Mated To The Outcast, Loved By The Alpha President

I Reject You

Chapter 4

I reject you.

Aria Silvercrest.

Water filled my lungs as I sank deeper into the pool. There was no amount of flailing that could keep me afloat. I was choking on the water, my eyes burning as I struggled.

Was this how I was going to die? Without exploring these new abilities? Wait, was there something I could do as a werewolf to save myself?

Just as I was overthinking my life near my apparent death, I heard it. A low and painful howl that tugged at the strings of my heart, and a familiar sensation stirred within me. My wolf.

“Mate.”

Those were the first words of my wolf to me. I could feel deep vibrations in the water, and I could tell that someone had just jumped in. My arm was grabbed in a steady grip, and I felt what Karl had been talking to me about earlier. The feeling of completion, like your other half was reunited, like a part you didn't know you were missing.

He was here. He saved me. By the time I was out of the water, gasping to cough out the water that had filled my lungs, I heard him. His growl at the girls was the most attractive sound I'd ever heard since I was born.

My eyes settled on his broad back as his clothes served as a second skin, outlining his sexy outline. I could see his thick hands and muscles that flexed when he moved.

A violent cough erupted from my mouth, and he was beside me in a second. Was this really how the mate bond worked? Why did I feel so jittery by his attention?" Are you o…" He paused, and when he didn't speak for a while, I stared up at him, and my breath caught.

Karl was handsome, yes, he was, but he wasn't a tad close to how my mate looked. His brows were long, shaping his beautiful deep brown eyes. And his perfectly carved thick brows were just…

“Step away from me.” His voice was so cold that it contrasted with his earlier concern.

The change in his tone shocked me, and I didn't know when I stumbled backwards, with one word tumbling out of my mouth.

“Mate.”

His facial features twisted immediately, as if he was disgusted by the thought of me being his mate. Didn't he feel the connection like I did? I tried to listen hard for his heartbeat, but I heard nothing. It was like I was blocked by a large wall.

He looked terrifying as his eyes burned through my shoulders, and I unconsciously looked at it. He was staring at a tattoo I had since I was a child. My mom had told me that it was a mark that meant so much to my father and that anytime I saw it, I should always remember that he loved me.

Didn't my mate like it?

“I, Nate Veridian, reject you as my mate.” Those were the last words I heard from him before everywhere went black in my mind.

I didn't even have an opportunity to process his words, but my wolf howled out a strangled cry, and I felt like a hot knife was being pushed deeper and deeper into my chest.

“Aaaaarh!” My knees gave way as I sank to the ground, clutching my chest because it felt like it was about to fall out. The pain was unbearable, and I could feel it radiating to every inch of my body.

“Aria! Aria! Are you okay? What did you do?” I could vaguely hear Karl's voice from a distance, but I could feel his hands holding me up, trying to get me to stand.

He was yelling at my mate, and I couldn't help the little rage I felt that someone was talking to my mate in that manner. I wanted to tear out Karl's throat with my claws for being disrespectful, but I was too weak to even move a muscle. I could feel the pain in my head this time, almost blinding.

“Accept the rejection, Aria! You have to accept the rejection for it to hurt less!” Karl was yelling into my ears as he gripped my shoulders tightly.

Reject him? My mate? Is that what he had done? Had he rejected me? Was that why it hurt so badly?

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words could come out.

“Come on, Aria. You can do it. Just say the words. You're in too much pain now…" Karl was still trying to help me, holding me up and rubbing my back. “You'll be fine, Aria. Just breathe. Breathe in slowly… Follow the sound of my voice, Aria.”

I was trying, but the pain wasn't letting me think clearly. I could only ask questions. “Why? Why did he reject me? Am I ugly? Did I do something wrong? Am I a terrible person? Why does it hurt so bad?” I was gasping for air and struggling to breathe against the constriction of my trachea.

“He did you a favor, Aria. You are free now. Free from him and all the troubles he would bring to you.” I could hear Karl's voice clearly now, but I couldn't understand his words.

“What do you mean?” My voice became steadier this time. My knees were still weak, but I gained some balance as I leaned against his warm body. Looking around, I realized that we were no longer in the swimming pool; Karl had carried me to the woods again.

The pain had not stopped, nor did it dull, but Karl's words momentarily distracted me from the pain.

Karl gave me a look I couldn't quite place. “He is the son of the man who killed your father, Aria. I think he knows that too, and rejecting you is a way of punishing you because his father also died in the process of killing your father.”

“What? How did you know that? Did you know my father? How come I have no memory of who he is? How did you…"

Karl's eyes widened subtly as if he had released information he wasn't supposed to give out. What was going on here? What did Karl know, and was that really the reason my mate rejected me?