Chapter 2: Rejection
1751 Words
Chapter 2: Rejection
How the hell did it slip off so easily?
Even if someone slammed into me with everything they had, that mask shouldn't have just… fallen. So how?
My brain stumbles back to that sharp little sting when Ava bumped me earlier. No pain, just a nick. Did she do this on purpose?
I look up, and there’s that damn smile of hers. Wide, smug, and impossible to ignore. She planned this. From the start, she’s been playing me.
But before I can even think straight, the room goes dead quiet. Too quiet. That’s when it hits me… everyone’s staring. At me.
The burns crawling across my cheekbone and jaw, the sores crusted on my forehead, that jagged cut on my lip…
Every mark, a vivid reminder of a past I've tried to hard to bury deep within me.
And then…
Gasps.
A chorus of them ripple like a tidal wave through the crowd.
One guy flinches like I’m contagious. Another chokes back a laugh. I hear it all, crystal clear.
“So that's what she's been hiding” one murmurs.
“God, what happened to her?” Another whispers.
“Isn't she from the White Lotus Pack? She was the only member of the royal bloodline that survived the fire five years ago.”
Then it gets worse. Way worse.
“With a face like that, death might've been kinder.”
My chest tightens, like I’m holding myself together by sheer will..
All their whispers, mutters and groans echo a single, unifying detail…
…I’m a Monster!
“Elena?”
Jason’s voice cuts through the noise, sharp as a knife. I look up as he pushes through the crowd, moving toward me
His eyes widen, then flatten, then widen again. Is he disgusted, surprised or unsure of what to do next?
“Is this some sort of joke? He murmurs. “You told me you'd recovered.”
I try to look away, but every direction’s the same—stares and judgement.
“I… I didn't know what you'd think of me if you saw me like—”
“Did you plan this?” He asks. “Is that why you've been so damn jumpy?”
“Jumpy? I wasn't—”
“You wanted to humiliate me in front of the entire clan?”
“Humiliate you?” I try to take a step towards him. “Why would I—”
“Don't touch me!” He snaps, and I flinch back, stunned.
His eyes are hard now, full of something ugly. Disbelief, maybe hate.
“I… I didn't lie to you” I say. “I just didn't know what you'd think of me if you… saw me like this. I was scared. I was scared you'd act exactly like you are right now.”
My words hang there, useless, swallowed by the silence.
Then he speaks again. “I’m sorry.”
Hope flickers—until I see his face. He’s not talking to me. He’s facing the crowd. “Sorry for the scene. I’m as shocked as you are. I didn’t think she’d be…”
“She’d be what?” I take a step, but his glance stops me cold.”
“I didn't think she'd be nothing more than the mask she threw on.”
My heart plummets.
“To think someone as shallow as you thought she could ever stand by my side as a Luna…” he clenches his fists, and the final blow slips down his tongue.
“I, Alpha Jason Hale of the White Lotus, reject you as my mate.”
The words crash through me and my lungs collapse in an instant. Every muscle tenses, and my skin echoes in distress. It feels like my soul is being ripped from my flesh… the mate bond, torn in half.
My strength falters, and my knees buckle underneath me, but right before I can crash to the floor, I set my foot out, planting my figure to the ground.
In the midst of the deafening silence and piercing gazes, I remain standing.
“Your show of strength will take you nowhere” Ava whispers as she gets off stage, right before she reaches for me. “This is the point where—”
“Shut it” I growl, grabbing her by the wrist before she can touch me. I squeeze hard, meeting her eyes as I face the room. “You ungrateful little mice. Need I remind you the only reason you're an Alpha… is me?” The words escape my mouth and echo in Jason's direction.
I shove her back; she stumbles, but Jason catches her.
“You think I give a s**t about what a single one of you here think?” I tilt my head, and for the first time since the night began, my hands aren't quivering, my eyes aren't wandering, and my resolve is firmer than ever.
Tilting my bodyweight, I stand firm on both feet.
With a firm grip, I crush my mask into pieces, and it's bits fall to ground with soft thuds.
“Hilarious” I murmur.
“If I were you, I'd run off instead of worsening my—”
“I, Elena Thorne, accept your rejection.”
Jason's eyes widen, not just in shock, but in equal pain.
I watch him struggle to breathe, forcing himself to stay on his feet while acting like he doesn't feel a thing.
But i couldn't care less. I don't even wait for him to acknowledge my response.
“Seems I need to remind your ungrateful little asses,” I raise my fist, pointing to myself, “...you'd be dead without me! So you can go ahead and enjoy your time now. Drink and party as much as you want. But after all's said and done, I'll see you bastards in hell!”
Walking through the midst of nothing but complete and utter silence, I make it to the entrance, not looking back for a single second before bursting out into the night.
The cold whoosh of the southern wind hits my face, and my sores ache in pain, but I strengthen my resolve…
…until I'm far enough to let my tears down.
The warm cardigan of strength leaves my body, and my skin trembles in agony. I can't even morph, every part of me echoes in anguish.
Throwing one leg in front of the other, my muscles tense, and the pain shoots up my spine, forcing me to the ground.
I crumble to my knees, gasping for as much oxygen as my lungs will take.
“I knew it!” I whisper into the cold night. “I just knew I should've never come down here.”
My mind flashes to bits of memory. Fake laughs, stifled comments… all the looks of disgust, all the fake compliments. Every last one them… aimed in my direction.
“You really should've never come down here. For once, I agree with a Lenoran” a dark voice replies from the woods.
Heh?
I see movement, but my line of vision is too dim to catch it.
“Told you we'd run into her again” a different voice echoes, this time from my right.
“My, My. What a wonderful night” another responds with a playful, almost taunting voice.
“Rogues?” I mutter, trying to get my body to move, but I'm too weak to lift a finger.
“You didn't really think we'd let your run around scott free after what you did last time, did ya?” One finally becomes visible, walking out of the darkness to reveal his emotionless gaze. “You're the masked one, aren't you?”
No. Not Rogues. They're from the Clover Pack!
“No way we got annihilated by a woman too” the one to my right scoffs.
“Oh, she's the perfect being then” the blond with a playful voice smiles. “It's a shame she looks like ‘that’”
If I could, I'd wipe that stupid smug off his face. But I can't move a muscle. I can barely even breathe.
“Enough talking. Time to end this!”
The leader of the crew lunges. His claws come out. His teeth bare.
This is it.
I brace for pain.
And then…
A blur.
A black flash tears him away from me like he’s made of paper.
“What the—”
“Someone's here. In the darkness!”
“Huh?” I try to glance in the direction of the sudden surge, but before I can manage a slight move, another scream echoes from the darkness.
“Johnny! What the hell is going on?”
The rogue that scoffed just a couple moments ago is now the last one standing.
“You! You're trying to trick us again, aren't you?!” He hurls, blitzing in my direction. “Well I'm gonna finish you off first!”
His claws sear through the space between us, moments from ripping through my skin when the same blinding force tears through him first.
Snarling. Growling… and then silence.
I blink through the haze of pain and leaves, trying to sit up.
Then I see the culprit.
Tall. Powerfully built… and the moonlight atches him like a halo.
His eyes glisten like silver in the sunlight.
Three wolves. All killed in milliseconds. By a single man?
Who… the hell is he?
I try to speak, but I can’t. The air is gone.
He turns to me, steps deliberate and slow, like he’s inspecting a puzzle that doesn’t quite make sense.
“You shouldn’t be out here” he says. His voice is low, rumbling like thunder in the bones.
I flinch, still recovering, though I feel an unconscious whisper slithers through my mind.
“Who… who are you?”
He doesn’t answer.
He just crouches down in front of me, gaze never leaving mine.
Then, without looking away, he pulls off the cloak around his shoulders and places it over mine.
Warm. Heavy.
Authoritative.
I notice the emblem on the piece of clothing right before he slips it on. My vision might be fading, but I can bet I've seen that same image of White S
un somewhere before.
“You’re safe now, Elena.”
My breath hitches. “How do you know my name?”
He smirks, just slightly… and right before I fall unconscious, he answers.
“Because I’ve been waiting to meet you.”
- Writer
