The Professor’s Rejected Mute Mate

Ayla “I, Damien Vane of Silverstone Pack, reject you, Ayla Rashborne, as my mate.” The words sliced through the ceremonial hall like a blade. My whiteboard slipped from my trembling fingers and crashed to the marble floor, the sound echoing loudly. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. I just stood there in my white bonding dress now feeling like a shroud, watching my entire future crumble to dust. Damien stood across from me in his black suit, his gray eyes cold. So cold. The boy I had known since childhood, the one I had been promised to since we were ten, looked at me like I was something disgusting. Around us, more than two hundred people watched, whispering behind their hands. I could feel their eyes on me. Some pitied, some looked satisfied, like they had been waiting for this. I wanted to scream. To demand why he was doing this after ten years of promises. But I couldn't. I hadn't spoken a single word in twenty years. Mute. Broken. Defective. “Damien, what the hell is this?” My father's voice broke through the hall, his face twisted in shock and anger. “You agreed to this union. Your father gave his word.” “My father made a mistake.” Damien's voice was steady, emotionless. “Look at her, Alpha Marcus. Twenty years old, and she still can't speak. Can't shift. What kind of Luna would she make? What kind of legacy would we build?” Each word was a knife between my ribs. I bent down to grab my whiteboard, but my vision blurred with tears, and I refused to let it fall. Not here. Elder Whitlock stepped forward, the red bonding cord still in his wrinkled hands. “Damien, this is highly irregular…" “There is no mate bond,” Damien cut him off. “How can there be when she's not even a real wolf? Twenty years and she's never shifted once. The other Alphas laugh at us for even considering someone like her.” I finally grabbed my whiteboard and wrote with shaking hands, “Coward.” Damien glanced at the board and laughed. “A coward? I'm being practical. My pack needs a strong Luna. Someone who can actually communicate without a damn whiteboard. You're a charity case, Ayla. You have always been.” The hall erupted in gasps. My father growled, making nearby wolves step back. “You will regret this,” my father said quietly. “Mark my words.” “The only thing I would regret is wasting my life on damaged goods.” Damien turned his back on us, that was the ultimate disrespect. “Veronica Blackwood has already agreed to be my Luna, her father's connections would actually benefit the pack. Unlike this burden.” Veronica Blackwood, beautiful and powerful with her red hair and commanding voice. Of course he would prefer her. She had made it her mission to remind me of my inadequacies since childhood. Now she can have everything I was promised. My father's arm wrapped around my shoulders. “Come on, sweetheart. We're leaving.” But I couldn't move. Ten years of preparing for this day, destroyed in five minutes. “Ayla. Let's go home.” I forced my feet to move. The crowd parted, wolves looking away like my shame was contagious. We were almost out when a sweet, poisonous voice called, “Oh Ayla, wait!” Veronica stood by the refreshment table in a red dress, champagne in hand. Everything about her screamed confidence and power, all the things I never have. “I think you're being so brave,” she said with fake sympathy. “It must be devastating. But it's probably for the best. Damien needs someone who can actually fulfill Luna duties.” She tilted her head. “I'm sure you'll find your place. Maybe in the kitchens? At least then you'd be useful.” Twenty years of silence, of abuse, of being told I wasn't enough, all boiled up in white-hot rage. I erased my board and wrote, “Second choice.” Veronica's smile faltered. Good. I kept writing, “You waited for my scraps.” “Why, you little…” Her face flushed red. “At least I can speak! At least I'm a real wolf! You're nothing but a defective freak Damien kept around out of pity!” “ENOUGH!” My father's command froze every wolf. “Veronica Blackwood, step back before I forget you're the elder's daughter.” Veronica's father appeared, looking mortified. “Apologize. Now.” Her jaw clenched. “My apologies, Alpha Marcus.” We finally made it outside. I kept my eyes down as we walked to my father's truck. “Don't cry. Don't let them see you break.” I whispered to myself. I made it seventeen steps before my knees buckled. My father caught me as silent tears finally fell. My shoulders shook with voiceless sobs. “I've got you,” he murmured. “Let it out.” I cried for everything I had lost, for the mate who had thrown me away, and for twenty years of never being enough. I cried until I was empty and numb. When the tears stopped, my father helped me into the truck. He gripped the steering wheel tightly and faced me. “I should have seen this coming,” he said quietly. “I'm sorry, Ayla. I thought having a mate might help you. Instead, I set you up for heartbreak.” I grabbed my whiteboard. “Not your fault. He's an asshole.” That pulled a bitter laugh from him. He sat there another moment, then turned to me again with an expression I couldn't read. “Ayla, I've been looking into options for you. Places where you might find yourself.” I tilted my head to face him. “There's an academy. Howlston Academy, on the West Coast. One of the most prestigious supernatural schools in the country. They specialize in late bloomers, unusual cases, and I think you should go.” My heart skipped. Howlston? Legendary. I've heard about the Academy, a place where being different wasn't a death sentence. But the tuition was huge. “We can't afford that now.” I wrote boldly on my whiteboard. “I sold the downtown property last month,” he said. “The one your grandmother left me. I've been saving, waiting for the right opportunity.” His eyes met mine. “I think this is it. Your chance to start over. To find where you really belong.” That property had been in our family for three generations. It was meant to be his retirement property. And he sold it for me? “Why?” I wrote with shaking hands. “Because you're my daughter,” he said simply. “From the moment I found you abandoned at the border, I knew you were meant to be mine. I don't know who your biological parents were or why they left you, but I know you are special, Ayla. And I'll make sure you have every chance to figure out why.” Tears came again, different this time. Warmer. I threw my arms around him. “You could never disappoint me,” he murmured. “You're one of the best things that ever happened to me.” When we pulled back, he asked, “So what do you say? Want to give Howlston a shot?” “When do we leave?” I wrote quickly. His smile was proud and sad. “Tomorrow morning. The headmaster's expecting you.” He started the engine. “Let's go pack. You've got a new life waiting.” As we drove away, I looked back at Silverstone territory. The ceremonial hall. The training grounds. Twenty years of memories, good and bad. Goodbye, I thought. I didn't know what waited in Howlston. If everything will get worse, I'll find my voice or luckily discover my purpose. But for the first time, I had something I had never had before. A choice. Twenty-four hours later, I stood before Howlston Academy's massive iron gates, suitcase at my feet, whiteboard clutched to my chest. The building was enormous with stained glass and Gothic architecture, like a dark fairy tale. Students moved across the grounds, laughing, confident, everything I wasn't. My father squeezed my shoulder. “You've got this. You can come home anytime.” “I love you, Dad.” I wrote as I forced a smile. “I love you too.” He kissed my forehead. “Now go show them what you're made of.” I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and walked through those gates into my new life.