Chapter Nine:The Rejection-Kai
1802 Words
The morning had started normally.
At least, that was what I had told myself.
I was sitting behind my desk, going through reports, when Valachi called.
I answered without looking up.
“Yes?”
“Alpha, the documents for the parish.”
I frowned.
“What about them?”
“They’re ready for collection.”
“I’ll sign them when I go into town.”
There was a pause.
“Alpha, they specifically requested that Sebastian bring them.”
My hand stopped moving.
I already knew what was happening.
The document wasn’t urgent.
It wasn’t important enough to require a special trip.
I could have signed it the next time I went into town.
They knew that.
I knew that.
And yet they had specifically arranged for Sebastian to come.
They were creating an opportunity.
An opportunity for me to speak to him.
Because the priests had stopped coming to the pack.
I leaned back in my chair.
“Understood.”
After I ended the call, I stared at the desk.
My wolf immediately stirred.
Mate.
“I know.”
He is coming.
“I know.”
Go to him.
“Not yet.”
I closed my eyes.
My wolf had been unbearable since the priests stopped visiting.
He wanted Sebastian.
He wanted to see him.
He wanted to touch him.
He wanted to know that our mate was safe.
I had eventually been forced to push him deep into my mind and lock him away.
Not completely.
I couldn’t.
But enough to give myself some peace.
“Stay quiet.”
He growled.
I don’t like this.
“Neither do I.”
But I needed to think.
I needed to be calm.
Because when Sebastian arrived, I wanted him to feel safe.
Not pressured.
Not trapped.
Safe.
⸻
When his car finally crossed the border, I felt him immediately.
My heart started racing.
My wolf slammed against the mental barrier I had built.
Mate.
“I know.”
Let me out.
“No.”
Let me see him.
“Not yet.”
I walked outside.
Sebastian stepped out of the vehicle.
My entire body reacted.
There he was.
My mate.
The man I had waited eleven years for.
And he looked completely unaware of the war taking place inside me.
I wanted to walk toward him.
Instead, I simply smiled.
“Welcome.”
He greeted me softly.
I noticed how tense he was.
So I made a decision.
“Come with me.”
He hesitated.
“Where?”
“I want to show you something.”
He looked uncertain.
I didn’t push.
“Please.”
Eventually, he agreed.
We walked through the pack.
I deliberately took him away from the main areas.
There was a reason I chose that path.
The waterfall.
It was one of the most sacred places in our territory.
Most outsiders never saw it.
Even many pack members rarely visited.
The waterfall represented peace.
Renewal.
Balance.
The water flowed continuously, regardless of what happened around it.
The green surrounding it represented life.
It was where many of our people went when they needed to think.
When they needed peace.
I wanted Sebastian to have peace.
I wanted his mind to relax before I told him the truth.
When we reached the waterfall, he stopped.
“It’s beautiful.”
I watched his face.
“It is.”
For a few minutes, neither of us spoke.
And for those few minutes, I forgot everything.
The fear.
The bond.
The possibility of rejection.
I simply watched him enjoy the place.
Then we returned to my office.
And my courage disappeared.
I had faced armies without hesitation.
I had walked into battles knowing I might die.
But telling one human man that he was my mate terrified me more than any war.
My hands were cold.
My heart was pounding.
My wolf was screaming.
Tell him.
“I will.”
Now.
“I know.”
I looked at Sebastian.
He was waiting.
I took a breath.
“Do you understand what a mate is?”
He told me Father Archie had explained it.
That gave me the opening.
So I told him.
I explained the bond.
The Moon Goddess.
The connection.
The sacred nature of it.
Then I finally said the words.
“You are my mate.”
Silence.
I watched his face.
Shock.
Confusion.
Fear.
Everything except happiness.
My heart cracked.
“I’ve waited eleven years for you,” I whispered.
“I don’t expect you to change your life for me.”
“I don’t expect you to choose anything right now.”
“I just needed you to know.”
Sebastian didn’t answer.
He simply reached for the papers.
“Can I leave?”
I wanted to stop him.
Every instinct inside me screamed to grab his hand.
To pull him back.
To tell him not to leave.
But I didn’t.
I couldn’t.
So I nodded.
“Yes.”
He stood.
He walked away.
And I sat there.
Frozen.
The door closed.
My wolf collapsed.
No.
I closed my eyes.
No. No. No.
“Please.”
My wolf began wailing.
I had never heard him sound like that.
He wasn’t angry.
He wasn’t aggressive.
He was broken.
Mate.
“I know.”
He left.
“I know.”
He left us.
My chest tightened.
I could barely breathe.
Then Sebastian’s car crossed the border.
The moment it did, something inside me snapped.
My wolf howled.
Loudly.
Painfully.
I doubled over.
My hand went to my chest.
“No.”
He’s rejecting us.
“Stop.”
He’s rejecting us.
“He didn’t say that.”
He left.
“He needed time.”
He’s rejecting us.
My wolf paced wildly.
I told you.
“Stop.”
I told you we should take him.
“No.”
We should have brought him here.
“Enough.”
He is ours.
“I said enough!”
But my wolf wouldn’t stop.
He is rejecting us.
Rejecting us.
Rejecting us.
The words echoed inside my head.
And then I heard footsteps.
My mother entered first.
Aiden followed.
They both stopped when they saw me.
My mother immediately came toward me.
“Kai?”
I couldn’t answer.
She grabbed my shoulders.
“What happened?”
I looked at her.
My vision was blurred.
“I told him.”
Her expression changed.
“You told Sebastian?”
I nodded.
“He left.”
Aiden stepped forward.
“Did he reject you?”
“I don’t know.”
My voice cracked.
“But he left.”
My wolf snarled.
Rejection.
I looked down.
One of my eyes had turned yellow.
The other remained brown.
My mother saw it.
“Kai…”
“He’s rejecting us.”
My voice became almost childlike.
“He is rejecting us.”
“Kai, calm down.”
“He is rejecting us.”
Aiden moved closer.
“Listen to me.”
I shook my head.
“He left.”
My wolf howled again.
The entire room seemed to tremble with the force of it.
My mother pulled me into her arms.
“Son.”
I didn’t fight her.
I couldn’t.
Aiden’s voice was gentle.
“Kai, you’re frightening the pack.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Your emotions.”
He gestured toward the window.
“Everyone can feel them.”
I knew.
The Alpha bond.
The pack connection.
My emotions were spreading through the territory.
Fear.
Panic.
Pain.
My people were feeling it.
And they were afraid.
Not of Sebastian.
Of me.
I closed my eyes.
I took several deep breaths.
Slowly, I pushed the fear away.
I couldn’t let my pack suffer because I couldn’t control myself.
I forced my wolf down.
I forced the bond’s overwhelming emotions into something I could manage.
The yellow in my eye slowly faded.
But the pain remained.
Then my knees gave out.
My mother caught me.
I fell against her.
And for the first time in years…
I cried.
I hadn’t cried since I was a child.
Not when I was injured.
Not when I lost battles.
Not when people died.
Not even when I became Alpha.
But this…
This broke me.
I lay with my head against my mother’s lap.
“Mom.”
Her fingers moved gently through my hair.
“He’s gone.”
“He’s only gone back to the parish.”
“But he’s leaving me.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
My voice broke.
“I waited for him.”
My mother started crying too.
“I waited eleven years.”
I grabbed her hand.
“Eleven years, Mom.”
“I know.”
“I waited for him for eleven years.”
My wolf whimpered inside me.
Mate.
“I finally found him.”
My tears fell faster.
“And he’s leaving.”
My mother hugged me.
“Kai…”
“I don’t think I can survive this.”
Her face crumpled.
“Don’t say that.”
“I’m scared.”
The words felt foreign coming from me.
“I’m scared, Mom.”
She held me tighter.
“You will survive.”
“How?”
“Because you’re my son.”
I shook my head.
“He was supposed to be the person who stayed.”
My voice became barely audible.
“He was supposed to be the person I spent my life with.”
My wolf gave another mournful howl.
I closed my eyes.
“I don’t want another mate.”
My mother stroked my hair.
“You may not need another.”
I looked at her.
“Then why does it hurt this much?”
She had no answer.
Neither did I.
Aiden sat beside us.
“Kai.”
I looked at him.
“He didn’t actually say he rejected you.”
I swallowed.
“No.”
“Then don’t decide his answer for him.”
I looked away.
“But he left.”
“He was shocked.”
“He knows now.”
“Knowing isn’t the same as understanding.”
I remained silent.
Aiden continued.
“Give him time.”
I laughed bitterly.
“How much time?”
My mother answered softly.
“As much as he needs.”
I closed my eyes.
“I’ve already given him eleven years.”
“I know.”
“And I would give him another eleven if I knew he’d eventually come back.”
My mother kissed my forehead.
“Then wait.”
I took a shaky breath.
Because that was the hardest thing I had ever been asked to do.
Wait.
I had waited eleven years to find my mate.
Now I had found him.
And somehow…
I had to wait again.
Only this time, I wasn’t waiting to find him.
I was waiting to find out whether he would choose me.
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