The Alpha Who Rejected Me

Rejected

Episode 1: The Rejection

I turned 18 today.

I have been waiting for this day since I was 12 years old. Every girl in Blood Moon pack waits for this. The day each wolf finally finds their mate.

Mine was Jake.

Jake Stone. Alpha of Blood Moon Pack. He is 20. Strongest fighter in our pack. Everyone fears him. But not me. Never me.

He was my best friend first.

I still remember when we were 10. He used to steal chicken from the pack kitchen and give me the big leg. He would say "Mia, eat, you are too small." My mom would shout at us. We would laugh and run into the forest.

That was before he became Alpha.

Two years ago, his father died in a rogue attack. Jake became Alpha at 18. Very young. Since then he changed. He became cold. He stopped playing with me. He stopped smiling.

But I still loved him. My wolf loved him even more. Every night my wolf would whisper, Jake is ours. Soon he will claim us.

And today is the Mating Ceremony.

The whole pack gathered around the big fire in the center. It is our tradition. When you turn 18, you stand in front of the fire and your mate will come to you. If he accepts you, you become Luna. If he rejects you... you almost die.

I wore my best dress. White one my mom bought for me. My mom held my hand tight. Her hand was shaking.

"You will be fine, Mia," she whispered. "Jake loves you. Everyone knows."

I nodded but my stomach was doing somehow.

Then I saw him.

Jake came out from the Alpha house. He wore black. His face was serious. His beta and gamma behind him. And behind them, his wolf. Big black wolf with yellow eyes. Everyone could feel him. That is Alpha wolf.

My wolf started shouting inside me. Mate! Mate! Mate is here!

I smiled. I could not help it.

He looked at me. Our eyes met across the fire.

For one second I thought he smiled.

Then his face changed.

He walked to the center. The elders made way. The drums stopped. Everywhere silent.

I stepped forward too. My legs shaking.

This is it. He will claim me.

He opened his mouth.

"I, Alpha Jake Stone," he said. His voice was loud. Very loud. The fire cracked. "Reject you, Mia Carter, as my mate."

Everything stopped.

I thought I heard wrong. I thought maybe wind covered his words.

"What?" I said. My voice was small.

The pack started murmuring. My mom gasped behind me.

Jake repeated, louder this time. Like he wanted everyone to hear. Like he wanted to shame me.

"I, Alpha Jake Stone, reject you, Mia Carter, as my mate. You are not worthy to be my Luna."

My knees almost failed me.

My wolf. Oh God, my wolf. She was crying. She was howling inside me with pain. It felt like someone poured hot fire inside my chest. Like someone was cutting my heart with knife.

"Why?" I cried. Tears finally coming. I didn't care that everyone was watching. "Why Jake? What did I do?"

He finally looked at me. But no love. Only disgust.

"Because you are weak, Mia," he said. He said it like it was a fact. "Look at you. You are always crying. You are always hiding behind your mother. A Luna cannot be weak. My pack is under attack from rogues every week. I need a strong Luna. Not you."

I was shaking. The tears covering my face.

"But... but you said..." I could not complete the sentence.

"I know what I said when we were kids," he cut me. "That was kids talk. This is real life. This is pack."

Then he turned. He looked at the crowd. "Sarah, come here."

Sarah.

My cousin Sarah.

She came out. Wearing red dress. Smiling. Like she already knew.

Jake pulled her close. Right there. In front of me. In front of the fire. In front of my mother.

He kissed her. Deep kiss.

"From today," he announced, holding her waist, "Sarah is my chosen mate. She will be your Luna."

My mom shouted, "No!" Someone held her.

Sarah looked at me and smirked. She whispered so only I can hear, "Sorry cousin. Alpha needs a real woman."

I couldn't stand there again.

I ran.

I ran away from the fire. Away from the pack. Away from my mom calling my name.

I didn't wear shoes. My white dress dragging on the ground. My feet stepping on stones, on thorns. But I didn't feel it. The pain inside was more.

I ran into the dark forest. The forest between our pack and human world. No werewolf goes there at night because rogues live there.

But I didn't care. Let them kill me. Better than this shame.

I ran until I could not run again. I fell near a river. My dress dirty now. My feet bleeding.

My wolf was going quiet. That's the worst sign. When your wolf goes quiet after rejection, it means she is dying.

"Please don't leave me," I begged my wolf inside. "Please... you are all I have."

No answer.

I curled near the river and cried. I cried like I have never cried before in my 18 years.

That night, Mia Carter, the girl who waited for her mate, died.

And someone else was going to be born from that river.