The Rejected Mate

Chapter 4 – Rumours and Shadows

Mira POV

By the time I reach Crescent Moon Academy, morning light has already turned the windows gold. I should feel warm beneath it, but all I sense is the hum of whispers. They slide through the corridors ahead of me like smoke.

“Did you see her face yesterday?”

“Kieran didn’t have to go that far.”

“She’s lucky he even noticed her.”

I keep walking, eyes on the polished floor. Every voice feels sharp, every laugh brighter than it should be. Astrid prowls inside me, restless.

“Let them talk,” she mutters, voice edged with iron. “Their noise can’t touch what’s waking.”

My fingers tighten around the strap of my bag. I wish I could believe her.

When I pass the notice board, I catch sight of Kieran down the hall, surrounded by his usual circle. He looks composed—shoulders back, smile easy—but I can feel the lie of it. The scent that brushes against me isn’t calm; it’s strained, electric.

Astrid inhales sharply. “He’s unsettled.”

“I don’t care,” I whisper, though my pulse betrays me.

“You do.”

Classes blur. My senses keep sliding between too-sharp and too-dull. Chalk squeaks against the board like claws on stone; the smell of ink feels heavy enough to choke me. When someone drops a pen, I flinch before I can stop myself.

At lunch, Lila finds me under the oak outside.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asks.

I nod. The truth would sound impossible.

She hesitates. “They’re saying he only trained that hard with you because you challenged him.”

“I didn’t challenge anyone.”

“People see what they want.”

I glance toward the training field beyond the fence. A gust carries the scent of damp earth, and under it—faint but clear—the same cedar-storm that’s been haunting me since yesterday.

“He’s thinking of us,” Astrid whispers.

“Stop.”

“You feel it too. The pull.”

“I’m trying not to.”

Astrid sighs softly. “You can’t fight the moon forever.”

When the afternoon bell rings, I almost bolt for the exit. But as I turn the corner toward the courtyard, someone steps into my path.

Alina.

She looks perfect, as always—hair shining, smile polished—but her eyes are cool.

“I thought you might want to know,” she says lightly, “people think you only fought him to get attention. Maybe back off before you embarrass yourself again.”

Something inside me, small and tired, finally snaps.

“I didn’t ask for any of this,” I say. My voice is quiet but steady. “Maybe you should worry less about what people think of me and more about why Kieran can’t stop looking.”

Her expression cracks—just for a second—and then the mask slides back into place. She turns sharply and walks away.

Astrid’s approval hums through me. “There she is.”

I exhale, trembling. “I didn’t mean to say that.”

“Yes, you did.”

The late-day sun catches the edge of the courtyard fountain, scattering light across the stones. For a heartbeat the world tilts, bright and strange. I blink, and the water ripples as if something beneath the surface stirs.

Astrid goes still. “Mira… you did that.”

“No. The wind—”

“No.” Her voice is awed. “It answered you.”

The ripples widen, shimmer once, then fade. Students nearby keep walking, oblivious.

I stand there until the bell rings again, heart pounding. Whatever that was, it wasn’t coincidence.

When I finally head home, the whispers follow me, but they sound distant now—like echoes fading down a tunnel. Beneath them, another sound has begun to rise: the quiet, steady rhythm of waking beneath my skin.