The Rejected Mate’s Dark Rise

6

Jane

This must be the terrible thing in this day.

My mother rejected my father, and my mate rejected me.

"Jane, please open this door," my mother called from outside. She had been knocking since we returned, but I could not bear to see the disappointment in her eyes, could not stand to add my failures to her pain. "Jane, open this damn door. We need to talk, sweetheart."

"Mother, I am so tired," I managed between sobs. "Can you just... leave me alone tonight? Please, I need to disappear for a while."

But she kept knocking, kept begging, her voice growing more desperate each time I did not answer.

"Open this door, my darling. Please, just let me hold you."

"Mom, please go back," I murmured, gripping the hem of my clothes. "Please."

The scene played over and over behind my closed eyes, every sneer, every cruel laugh, every pitying look from pack members who had watched my destruction like it was entertainment. The shame was a living thing inside me, eating whatever strength I had left.

"I love you, Jane," Mother called through the wood. "Please, baby, just open up. Let me love you."

With a shaking sigh, I dragged myself from the bed and opened the door with trembling hands.

"Mother, what—" The words died in my throat when I saw her face, covered with tears that matched my own.

"Jane." Her voice cracked as she pulled me into her arms, holding me so tight I could barely breathe. "I am so sorry, my love. I could not protect you from any of it. I was a worthless mother who failed the most important job of her life, keeping her daughter safe."

"Don't you dare say that," I whispered, pressing my face into her shoulder. "You stood up for me when no one else would. You fought for me when even my father turned his back. You were everything a mother should be, and I am so grateful you're mine."

She pulled back from the hug and wiped my tears with her thumb.

"Everything will be okay, I promise you that. This is not the end of your story, baby girl."

"Mother, nobody here wants me," I said. "I have no friends, no allies, no place in this pack. Everyone hates me, even Father wishes I had never been born. What did I do that was so terrible? Was being without a wolf really such an unforgivable sin? Am I truly that worthless?"

"Stop that right now," she said sharply. "Your father does love you, Jane. He is just... lost right now."

"No. He does not love me, Mother. You heard him at the ceremony, he said he would reject me as his daughter if he could. I was already broken before tonight, but now? Now I am shattered beyond repair. I need to leave this place before it kills what is left of me."

I needed to escape before Father made good on the threat I had seen hiding in his eyes, before he sold me to the rogues like the burden he had always thought me to be.

He had been waiting for this moment, for my certain rejection, and now that his prediction had come true, I knew my time here was measured in hours, not days.

"I am leaving, Mother."

"What? You want to leave me?" Mother's face fell apart like I had hit her. "What did I do wrong? How did I fail you so completely?"

"Nothing, Mother. You have never done anything but love me perfectly. But I cannot stay here anymore. I am a disgrace to you, a source of shame that reflects on everything you are. I know people blame you for having a daughter like me, for bringing weakness into the world."

"Even if the whole world pointed fingers at me, I would not care," she said strongly. "You are my heart, Jane. My greatest joy. Please do not leave me alone."

"I have to leave this pack," I whispered. "I am drowning in sadness, and staying here will only drag me deeper. If I spend one more night in this hell, I am afraid I will do something permanent to escape the pain."

Mother went completely silent, her mouth opening and closing without sound.

Finally, she found her voice. "I am sorry, Jane. If leaving this pack is what you need to survive, to find happiness again, then I will help you contact my sister. She is Luna of the Moonstone Pack, not far from here but far enough for a fresh start. You could build a new life there, away from all this poison."

"Thank you, Mother," I breathed, hugging her like she was my lifeline. "I love you so much."

The thought of leaving everything I ever knew made me feel scared and hopeful at the same time. This pack, this house, this place where I always felt like a stranger in my own life—maybe it was time to let it all go.

Maybe somewhere else, I could find out who I really was under all the pain and rejection. Maybe somewhere else, I could finally learn to believe that I was worth something after all.

*

The next day, my heart was beating fast as Mother called her sister Karen. I sat on the edge of my bed, my hands shaking as I waited to hear what would happen to me.

"How is it, Mother?" I asked, my voice full of hope and fear.

"She accepts," Mother smiled, but I could see sadness in her eyes. She was happy for me but sad that I had to leave.

My heart felt heavy with guilt. "I'm sorry, Mama," I said, tears starting to fill my eyes. "I'm so sorry for causing all this trouble."

She pulled me into her warm arms and held me tight. We both stayed quiet as she gently touched my hair, the way she did when I was little and scared.

"You don't have to say sorry, honey. They bullied you and hurt you. It's time to leave this horrible pack that never appreciated you."

"Thank you, Mother." I buried my face in her shoulder, breathing in her familiar smell that always made me feel safe. "But mother."

I paused, trying to gather the right words. I felt guilty and I could never feel at peace wherever I was going when I knew I was the root of their issues. I was the one who made my mother reject her mate.

"What is it, love?" she asked, looking at me. "You can tell me anything."

"I want... I want you to live happily with your mate," I said, shutting my eyes. "Please."

"No, my girl. Your father deserves to be rejected. It's never your fault."

"I will never be at peace," I confessed. "Knowing that you did this because of me."

She stared at me for a while before speaking. "Jane, you are not the cause. I can't." She grabbed the hem of her dress. "I don't want him any longer."

"I want to be at peace anywhere I am," I stated. "I want you to reconsider."

"Okay," she sighed. "I will think about this."

"Really."

"Yes, honey."

"Thank you, Mother."

"I will be right back, darling." She kissed the top of my head before leaving my room.

I started packing my bags. Finally, after eighteen long years of pain and loneliness, I could leave this hell that I had been living in.

"Hi, baby, are you done packing your bags?" Mother asked with a bright smile as she walked back into my room, trying to hide her own sadness.

"Almost, Mother," I replied, stuffing the last of my things into my old suitcase.

"I hope you're not forgetting anything important."

"No, Mother. I'm not." I finished packing and zipped up my bag with a loud sound that seemed to say this is really happening.

"Ready?" She beamed at me.

"Yes, Mother. Everything is set. I am ready to leave this pack behind forever. I can't wait to start a new life somewhere else," I told her, forcing a smile even though my heart was breaking.

I promised myself to be strong. I promised to train hard even without my mate, and I would stand tall in front of Father someday. The stone that was rejected would surely be loved by someone else.

"Please, please let me know when you arrive safely at her pack. If you don't, I'm going to worry myself sick."

"Don't worry, Mother. I will call you the moment I get there."

After our talk, we both walked out of my room together.

I saw my father sitting on the couch, drinking his morning coffee like nothing had happened yesterday. He looked up when he heard our footsteps.

Ignoring him was so hard, but it was the only thing I could do to protect what was left of my heart.

"Where are you going?" he asked, his cold eyes fixed on the bag in my hand. "Where do you think you are going, Jane?"

"What else would I be doing? I am leaving," I snapped, my voice shaking with anger and hurt. "I'm getting out of your life forever."

For just a moment, I thought he might actually care. Maybe he would ask me to stay.

"Did you ask for my permission before leaving this house?" he growled like an angry animal. "Answer me right now!"

"Let her go," my mother snapped, her voice trembling with anger at my father. "She is not your daughter—she is mine, only mine."

Then her tone softened as she placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Let's go, sweetheart. You don't want to miss your ride, do you?"

"Okay, Mother," I replied, and followed her out of the house that was never really a home. And my father still drinks his coffee, seems nothing had happened.

She drove me to the bus stop in her old car. The ride was quiet except for the sound of the engine and my quiet sniffles.

I would take the bus to her sister's place because I had no wolf to run there myself.

"I'm going to miss you so much, Mother," I muttered.

"I'll miss you even more, sweetie," Mother whispered, smiling through her tears. "I just hope you'll be happy in your new home, and that one day you find someone who will love and accept you exactly as you are."

"I hope so too, Mother. But I'm getting so tired of hoping and wishing for things that never come true. I don't want to put my hope in people who will never love me back."