HIS REJECTED MATE'S SECRETS

ZARA'S POV I said it before he could open his mouth. "I reject you." Just like that. Three words. That was all it took to make three hundred wolves go completely silent under the Blood Moon. Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. Even the drums stopped. I kept my face straight. Kept my eyes on his. Kael was staring at me. Just staring. Like his brain had stopped working for a second and he was waiting for it to start again. His eyes had gone dark. He was trying to figure out if I was serious. I was serious. I had been planning this moment for three months. Three whole months of waking up every morning feeling that stupid pull in my chest and reminding myself why I could not give in to it. Three months of seeing him around the pack and looking away before he could look at me. Three months of pretending. Tonight the pretending was over. My wolf was losing her mind inside me. Pushing forward. Wanting him. Practically begging me to take the words back. I told her to calm down. She did not calm down. Kael took one step toward me. His mouth opened. I turned around and walked away. I heard someone gasp. Loud. Like they could not believe what they just saw. Honestly I did not blame them. You did not reject an Alpha at the Blood Moon ceremony. You just did not do that. It was the kind of thing that people would be talking about for years. Let them talk. The crowd split open as I walked through it. People moved out of my way fast, like they were not sure what I was or what I might do next. I kept my steps slow and steady even though my heart was going crazy. Then a hand grabbed my arm. I stopped. It was Elder Ruth. She had known me since I was small, used to let me sit on her porch after school when my mom worked late. Right now she was looking at me like I had completely lost it. "Zara." Her grip was tight. "What do you think you are doing?" "I know what I am doing Ruth." She looked at me for a long time. Her old eyes searching my face for something. I don't know if she found it but she slowly let go of my arm and stepped aside. I kept walking. Behind me I could hear Elder Bram's voice rising up trying to bring order back. People talking over each other. Someone said my name like it was something dirty. Then I heard him. Just one word. My name. "Zara." His voice was low. Quiet even. But it cut through everything else like it was the only sound in the world. My feet almost stopped. Almost. My wolf hit so hard against my chest that I actually stumbled one step. I caught myself. Pressed my lips together. Kept going. I reached the trees and stepped into the dark. The moment I was deep inside the forest I stopped. Pressed my back against a tree and closed my eyes. Three seconds. I allowed myself three seconds. My hands were shaking. I looked down at them. Both of them were just trembling like I had been standing in cold water. I let them shake. There was nobody here to see it. My wolf had stopped screaming. Now she was just sad. Sitting quietly somewhere deep inside me making me feel things I did not want to feel. I understood her. I really did. This was not easy. Walking away from your fated mate, the person the moon chose for you before you were even born, it was not something that felt good. It hurt. In a place I could not point to but could definitely feel. But she did not know what I knew. She did not know what our blood carried. I pushed off the tree and started moving. I had walked this path two times already during the day so I knew every root, every turn, every low branch. I had prepared. That was what I did. I prepared. I could hear the ceremony ground behind me getting loud. Voices everywhere. Chaos. Good. Let them be confused. Then a branch snapped behind me. Close. Too close. I went still for one second. The bond flared up in my chest hot and sharp and I knew without even turning around. He followed me. Fast too. Much faster than I expected. I thought the shock would hold him back. I thought his pride would make him stand there in front of everyone and act like he did not care. I was wrong. I made a note of that. Kael Drayden cared more than he showed. That was important. I moved faster. The trees were thick and dark but I knew this forest. I grew up here. Every root, every branch, every shadow. I moved through the forest easily. My mother told me about our blood when I was fourteen. We were sitting in the kitchen, window open, pack noise coming from outside, and she held my hands and told me the truth in a quiet voice like she had been waiting years to say it. Our bloodline carried something old. Something powerful. Something the elders knew about but never spoke of openly. Accepting a mate bond with an Alpha would wake that thing up. And once it woke up it could not be put back to sleep. My mother had looked at me with serious eyes and said, Zara you must never let it happen. No matter what you feel. No matter how strong the pull is. I had not forgotten. I heard Kael getting closer and my wolf went completely still inside me. Listening. Waiting. Not yet, I told her. I ran. Full speed now, feet hitting the ground fast and quiet, ducking under branches, jumping roots. Ahead of me through the trees I could see the ridge I had found during my walks, the one that dropped down into the valley where the old healer's cave sat empty and dark and waiting. That was where I was going. That was where everything would begin. Behind me I heard him running. Fast. Really fast. And even though every single part of me wanted to stop and turn around, even though the bond was pulling at me so hard it felt like something was tearing, I did not stop. I ran harder. And the Alpha ran after me.