Chapter Two: The Rejection
778 Words
I didn’t remember how I got back to my room.
One moment, I was standing beneath the moonlight, listening to Adrian tell me that Serena was his true mate.
The next, I was sitting on the edge of my bed, staring at the floor as tears streamed silently down my face.
Three years.
How could three years disappear with a few words?
Serena is my true mate.
I pressed my palms against my eyes.
I wanted to be angry.
I wanted to hate him.
But my heart still refused to accept what had happened.
A knock sounded at my door.
I didn’t answer.
The door opened anyway.
My best friend, Maya, stepped inside.
The moment she saw me, her expression softened.
“Oh, Aria.”
I shook my head.
“Don’t.”
She sat beside me.
“I saw what happened.”
“Everyone did.”
My voice cracked.
Maya reached for my hand.
“You don’t deserve this.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Apparently, I wasn’t his mate.”
“That doesn’t mean you’re worthless.”
I looked at her.
“Then why does it feel like I am?”
She didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, she pulled me into a hug.
I cried against her shoulder until there were no tears left.
When I finally pulled away, someone knocked again.
This time, it was one of the pack guards.
“Aria?”
I stood.
“What?”
“The Alpha wants to see you.”
My stomach twisted.
“Tell him I’m not going.”
The guard hesitated.
“He said it’s important.”
I almost laughed.
“Everything is important to him now.”
Maya squeezed my hand.
“You don’t have to go.”
I knew that.
But I also knew Adrian wouldn’t stop trying to talk to me.
So I wiped my face.
“I’ll go.”
The Alpha’s office was on the other side of the pack house.
When I entered, Adrian was standing beside the window.
Serena wasn’t there.
For once, I was grateful.
He turned when he heard me.
His expression changed when he saw my swollen eyes.
“Aria.”
“What do you want?”
He sighed.
“I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
I stared at him.
“Do I look okay?”
He looked away.
“I know this is difficult.”
“You don’t know anything.”
His eyes returned to mine.
“I never wanted to hurt you.”
“But you did.”
“I didn’t choose who my mate was.”
“No.”
I swallowed.
“But you chose how you treated me.”
He went silent.
That was the first time I saw guilt in his eyes.
For a second, I wondered if he regretted his decision.
Then he spoke.
“I still want you in the pack.”
I frowned.
“As what?”
He hesitated.
“You’re still important to me.”
There it was again.
Important.
I shook my head.
“I don’t want to be your second choice.”
“That’s not what I’m saying.”
“Then what are you saying?”
He stepped closer.
“You could remain here. You’d still have a place in the pack.”
I stared at him.
After everything that happened, he wanted me to stay and watch him build a life with another woman.
“No.”
His eyebrows drew together.
“Aria—”
“I said no.”
I walked toward the door.
“Where will you go?”
I stopped.
“I don’t know.”
“Then stay.”
I looked over my shoulder.
“For the first time in my life, I’m going to choose myself.”
His expression changed.
I opened the door.
“Goodbye, Adrian.”
I walked away before he could answer.
But I hadn’t made it far before a strange sensation passed through my body.
A sudden warmth.
Then a whisper.
So faint I almost thought I imagined it.
You are not what they think you are.
I stopped walking.
My heart began pounding.
I turned around.
The hallway was empty.
“Hello?”
Nothing.
I shook my head.
It had probably been my imagination.
I continued walking.
I didn’t know what the voice meant.
I didn’t know what was waiting for me beyond the boundaries of the Silver Moon Pack.
And I certainly didn’t know that the decision I’d just made would eventually change the entire supernatural world.
For now, all I knew was one thing.
I was done begging someone to choose me.
If Adrian didn’t want me…
Then I would learn how to live without him.
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