My Moonlit Declaration

Chapter 7: Rejection

Elara stood frozen in place, staring at the figure in the shadows. In the dim stone corridor stood the one person she least wanted to see right now, yet the one she could not possibly ignore—Kael Blackthorn.

He stood at the boundary between shadow and moonlight. His cold, sharp silhouette was split into light and darkness. His silver pupils gleamed faintly in the night, like a beast lying in wait.

Only, those eyes no longer held cold indifference. Instead, they were filled with turbulent emotion that he was forcibly suppressing.

Elara instinctively took a step back, but he still held her wrist in an iron grip, refusing to let go.

“Let go of me,” Elara said, her voice hoarse and raspy.

Instead of releasing her, he tightened his fingers. His gaze was so complicated that she dared not meet it directly.

“Do you really think I don’t want you?”

Elara’s heart clenched violently. His words were like a stone thrown heavily into the dead calm lake of her heart, stirring up countless ripples.

“Then why did you—” The rest of the question lodged in her throat. She didn’t know how to ask, or even where to begin.

Kael fell silent. Those few seconds felt suffocatingly long.

Then, he raised his other hand and pressed hard against his temple, his fingers digging in as if trying to suppress an emotion that was about to spiral out of control.

“Because you would die!” His voice was eerily calm. “I don’t want to watch you walk to your death!” The end of his sentence trembled with emotion he could no longer hide.

Elara looked at him in shock, momentarily unable to process his words.

“Do you know how many eyes are watching the Snow Moon Clan? Watching this position of Clan Leader?” His voice was low and heavy, like the dark undercurrent before a storm. “Do you know how many people are waiting for me to show even the slightest weakness?”

He looked straight into her eyes. “And you—” He paused, a deep pain flashing through the depths of his silver pupils. “You are my only weakness.”

His only weakness.

“The moment the Moon sent you to me, I had already lost.” His gaze remained locked on Elara’s face, as if he wanted to etch her image into the deepest part of his soul. “You are too weak… so weak that any assassination attempt against me could take your life in an instant.”

“Assassination?” The word sent a chill through Elara.

“If you stay by my side—” His voice suddenly dropped lower, his throat bobbing. “You will die.”

The air seemed to freeze at that moment. Elara could hear her own rapid heartbeat, pounding painfully against her eardrums.

So his rejection wasn’t born of disgust, but of fear. Fear that she would die because of him, killed by unseen shadows.

He slowly released her wrist. His fingertips slid across her skin—very slowly, as if caressing her, or perhaps saying goodbye.

“So I could only…” He lowered his eyes, staring at his slightly trembling hand. “Personally push you away.”

In that instant, the surging pain in Elara’s chest suddenly transformed into an indescribable bitterness, as if she had been struck hard.

He wasn’t indifferent after all! He had simply chosen the cruelest way possible to protect her.

“Do you have any idea what it means for me to publicly reject the Moon’s gift?” The corner of his lips curved into a faint, bitter smile—self-mocking, the kind that tore himself apart for others to see.

“The leader of the Snow Moon Clan has never defied the Moon’s blessing. Yet tonight, I personally tore that iron rule to pieces.” Kael closed his eyes. “From that moment on, I have placed myself in opposition to all the elders and all our people.”

Elara’s fingertips tightened sharply. “You… why did you…”

He interrupted her, “You only need to leave—leave me.”

The turbulent pain surging in Keal’s silver pupils was instantly suppressed, buried deep where she could not see.

“Forget tonight. Forget me!” His voice returned to its usual calmness, as steady as it had been at the sacred altar.

Elara clenched her fists tightly.

“Every ordinary Snow Moon clansman who has awakened their bloodline must return to the tribe for 24 hours within 7 days. But you must stay away from the central area—the farther, the better!”

Elara suddenly felt her heartbeat quicken, her breathing becoming difficult. “What if I refuse to leave?” she asked softly, then continued, “And why must I return to the tribe for 24 hours every seven days? What is the reason for that?”

“If you refuse to leave,” his gaze suddenly darkened, “then you will become their first target.” He spoke very lightly, yet every word struck like blood. A dangerous aura silently spread through the air. “I will never allow that to happen!”

“As for the Moon Oath, let the Holy Elder explain it to you slowly.” He let out a soft sigh and slowly took a step backward.

That step was light, but it felt as though someone had stomped heavily on Elara’s chest.

At the end of the stone corridor, the night wind stirred fine dust. They stood in the shadows where moonlight could not reach, separated by less than half a step, yet it felt like an entire abyss lay between them.

The mate resonance still burned like magma inside her body, urging, longing, struggling. Tonight should have been the night they followed the Moon’s guidance, sweetly uniting, lost in tender intimacy.

Instead, he had personally stripped away this bond inch by inch—

“Leave this place,” his voice became calm and resolute once again. “The sooner, the better!”

Elara looked at him, searching that cold, stern face for even the slightest trace of hesitation. In the end, all she could see was his tightly clenched jaw and those bottomless silver eyes.

She knew—if she continued to stay in the tribe, he would really sever that silver thread by force, even if it came at a terrible cost.

Elara slowly took a step back, then another… Moonlight poured in from outside the stone corridor, drawing a pale line of separation between them.

“You will regret this!” she heard herself say. Tears had begun to fall at some point, sliding down her cheeks to the corner of her lips—salty and bitter.

Keal’s pupils contracted slightly. Unconsciously, he pressed a hand to his own chest.

Elara turned around and walked into the night.

Without a single pause. The burning in her chest grew fiercer and more painful with every step!

She didn’t know if he was watching her from behind.

She didn’t know if he regretted it enough to reach out for her again.

She only knew—the road was beneath her feet, and she had to keep moving forward.

That silver thread of mutual bond still tightly wrapped around her heart.

Only at this moment did she truly understand—

It wasn’t just her who had been rejected. Their two fates had been torn apart together!!

Teacher Herman had been waiting at the entrance of the alley the whole time. He stood in the brightest patch of moonlight, the silvery-white light enveloping his entire figure.

He saw the tears on Elara’s face but asked nothing. He simply reached out, placed a hand on her back, and gently pushed her forward. “Let’s go.”

They walked through the entire tribe and then through a narrow canyon. At the end of the canyon lay a vast body of water.

“This is the Moon Spring,” Herman said, stopping at the edge of the spring.

“We can only leave when the sun rises at five o’clock tomorrow morning.” A trace of an expression Elara had never seen before flickered in Herman’s eyes—guilt? She couldn’t quite tell.

“From now on, every full moon, the intense burning pain caused by the mate resonance will strike, and it will become more and more painful—” His voice was very soft, almost drowned out by the sound of the spring water.

Elara froze.

“As long as Kael gets close to you, the nearer he is, the more painful you will feel. The burning in your chest will grow stronger!” Teacher Herman gently smoothed the frown between Elara’s brows. “That’s why, during every full moon, you must stay as far away from him as possible.”

Elara stood there, staring at the Moon Spring. The burning pain in her chest surged wave after wave, growing stronger each time. It felt as though her heart was desperately trying to break free and return to where it truly belonged.

But she couldn’t!!

“Try your best to hide in places where the moonlight cannot reach you. Even the faint reflected glow has the same effect.” Teacher Herman sat cross-legged in the brightest patch of moonlight. “I will cast a spell to gather all the moonlight within twenty meters around me. You find a spot where the moonlight cannot reach and hide there!!”

“Yes, Teacher.” The weak, hoarse voice that came out startled even Elara herself.

She gritted her teeth, using every ounce of strength to walk behind a massive boulder. She curled up deep in its shadow, pressing her back against the stone and hugging her knees tightly to her chest.