CHASED BY MY REJECTED MATE

CHAPTER NINE

KATHRINE

I sighed, long and deep, and looked away from Tyler. My heart felt heavy like I was carrying a thousand invisible stones inside me. Everything he was saying… everything he was trying to do now… it was too late.

If only he had found me the moment I left his home, I might have considered him. But he was too late. I had already given Julian my word that I was going to get married to him.

And it didn’t seem right to back away because Julian was the one who cared for Rex and me all these years.

“You had your chance, Tyler,” I said quietly, but my voice still shook with emotion. “You had your chance, and you decided to throw it away. You didn’t even give me a chance to explain. You just… pushed me out of your life.”

I looked him in the eyes, and even though he looked hurt, I continued. He needed to hear the truth.

“You hurt me so much,” I whispered. “You didn’t just hurt me, Tyler. You broke me.”

His brows pulled together, and his lips parted slightly like he wanted to say something, but I held up my hand to stop him.

“Do you have any idea what it was like for me after you chased me away?” I asked, my voice rising slightly. “I had nowhere to go. I had no one. I moved to this pack with nothing but the clothes on my body and a baby growing inside me. I was scared. I was alone. And I was hungry most nights.”

He closed his eyes as if he was in pain. But I wasn’t finished yet.

“I had to struggle to get a job, a place to sleep, something to eat. And all the while, I was carrying your child.”

Tyler’s jaw clenched, but still, he said nothing.

“Then I met Julian,” I went on, my voice softer now. “He helped me. He gave me a place to stay, treated me with kindness… helped me raise Rex like he was his own. He didn’t judge me. He didn’t abandon me. He didn’t push me away when I needed him most.”

I paused and looked at Tyler again.

“So you see… as much as you want to come back now, what’s to say you won’t push me away again the next time someone says something bad about me?”

His eyes widened. “Kat, I wouldn’t—”

“Yes, you would,” I cut him off. “Because you already did.”

Tyler finally opened his mouth to speak, and his voice cracked a little. “It was a mistake,” he said slowly. “I didn’t mean to chase you away like that. I was angry… confused. I didn’t even give myself time to think. I just snapped.”

I stared at him, biting down on the inside of my cheek to stop myself from crying.

“I thought…” Tyler continued, looking down at his feet. “I thought you’d still be in the house when I came back. I thought I’d cool off, come home, and talk to you. But you were gone. You were just… gone.”

He looked up at me again. “And it broke me too, Kat. You think you were the only one who suffered? I suffered too. I looked for you for years. I didn’t stop searching. I didn’t rest.”

I felt a lump form in my throat. I wanted to believe him. And deep down, I did.

But there was still something inside me, something scared and tired and broken that held me back.

“I believe someone framed me, Tyler,” I said after a moment of silence. “I’ve thought about it over and over again, and I just know it. Someone didn’t want us to be together. Someone wanted to tear us apart. And if I go back to you… what if they try again? What if next time, they succeed in destroying everything for good? I can’t take that risk. My heart won’t be able to take it one more time. ”

Tyler stepped forward, his eyes filled with so much desperation it made my chest ache. “Then we fight together,” he said. “We don’t let them win.”

I shook my head, slowly.

“No,” I whispered. “We should finish what you started.”

He looked confused. “What do you mean?”

“I mean the rejection,” I said, forcing the words out even though they tasted bitter in my mouth. “Let’s complete it. End the mate bond. Let me go.”

Tyler’s eyes widened like I’d just slapped him. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “I won’t reject you.”

“If you truly love me like you say you do,” I said gently, “Then you should let me go.”

He walked closer, placing his hand over his chest as if to stop the pain that was clearly still there. “It’s because I love you so much that I won’t,” he said. “I can’t let you go, Kat. I know I messed up, but no other man will ever love you like I do. No one will ever treat you the way I will.”

I stared at him, stunned by the fire in his voice. It wasn’t arrogance… It was love. Real love. But I had already given Julian my word.

Julian cleared his throat behind us, and I turned to see him looking serious. “As much as I’d love to see how this little conversation ends,” he said, “Rex is still in school, and we don’t know what happened. We need to go. Now.”

I nodded slowly, wiping my face with my palm. Tyler nodded too, though I could still see the pain in his eyes.

No more words were spoken after that. The tension in the air was thick, and my heart was racing as we left the hotel and got into Julian’s car.

The drive to Rex’s school was quiet, and all I could think about was my son. My little boy.

Something had happened. Something bad. I could feel it in my bones.

And when we finally got to the school and I saw Rex… I was shocked beyond measure when I saw the state he was in.