Forbidden Mate, Fated Sin

Chapter 14: Painful Rejection

Wren's pov

"Stand up," Thane ordered. His tone stayed hard and empty. "Put your clothes on before another person comes near."

I reached for the clothes in a rush. Heat flooded my face. My fingers trembled so much the fabric would not settle right. Thane kept his eyes on me the whole time. He offered no kindness at all.

"Where did your Alpha go?" he asked. "I expect he left so he would not have to face the result of what he began."

"He was gone before the sun rose. I have no idea where."

"How useful for him." Thane struck the dirt floor once with his cane. The sound cut through the quiet. "Do you grasp what you have done, girl? Of all the nights you could choose, you pick this one while the council already watches the two of you."

"What happened here is none of the council's business."

"Everything that involves you is the council's business now." His gaze moved across me without warmth or pity. "Tracks led me toward this barn before I ever saw you inside. Another person knew to search here. Another person wanted you discovered."

Fear dropped hard into my stomach. "Who was it?"

"I mean to find that answer." Thane turned to the door and stopped with his back facing me. "Return to the house before the others wake. And hope, Wren Ashby, that the person who guided me here chooses not to share with the rest of the pack what I already saw."

He walked away and left me alone in the pale morning light. My heart beat fast. His words stayed with me during the entire walk back. Someone had planned for me to be found. Someone had pointed an elder straight to that barn.

Kade stayed out of sight the whole day. Maribel noticed how I looked at breakfast yet asked nothing. The silence from her felt heavier than any question. When evening arrived a runner reached the house and called every member of the pack to a formal meeting in the hall. The messenger spoke only of urgency and nothing more.

I took my usual place in the corner after I entered. Heavy dread already pressed on my chest long before Elder Thane stepped forward.

"This council has received word," Thane announced, "that Alpha Calloway and Wren Ashby continue to meet even after every warning given since the ceremony." His eyes traveled over the gathered people and settled on Kade, who stood stiff near the front. "This must end. Ashwood cannot endure the image of a bond that no leader is ready to manage."

Kade held his jaw tight. For one short moment his gaze met mine across the hall and then returned to Thane.

"The bond is real," Kade answered. "The council cannot erase it by force."

"Then manage the parts you can," Thane shot back. "Your actions. Your decisions. The trust this pack places in your rule." He motioned toward the elders standing near him. "We have debated this long enough, Alpha. Tonight you will reject the bond before every person here or this council will question whether you remain fit to lead these lands."

Soft voices rose through the hall. My breath caught as I waited for what came next.

"Kade," I said under my breath, though the distance made the word useless.

He stayed frozen for several long seconds. He stared at the crowd the way a man stares at a cliff he cannot step away from.

"Grier told me you would force this choice," Kade said at last. His voice reached every corner of the quiet hall.

"Grier does not risk his place as leader," Thane replied with greater force. "Decide, Alpha. Do it now while every eye watches."

Kade looked at me once more. This time his gaze held. His face had emptied of fight. Whatever strength remained seemed spent.

"Wren." He spoke my name soft yet clear in the silence. "I am sorry."

"Kade, stop."

"I, Kade Calloway, Alpha of Ashwood," he declared. Each word broke as it left him. "Reject the mate bond that joins me to Wren Ashby."

The statement struck like a physical hit. Something inside my chest ripped free at once. The hall spun. Noise flooded my ears. Somewhere in the crowd Celeste's expression stayed closed. Vivian covered her mouth with one hand. I do not recall choosing to move. I only knew my body pushed through the people toward the exit. Air. I needed air and distance from that hall and the words that still rang inside my head.

Outside the first sob tore free. I slid down against the cold stone wall. My entire body shook under a weight too large to carry.

A hand settled on my shoulder. I jerked away hard. I thought it would be Kade. Instead a face appeared through the blur of tears. Odette.

"It is finished," she said in a low voice. "The rejection is spoken."

"I know." My reply came out rough and torn. "I felt every part of it."

"No," Odette answered. Urgency entered her tone. "You miss the real point. I do not speak of the rejection, child."

She closed her hand around mine. The second our skin met, ice raced through every part of me. It cut sharper and colder than any training had ever produced. It went beyond every warning Odette had given before.

"Something begins," she said. Her eyes widened with fear. "This moment. Close by."

My sight clouded. The hall, the pain, and Kade's broken voice all faded together. In their place a burst of fire rose against the northern trees and a scream rang out that matched my own name exactly.