THE ALPHA'S REJECTED MATE

THE FIRST NIGHT IN THE SAME HOUSE

CHAPTER 7: THE FIRST NIGHT IN THE SAME HOUSE

The mansion was too quiet.

After the rehearsal disaster, Damian didn’t talk to me.

He just grabbed my wrist, dragged me to the car, and drove us home in silence.

Home.

His home.

My prison for the next year.

"Your room is down the hall," he said at the stairs. Voice cold. "Don’t come out after midnight."

"Or what?" I asked. "You’ll reject me again?"

His jaw clenched. He walked away.

Coward.

I took the room at the end of the hall. The one I used to have as a teen.

Nothing had changed. Except me.

At 11:58 PM, I heard it.

A crash. From his room.

I was at his door before I could think.

"Damian?"

No answer.

I pushed it open.

He was on the floor. Shirtless. Sweating. Clutching his side where I’d stitched him.

The Moonbane wound. It was black again. Spreading.

"Poison’s back," he gritted out. "It’s... reacting to the bond."

My healer brain kicked in. Fear second.

I dropped to my knees beside him. "I need herbs. Boiling water. Now."

"I can’t—" He grabbed my wrist. His hand was burning up. "Stay. Please. Just until it passes."

Rule number one: Don’t touch him.

Rule number two: Don’t care.

Rule number three: Gone.

"Fine," I whispered.

I sat on the floor with him. His head ended up in my lap.

I pressed a cold cloth to his forehead. My other hand in his.

He was burning. Shaking.

"Ava," he mumbled. "I’m sorry. For the TV. For the words. For everything."

"Don’t talk."

"I have to." His silver eyes opened. Glassy with pain. "Because I don’t know if I’ll get another chance."

My chest cracked.

"I rejected you because I was scared," he said. "Scared of how much I wanted you. Scared of how weak you made me feel. One look at you and I forgot I was Alpha."

Tears burned my eyes. "You don’t get to say that now."

"I know." He squeezed my hand. "But I need you to know. The day I did it... I wanted to die."

The poison flared. He arched off the floor with a cry.

"Shh," I soothed, running my hand through his hair. Like he was mine. "I’m here. I’ve got you."

An hour passed. Or ten minutes. I lost track.

I fed him antidote drop by drop. Held him through the worst of it.

When the fever broke, he was asleep.

Still holding my hand.

On the floor of his room.

At 3 AM.

I should’ve left.

But I was exhausted.

And he looked... young. Broken. Like the boy who used to sneak me berries in the forest.

I laid down next to him. Just for a minute.

That’s the last thing I remember.

---

Morning.

Sunlight.

Warmth.

I woke up in his bed.

In his arms.

My head on his chest. His arm locked around my waist.

And his face buried in my hair.

We both froze.

He pulled back first. Eyes wide. Panicked.

"What— how did—"

"The door was open," I said quickly. Standing up. Face burning. "You were sick. I stayed."

He looked at me. At the bed. At us.

Then his eyes dropped to my neck.

And I remembered.

I’d been wearing a thin tank top.

And now there were marks.

Faint. Silver.

Mate marks.

All over my collarbone.

From last night. From his fever. From the bond.

He reached out. Touched one. Gentle.

"Ava..."

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

"ALPHA! The council is here! They want to see the Luna!"

Damian and I stared at each other.

Me in his bed.

In his clothes.

Covered in mate marks.

The council was downstairs.

And in 2 days, we were supposed to get married.

END OF CHAPTER 7

Word Count: ~1315

CLIFFHANGER: Woke up in his bed. Covered in mate marks. Council downstairs. Wedding in 2 days. BUY CHAPTER 8 NOW.