Rejected Mate

Chapter Eight: Return to Ashes

The stolen medical crates sat unopened, stacked neatly in the center of camp.

Selene stood before them, arms folded, but her mind wasn’t on the supplies.

> “Bloodmoon,” Nyra said behind her, her tone sharp. “They’re weak. Rumors say Kael’s thinning patrols along the northern ridge. Perfect opening.”

Selene didn’t answer.

Her gaze drifted toward the mountains in the distance—faint outlines against a storm-lit sky. That was where it had all begun. Her home. Her disgrace. The place where she’d been marked and rejected in front of everyone she once called family.

> “It’s just a mission,” Lira added. “In. Out. Get the scrolls. No one will even know.”

Selene’s jaw clenched.

She’d fought to forget that night. The sting in her chest hadn’t dulled—it had only been buried under scars.

But now fate was pushing her back to the very wolves who once watched her be broken.

> “I’ll go,” she said, voice low. “But if Kael sees me—he won’t recognize the girl he threw away.”

As the warriors prepared to move, Selene stepped into her tent. Alone, she whispered to her wolf.

> “Let them see what exile forged. Let them taste the storm they created.”