The Rejected Plump Mate, Now Wanted

6: Publicly

Aurora

I don't know how I made it to the kitchen, but I did. The kitchen stretched out empty. The dishes were all carried out. The omegas were nowhere in view. Even Mia wasn't in sight. The silence felt unnatural, pressing in on me from all sides… except for the chaos inside my chest.

It kept beating and thumping loudly in my ears. No… this wasn’t just fear of rejection. It was something far deeper. Something overwhelming. It stole my breath, scattered my thoughts, made it impossible to even feel like myself.

All I could see was him.

The way his scent had wrapped around me, thick and consuming. The way time itself had seemed to pause when my fingers brushed against him, his body hard, sculpted like something out of ancient legend, like one of the Greek gods themselves.

The way he breathed. The way his eyes had stared, only for a fraction, and then it was simply replaced with…

No… I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t keep thinking about this. I was only making it worse. He despises my body or, say, isn't happy with this bond. He was going to reject me. To make me suffer the pain just like his brother had done.

And he was only taking his time. Maybe because he saw the way my body trembled slightly when he had wanted to speak.

Then there the other was. Liam.

The man who had shattered and made me this vulnerable piece. The way he stared at me even after everything he had done to me. Even after the rejection. Even after making me stand and watch him screw Anna.

My jaw tightened. My breath caught in my throat as something else flooded me. No… it wasn't rage, it was disgust or irritation.

It was something else. Something intense, far too intense to even imagine. It made my muscles tighten in a stiff, rigid way.

That was when the door snapped open, but I was too engrossed in my own feelings and wrath to even notice when it opened and the presence that stepped in, until that familiar sweet voice sounded in my ears.

“Breathe, dear.”

I felt her arms wrapped around my shoulders, gentle and warm, grounding me. That simple touch sent a wave of calm through me, fragile but real.

And just like that, I broke. I turned and dropped onto her chest, finally understanding, no, admitting my need for comfort, support and my need for a chest and shoulders to lean on.

I didn’t even notice when the tears began. They slipped silently down my face, soaking into her clothes as she held me steady, like the only solid thing left in my world.

This wasn’t just about the bond. Or the rejection. Or even the entire event.

It was everything.

It was intense. The story of my life, the cruel moments, every wound, every memory I had buried. My entire life and its turns since I was a child, crashed down on me all at once, suffocating and heavy, until a broken sob tore free from my lips.

Mia sighted softly.

But she didn't say a word. She just kept tapping on the small of my back, soothing and gentle, showing off the strength I thought I needed, at least that was what I told myself until something wet, like a droplet, grazed the nape of my neck, dripping down my shoulders.

Tears. Mia was in tears. She was sharing in my emotions. Not only the strength she was showing me, she was also sharing my pain. She was as broken as I was.

It made my own tears heighten, and it dropped as a small rumble tore through my chest. I couldn't hold it in anymore, only just realizing my need to pour it all out.

If tears could undo the past…

If they could take away the cruelty, give me a different life, a life where I wasn’t judged for this body, where I was loved as a daughter instead of treated like something disposable, where I wasn’t a rejected mate cast aside again and again…

Then maybe… just maybe… I would have known happiness.

The embrace and the emotions lingered longer than I could have counted, until Mia broke slightly, holding onto my gaze. Her eyes were red and glassy, filled with unspoken promises, amongst which were emotions, deep-rooted emotions and concerns, such as I had never had nor experienced all my life of existence.

“You know…” she began, her voice trembling despite her effort to steady it. She sniffed softly, holding back another wave of tears.

“You need to be strong, dear.”

She inhaled shakily before continuing, forcing each word out.

“There’s always a way out of every situation… and yours won’t be any different.”

I shook my head.

Mia had been nothing but an elderly figure to me ever since I stepped foot into this packhouse. She had carried and shared every bit of me like it was hers, like I was her blood, even though I wasn't one with her. Even though I was the lowest of the omegas, constantly humiliated and cast away, treated poorly and even ridiculed in the most inhumane manner. But she stood, always standing, always ready to share comfort and soothe. And somehow it filled me afresh. That part of my heart that still felt broken, mending a little.

But you know there's a limit to what she can do for me. She was also an omega, even though among the high-ranking ones. And she was quite older than I was in age, but still she did understand.

But this… was different. She doesn't know the full details. She's unaware of the main reason for my brokenness, and my lips are tightly sealed that I can't even share.

I can't even let the words out. Not because of fear of what Liam would do, of course that was also part of it, but also the fact that I'm mated to his ruthless, cold brother as a second-chance mate, barely a week after his cold rejection and brutal torrent of humiliation.

I looked at Mia and breathed… really breathed to steady myself as her lips twitched to the side. A small groan tore through her, but it was quickly silenced when the door to the kitchen burst open and one of the guards stepped in with a face carved of stone. His jaw tightened as his eyes met us, and then dropped to Mia.

“Everyone, including the omegas, is to assemble in the grand hall at the Alpha's command. You aren't supposed to be in here.” His gaze softened slightly, and I bet I caught that sight before it was replaced with the earlier smugness when it drifted to me.

“Sure…” Mia snapped, like she had just remembered something or was just being knocked on the head.

“I came to get something from the kitchen,” she said, and turned to the kitchen drawer to retrieve a pack of spoons and folks, which she carried, and I followed after her, not even meeting the guard's gaze.

I know he stood staring long after we had turned, but I soon heard his steps falling into place as he followed behind.

As Mia and I moved towards the grand hall, my heart seemed to beat heavily in my chest and my breath seemed to catch in my throat. I wanted to turn back to my room or just go to the backyard, to buy away time until I'm certain I could breathe again without the stares of the two brothers I knew wouldn't leave me the moment I stepped in.

But that was too much of a wish to be granted. Though the saying goes, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

As soon as my feet stepped into the hall, it felt like the weight of the world was on me. It felt like I could just disappear without notice, because with the loud cheers in the hall and the burst of activity, my breath still hitched when the sound of the microphone roared in the air.

As if on cue, my heart slammed into my chest when my eyes met his cold, domineering, ruthless stare.

They hardened with irritation, and then a certain feeling I couldn't yet name, but it was there, boldly written in capital letters on his face.

His jaw tightened, teeth grinding as the sound echoed faintly through the microphone in his hand.

My body trembled under the force of his stare. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to stand still, to look composed—even though I was anything but.

And then it hit me hard.

He was going to publicly reject and ridicule me even further.

This time… In front of everyone.

That realization alone betrayed me even more, because I wasn’t sure I would survive it.