Couldn't Be More Humiliating
1063 Words
Thomas did not look at Talia. Not at first. He let the silence stretch, heavy and suffocating, before finally turning his gaze toward her.
"But first," he said, his voice carrying to the back of the clearing, "I must close the chapter on a bond that no longer serves our path."
He looked her in the eye, and Talia felt her knees threaten to buckle.
“Loser,” Kaela spat in Talia’s head. “Coward. Boy-King.”
Talia knew Kaela was directing her animosity toward Thomas’s wolf, Ramble, but the Alpha’s wolf had walled himself off. All Talia could feel from the other side was a cold, impenetrable brick wall.
"Talia Elowen Graves," Thomas began, using her full, formal title. "I, Alpha Thomas Calder of the Black River Pack, hereby reject you as my chosen mate."
The words struck her like physical blows. One by one.
"I release you from any claim, spiritual or emotional. Let the Moon Goddess Selene witness this severance."
Gasps rippled through the crowd. They were watching a heartbreak unfold in real time, hungry for the reaction.
Inside, Kaela whimpered—a high, broken sound that shattered Talia’s composure more than the words themselves. Her wolf withdrew, curling into a dark corner of her mind, shivering.
A piercing pain detonated in Talia’s chest. It felt as if a hook had been embedded in her heart and was now being ripped out, taking pieces of her soul with it. A gasp tore from her throat, but she locked her knees. She would not fall. Not for him. Not for the woman in gold smirking beside him.
She met her mate’s gaze—no, her former mate’s gaze. His eyes were ice. No remorse. No love. Just duty.
“Fine,” Talia thought, a cold steel spine forming within her. “If you want to cut me loose, watch me bleed without flinching.”
She drew a breath that rattled in her lungs.
"Alpha Thomas Calder," Talia began. Her voice wavered on the first syllable, then steeled into something unrecognizable. Strong. Defiant. "I, Talia Elowen Graves... accept your rejection."
The air in the clearing seemed to snap.
"I release you, as you have released me."
Snap.
The bond severed. The invisible tether that had connected them for years vanished, leaving a gaping, hollow silence in her chest. She could breathe again, but the air felt thin. Cold.
Thomas didn’t mourn. He didn’t even blink. He turned immediately to the crowd, eager to move on to the prize.
"Mira, daughter of Alpha Cyrus of the Northern Borderlands, is my chosen mate and future Luna."
He paused, and for a second, Talia thought it was over. She turned to leave, to lick her wounds in the dark.
"And effective immediately," Thomas added, stopping her in her tracks, "I name Talia Graves as her personal bodyguard."
Talia froze. The crowd fell deathly silent.
"She will guard Mira’s life," Thomas said, "with the same honor she once used to guard this pack."
The insult hit harder than the rejection. It wasn't just a demotion; it was slavery. He wanted her to watch them. To protect the woman who stole her life.
"Oh, hell no."
The words left Talia’s mouth before she could stop them. Rage, hot and blinding, flooded the empty space where the bond had once been.
"I am not your pawn, Thomas," she spat, stepping forward. "You may reject me, but you do not own me."
Thomas’s eyes flashed. The air pressure dropped.
"SILENCE!"
The Alpha Command slammed into her like a physical weight. Talia’s knees hit the dirt. Around the circle, wolves bared their necks, forced into submission by the sheer power of his voice.
Talia fought it. She grit her teeth, her muscles trembling as she tried to lift her head.
"I am and will always be Alpha to you!" Thomas roared, his voice vibrating in her bones. "This is not a request, Talia. You have until tomorrow morning to report to your post at Luna's door. Disobey me, and you will be treated as a rogue."
“Dickhead,” Kaela snarled, though her voice was weak. “He’s an absolute dickhead.”
"Good girl, Kaela," Talia whispered through gritted teeth.
Thomas turned his back on her, dismissing her like a servant. Mira cast one last glance over her shoulder—a look of pure, unadulterated triumph—before they walked away toward the Alpha house.
The heavy pressure of the command lifted, leaving Talia gasping in the dirt.
She scrambled up, ignoring the whispers, ignoring the pitying looks of the pack members she had grown up with. She turned and ran.
Past the firelight. Past the treeline. Into the darkness of the forest.
"Talia!"
Alina stepped out from behind an oak tree, her face pale in the moonlight. She was trembling.
"I heard everything," Alina whispered, tears streaming down her face. "You accepted it. You're free."
Talia nodded, pulling her sister into a fierce hug. "He doesn’t define us, Lina. We’re done. We’re leaving."
"We have to," Alina sobbed, burying her face in Talia’s neck. "We have to leave now."
Talia pulled back, gripping her sister's shoulders. "What is it? What happened?"
Alina looked up, her eyes wide with terror.
"It's Beta Leon," she choked out. "While everyone was at the ceremony... he came to our house. He told me that since Thomas is mating with Mira, the pack hierarchy is shifting."
Alina’s voice dropped to a terrified whisper.
"He petitioned Thomas for a mate, Talia. Thomas gave him permission to claim me. Tonight."
Talia’s blood ran cold. Leon. The man who had watched Alina since she was a child. The man whose scent made Talia’s skin crawl.
"He's coming for me after the feast," Alina cried. "Talia, we can't wait until tomorrow."
Talia looked back toward the bonfire, where the drums were starting up again. She could hear the heavy footsteps of wolves moving through the woods.
The Alpha had commanded her to stay. Disobeying meant death.
But staying meant handing her little sister over to a monster.
“Run,” Kaela whispered. “Run now.”
Talia grabbed Alina’s hand.
"We don't wait for a plan," Talia said, her voice hard. "We run."
A twig snapped nearby. A low, menacing growl echoed from the shadows behind them.
They weren't alone.
Alina, “Talia, we aren’t going anywhere.”
- Writer
