Rejected By One, Claimed By Four

Chapter 2

Lyra stood at the edge of the steep cliff, still clad in her emerald-green dress. The fabric sighed in the draft from the passing breeze, a fading memory of the night she longed to not remember. She looked down at the rocky path far below, her breath hitching as she imagined the plunge. She wondered, her heart raw with pain and humiliation, if this was worth it. Was she seriously going to kill herself because she had been rejected by her partner?

That he had ripped her in half to pieces in front of all of them wasn't good enough. But to end her life over it? A man who had not even bothered to look at her as she was, who had cast aside their tie as triviality? She shook her head bitterly. He wasn’t worth it. No one was.

When Lyra pivoted in order to back away from the edge of the cliff, the stiletto heels on her shoes slipped on the loose scree behind her legs. Her heart let out a fearful leap, and before she could even turn around she was reeling backward, the pull of gravity pulling her down toward the unforgiving stones at its base.

She gasped sharply as she prepared to dive. However, in the next instant, a thin, strong arm emerged from nowhere, clamping her elbow and pulling her up. She found herself pressed against a solid, warm chest, her breath coming in shallow, rapid gasps as she clung to him, stunned.

Looking up, she found herself caught in the tempestuous sky looking out of Asher "windbreaker" eye.

He gripped her tight, his strong hand unyielding against the pressure of his hold. His face was inches from hers, jaw set, brows drawn together in an unreadable expression. For a second, he looked as startled as she did, as his gaze stuck to her weeping visage.

What in the world are you doing, Lyra?, his voice was husky and tense, little more than a murmur, yet unmistakable as a tone of anger mixed with concern.

Lyra swallowed hard, still struggling to regain her composure. “I… I wasn’t… Her voice faltered as she tried to explain herself, the words slipping away as she realized how close she had come to ending everything.

Asher's grip tightened around her arm and he drew her even nearer this time with an unwavering stare directed at her. “You weren’t what?” he demanded, his tone sharper now. “You were about to throw yourself off a cliff. And for what? A man who didn’t care enough to see your worth?

Lyra's gaze dropped and a blush brushed her velum. So he knew. Everyone knew. “I don’t know, she whispered, barely able to meet his intense stare. It wasn't just that he rejected me… everyone saw. All of them watched him eject me as if I was of no value. And now." Her voice cracked and she turned away, struggling to hide her composure.

For a while, an air of silence existed between them, only interrupted by the sound of leaf movement and the faraway song of night birds.

Asher’s expression softened as he took in her pain. “You are far from nothing, Lyra, he said quietly, a rough tenderness in his voice she’d never heard before. He stood up and reached out a hand and softly wiped a tear away from her cheek. If he hadn't noticed what he had or got in you, that's his loss. Not yours.”

She looked up at him, startled by the sincerity in his voice. Asher had always been a figure in the background to her, a respected pack member and strong presence, but she had never thought of him beyond that. Yet now, as he looked at her with an intensity that seemed to cut right through her defenses, she felt her heart begin to beat faster for a different reason.

“Asher, why did you come here? she asked, barely able to keep her voice steady. The question slipped out before she could stop herself, but she needed to know. Why had he been here, in this exact place, just when she’d been at her lowest?

He stopped for a moment, as if thinking about each of them and then his stare didn't warm up, but rather, a mix of rage and emotion he couldn’t quite define, glistened in his eyes. “I couldn’t just let you suffer alone, he said finally. “Not after what happened tonight.”

An unvoiced between them lingered, and Lyra found herself drawn to him, inexplicably pulled towards him, a relationship she didn't yet understand. His hand moved from her elbow, trailing down her arm until their hands met, his fingers entwining with hers as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

A strange warmth spread through her, unfamiliar but comforting, and she realized, with a jolt, that she could feel something beneath the surface—a faint but undeniable spark, a pull that resonated deep within her soul.

Asher… she began and her voice broke as she became aware of the occurring to the senses. “Are you… are you my…”

“Yes,” he said softly, his gaze unwavering. “I’m your mate, Lyra.”

Expressions hung in between them and a flurry of feelings rushed her. Confusion, skepticism, elation, and a sense of flicker that all she'd been prepared to imagine for weeks lay in wait. How could it be? Why hadn’t she sensed it before? But every time, when she looked in his gaze the reality, the inevitable, the truth an irresistible, overwhelming fact.

[But] why didn't you ever tell me?, she asked, the feeling in her voice choked with grief and delight. “All this time… you just watched?”

Asher's face paled and he averted his eyes, jaw tightens. “I didn’t think you’d want me as a mate, Lyra. You had… other hopes. Words were full of remorse, and she understood their silent message. He’d seen her longing for someone else, and he’d stepped back to let her choose.

For the first time she saw Asher not as the "silent" pack leader but as the man who had privately supported her, who had even stubbornly accepted his own pain in the service of her wish. Her heart ached at the thought of what he’d been through, of the silent devotion he’d kept hidden.

She made a soft pinch on the back of his hand with the tip of her thumb on top of it. Perhaps I was staring too close at what lay in the distance "she whispered. “I didn’t realize… I didn’t know that there could be someone who… who cared.

Asher's eyes filled with tears and his thumb passed over hers with an effective gesture. “I’ll always be here, Lyra, he said, his voice steady. “No matter what happened tonight. I'm never going to let you feel okay to be alone.

At his words she felt her heart swell and a tear trickled down her own cheek, this time not of sadness but of relief that someone really could see her, get her. The mate she’d longed for might have been a dream, but the man standing in front of her now felt real, solid, a lifeline she hadn’t known she needed.

She exhaled for the last time, snapping out of the agony of the night before, dreaming of the morning's silence. She didn’t know what the future held, but for the first time since her rejection, she felt the spark of something new.

Leaning on Asher, she let herself soften beneath the pressure of his embrace, feel the peace his grip contained, and the steady rhythm of his body ached with her own. It wasn’t the fairy-tale bond she’d imagined, but it was something stronger, something earned, and she knew that whatever lay ahead, she would face it with him by her side.