Chapter 4: Public Rejection
1230 Words
Kendall’s POV
I stood outside the meeting hall, my heart hammering against my ribs.
The large oak doors loomed before me, the murmurs and hushed whispers from inside crawling through the cracks like venomous snakes, wrapping around my throat and tightening.
They were talking about me.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and straightened my shoulders. You can do this, Kendall. Just go in, keep your head up, and don’t let them break you.
But even as I told myself that, my palms were damp, and my knees trembled slightly beneath my long dress.
With a deep breath, I pushed the doors open.
The second I stepped inside, all conversations ceased.
Hundreds of eyes turned toward me.
The weight of their stares was suffocating, filled with anger, disgust, and judgment.
I felt like prey, surrounded by a pack of starving wolves, all waiting for the command to pounce.
The meeting hall was packed,elders, warriors, sentinels, and pack members. Even those who rarely attended official meetings had shown up tonight, eager to witness my disgrace.
The only people who hadn’t arrived yet were Zach and my parents.
I took a shaky step forward, but before I could move further, one of the sentinels blocked my path.
“Stay here,” he ordered, his tone sharp.
I looked around, confused. The meeting hall had a long table for important discussions, yet I wasn’t given a seat.
Instead, I was being made to stand in the center like a criminal awaiting her sentence.
They want to humiliate you, Audrey, my wolf, whispered.
I already knew that.
Still, I lifted my chin and held my ground, refusing to show fear.
The doors swung open again, and this time, Zach walked in.
His presence alone was enough to send a shiver down my spine.
He was dressed in a fitted black shirt and dark pants, his powerful stride commanding as he approached the head of the room.
Beside him was my mother, her face carefully blank, and my father, whose lips were pressed into a thin line.
Neither of them met my gaze.
Zach took his place at the head of the room and turned toward me, his expression unreadable.
Then, in a voice laced with authority and venom, he spoke.
“Kendall Rowan, you stand here today accused of treachery.”
Murmurs erupted from the crowd.
I stiffened. “Treachery?”
Zach’s golden eyes darkened. “Do not interrupt me.”
My mouth snapped shut, my fingers curling into fists.
“You lured me into the woods last night,” he continued, his voice carrying through the hall. “You manipulated me into mating with you, using whatever dark magic you could summon to bend my will.”
A shocked gasp rippled through the crowd.
I felt my stomach drop.
Dark magic? He was accusing me of witchcraft?
“That’s a lie!” I blurted out, my voice shaking.
Zach’s lips curled into a sneer. “Oh? Then explain how the hell I ended up with you last night when I have no memory of leaving the packhouse?”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
Because I didn’t know.
I didn’t remember how I got to that waterfall.
I only remembered the pull, the force that led me there, my wolf’s desperate cries for her mate.
But I hadn’t used magic. I wasn’t a witch.
“I don’t know how it happened,” I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. “But I didn’t trick you, Zach.”
His eyes blazed with fury. “Then tell me why the bond formed.”
My breath hitched.
The bond.
The undeniable, unbreakable pull of a true mate.
I felt it the second his skin brushed mine, the way it tethered us together like invisible chains.
But Zach,Zach didn’t want it.
He refused to accept it.
And now he was making me pay for it.
I turned toward my parents, silently begging them to step in, to defend me.
But my mother only sneered in disgust.
And my father… he looked away.
Pain twisted in my chest.
I was alone.
Zach took a step closer, his voice dropping into a lethal whisper.
“I, Zachariah Blackwood, reject you, Kendall Rowan, as my mate.”
The rejection slammed into me like a tidal wave.
A searing pain ignited in my chest, spreading like wildfire through my veins. My knees buckled, and I gasped, clutching my heart.
It felt like something inside me was being ripped apart.
Audrey howled in agony, thrashing inside me.
No. No. No.
I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting the unbearable pain, but the bond was severing, the connection between us shattering into a million tiny pieces.
I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood, forcing myself to stay on my feet.
I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing me fall.
I wouldn’t break.
But the moment I lifted my gaze, I knew my suffering was far from over.
The crowd had turned completely against me.
“She’s a murderer,” someone hissed.
“She killed her own sister,” another voice added.
“She’s cursed,” an elder spat. “A traitor to our pack.”
I flinched as their words hit me like daggers.
No one believed me.
No one wanted to believe me.
To them, I was already guilty.
A monster.
A disgrace.
A stain on their perfect pack.
I took a shaky breath, fighting back the sting of tears.
This wasn’t just rejection.
It was exile.
I had no mate.
No family.
No home.
I was truly, utterly alone.
The first stone hit my shoulder, sharp and heavy, sending a jolt of pain through my body.
I barely had time to react before another struck my leg, knocking me off balance.
A gasp tore from my throat as I staggered backward.
Then came the next one. And the next.
A sharp rock sliced across my cheek, warm blood trickling down my skin. My breath hitched as I raised my hands, trying to shield myself from the relentless onslaught.
“No, please!” My voice cracked, desperate. “Stop! I didn’t—”
A stone slammed against my ribs, knocking the air from my lungs.
I fell to my knees, my body screaming in agony.
They weren’t stopping.
They wanted me to suffer.
Tears blurred my vision as I turned toward my parents, my last hope, my only family.
“Mom, Dad—please,” I choked out, reaching for them. “You know me. I didn’t—”
But my mother merely scoffed, her eyes void of any love or sympathy.
“You deserve this,” she said coldly.
My father? He didn’t even look at me.
Didn’t say a word.
He just turned away.
And then—they walked out.
Just like that.
Like I was nothing.
Like I wasn’t their daughter.
Something inside me shattered.
The stones kept coming, pain crashing into me in waves, but none of it compared to the gaping wound in my heart.
I was alone.
Truly alone.
I gasped, my vision swimming, my strength fading. My body slumped forward, my fingers scraping against the cold, hard ground.
The voices around me blurred into a dull roar.
The world spun.
The last thing I saw before darkness swallowed me whole was Zach,standing tall, watching me fall.
And doing nothing.
- Writer
