His Rejected Curve

Chapter 2 The Mark

"My mate isn't going anywhere."

His hand was still locked around my wrist. Hard enough that Theo took a step forward.

Jaxon Thorne's golden eyes weren't golden anymore. They were black to the edge. His wolf was in control. He was breathing hard, like he'd run all the way from the Academy in his sleep pants. Rain stuck his black hair to his forehead.

Three hours ago he had looked at me in front of 300 people and said, "I reject you, fatass."

Now he was looking at me like if I got in that truck, he would die.

"Let her go," Theo said quietly. He didn't shout. Alphas who are secure don't need to shout. "You're hurting her."

Jaxon didn't let go. He looked down at where his fingers were digging into my skin.

Under his fingers, my skin was glowing.

A thin, silver crescent moon, no bigger than a fingerprint, was forming right where his thumb pressed. It pulsed once, bright white, like a heartbeat.

We all stared at it.

"What -" I whispered.

Mama Sage, who had appeared behind us with her shawl, gasped. "Moon mark. Goddess above. He marked you with regret."

Theo's eyes went wide. "The Rite."

Jaxon finally let go like he'd been burned. The silver mark stayed. It was warm.

"What did I do?" Jaxon's voice cracked. He looked truly scared for the first time since I'd known him.

"You triggered the Rite of Three," Mama Sage said. She pulled me behind her. "Old law, Jaxon Thorne. When a Prince rejects his fated mate and then stops her from leaving by force, the Moon Goddess gives her the choice to punish you. You just gave her power over you."

I looked down at the mark. It wasn't a bruise. It was beautiful. And it was mine.

"You can't leave," Jaxon said to me, but this time it wasn't a command. It was a plea. "Alina, please. I was drunk. I was stupid. Cole gave me wolfsbane wine, I didn't -"

"Were you drunk when you laughed?" My voice came out stronger than I felt. Theo's jacket was still around my shoulders. "Were you drunk for the four years everyone called me the plus-size mistake standing next to Giselle?"

He flinched like I'd slapped him.

"Answer her," Theo said.

"I thought -" Jaxon swallowed. "My father always said a Luna has to be... I thought the Goddess made a mistake."

"She didn't," said a new voice.

Giselle stood at the top of the service gate stairs. No makeup. Eyes red. She wasn't wearing her perfect warrior uniform. She was in pajamas.

"I spiked your drink, Jaxon," she said, her voice shaking. "I put wolfsbane in your flask. I knew Alina was your mate. I saw your wolves touch in the woods last winter. I wanted you to reject her."

Silence.

Jaxon stared at my sister. "You WHAT?"

"I wanted to be Luna!" Giselle shouted, and then started crying. "Everyone says I'm the perfect one! I deserve it! Not her!"

I didn't feel angry. I just felt tired. Four years of standing next to her suddenly made sense.

Theo opened the truck door for me. "Alina, we need to go. Now. Before more people wake up."

I looked at the silver mark on my wrist. Then at Jaxon, on his knees in the rain.

"I'm going to Stoneclaw," I said. "Not as your mate. Not as anyone's mate. As me."

I got in the truck.

Jaxon didn't try to grab me again. He just knelt there in the mud as Theo started the engine, his hands in his hair.

As we pulled away from Silverpine Royal Academy - from the place that had made me feel small for four years - the mark on my wrist glowed brighter.

And in the rearview mirror, I swear I saw a flash of white. Not my reflection.

A giant white wolf, running alongside the truck, keeping pace, protecting us.

Luna. And Liora. Both of them awake now.

---

Five hours later, Stoneclaw didn't look like a school. It looked like a forest village.

Wooden cabins, kids running around in wolf form, no uniforms, no one staring at my thighs. The air smelled like cedar and fresh bread.

Theo stopped the truck in front of the biggest cabin.

The door opened before we knocked.

A woman stood there. Mid-forties. Brown skin. Curvy like me. Curly hair like mine, but with silver streaks. Eyes exactly like mine.

She looked at me, then her hands flew to her mouth.

"Alina?" she whispered.

My suitcase dropped.

Mama Sage had told me my mother died in a rogue attack when I was a baby.

My mother was standing right there, alive, breathing, tears running down her face.

"My white wolf," she said. "You finally came home."

Behind me, Theo whispered, "Mom, meet my sister."

And the silver mark on my wrist pulsed again - this time not with pain.

With power.