Rejected By My Alpha Mate

Chapter 5

The air is thick with tension, every breath a struggle against the weight of what’s just been revealed. I look at the woman standing before me this golden-haired stranger who claims I’m the key to ending a curse I don’t even understand. The forest around us is silent, the shadows heavy with unspoken danger.

“Why me?” I ask, my voice barely a whisper, as if speaking too loudly might shatter the fragile moment.

She tilts her head, her gaze unwavering. “You’ve inherited a bloodline that has been hunted for centuries. Your power is dormant, but it's there deep inside you. And the rogues know it.”

The words hang in the air like a curse themselves, pressing against my chest. “What kind of power?”

“You’ve heard the stories, haven’t you? The ones about the chosen ones those who can shift the balance between light and dark. That’s you.” She steps closer, her eyes glowing with a strange intensity. “But you’re not ready. Not yet.”

I recoil instinctively, a flare of panic surging through me. “I’m not ready for what? To become some... weapon?” The thought makes my stomach churn.

“You’re more than just a weapon,” she says, her voice steady but urgent. “But the curse can only be broken by someone with your blood, someone with the strength to wield it. You can either unlock it... or let it consume you.”

Damien shifts beside me, groaning as he struggles to sit up. His face is pale, and I can see the toll the fight has taken on him, but his eyes—those eyes—are burning with something I can’t quite place. Fear? Concern? Or something else entirely?

“Ariana,” he rasps, his voice rough with pain. “Listen to her. Everything she’s saying... it’s true.”

I look down at him, my heart heavy. I’ve always known there was something different about me, something not quite right, but hearing it out loud feels like a weight I wasn’t prepared to carry. “I didn’t ask for this.”

“I know,” the woman says, her voice softening. “But you don’t get to choose. The curse doesn’t care about your choices.”

The words reverberate in my mind, and I feel a chill settle in my bones. I glance toward the trees, my senses sharpening. The howls in the distance have grown louder, closer. The rogues are coming.

“We don’t have time for this,” I say, my heart thundering. “They’ll be here any minute.”

The woman nods grimly. “They’ve already sensed your presence. The moment you left the safety of your pack, they knew. They’ve been waiting for you.”

Damien’s face hardens, his eyes darting toward the path the gray wolf had taken. “We need to move, now.”

I want to argue, to demand more answers, but the urgency in Damien’s voice leaves no room for hesitation. The forest is alive with danger, and if we don’t leave now, we might never get the chance.

“Come with me,” the woman urges, turning and beginning to move with swift, silent grace. “I can protect you for now. But we need to reach the old ruins. It’s the only place they won’t follow.”

“Ruins?” I ask, my brow furrowing. “What’s so special about them?”

She doesn’t answer directly, but her expression darkens, and I know it’s a place she’d rather not visit. The air around us shifts, as if something ancient and foreboding is watching us, waiting for us to make our move.

We move swiftly through the forest, my mind a whirlwind of confusion and fear. I keep glancing over my shoulder, half-expecting the gray wolf and his pack to leap from the shadows, but the woods remain eerily still. Too still.

Finally, after what feels like hours, we reach the ruins. They rise out of the earth like the remnants of some forgotten civilization, ancient stones weathered by time and covered in creeping vines. A sense of foreboding fills the air, as if the very ground we walk on is cursed.

“This is where it began,” the woman says, her voice barely above a whisper. “And it’s where it ends.”

I look at her, my mind reeling. “What do you mean, where it began? What’s the connection?”

But before she can answer, a sharp, low growl echoes from the trees. I freeze, my heart leaping into my throat. The rogues have found us.

The woman’s eyes flash, and she raises her hand, a barrier of shimmering light forming around us in an instant. The air crackles with energy, the forest alive with the hum of power.

“We don’t have much time,” she warns. “If we don’t make it inside the ruins, the curse will claim you, and the rogues will have no mercy.”

Before I can ask what she means, the first of the rogues emerges from the trees gray fur blending seamlessly with the shadows. His eyes glint with hunger as he locks onto me, a predator stalking its prey.

And then, to my horror, the rest of them follow, their eyes cold, their intentions clear.

This isn’t just a fight for survival anymore. This is a battle for everything I’ve ever known.

And I don’t know if I’m ready.

The woman’s gaze meets mine, and for the first time, I see a flicker of doubt in her eyes.

“This is it,” she says, her voice calm, but the tension in the air is palpable. “You’re going to have to choose, Ariana. Right now. The curse... or the fight.”

The rogues growl in unison, closing in. Time is running out.

I don’t have a choice.