleamed, not the familiar silver of a Blackthorn wolf, but a vibrant, unsettling gold. They watched me, calculating, predatory.
I tried to scramble to my feet, to run again, but my legs were too weak, my body too broken.
The growl grew louder, closer. I was trapped. I struggled and got up on my feet again, ran like my life depends on it because it does. And soon enough my bare feet hit gravel. My vision blurred with tears.
Rejection burned like fire inside me, ripping my bond to shreds. The pain was physical, like claws raking my insides.
Then, a new sound pierced the night. The screech of tires. Headlights blazed through the trees, blinding me.
I didn’t have time to scream.
Darkness.