Chapter Two: The mating ceremony.
1642 Words
The Nightfall Pack did not sleep after a rejection like that.
Casey learned this as she stumbled through the darkened paths, her body trembling with exhaustion, pain, and something far worse: emptiness. The bond was still there, like a torn thread buried deep in her chest, frayed and burning. It pulsed unevenly, no longer warm or whole, but not gone either. Rejection was supposed to sever it completely.
This one hadn’t.
That alone terrified her.
She could feel the pack’s eyes even when she couldn’t see them. From behind shuttered windows. From the shadows between trees. Whispers followed her like insects, crawling under her skin.
Rejected mate.
Alpha-cursed.
She should never have been born.
Her small cabin lay at the far edge of the territory, close enough that the pack could claim they hadn’t cast her out, far enough that no one ever had to look at her unless they chose to. The door creaked as she pushed it open, the familiar scent of pinewood and old herbs wrapping weakly around her.
The moment the door shut behind her, Casey collapsed.
Her knees hit the floor first, then her palms. The pain she’d held back finally tore free, ripping a sob from her throat. Her chest ached, not just from the rejection, but from the weight of a lifetime pressing down all at once.
She had never allowed herself to imagine this moment.
Never imagined the moon choosing her. Never imagined an Alpha: the Alpha, being bound to her by fate.
And she had certainly never imagined being rejected in front of everyone she had ever known.
Casey curled inward, pressing her forehead to the floor as tears soaked into the wood. Her body shook violently now, the delayed aftermath of magic and humiliation crashing together.
You knew this would happen, a cruel voice whispered inside her. You knew you didn’t belong.
Her chest burned again, sharper this time. She gasped, clutching at her sternum as the bond flared unexpectedly, like it was reacting to her pain.
Images flashed behind her eyes: too fast, too vivid.
Dark forests.
Blood-soaked snow.
Shay’s face twisted in agony.
She screamed, the sound ripping through the quiet cabin, and the vision shattered.
Casey lay there panting, heart racing.
That had not been normal.
She had grown up around bonded mates. She knew what rejection felt like in theory, the stories, the warnings. Pain, yes. Loss, yes. But visions? Shared agony? The bond reacting like a living thing?
No.
Something was wrong.
She dragged herself upright, back pressed against the wall, arms wrapped tightly around herself. Her whole body felt wrong. Too warm. Too aware. Like something was stirring beneath her skin, stretching after a long sleep.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
Stop.
She didn’t want answers tonight. She couldn’t handle them.
A sharp knock echoed through the cabin.
Casey froze.
No one ever came here after dark.
The knock came again, louder this time, impatient.
Her heart slammed against her ribs. For a wild second, a treacherous part of her wondered if:
No.
It wouldn’t be him.
She forced herself to stand, every movement aching. When she opened the door, Lyra stood on the threshold, her expression tight with worry.
“Oh, Casey,” Lyra breathed, stepping inside without waiting for permission. “I saw everything. I came as soon as I could.”
Lyra smelled of adrenaline and fear, her dark curls escaping their braid. She wrapped her arms around Casey without hesitation, holding her tightly.
Casey stiffened at first, then sagged into her friend’s embrace.
“It hurts,” she whispered, the words torn from her. “It hurts so much.”
“I know,” Lyra murmured, rubbing her back. “I know. The pack is in chaos. The Elders have locked themselves in council with the Alpha.”
At that, Casey pulled back.
“The Alpha,” she said flatly.
Lyra winced. “Shay.”
Hearing his name was like reopening a wound.
“He rejected me,” Casey said, as if saying it out loud would make it make sense. “He didn’t even hesitate.”
Lyra’s eyes flickered. Just for a moment.
Casey noticed.
“Lyra,” she said quietly. “You know something.”
Lyra hesitated, then sighed. “There are… rumors. Old ones. About a prophecy tied to the Alpha bloodline.”
Casey’s stomach dropped.
“Elder Rowan said something,” she whispered. “After the rejection. He said the Alpha’s fate has begun.”
Lyra swallowed. “The prophecy says that the Alpha of Nightfall will one day kill the woman he loves most. By his own hands. Under the full moon.”
The words felt unreal, like something pulled from a nightmare.
Casey laughed weakly. “That’s ridiculous.”
“It’s not,” Lyra said softly. “That prophecy has shaped pack leadership for generations. Shay was raised with it hanging over him.”
Casey’s breath caught.
Raised with it.
He had known.
All this time, he had known.
“He rejected me to protect me,” Casey said slowly, the realization sinking like a stone.
Lyra didn’t respond.
That silence was answer enough.
A new emotion surged up, fierce and painful and hot.
Anger.
“Doesn’t matter,” Casey said, her voice shaking. “He humiliated me. He broke the bond in front of everyone.”
“Yes,” Lyra said carefully. “But the bond isn’t gone, is it?”
Casey’s hand flew instinctively to her chest.
“No,” she admitted. “It’s… damaged. But it’s still there.”
Lyra’s face paled.
“That shouldn’t be possible.”
Before Casey could respond, a sharp cry echoed through the night, followed by another. Then the unmistakable sound of running feet.
Lyra stiffened. “That came from the eastern border.”
Another scream cut through the air, closer this time.
Casey’s blood ran cold.
“That wasn’t a wolf,” she said.
“No,” Lyra agreed. “That was a human.”
The screams stopped abruptly.
The forest went deathly silent.
A second later, the Alpha’s command rolled across the territory, amplified by power.
“All warriors to the eastern border. Now.”
Shay’s voice.
Even wounded by rejection, the bond reacted instantly. Casey staggered, gripping the table as his command reverberated through her bones.
Lyra stared at her. “You felt that.”
“Yes,” Casey whispered. “I felt him.”
Fear bloomed in Lyra’s eyes. “Casey… if the pack realizes the bond is still active”
A thunderous crash shook the cabin, cutting her off.
The door exploded inward.
Wood splintered. Shards flew.
Casey screamed as a massive shape burst into the room, eyes glowing red, teeth bared in a feral snarl.
Rogue.
The stench hit her immediately: blood, decay, madness.
Lyra shoved Casey back. “Run!”
The rogue lunged.
Instinct took over.
Casey threw her hands up, bracing for impact:
And the air bent.
A shockwave exploded outward, invisible but devastating. The rogue was hurled backward, smashing into the far wall with a sickening c***k. He collapsed in a heap, unmoving.
Silence crashed down.
Casey stared at her hands, trembling.
“I_I didn’t_” Her voice broke. “I don’t know how I did that.”
Lyra looked at her like she’d never seen her before.
“Casey,” she whispered. “You just used Alpha-level force.”
The dead rogue’s body began to smoke faintly, silver scars burning across his skin.
Moon magic.
Casey’s knees gave out again.
Before Lyra could reach her, a blur of motion filled the cabin.
Shay.
He was suddenly there, as if the night itself had delivered him. His eyes glowed dangerously, his aura flaring as he took in the scene: the broken door, the dead rogue, Casey crumpled on the floor.
His gaze locked on her.
The bond surged violently, lighting every nerve ending on fire.
“Get away from her,” Shay snarled at Lyra without looking away from Casey.
Lyra raised her hands slowly. “She’s not your enemy.”
Shay ignored her. He crossed the room in two strides and dropped to his knees in front of Casey, hands hovering inches from her skin, trembling like he was afraid to touch her.
“What did you do?” he demanded softly.
“I defended myself,” Casey said, lifting her chin. “Something you apparently didn’t think I could do.”
The words cut him. She saw it in his eyes.
“You’re not safe,” he said. “Rogues don’t breach Nightfall territory without a reason.”
“Because of me,” Casey said. “Because the moon chose wrong.”
Shay’s jaw clenched. “The moon never chooses wrong.”
“Then why did you reject me?”
The question hung between them, heavy and raw.
Shay’s control finally cracked.
“Because if I love you,” he said hoarsely, “I will kill you.”
The truth slammed into the room like a physical force.
Casey stared at him, her heart pounding, fear and fury colliding inside her.
“Then don’t love me,” she said. “But don’t lie to yourself either. The bond is still alive. And whatever you think you’re protecting me from, it’s already here.”
Another howl rose in the distance.
Not one.
Many.
Shay stood abruptly, turning toward the shattered door.
“They’re coming for you,” he said grimly. “And next time, I may not get here in time.”
He paused, glancing back at her, his expression torn.
“This changes nothing,” he added coldly. “You are still rejected.”
Then he was gone.
Casey slumped back against the wall, heart racing, her world irrevocably changed.
She wasn’t wolfless.
She wasn’t weak.
And the Alpha’s curse had already chosen her as its battleground.
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