Chapter Two
355 Words
The Rejection
E . Peaceleigh
A ripple tore through the crowd.
Someone whispered, “The Alpha…”
Alina froze.
She didn’t dare breathe as Kael’s sharp grey eyes locked with hers. Even from across the circle, she could feel it—the pull. That invisible string that tied their souls together. Her heart raced, her wolf howled with joy.
Her mate.
Kael’s jaw tightened.
His tall frame was motionless, expression unreadable beneath the moonlight. He looked every bit the feared Alpha he was: broad-shouldered, commanding, distant. His black shirt was rolled up at the sleeves, revealing inked marks along his arms—ancient symbols of bloodline and battle.
Alina waited for him to step forward, to claim her.
He didn’t move.
Whispers turned to murmurs. Eyes darted between them.
Her fingers clenched into fists.
Say something.
Still, he didn’t move. He stared at her as if he didn’t recognize her. As if she was some stranger chosen by mistake.
Then, finally, he stepped forward.
But not toward her.
Toward the Elder.
“I reject the mate bond.”
The words came like a blade.
Alina blinked. She thought she misheard. The wind had surely warped the sound. Her ears must have played a cruel trick.
But the Elder turned, confusion on his face. “Alpha Kael—”
“I reject the Moon’s choice,” Kael said, voice harder now. “She is not my equal. This is not the bond I accept.”
A gasp swept the gathering.
Alina’s world tilted.
The crowd faded. The trees disappeared. All she could hear was the rush of blood in her ears and the shattering sound of her wolf’s cry from within.
Kael’s voice rang again—colder this time, as if rehearsed. “The Moon Goddess made a mistake.”
She didn’t remember running. Only the feeling of cold leaves beneath her feet, branches tearing her skin as she tore through the forest.
Her lungs burned. Her heart bled.
She ran until her legs collapsed beneath her and she screamed. Not out of pain. Not out of rage. But from the deep, aching emptiness of rejection.
- Writer
