The Rejected Luna's Second Chance

Chapter Four: The Sickness

Kaelan

Three days after the rejection, Kaelan coughed blood into his fist and knew he was dying.

He stared at the red streaking his palm, detached and almost curious. This was what a severed mate bond felt like. Not a clean break, but a slow, septic poisoning. His wolf was dying. His body was dying. And somewhere in the pack hospital, his rejected mate was dying too.

"Alpha." Silas stood in the doorway of Kaelan's private quarters, his face set in hard lines. "You need to see a healer."

"I need nothing." Kaelan wiped his hand on his black trousers and turned back to the window. The sun was setting over the pack lands, painting the sky in shades of orange and purple. Beautiful. Pointless. "How is she?"

Silas didn't pretend to misunderstand. "Elara Vance is stable but weak. She's refused to see you. She's also refused to go through with the marriage contract. Her cousin is threatening legal action."

"Let him."

"Kaelan." Silas stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. "You rejected your fated mate in public without a single conversation. Without checking the photos. Without asking her name. You called her—" He stopped, jaw clenching.

"I know what I called her." Kaelan's voice was flat. Empty.

"Do you? Because you haven't asked me once about the photos. You haven't asked me to investigate. You just accepted them as truth and destroyed a woman you were sworn to protect."

Kaelan turned. His Beta was angry—truly angry, not the professional frustration he usually wore. Silas had been his friend since they were pups. He didn't lie to him.

"Fine," Kaelan said. "Investigate. Find the source. Prove that I was right or prove that I was wrong. I don't care anymore."

"Yes, you do." Silas pulled out his phone. "That's why you're coughing blood. That's why you haven't slept. That's why your wolf hasn't spoken to you in three days." He walked to the door, then paused. "I'll find the truth, Kaelan. But when I do, I hope you're ready to live with it."

The door closed.

Kaelan stood alone in the growing dark, his chest burning, his wolf silent, and for the first time in his life, he felt something that wasn't rage.

It was fear.