Rejected by The Alpha, Claimed by Faith

Chapter 7

Lily's POV

I consider not answering, but he knows I'm here. I can feel his presence through the severed bond—a faint echo of what used to be there.

I open the door but don't invite him in. "What do you want?"

He looks terrible. There are dark circles under his steel-gray eyes, and he's lost weight. His hair is messy like he's been running his hands through it. But even exhausted and grief-stricken, he's still devastatingly handsome.

"You're back," he says unnecessarily.

"Observant."

His jaw tightens at my tone. "Why? Why would you come back here after everything?"

"That's none of your business."

"It is my business. You're in my pack, working in my hospital—"

"Dr. Frost's hospital," I correct. "And I'm here because I need to finish my medical degree. Your mother offered me a position. That's it. Nothing to do with you."

He steps closer, and I force myself not to back away. "You could have found another way. Another pack, another scholarship—"

"Really?" Anger flares hot in my chest. "And how would you suggest I do that, Marcus? Your father approved revoking my pack scholarship. My own parents cut me off completely. I had two thousand dollars to my name and six months until graduation. So yes, I came back. Because I'm not going to let you or my family or this pack destroy my dreams."

He flinches like I've slapped him. "I didn't know about the scholarship. I didn't—"

"You didn't ask. You didn't care. You accepted the rejection without hesitation, remember? So what happens to me afterward isn't your concern."

"Lily—"

"No." I start to close the door. "You made your choice. I made mine. Now we both have to live with it. Stay away from me, Marcus. That was my condition for taking this job, and your mother agreed."

I shut the door in his face and lock it. Through the wood, I hear him sigh, then walk away.

My hands are shaking. I lean against the door, trying to calm my racing heart.

"He's hurting," Rose observes.

"Good," I say harshly. "He should hurt. He looked at me like I was a mistake. Like I was the worst thing that could have happened to him." But even as I say it, I can't forget the pain in his eyes just now.

The regret.

Too late, I tell myself firmly. Whatever he's feeling now doesn't change what happened.

I spend the rest of the evening unpacking and trying not to think about Marcus standing at my door. Trying not to wonder what he would have said if I'd let him finish. My first official day at the hospital starts at seven in the morning. I arrive early, determined to prove myself. Dr. Frost already has a list of tasks waiting.

"We have three new patients admitted overnight," she says, handing me charts. "Do initial assessments on all of them. Mrs. Patterson in room twelve needs her stitches checked. And we're expecting a delivery of new equipment this afternoon that needs to be inventoried."

I dive into work, grateful for the distraction. The patients are mostly standard cases—training injuries, common illnesses, one elder wolf with arthritis. I'm checking Mrs. Patterson's stitches when I hear raised voices in the hallway.

"I don't care what your mother said, where is she?" Marcus. My stomach drops.

"Alpha Marcus, I really can't discuss staff assignments—" That's Jenna, one of the nurses.

"Jenna, just tell me where Lily is working."

I step into the hallway before things can escalate. "Right here. What do you want?"

He turns, relief flashing across his face before he schools his expression back to neutral. "We need to talk."

"I'm working."

"This is important."

"So is my patient care." I cross my arms. "Whatever you need to say, say it quickly."

He glances at Jenna and the other nurses who have stopped to watch our confrontation. "In private."

"No."

His eyes flash with frustration. "Lily, please. Just five minutes."

"You lost the right to ask me for anything when you accepted my rejection without even trying to understand why I did it." I turn to go back to Mrs. Patterson's room. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have actual work to do."

"I didn't want Elena," he says loudly.

I freeze. Behind me, I hear gasps from the nurses. This is going to be all over the pack in an hour.

Slowly, I turn back to face him. "What?"

"I didn't want Elena," he repeats, quieter this time. "She wasn't my mate. You are. You were. And I—" He runs a hand through his hair, looking lost. "I didn't handle it well. The bond activating during her memorial, finding out my mate was her sister. I was in shock. But I never wanted Elena the way I..." He stops, seeming to realize we have an audience.

"This isn't the place for this conversation," I say stiffly.

"Then where? When? Because you won't talk to me, you're avoiding me—"

"I'm not avoiding you. I'm living my life. There's a difference."

"Lily—"

"No, Marcus. You don't get to do this. You don't get to show up at my workplace and disrupt my day because you suddenly decided you have regrets." My voice stays calm even though I'm shaking inside. "I rejected you to save myself from being your second choice. From being compared to Elena for the rest of my life. And you accepted. That's done. It's over."

"What if I don't want it to be over?"

The words hang in the air between us. My heart stutters, and I hate that it does.

"What you want doesn't matter anymore," I say quietly. "You made your choice. Live with it."

This time when I walk away, he doesn't follow. But as I return to Mrs. Patterson's room, my hands won't stop shaking. And deep in my chest, in that hollow space where the mate bond used to be, something aches in a way that has nothing to do with the severed connection. Rose is silent, which somehow makes it worse. Because I know what she's thinking—that I should give him a chance to explain. To understand. But I've spent too many years being second best. Being the unwanted daughter, the blamed sister, the rejected mate. I won't do it again. Not even for him.

Even if part of me desperately wants to.