Rejected: Her Revenge Plan

Chapter1: Shattered

Elara’s POV

The champagne flute slipped from my fingers.

Crystal shattered across marble. The sound cut through the laughter and music, but nobody noticed. Nobody except me.

And Julian.

My mate stood ten feet away, his hand pressed against another woman's lower back. Their bodies fit together like puzzle pieces, and when she laughed at something he whispered, her head tipped back to expose the graceful column of her throat.

I couldn't breathe.

"Elara?" My sister Ivy appeared beside me, concern flickering across her face. "What's wrong?"

I couldn't answer. I couldn't do anything except watch as Julian's fingers traced lazy circles on the small of her back. The same way he touched me.

We were supposed to complete the mating bond tomorrow. The entire Moonville pack had been preparing for weeks. My parents hired caterers from the city. The pack house had been decorated with silver ribbons and moonflowers. Everything was ready.

Everything except my mate, apparently.

"Who is she?" The words scraped out of my throat.

Ivy followed my gaze. Her sharp intake of breath told me she saw it too. This wasn't innocent. This wasn't friendly.

"That's Celeste Vaughn," Ivy said quietly. "She arrived yesterday from the Silverpine pack."

Celeste. Even her name sounded elegant. Beautiful. Everything I wasn't.

I forced my legs to move, pushing through the crowd gathered in the pack house's grand ballroom. It was my engagement party, but I suddenly felt like an intruder. People stepped aside, creating a path, but I barely registered their faces.

Julian finally noticed me when I was five feet away. His gray eyes widened for a fraction of a second before his expression smoothed into something unreadable. He didn't remove his hand from Celeste's back.

"Elara." My name sounded wrong in his mouth. Like he was greeting a stranger instead of the woman he had claimed as his mate six months ago.

"Julian." I hated how small my voice sounded. "Can we talk?"

Celeste turned to face me fully, and my stomach dropped. She was stunning. Long auburn hair cascaded down her back in perfect waves. Her emerald dress hugged curves I would never have. When she smiled, it didn't reach her eyes.

"You must be the bride-to-be," she said, her voice honeyed and smooth. "Congratulations on tomorrow's ceremony."

The ceremony that suddenly felt like a noose tightening around my neck.

"Thank you." I swallowed hard. "Julian, I need to speak with you. Alone."

He hesitated. Actually hesitated. My mate looked at this stranger, this woman he had known for less than forty-eight hours, as if asking permission.

"Of course," he finally said. "Celeste, excuse us."

She touched his arm. Squeezed gently. "Don't be long."

The familiarity in that gesture made bile rise in my throat.

Julian guided me toward the French doors leading to the garden, his hand barely touching my elbow. We had walked this path a hundred times, but tonight it felt foreign. Wrong.

The cool night air hit my face as we stepped outside. Music and laughter faded behind us, replaced by crickets and the rustle of leaves. The moon hung full and heavy above us, watching.

Always watching.

"What's going on?" I asked the moment we were alone.

"What do you mean?" Julian's voice was carefully neutral.

"With her. With Celeste."

"She's a guest. An emissary from Silverpine. Her alpha sent her to strengthen diplomatic relations between our packs."

"That's not what it looked like in there."

His jaw tightened. "You're being paranoid."

"Am I?" My voice cracked. "You had your hands all over her, Julian. At our engagement party. The night before we complete the bond."

"I was being polite." He ran a hand through his dark hair, frustration bleeding into his tone. "You're overreacting."

"Don't." I stepped closer, searching his face for the man I'd fallen in love with. "Don't gaslight me. I know what I saw."

"Then maybe you saw that she's everything you're not."

I didn’t expect him to say that. I actually stumbled back, my hand flying to my chest as if I could hold my breaking heart together.

Julian's eyes widened. "Elara, I didn't mean…”

"Yes, you did." Tears burned hot trails down my cheeks. "You meant every word."

"Listen, I just…" He reached for me, but I jerked away.

"Don't touch me."

"You're being dramatic. This is why we're having problems. You're too emotional, too needy…"

"Too what? Too in love with you? Too excited about our mating ceremony? Too stupid to realize my mate has been falling for someone else?"

Silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating. In that silence, I found my answer.

"Oh my god." My voice came out as a whisper. "You're in love with her."

"Elara—"

"How long? How long have you known her?"

"That doesn't matter."

"How long, Julian?!”

"Three months." His voice came out quiet, ashamed. "She came to Moonville three months ago for a council meeting. We've been talking."

Three months. While he had been helping me plan our ceremony, choose flowers, and decide on vows. While he had been holding me, kissing me, promising me tomorrow. He had been falling for someone else.

"I can't do this anymore," Julian said, and my world tilted. "I thought I could. I thought the bond would be enough, that I could learn to love you the way you deserve. But Celeste…she understands me. She challenges me. She's strong, independent, everything an alpha needs in a mate."

"And I'm not." It wasn't a question.

"You're wonderful, Elara. Sweet and kind and loyal. You'll make someone very happy someday. But that someone isn't me."

"So what happens now?" I asked.

"I'll do it quietly. We'll tell them the bond wasn't strong enough, that it was mutual. You can save face."

"How generous of you."

He flinched. "I'm sorry, Elara. Truly. But this is for the best."

"I, Julian Storm Arquette, reject you, Elara Monroe, as my mate and future luna of Moonville pack."

The words slammed into me. Pain erupted in my chest, so hot and devastating. My wolf howled in agony, the sound echoing through my mind as our bond snapped. It felt like being ripped in half, like losing a limb, like dying but still being forced to breathe.

I collapsed to my knees in the grass, gasping for air that wouldn't come. My vision blurred. My heart felt like it was being crushed.

Above me, Julian stood watching. He didn't reach for me or comfort me. He didn’t do anything except witness my destruction with those cold gray eyes.

"You should leave Moonville," he said quietly. "Start fresh somewhere else. It'll be easier."

"Easier for who?" I choked out.

"For both of us."

Footsteps approached. Celeste appeared, concern painted on her beautiful face. Fake. All of it fake.

"Julian, what's wrong? I heard…" She stopped when she saw me on the ground. "Oh."

That single syllable held no surprise. She had known exactly what was happening.

"Take me inside," she said softly. "I'm cold."

And he did. Without another word to me, without checking if I could stand, if I could breathe, he wrapped his arm around Celeste and walked away.

I stayed there on my knees in the garden, the sounds of my engagement party drifting through the night air. People laughing, celebrating, completely unaware that the bride had just been shattered into pieces.

My phone buzzed in my clutch. With shaking hands, I pulled it out.

An unknown number: "I saw what happened. Meet me at the Luvi Diner in one hour. You'll want to hear what I have to say. —XL"

I stared at the message, my mind struggling to process anything beyond the pain radiating through my chest. Who was XL? How did they know what happened?

Another message appeared: "Trust me, Elara. This isn't over. Not by a long shot."

I should delete the messages. Go inside, face the music, tell my family that my mating ceremony was cancelled.

Instead, I pulled myself to my feet on trembling legs. My dress was stained with grass and dirt. My makeup was ruined. My heart was broken.

But something in those messages sparked a flame in the hollow space where my bond used to be.

This isn't over.

I glanced back at the pack house, golden light spilling from every window. Inside, Julian was probably already at Celeste's side. Inside, my family was probably wondering where I'd disappeared to. Inside, my entire future was crumbling to dust.

I turned away and started walking toward the diner.

Whatever waited for me there couldn't possibly hurt worse than what I had just endured.