REJECTED BY THE ALPHA, CLAIMED BY FATE

CROSSING BOARDERS 1

I turned to find him standing at the edge of my driveway, his hands shoved in his pockets, his expression unreadable. You're really leaving, he said. It wasn't a question. Yes. I went back to loading my car, refusing to look at him for more than a moment. Even now, broken bond or not, his presence affected me. My wolf stirred slightly, whimpering. Sera, he paused, and I heard him take a breath. I wanted to explain. ""There's nothing to explain, Alpha Blackwood, I cut him off, finally turning to face him fully. "You made your choice. You chose your pack's expectations over the Moon Goddess's gift. That's your right as Alpha."" Don't call me that, he said, his voice rough. "I'm still Garrett to you."" No. I shook my head slowly. "You stopped being Garrett the night you rejected me. You're Alpha Blackwood now. Nothing more." Something flickered in his eyes regret? Pain? I couldn't tell, and I forced myself not to care. I did what was best for the pack, he said, but there was a c***k in his certainty now. Vivian is. I don't want to hear about Vivian, I interrupted. "I don't want to hear your justification. I just want to leave and start over somewhere where I'm not constantly reminded that I wasn't enough. You were always enough," he said quietly, and the words hung between us like ghosts. That was never the problem. Then what was it? The question burst out of me before I could stop it. What was so wrong with me that you couldn't even try? That you didn't even give us a chance? He looked away, his jaw clenched. "It's complicated."" It always is, I said bitterly. Goodbye, Garrett. I hope you and Vivian are very happy together. I got into my car, started the engine, and drove away without looking back. In my rearview mirror, I saw him standing in my driveway, watching me disappear. And for just a moment, I could have sworn I saw genuine anguish on his face. But it was too late for anguish. Too late for regrets.I was done being rejected. Done being told I wasn't enough. It was time to find out who Sera Morningstar really was, beyond being someone's rejected mate. The drive to Moon Haven territory took three days. I drove through changing "landscapes", mountains giving way to forests, forests opening into plains, plains rolling into hills. I stopped at cheap motels and ate fast food and tried not to think about the life I was leaving behind. Aurora slowly began to emerge from her wounded silence, especially as we put more miles between us and Silverpine. On the second night, as I lay in a motel bed staring at the ceiling, she finally spoke. We're going to be okay, she whispered in my mind. We don't need him.I know, I whispered back, even though I wasn't entirely sure I believed it yet. We're stronger than he thinks.

Stronger than they all think.I hope you're right.I am. Just wait. The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes, Sera. Even if it feels like she does. On the third day, just as the sun was setting, I crossed into Moon Haven Pack territory. The difference was immediate and striking. Where Silverpine had been rustic and traditional, Moonhaven was sleek and modern. The pack lands were vast, incorporating a small city, numerous towns, and wilderness areas that seemed to stretch forever. At the border checkpoint, I presented my transfer papers to the guard, a friendly she-wolf with warm brown eyes. Welcome to Moon Haven! She said cheerfully, scanning my documents. "First time here? Yes, I admitted. You're going to love it. Alpha Kael runs a tight ship, but he's fair. And the graduate program you're in? Top-notch. My sister went through it last year." She handed back my papers and gave me a map. "Your housing assignment is marked there. Check in with student services tomorrow morning. Need anything else?"" No, thank you, I said, touched by her warmth. Already, Moonhaven felt different from Silverpine.I followed the map to a cluster of modern townhouses designated for graduate students. My unit was small but clean, with an actual separate bedroom, a tiny kitchen, and a living area with a desk. Compared to the cottage I'd shared with my mother, it felt like a palace.I unpacked my few belongings, called my mother to let her know I'd arrived safely, and then stood at my window looking out over my new home. New beginning, Aurora whispered. New beginning, I agreed.I had no way of knowing that my new beginning was about to collide with a destiny far greater than anything I'd imagined. That the powerful Alpha Kael Nightshade, who I'd never met, would turn out to be far more than just the leader of my new pack.

That when our paths crossed in just two days, I would look into his midnight-blue eyes and feel something I'd thought was dead and buried forever. The pull of a mate bond. A second chance, given by a Moon Goddess who never made mistakes. Not even when she chose an omega's daughter to stand beside the most powerful Alpha in North America.

The highway stretched endlessly before me, a ribbon of asphalt cutting through landscapes that shifted like pages in a book. Mountains gave way to valleys, dense forests opened into rolling plains, and with each mile marker I passed, the weight on my chest grew lighter.

Three days of driving. Three days of cheap motels with flickering neon signs and gas station coffee that tasted like regret. Three days of outrunning the ghost of a bond that no longer existed but still haunted me like phantom pain from a severed limb.

Aurora had been quiet for most of the journey, nursing her wounds in the deepest corners of my consciousness. But as we crossed into what my GPS cheerfully announced was Moon Haven Pack territory, I felt her stir with something that felt almost like... anticipation.

New place, she whispered, her voice stronger than it had been since the rejection. New beginning.

I hope you're right, I thought back, gripping the steering wheel a little tighter.

The difference between Silverpine and Moonhaven was immediately striking. Where Silverpine's border had been marked by a weathered wooden sign and a single guard post that looked like it hadn't been updated since the 1970s, Moon Haven's entrance was something else entirely.

A sleek, modern checkpoint rose from the landscape like something out of a sci-fi movie. Glass and steel construction reflected the late afternoon sun, and the technology visible even from the road made it clear this pack had resources Silverpine could only dream of. Two guards stood at attention, one male, one female, both wearing professional uniforms that looked more like security personnel than the casual flannels I was used to seeing at home.

Not home anymore, I reminded myself firmly. Silverpine isn't home. This is.

I pulled up to the checkpoint, rolling down my window. The female guard approached with a tablet in hand and a warm smile that immediately put me at ease.

"Good afternoon! Welcome to Moon Haven Pack territory," she said, her voice genuinely friendly. She had warm brown eyes and dark hair pulled back in a practical braid. "First time visiting us?"

"Yes," I managed, returning her smile despite my nerves. I'm transferring here.