THE ROGUE ALPHA’S FORSAKEN MATE

Chapter 15

I woke to the sound of birds.

For a moment, I didn't know where I was. The ground beneath me was hard and cold, and the air smelled of earth and pine. Then I remembered. The confrontation with Declan and Wren. The way they had looked at me. The way Declan had agreed with her, without hesitation, without even a flicker of regret.

I sat up slowly. My body ached from sleeping on the ground, and my eyes were swollen from crying. Kael was already awake, sitting on the fallen log a few feet away, watching the sunrise through the trees. He looked tired, like he hadn't slept either, but there was something steady in his expression that made me feel less alone.

"You didn't sleep," I said.

"Not much." He looked at me. "How are you feeling?"

I thought about the question. How was I feeling? Angry. Hurt. Tired. But beneath all of that, there was something else. Something I hadn't expected.

"I'm tired," I said. "Tired of fighting for a place in a pack that will never accept me."

Kael was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "You don't have to stay."

I looked at him.

"I mean it," he said. "You don't owe them anything. You don't owe Declan anything. You don't owe your father anything. If you wanted to leave, I would take you somewhere else. Somewhere you could start over."

I didn't answer. I didn't know how. The idea of leaving Ashford was terrifying and tempting all at once. I had lived here my whole life. I had grown up here. I had dreamed here. But I had also been hurt here. Betrayed here. Made to feel small here. I didn't know if I could stay, but I didn't know if I could leave either.

We sat in silence for a while, watching the sun rise through the trees. The forest was waking up around us, birds calling, small animals rustling in the underbrush. It should have been peaceful. It wasn't.

Then I stood and brushed the dirt from my clothes.

"I need to go back," I said. "I need to talk to Mara."

Kael nodded. "I'll be here."

I walked back to the pack grounds alone. The morning was quiet, but I could feel eyes on me as I passed. Wolves going about their morning routines stopped to watch. Some of them looked at me with pity. Others with contempt. I kept my head down and kept walking.

When I reached the main square, I saw two pack members standing near the well. I recognized them. They were friends of Wren. They had been at the Claiming Night celebration. They had watched me walk into Declan's room. They had probably laughed about it afterward.

"Did you hear?" one of them said. "She spent the night in the forest with the rogue."

"I heard she's been with him every night since he got here."

"Disgusting. And she thinks the elders will approve the bond? She's delusional."

I stopped walking. They noticed me and fell silent. For a moment, none of us moved. Then one of them smirked.

"Morning, Nova."

I didn't respond. I just kept walking. But their words followed me. They echoed in my head as I walked to the house. They echoed as I opened the door. They echoed as I sat down at the kitchen table.

Mara was already there. She looked up when I walked in, and her expression changed immediately.

"What happened?"

I sat down at the table and told her about Declan and Wren. She listened without interrupting, her jaw tightening with every word. When I finished, she said, "Declan was never worthy of you."

"I know."

"Do you?"

I looked at her.

"You spent two years believing he was your future," Mara said. "You built your whole life around him. And now you know the truth." She paused. "That's not a loss, Nova. That's a gift."

I didn't know what to say.

Mara reached across the table and took my hand. "You have something now that you didn't have before."

"What?"

"Someone who actually sees you. Someone who came back for you. Someone who is willing to fight for you." She smiled. "That's worth more than anything Declan could have given you."

I felt something loosen in my chest. But it wasn't enough to erase the sting of the morning.

"I don't know if I can stay here," I said.

Mara was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "Then don't."

I looked at her.

"I've been in this pack for decades," she said. "I've watched it change. I've watched it become something I barely recognize. If you want to leave, I won't stop you."

I stared at her. "You would let me go?"

"I would help you go." She squeezed my hand. "But not yet. There are things you need to know first. Things I should have told you a long time ago."

I frowned. "What things?"

Mara hesitated. Then she said, "Not now. Tonight. When it's safe."

I didn't understand, but I nodded.

I spent the rest of the day in the house, avoiding the pack. I helped Mara with small tasks. I cleaned. I organized. I did anything to keep my hands busy and my mind from wandering. But it was impossible. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Wren's smile. I heard Declan's voice agreeing with her. I felt the sting of their words.

Kael sent word through a young wolf I didn't recognize that he was still in the clearing if I needed him. I didn't go. I needed to think. I needed to figure out what I was going to do.

That afternoon, I walked through the pack grounds one last time. Not to say goodbye. Not yet. Just to look. To remember. To see if there was anything left worth staying for.

I walked past the training grounds, where I had spent hours trying to shift, trying to be like the other wolves. I walked past the main square, where I had stood beside Declan during festivals, believing he loved me. I walked past the small house where I had grown up, where my mother had lived, where she had died.

I saw Wren and Declan in the square. They were surrounded by their friends. Wren was laughing at something Declan said. Declan was smiling. He looked happy. He looked like he didn't have a care in the world. He looked like he hadn't just destroyed me.

Wren saw me. Her smile widened. It was a slow, satisfied smile that made my stomach turn. She didn't approach me. She didn't need to. The pack was doing her work for her. The whispers. The stares. The pity. The contempt. She had already won.

I walked back to the house and found Mara waiting.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"For what?"

"To hear the truth."