They Called Me A Beta

Chapter 5: Rejected

"I reject you as my mate."

The words echoed through the clearing.

For a moment, I didn't understand them.

My mind refused to accept what my ears had heard.

Then my wolf screamed.

Pain exploded through my chest.

I stumbled backward, clutching my heart.

"Seraphina!"

Luna Elena's voice broke through the noise.

She rushed toward me, but I barely felt her arms around me.

My knees gave out.

Someone caught me before I hit the ground.

I didn't know who.

I couldn't see.

Everything was blurred by tears.

No.

My wolf whimpered inside me.

No.

I pressed a hand against my chest.

"Kieran..."

His name escaped my lips before I could stop it.

I looked up.

He was still standing in front of me.

His face was pale.

His jaw was clenched so tightly I could see the muscles twitching.

He looked like he was hurting.

For one foolish second, I thought maybe he regretted it.

Then he spoke.

"I cannot make an orphaned Beta the Luna of this pack."

The clearing went silent.

I stared at him.

He had said it.

Not privately.

Not in anger.

Not in the safety of a hallway where only the two of us could hear.

He had said it in front of everyone.

An orphaned Beta.

That's what I was to him.

Not the girl he had grown up with.

Not the girl his parents had raised.

Not the girl who had sat beside him at the dinner table for eighteen years.

Just an orphaned Beta.

A murmur spread through the crowd.

"She was his mate?"

"I thought he would choose Amelia."

"She's only a Beta."

"How could an orphan become Luna?"

Each whisper felt like another cut.

I looked toward Amelia.

She stood several feet away, surrounded by her family.

Her expression was unreadable.

I didn't blame her.

She hadn't done anything.

This wasn't her fault.

This was Kieran's choice.

And he had made it very clear.

I looked back at him.

"Is that your reason?"

His eyes met mine.

He didn't answer immediately.

Then he nodded.

"Yes."

My wolf screamed again.

I almost doubled over.

Luna Elena held me tighter.

"That's enough."

Her voice trembled.

She looked at her son with an expression I had never seen before.

"Richard."

Alpha Richard stepped forward.

His face was hard.

"Kieran."

The entire pack seemed to hold its breath.

"You will not speak to her that way."

Kieran's expression tightened.

"Father, I—"

"Enough."

Alpha Richard's voice carried across the clearing.

He turned toward me.

"Seraphina, come with us."

I shook my head.

"No."

Luna Elena looked at me.

"Sweetheart—"

"I need to go."

Her eyes filled with tears.

"Where?"

I didn't know.

Anywhere.

Somewhere no one knew my name.

Somewhere I wouldn't have to see Kieran every morning.

Somewhere I wouldn't have to remember that his wolf had chosen me while he had chosen to reject me.

"I don't know."

She took my face in her hands.

"You're coming home with us."

I closed my eyes.

Home.

The word hurt.

Because for the first time, I wasn't sure the Blackwood house could still be my home.

Not after tonight.

Not after everyone had watched their Alpha reject me.

I gently removed her hands.

"I'm sorry."

Her face crumpled.

"Don't."

"I'm sorry."

I looked at Alpha Richard.

His expression was filled with anger.

Not at me.

At his son.

That somehow made it worse.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"For everything."

Luna Elena shook her head.

"No. Don't talk like you're leaving."

I forced a smile.

"You've been a wonderful mother."

She pulled me into her arms.

I broke.

For the first time that night, I cried.

Not because Kieran had rejected me.

Not because the pack had watched.

I cried because I knew I couldn't stay.

I loved the Blackwoods.

That was the problem.

If I stayed, I would spend every day remembering what happened here.

I would see Kieran at breakfast.

Hear his voice in the halls.

Watch him prepare to lead the pack.

And I would always know that I had once been his mate.

The girl he had rejected.

I couldn't live like that.

I pulled away.

"I'm leaving."

Luna Elena stared at me.

"No."

"I have to."

"You don't."

I looked at her.

"I do."

Kieran hadn't moved.

He was watching us.

For the first time since the ceremony began, he looked uncertain.

"Seraphina."

I turned toward him.

He took a step forward.

I instinctively stepped back.

He stopped.

His expression changed.

Something flickered in his eyes.

Regret?

Fear?

I didn't care anymore.

"You made your choice."

His jaw tightened.

"I know."

"So did I."

I turned away.

My wolf was still hurting.

Every step felt like someone was tearing something out of my chest.

But I kept walking.

Past the crowd.

Past the ceremonial grounds.

Past the place where I had spent eighteen years believing I belonged.

I didn't look back.

Not even once.

I packed one bag.

That's all.

A few clothes.

Some money I'd saved.

A photograph of me and Luna Elena.

And the silver necklace she had given me.

I stared at the necklace for a long time.

Then I put it around my neck.

It was the only thing I couldn't leave behind.

A knock came at my door.

I knew who it was.

"Luna?"

The door opened.

She stood there with tears in her eyes.

"You're really going."

I nodded.

She crossed the room and hugged me.

"You don't have to do this."

"I do."

"Where will you go?"

"I don't know."

Her grip tightened.

"Then take someone with you."

I shook my head.

"I need to do this alone."

She pulled back.

"You are not alone."

I smiled sadly.

"I know."

She touched the necklace.

"You kept it."

"Of course."

"It was yours the moment I gave it to you."

I looked at her.

"Thank you."

She kissed my forehead.

Then she whispered: "You will always have a home here."

I closed my eyes.

I wanted to believe her.

Maybe one day I will.

But not tonight.

When I stepped outside, the Blackwood territory was quiet.

The moon hung above the trees.

I stood at the edge of the road with my bag over my shoulder.

Behind me was everything I had ever known.

Ahead was nothing.

No family.

No pack.

No home.

No idea who I was supposed to become.

I took one last breath.

Then I walked away.

Behind the windows of the Blackwood house, someone was watching me leave.

I didn't know it yet.

But Kieran Blackwood would spend a very long time wishing he had stopped me.

And by the time he finally did—

I would no longer be the girl he had rejected.