The Rejected Mate's Rebirth

The Morning After

I didn't sleep.

The mark on my palm throbbed. Warm. Alive. The hunger pulsed at the edge of my thoughts, a constant, low hum. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the cavern. The thing. The black blood mixing with mine.

"You need to rest," Damon said.

"I can't."

"You can. You're choosing not to."

I looked at him. He was sitting in the chair by the window, watching me. His eyes were dark with exhaustion. His shirt was untucked. His hair was disheveled. He looked like he hadn't moved all night.

"You haven't slept either."

"I've been watching you."

"That's not sleeping."

"That's not the point." He stood. Walked to the bed. Sat beside me. His weight dipped the mattress. His hand found mine. "The bond. Is it... talking to you?"

"Not in words. It's more like a feeling. A presence."

"Does it feel dangerous?"

"It feels hungry." I looked at my palm. "But it's not fighting me. It's waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"For me to use it."

Damon's jaw tightened. "You're not going to use it."

"I might have to."

"Sera—"

"I bonded myself to that thing for a reason. If I don't use it, what was the point?"

"To keep it from eating the world."

"That was the first reason. The second reason was to kill Silas." I looked at him. "I can't kill him with a dagger. Not unless I cut the bond first. And if I cut the bond, the hunger gets free."

"Unless you control it."

"Unless I control it."

Damon was quiet for a long moment. His thumb traced circles on my palm. The mark tingled under his touch.

"Can you feel it?" I asked.

"Feel what?"

"The bond. The hunger. Can you feel it when you touch me?"

He was quiet. Then he said, "Yes."

"What does it feel like?"

"Like something watching me from inside you." He looked at my eyes. "Like something that wants to eat me."

"Does it scare you?"

"Everything about you scares me." He smiled. It was tired. "But I'm still here."

I leaned into him. His arm wrapped around my shoulders. His chin rested on my head.

"What if I can't control it?" I whispered.

"Then we figure it out together."

"And if I become like him?"

"Impossible."

"How do you know?"

He pulled back. Cupped my face. His thumbs wiped tears I didn't know I'd shed.

"Because he chose to become a monster. You're fighting it every second." He kissed my forehead. "That's the difference."

The hunger spoke again at dawn.

"He's right, you know."

I was standing by the window. The sun was rising. Golden light spilled across the courtyard.

"About what?"

"About you fighting. Most people don't. They let the hunger win."

"Are you saying I'm special?"

"I'm saying you're interesting."

"Same thing."

"No. Interesting means I don't know what you'll do next. That's rare. I've been alive for millennia. I've seen thousands of wolves. Hundreds of Alphas. Dozens of would-be queens." It paused. "None of them were you."

"Was that a compliment?"

"It was an observation."

I almost smiled. "You're not what I expected."

"What did you expect?"

"A mindless beast. Hunger without thought."

"I am hunger. But I am also old. Old things learn to think." It paused again. "Old things learn to wait."

"Are you waiting for something?"

"I'm waiting for you to decide."

"Decide what?"

"Whether to use me or bury me."

I looked at my palm. The mark was faint. Almost invisible.

"If I use you," I said, "what happens to me?"

"You become more powerful. And more dangerous."

"Will I still be me?"

"That depends on you."

Damon found me in the courtyard an hour later.

I was sitting on the stone bench. Staring at the fountain. The water was clear. Cold. It reminded me of the waterfall.

"You're thinking," he said.

"I'm always thinking."

"About what this time?"

"The hunger. The bond. What happens next." I looked at him. "It wants me to use it."

"And you don't want to."

"I don't know what I want."

He sat beside me. His shoulder pressed against mine.

"Then let's figure it out together."

"How?"

"By going back." He took my hand. "By ending this. By proving to yourself that you're stronger than the thing inside you."

"And if I'm not?"

"Then I'll be there to catch you."

The ride to the mountain took less time than I remembered.

Or maybe I was just more focused. The mark on my palm was warm. The hunger was silent. Waiting.

"The hunger," I said. "It's part of me now."

"You can feel it?"

"Always. It's like a second heartbeat."

Damon reached for my hand. Squeezed.

"Can it hear us?"

"I don't know." I paused. "Can you?"

"I can hear everything."

"Shit."

Damon looked at me. "What?"

"It can hear us. Everything."

Damon's eyes widened. "Everything?"

"It says yes."

"I did not say yes. I said I can hear everything."

"That's not helping."

I sighed. "It doesn't seem to want to help."

"I want to help. I just want to be entertained too."

"Great. I'm bonded to a hungry thing that wants to be entertained."

Damon laughed. It was a broken sound. "You're impossible."

"You love it."

"I do." He pulled me closer. "Let's go kill your father."

"Let's go kill my father."

The waterfall roared.

Black water. Cold spray. The same entrance we'd used before.

"Through here?" Rina asked.

"Through here."

I stepped through first.

The water hit me like a wall. Cold. Biting. But this time, it didn't hurt. The hunger pushed back the cold.

"I am protecting you."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet."

I emerged on the other side. Damon followed. Rina followed. The other wolves followed.

The corridor stretched ahead. The same stone walls. The same symbols.

"He knows we're coming," I said.

"Let him."

We walked.

The throne room was empty.

Silas wasn't there.

"Where is he?" Rina asked.

"I don't know." I looked around. The throne of bones. The torches. The symbols on the walls.

And then—

"I'm here, daughter."

Silas emerged from the shadows.

His silver eyes gleamed. His smile was sharp.

"You came back."

"I told you I would."

"And you brought the hunger with you." He tilted his head. "I can feel it. Inside you. Bonded."

"The bond is different now."

"I know." He walked toward me. Stopped a few feet away. "You've made yourself its anchor. Its prison. Its leash."

"I've made myself its partner."

"Same thing." He smiled. "But you've also made a mistake."

"What?"

"The hunger will never be satisfied. It will always want more. More blood. More power. More life." He stepped closer. "Eventually, you'll give in."

"No."

"Every child becomes their parent."

"I am not you."

"Not yet." He turned away. Walked back to his throne. "But you will be."

I raised the dagger. "I'm ending this. Now."

"How?"

"With the bond. With the hunger." I walked toward him. "You wanted a child who would continue your work. You got one. But I'm not continuing it. I'm ending it."

Silas laughed. "You can't kill me."

"Watch me."

I pressed the dagger to my palm. The mark. The chain.

The hunger exploded inside me.

The power was overwhelming.

Hot. Bright. Ancient. It poured through my veins like liquid fire. My skin tingled. My eyes burned. The symbols on the walls glowed brighter.

"Use me," the hunger whispered. "Let go."

"No."

"You can't control this."

"I can."

"You're going to die."

"Then I'll die."

Silas's eyes widened. "What are you doing?"

"What you should have done centuries ago."

I raised the dagger. The blade was white-hot. The silver blazed.

"You bonded yourself to the hunger," Silas said. "You can't kill me without killing it."

"I'm not killing it. I'm controlling it."

"Impossible."

"Watch me."

I pushed the power toward him.

Silas screamed.

The bond between them—the ancient bargain—ripped apart. I felt it tear. Felt the hunger's freedom. Felt the chains break.

And then—

Silas fell.

He collapsed to the floor. His silver eyes dimmed. His skin grayed.

"You... killed me," he whispered.

"I killed the monster."

"Same thing."

"No. Different." I knelt beside him. "I'm not you. I never was."

He laughed. It was a broken sound.

"Then prove it."

"By staying alive."

I stood.

Silas died.

The throne room went silent.

The hunger pulsed inside me. Stronger now. Free.

But it didn't fight me.

"You did well," it said.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. The hard part is about to begin."

"The hard part?"

"Living with me."

I looked at Damon. He was staring at me. His face was unreadable.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm alive."

"That's not what I asked."

I walked to him. My legs were shaking. My hands were shaking.

"I'm okay," I said.

"You're not."

"I will be."

He pulled me against him. His arms wrapped around me.

"You just killed your father."

"I killed a monster."

"Same thing."

"No." I pulled back. Looked at him. "Different. I'm not him. I'm not going to become him."

"I know."

"How do you know?"

"Because you're still fighting." He touched my face. "And you'll always fight."

We left the mountain as the sun set.

Silas's body was left behind. The hunger was inside me. The bond was new. Fragile. But mine.

Rina rode beside me. Her rust-colored eyes were thoughtful.

"You did it," she said.

"We did it."

"You killed him."

"I killed him."

She was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "You're not what I expected."

"What did you expect?"

"A victim."

"I'm not a victim."

"No. You're not." She looked at me. "You're something else."

"Something else?"

"Something worth following."

I didn't have an answer for that.

So I just rode.

Damon pulled his horse close to mine.

"Tonight," he said.

"What about tonight?"

"We're going home. We're going to eat. We're going to sleep." He smiled. "And then we're going to figure out how to live with a hunger in your head."

"Together?"

"Together."

He reached for my hand. I took it.

And we rode home.