Chapter 12: accepting rejection
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It was a close call.
My heart is still heaving like I’m almost dying. I type back to Jake, pressing my back against the door. “What deadly mission?”
“Something random,” his reply comes in immediately. “Any update about the treaty? Hades is on my neck.”
“Nothing yet,” I type back. “Alpha Alaric isn’t signing the treaty because he wants something valuable in return. I think it’s going to take a while.”
Jake sends an ‘okay’ sticker.
I toss my phone on the bed and start peeling out of Alpha Tyler’s clothes. Heading to the bathroom to wash up, I spend nearly an hour standing there because of the numerous thoughts pushing through my head. I want blood. It’s been a while since I last killed someone.
Or watched someone writhe in pain.
It’s like a burning hunger deep inside me.
‘Let’s teach Alaric a lesson,’ Kiera tells me. ‘He deserves to bleed for what he did earlier.’
“No,” I say with a sigh. “He’s part of Hades’ plan. He needs to sign that treaty. If we kill him…”
‘I know,’ she says eventually. ‘But if we can’t kill someone, then I want to go for a run. I’m restless.’
I roll my eyes. “Not today.”
‘Seriously?’ She groans. ‘Aren’t you out for some blood? You can easily find a rogue to kill during the run.’
She sort of has a point. Grabbing some loose pants Alpha Tyler got for me, I wear them and make a run for the stairs, slipping out of the pack house. I feel my bones start to break the second the night air settles against my skin.
I shift and run into the woods, feeling the adrenaline rush through my veins.
Just like Kiera had said, I see a rogue staring at me like he’s been waiting there for me all along. My assassin instinct slams into me and I pounce on him, desperate to smell some flesh.
It fights back, bruising me with its claws.
But I heal almost immediately.
And that’s when I see a mark too familiar to ignore.
My mark.
The one on my neck.
My only birthmark.
I lean closer, running my paws over it. I try to speak in the rogue’s head. “How do you have this same exact mark?”
Even if my entire family wasn’t wiped out, none of them possess this mark. I press harder, desperate for answers. “Where the hell did you get this mark?”
The rogue pushes me off him with a newfound strength and makes a run for the woods. Pissed, I try to go after him, but I hear a slight shuffle of the leaves.
I shift immediately, hiding behind a tree and masking my scent to keep unnecessary attention off me.
“I am your mate! You can’t bring me here and treat me like I don’t freaking matter!”
It’s Nicklaus and a pretty blonde woman. She looks like she’s about to cry as he pushes her further into the woods. “I don’t want a mate,” he grits out. “I’m not my brother. I’ve never been interested in finding my fated mate. Accept my rejection, Gwen.”
“No.”
“Fine,” he growls. “You leave me with no choice.” His hands shoot out as he grabs her neck, and I gasp, unable to hide my surprise.
Nicklaus pauses.
I think he heard me because his neck snaps in my direction.
Covering my chest and lower body with my hands, I step forward. “What sort of beast kills his mate simply because he doesn’t want her?”
A snarl appears on his face.
The so-called blonde runs to hide behind me. “I’m…I’m not the first,” she says shakily. “I must have been cursed by the Moon Goddess to be fated to someone who has been rejecting and killing his mates for decades.”
Kiera stirs uncomfortably.
She felt that.
“Does the Alpha know about this?” I ask her, and she shakes her head.
“This isn’t your business,” Nicklaus cuts in. “And this isn’t your pack anyway.”
“The Alpha is my mate, and you’re his brother. I think this concerns me more than it should.” I feel a bit bad for the blonde, but I also feel disgusted. “Why push yourself on someone who doesn’t want you? Why can’t you just accept his rejection?”
“Accepting it is a worse pain than death.”
I nod. “The Alpha needs to hear this.”
Nicklaus isn’t staring at me—perhaps because I’m completely naked—but things like this are normal in packs since we shift consistently. “Stay out of my business and leave, Aurelia.”
“Or what?” My voice turns hard. “So you can kill her?”
“f**k it, I don’t want to kill her. Ask her to accept my f*****g rejection and I’ll leave.”
“Why do you keep rejecting your mates?!” she shouts.
“Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
She lets out a sigh, whimpering behind me as she says, “I, Gwenevieve Fisher of the Silverblood Pack, accept Nicklaus Blackwood’s rejection.”
She falls to her knees immediately.
I see Nicklaus clutching his chest like it’s being ripped out. He walks away like nothing is happening, but Gwen starts to cry and beg for the pain to stop. I help her up, leading her back to the pack. “How long will it take for you to be better?”
“I don’t know… months?” She sobs. “My wolf won’t even speak because she’s wounded badly.”
“Why do you think he’s been rejecting his mates?”
“I don’t know,” she wipes her tears with the sleeves of her shirt. “But what I do want to know is how he managed to hide this from the Alpha for more than a decade.”
I frown.
Seems like I’m not the only one hiding something. In the pack house, she thanks me and says something about heading to her apartment. Then she asks, “Are you really the Alpha’s mate?”
I nod slowly.
“You’re so lucky,” she tells me. “He’s been so eager to find his mate. I knew he was going to treat the lucky woman like a queen.”
I roll my eyes.
He’s been searching for his mate just to put a pup in her.
Why can’t they all see that?
Before I can say anything else, she drapes her shawl over me. “We’re werewolves, but sometimes you need to cover up,” she says with a light chuckle, though there’s still pain in her eyes. “Maybe tomorrow I can tell you some things about this pack since you’re new here?”
I smile. “That doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”
- Writer
