My Unfated Mate

“I reject you as my mate.” The declaration struck the clearing like a physical blow. Elen Stormryder stood perfectly still as pain tore through her chest, her fingers curling slowly at her sides while the eyes of everyone around her settled on her. For a few seconds, she could hear nothing except the furious pounding of her own heart. Stanley stood directly before her, his expression cold and resolute. Behind him, three young werewolves exchanged amused glances. They were waiting for her to cry. Elen could see it in their faces. They expected the rejection to break her, perhaps because they had already decided what she was before she had even spoken a word. Weak. Wolfless. Unworthy. They were going to be disappointed. Less than a day had passed since Elen had returned to Aetheria after eighteen years in the human world, and already the supernatural world had managed to remind her why her parents had once feared it. She had not even been supposed to meet Stanley tonight. Her uncle, Greg, had brought her to the Storm Pack earlier that day, and after spending most of the evening introducing her to people he had not seen in years, he had told her to remain close. Elen had tried. She really had. For approximately twenty minutes. Then curiosity had won. She had wandered away from the packhouse and found herself standing beneath the moonlight in a clearing surrounded by tall trees. Music and conversation drifted through the night from the celebration behind her, but Elen had barely been paying attention. Aetheria had been everything she expected and nothing like she imagined. She had been a baby when she left. She should not have remembered this place, yet standing beneath the moonlight, she had felt something stir inside her. Then she had seen Stanley. The moment their eyes met, warmth had exploded through her chest. A strange invisible pull had seized her, drawing her attention toward him with such intensity that she had forgotten how to breathe. Her heart had begun racing, and beneath the overwhelming sensation, something else had stirred. Her wolf. For eighteen years, Elen had known that a wolf existed somewhere inside her. She had simply never been able to reach her. Her mother’s magic had sealed away Elen’s supernatural abilities before she had been old enough to understand what she was, and Greg had spent her childhood teaching her about the world she had been born into while carefully preparing her for the day that seal would break. Now, for the first time, she could feel her wolf pressing against the barrier. She had never imagined that awakening would happen because of a man. Stanley had approached her with three friends behind him. He had been handsome enough to make her momentarily forget every lesson Greg had ever taught her about keeping her guard up. Tall, dark haired, athletic, and confident. Annoyingly confident. “Hey,” he had said. Elen had stared. He had waited. She had continued staring. “Hi?” She had finally blinked, realizing that she had been standing there like an i***t. Stanley had studied her curiously. “What is your name? You seem new around here. I have never seen you before.” Before Elen could answer, one of his friends laughed. “Maybe she is shy.” “Or maybe she does not know how to speak,” another added. The third looked her over. “I wonder where she is from.” Elen had heard every word, but the sensation inside her chest had made it difficult to focus on anything else. Then Stanley’s expression changed. He stepped closer and inhaled. Elen knew what he was doing. He was searching for her wolf. She waited. His brow furrowed. “Where is your wolf?” Elen said nothing. Stanley inhaled again, his confusion deepening. “I cannot sense her.” One of his friends stepped closer. “What do you mean?” “She is supposed to be my mate, but I cannot feel her wolf through the bond.” The three exchanged looks. Then one of them laughed. “She is probably wolfless.” The others laughed with him. Elen clenched her jaw. She was not wolfless. Her wolf was awake. She could feel her. The problem was that none of them could feel her because they could not sense the power itself. Her mother’s spell had not merely prevented Elen from accessing her abilities. It had concealed those abilities from the supernatural world entirely. Stanley did not know that. All he saw was a girl whose wolf seemed nonexistent. His expression slowly hardened. “A wolfless,” he said. Someone behind him chuckled. “And she is your mate?” “That is ridiculous,” Another laughed. Elen looked around the clearing. Nobody seemed concerned that Stanley was insulting the woman the Moon Goddess had supposedly chosen for him. Instead, they seemed entertained by it. That was when she understood. This was not merely some arrogant young wolf. This was Stanley, the Alpha’s son. Greg had told her enough about the Storm Pack for her to understand what that meant. Stanley’s future mate would become Luna, and judging by the expressions surrounding her, plenty of young women would have considered that position a privilege. Stanley clearly believed Elen should feel the same. He looked at her. “I do not want a weak mate.” His words hurt. She would not give him the satisfaction of seeing it. “I reject you as my mate.” The pain came immediately. Elen’s breath caught as the bond reacted, a sharp ache spreading through her chest. Her wolf snarled in outrage, but Elen kept her expression controlled. Stanley had rejected her. Yet the bond remained. A rejection was not enough to destroy a mating bond. There were specific rituals that had to be carriedout before it could truly disappear. Stanley and his friends apparently knew that. They were waiting for her to beg. Instead, Elen slowly raised her chin. There was something almost amusing about the expectation on their faces. She smiled. “Okay.” Stanley blinked. The clearing became strangely quiet. Elen held his gaze. Then she said, “Then I reject you too.” The reaction was immediate. Stanley’s face went blank. His three friends stared at her. Nobody laughed. Nobody spoke. At the edge of the clearing, concealed by the darkness between the trees, a pair of dark eyes watched everything in silence. Drew had not intended to stay. He had only come to the edge of the Storm Pack gathering because he had business nearby, and curiosity had kept him there longer than expected. He had seen Stanley approach the unfamiliar girl and had assumed it would be another predictable mating celebration. Then Stanley had rejected her. Drew’s attention had sharpened. Most rejected wolves reacted the same way. They cried, pleaded, became angry, or humiliated themselves trying to convince their mates to take them back. Social standing mattered greatly in Aetheria, and Stanley was exactly the sort of man who benefited from it. Yet the girl standing before him did not seem impressed. She looked hurt, but she was hiding it well. Interesting. Drew leaned against the trunk behind him, his arms folded across his chest as he watched her. He had spent years surrounding himself with people who did not fit into Aetheria’s hierarchy. Rogues, outcasts, misfits, and people who had been discarded because they refused to bow to those with greater titles and political influence. He had never cared much for the system that decided a person deserved respect simply because of his bloodline. What interested him was resilience. He wanted people who could stand after being knocked down. The girl in the clearing had just been publicly rejected by the Alpha’s son, and instead of begging, she had smiled. Drew’s mouth curved slightly. Maybe she was not as ordinary as she looked.