Rejected
1701 Words
(Isla)
I woke up smiling.
The realization hit me a second later, and somehow that only made the smile wider.
For the first time in my life, I woke up without that familiar heaviness sitting on my chest. For the first time in twenty-two years, I wasn’t dreading the day ahead.
I wasn’t wondering who would laugh at me or who would stare. I wasn’t wondering what cruel thing I would overhear before the day was over.
Instead, I opened my eyes and found myself staring at the ceiling while warmth spread through my entire body.
The night before replayed inside my head. Not the exact details, but the feeling. The feeling of being wanted and chosen.
The feeling of having someone look at me and see more than my flaws.
My throat tightened as my eyes glossed over from happiness.
I had spent years convincing myself that I didn’t need that, pretending it didn’t matter and pretending I was strong enough to accept being alone.
It turns out I had been lying to myself because now that I had experienced it, I didn’t know how I had survived without it.
A small smile appeared on my lips as I wondered. Maybe this was what happiness felt like.
Maybe this was what everyone else had been talking about all these years.
The sound of movement pulled me from my thoughts, causing me to turn my head and find Zayden standing near the window.
My smile immediately softened as I watched my mate.
The morning sunlight spilled across him, and for a moment, he looked exactly like the man who had come to my door.
The man who had looked at me with something other than disgust.
The man who had made me believe that maybe fate hadn’t made a mistake after all.
“Good morning,” I said softly.
His shoulders stiffened as soon as he heard my voice. The reaction was small, almost unnoticeable, but I saw it... I noticed everything.
A strange feeling settled inside my stomach, but then he turned around and smiled.
“Morning.” He greeted back, but something felt off. I couldn’t explain it, but maybe I was imagining things, or I was simply nervous... after all, I had never done this before.
Never woken up beside someone who actually wanted me there.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.
I laughed quietly. “Because I’m trying to convince myself you’re real.”
Something flickered across his face. It looked like guilt, but it disappeared so quickly that I almost missed it.
My smile faltered, but before I could ask about it, a loud knock echoed through the cottage.
Both of us froze. The knock came again, harder and more urgent this time.
Zayden cursed under his breath, and my stomach immediately tightened.
Something wasn’t right.
A warrior’s voice sounded from outside.
“Alpha, Elder Rowan is requesting your presence immediately.”
The cottage fell silent, causing me to frown.
“What’s going on?” I asked Zayden, who looked away immediately.
“I don’t know,” he replied, but it was a lie. I could hear his heart race as soon as he spoke, and judging from the look on his face, he knew I knew.
The uncomfortable feeling inside my chest grew stronger, but I pushed it aside because I trusted him. He was my mate, and I knew that last night meant something... at least to me.
---
The entire pack was gathered by the time we arrived.
My steps slowed the moment I saw the crowd. A crowd this large usually meant one thing... Something important was happening.
Whispers spread the second people noticed us as dozens of eyes turned in my direction.
My confidence wavered, and instinctively, I moved closer to Zayden.
For a second, I expected him to take my hand, but he didn’t.
The realization stung more than it should have, and I told myself I was overthinking. I had spent years expecting rejection, and I simply didn’t know how to stop.
My eyes landed on Serena, and my stomach dropped. She stood near the front of the crowd. She was beautiful and perfect, but her lips held a sinister smile that made my skin crawl.
It didn’t look like happiness or surprise, more like anticipation, as though she had been waiting for something.
As though she already knew how today would end.
A terrible feeling settled inside my chest as Elder Rowan stepped forward.
The crowd immediately fell silent. No one spoke when an Elder was present unless asked to speak.
“Thank you all for gathering,” he said.
Nobody spoke or moved as they all wondered what his next words were going to be.
The tension in the air felt suffocating, and my heart quickened with anticipation.
Beside me, Zayden looked tense... terribly tense at that.
His jaw was clenched so tightly that I thought he might break his teeth. I glanced at him, but he refused to look at me.
Fear crawled down my spine. What was going on?
“Elder Rowan?” I asked quietly.
He ignored me. Instead, he looked directly at Zayden.
“The Moon Goddess has revealed your fated mate,” he continued without sparing me a glance.
Murmurs spread through the crowd, and I suddenly couldn’t breathe.
Something was wrong.
Something was very wrong.
“Alpha Zayden Ashcroft,” Elder Rowan continued. “Do you acknowledge Isla Thorn as your fated mate before this pack?”
Zayden was silent, and the entire world seemed to stop as I waited for him to answer.
I waited for him to smile.
I waited for him to look at me the way he had last night, but instead, he stared straight ahead.
The silence stretched and stretched. Every second felt like a lifetime as I waited for him to call me his mate in front of the entire pack.
My heart began pounding.
“Zayden?” I whispered.
He finally looked at me, and the breath left my lungs because I recognized that look.
I had seen it before, on the night of the ceremony, the moment he discovered I was his mate.
Horror.
My stomach dropped.
No. No. Please, no.
Not after last night. Not after everything.
“I acknowledge the bond,” he finally said.
I let out a deep breath I didn’t know I was holding, but then he continued.
“I acknowledge that Isla Thorn is my fated mate.”
The crowd murmured, and my wolf relaxed.
“He is ours.”
But then came the next sentence... The sentence that destroyed everything.
“But she will never be my Luna,” he said with disgust as he faced me.
The world shattered, and gasps erupted around us.
The crowd exploded into whispers, but I couldn’t hear any of it.
I was too busy staring at him, waiting for him to laugh, waiting for him to tell everyone it was a joke.
Waiting for him to say anything that would make this make sense.
Instead, he stood there. His face was cold and distant. He was unrecognizable from the man I saw last night.
“Zayden...” I whispered. My voice broke, and the sound barely escaped my throat.
For a second, guilt flashed across his face, but then Serena stepped forward.
The smile on her face made me sick.
“Oh, Isla,” she said softly.
The fake sympathy in her voice was worse than an insult.
“I think you’ve misunderstood the situation.”
I stared at her. “What?”
The crowd watched eagerly, like they were waiting for a show. It was as though my heartbreak was entertainment.
Serena sighed dramatically. “You really thought one night would make an Alpha choose you?”
The crowd burst into laughter, mocking me. The sound hit me like a blow to the chest as my face burned with humiliation.
No. Please. Not this. Not in front of everyone.
I looked at Zayden desperately as I waited for him to stop her, to defend me.
I waited for him to choose me, but he didn’t.
The silence that followed was answer enough. He didn’t want me... my goddess-given mate didn’t want me.
Tears filled my eyes.
“Tell her she’s wrong,” I whispered.
My voice trembled.
“So tell her.”
The entire crowd fell silent as everyone waited and watched, even Serena.
For one horrible second, hope flickered inside me.
Then Zayden killed it. “Serena is right.”
The words sliced straight through my heart, and a broken sound escaped my throat.
The crowd gasped, but yet, somehow he wasn’t finished.
His silver eyes locked onto mine, and then he destroyed me completely.
“Did you really think one night would change anything?”
The words hit me so hard that I physically staggered backward.
A ringing filled my ears, and the world blurred.
No. Not him.
Not the man who had held me.
Not the man who had looked at me like I was beautiful.
Not the man who had made me believe I was enough.
Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I couldn’t stop them or hide them. I couldn’t pretend I was okay because I wasn’t.
I was breaking apart right there in front of everyone, and the worst part?
The rejection wasn’t what hurt, neither was it the humiliation. The worst part was that he had made me believe him.
He had made me trust him.
He had made me hope, then he had used that hope to destroy me.
I looked at him one final time... at the man I thought was my future.
At the man who had shattered me, and suddenly I couldn’t stand there anymore.
I turned around and walked away.
The crowd parted instantly.
Nobody stopped me or spoke to me. Nobody laughed, because even they understood what he had done. And as tears streamed down my face, one terrible truth echoed through my mind.
I had spent my entire life being rejected by strangers.
But nothing compared to being destroyed by the person who was supposed to love me.
- Writer
