Chapter One: The Rejection
1952 Words
The first thing Elowen Veyre heard on the night of her twenty-first birthday was her wolf whispering one word.
Mate.
She stopped breathing.
For a moment, the entire ceremonial hall disappeared.
The hundreds of wolves surrounding her, the silver chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, the musicians playing somewhere behind the crowd, even the elders seated at the front of the hall all became nothing more than distant shadows.
Her wolf had already recognized him.
And when Elowen finally looked up, she understood why.
Aurek Draven had entered the hall.
The Alpha of Blackthorn Pack stood beneath the tall arched doorway, dressed in a black suit with silver detailing along the collar. His dark hair was slightly disheveled, as if he'd run his fingers through it on the way there. His expression was as unreadable as ever.
Cold.
Controlled.
Untouchable.
Elowen had known him for years.
Their families had crossed paths countless times. They had attended the same ceremonies, stood in the same meetings, passed each other in the pack territory.
Yet Aurek had never looked at her the way he was looking at her now.
His eyes had locked onto hers.
And he had gone completely still.
Elowen's heart began pounding.
Her wolf practically slammed against the walls of her mind.
**Mate.**
"No," Elowen whispered.
She didn't mean it.
She had spent years wondering what her mate would be like.
She had imagined someone kind.
Someone warm.
Someone who would look at her like she was the only person in the room.
She had never imagined Aurek.
Not because she didn't find him attractive.
That would have been a lie.
Every female wolf in the territory knew Aurek was beautiful in the dangerous sort of way. Sharp jaw. Broad shoulders. Dark eyes. The kind of presence that made conversations stop whenever he entered a room.
But Aurek had always made Elowen nervous.
He never smiled at her.
He never teased her.
He barely spoke to her.
Sometimes she had caught him staring at her from across a room, but whenever their eyes met, he always looked away first.
She had assumed he disliked her.
Now she understood.
The mate bond had found them.
Aurek started walking toward her.
The crowd parted immediately.
Whispers spread through the hall.
"The Alpha found his mate."
"Who is she?"
"Isn't that Elowen Veyre?"
"Veyre's daughter?"
Elowen barely heard them.
Every step Aurek took toward her made her heartbeat faster.
When he finally stopped in front of her, the air between them seemed to change.
She could feel him.
Not just physically.
Something deeper.
Something ancient.
Something that made her wolf want to move closer.
Elowen swallowed.
"Aurek."
His jaw tightened.
She waited for him to say something.
Anything.
Instead, his eyes moved over her face, almost as if he were memorizing it.
Then his gaze hardened.
"We need to talk."
Her stomach twisted.
"Here?"
"Not here."
She glanced around.
Everyone was watching them.
The entire pack knew something had happened.
Elowen lowered her voice.
"You're my mate."
Aurek's expression changed.
Barely.
But she saw it.
Pain.
Fear.
Maybe even regret.
"I know."
Her heart fluttered.
"You feel it too?"
"I do."
For the first time that night, Elowen smiled.
It was small and uncertain, but it was real.
She had spent twenty-one years wondering if someone would ever choose her.
Now the Moon Goddess had answered her.
She had chosen Aurek.
Her mate.
The future Alpha she had never expected.
Maybe everything would be okay.
Maybe—
"I can't accept you."
The smile vanished.
Elowen stared at him.
"What?"
Aurek looked toward the elders.
Then toward the Alpha Council.
Then back at her.
His voice was quiet.
"I can't accept the bond."
Her wolf whimpered.
Elowen's fingers trembled.
"But we're mates."
"I know."
"Then why?"
Aurek didn't answer.
She stepped closer.
"You said you feel it."
"I do."
"Then what's wrong?"
His eyes darkened.
"Elowen, don't."
"Don't what?"
"Ask me questions."
A nervous laugh escaped her.
"What am I supposed to do? You're standing in front of me telling me you feel the bond but you won't tell me why you don't want it."
Aurek looked away.
Something about his silence frightened her more than anger would have.
"Aurek."
He finally looked at her.
"I'm sorry."
Those two words made her heart sink.
She knew what was coming.
She just didn't want to believe it.
Aurek turned toward the entire pack.
The room fell silent.
Elowen stood beside him, suddenly feeling very small.
Aurek's voice carried across the hall.
"I have something to announce."
No one moved.
No one spoke.
He looked directly at Elowen.
And then he said the words that would haunt her for years.
"I, Aurek Draven, Alpha of the Blackthorn Pack..."
Elowen's heart stopped.
"...reject Elowen Veyre as my mate."
Pain exploded through her chest.
She gasped.
Her knees buckled.
Someone screamed.
The mate bond that had felt like warmth only moments ago suddenly became a blade twisting through her body.
Her wolf howled.
No.
Elowen fell to one knee.
Tears blurred her vision.
She heard whispers surrounding her.
"He rejected her?"
"In front of everyone?"
"Why would the Alpha reject his mate?"
"Something must be wrong with her."
That last sentence hurt the most.
Elowen forced herself to look up.
Aurek was still standing.
He looked calm.
Almost cruel.
But his hands were clenched tightly at his sides.
She stared at him through her tears.
"Why?"
His eyes flickered.
"Elowen..."
"Why?"
He said nothing.
Her voice broke.
"Did I do something?"
"No."
"Then what's wrong with me?"
"Nothing."
"Then why don't you want me?"
The hall remained silent.
Aurek's expression hardened.
"Because I don't."
The words hit harder than the rejection itself.
Elowen slowly stood.
Her entire body was shaking.
She wanted to scream.
She wanted to slap him.
She wanted to run into his arms and demand that he take the words back.
Instead, she simply stared at him.
"You're lying."
Aurek's eyes narrowed.
"You don't know what you're talking about."
"I know you."
"No, you don't."
"I've known you since we were children."
"And you still don't know me."
His voice was colder now.
Elowen wiped the tears from her cheeks.
"Then tell me."
Aurek stepped closer.
His voice dropped so low that only she could hear.
"If you stay here, you'll die."
Elowen froze.
"What?"
"Leave Blackthorn territory."
Her brows pulled together.
"Why?"
"Before sunrise."
"Aurek, what are you talking about?"
"Don't ask questions."
"You're the one who rejected me in front of the entire pack. You don't get to tell me to leave without explaining why."
His eyes briefly softened.
"I'm trying to protect you."
"By destroying me?"
His silence answered her.
Elowen laughed bitterly.
"That's not protection."
She took a step backward.
"You humiliated me."
Aurek looked away.
"You broke the bond."
"I know."
"You didn't even give me a choice."
"I couldn't."
"Couldn't or wouldn't?"
He didn't answer.
Elowen nodded slowly.
"Fine."
She turned around.
"Elowen."
She stopped.
Hope betrayed her for one final second.
She turned back.
Aurek looked at her.
There was something in his eyes she couldn't understand.
Regret.
Fear.
Desperation.
But his next words killed every remaining piece of hope.
"Don't come back."
Elowen stared at him.
Then she smiled.
Not because she was happy.
Because if she didn't smile, she knew she would collapse.
"Don't worry, Alpha."
She swallowed.
"I won't."
She walked away.
Every step hurt.
The moment she passed through the doors of Blackthorn Hall, cold night air struck her face.
She kept walking.
She didn't look back.
Not even when her wolf cried for their mate.
Not even when the pain nearly brought her to her knees.
Not even when she heard someone behind her whispering her name.
She walked until the lights of the ceremonial hall disappeared behind the trees.
Only then did she stop.
Elowen pressed her palm against her chest.
"Why me?"
Her voice was barely audible.
She had done everything right.
She had followed the rules.
She had respected the elders.
She had never caused trouble.
She had spent her entire life trying to prove that she belonged.
And somehow, on the night she finally found the person she was supposed to belong with, she had been rejected in front of everyone.
A tear rolled down her cheek.
Then another.
She sank onto an old stone near the edge of the forest.
Her wolf whimpered inside her.
He doesn't want us.
"I know."
He rejected us.
"I know."
Why?
Elowen closed her eyes.
"I don't know."
Behind her, branches cracked.
She immediately stood.
Her senses sharpened.
Someone was there.
"Who's there?"
No answer.
Elowen stepped backward.
The forest was dark.
Too dark.
She heard another sound.
A low growl.
Her wolf stirred.
**Danger.**
Elowen turned to run.
A hand suddenly covered her mouth.
She struggled.
The stranger pulled her backward.
"Don't scream."
Elowen froze.
The voice was old.
A woman's voice.
The grip loosened.
Elowen turned around.
An elderly woman stood behind her, wrapped in a dark cloak.
Elowen recognized her immediately.
One of the oldest elders of Blackthorn.
"What are you doing here?" Elowen asked.
The woman didn't answer.
Instead, she looked toward the direction of the pack.
Then back at Elowen.
Her face had gone pale.
"He rejected you."
Elowen's chest tightened.
"Yes."
The old woman stared at her.
"Then we have a problem."
"What problem?"
The elder stepped closer.
"You survived."
Elowen frowned.
"What?"
"The rejection."
"I don't understand."
The woman grabbed her wrist.
Her fingers trembled.
"Your wolf should have weakened."
Elowen stared at her.
"Why?"
"Because you aren't supposed to survive a bond rejection from an Alpha of his strength."
A chill traveled down Elowen's spine.
"What are you saying?"
The elder's eyes filled with fear.
"I am saying that Aurek didn't reject you because he stopped loving you."
Elowen's heart skipped.
"He doesn't love me."
The elder shook her head.
"No."
She looked toward the moon.
"He rejected you because he was ordered to."
Elowen couldn't speak.
"Ordered by who?"
The elder didn't answer.
Instead, she whispered something that made Elowen's blood run cold.
"Your mother was right."
Elowen's eyes widened.
"My mother?"
"She knew this day would come."
"My mother died when I was twelve."
"I know."
The elder's voice softened.
"And before she died, she made us promise never to tell you who you really are."
Elowen stared at her.
"Who I really am?"
The elder stepped closer.
"You aren't just Elowen Veyre."
A distant howl echoed through the forest.
The elder looked toward it.
Then she whispered:
"You're the last blood of the Moonborn."
Elowen's breath caught.
Before she could ask what that meant, another howl answered from somewhere deeper in the forest.
This one wasn't from Blackthorn.
The elder's face changed.
"He's here."
"Who?"
The old woman looked behind Elowen.
Fear flashed across her eyes.
"The rival Alpha."
Elowen slowly turned.
Between the trees, two pale eyes appeared in the darkness.
Watching her.
Waiting.
And somewhere inside her chest, beneath the pain of Aurek's rejection, her wolf suddenly went silent.
Then it whispered a word Elowen had never heard before.
Danger.
A man stepped out of the shadows.
Tall.
Broad-shouldered.
Dressed entirely in black.
His eyes were fixed on hers.
And unlike Aurek, he didn't look at Elowen like she was something he needed to reject.
He looked at her like he'd been searching for her.
For years.
The stranger stopped several feet away.
"Elowen Veyre."
Her blood ran cold.
"How do you know my name?"
A slow, dangerous smile appeared on his lips.
"My name is Soren Valcrest."
The rival Alpha took another step toward her.
"And I've been waiting for you."
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