Chapter 7: Elena's Impossible Rejection
1553 Words
The necklace was bleeding.
Elena stared at the thin red line running across the silver pendant.
Nobody moved.
Then Roman reached for her.
“Elena.”
She stepped away.
“Don't.”
His hand stopped.
Rafael released her immediately.
The moment his arms left her, Elena felt strangely cold.
She hated that.
She hated even more that part of her wanted him to hold her again.
“What happened?” Riven asked.
“I don't know.”
“You heard something.”
Elena looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because you looked terrified.”
She glanced at the three brothers.
The warning echoed in her mind.
One of them will betray you.
She couldn't tell them.
Not yet.
“What did you see?” Roman asked.
“Nothing.”
“Elena.”
“I said nothing.”
Roman studied her face.
He knew she was lying.
She could see it.
But he didn't push.
Instead, he looked at the blood on the pendant.
“We need to get you somewhere safe.”
“No.”
His eyebrows drew together.
“No?”
“I don't want to go anywhere with you.”
Rafael stared at her.
“Elena, someone is hunting women from your bloodline.”
“I know.”
“They already attacked this pack.”
“I know.”
“And you still want to walk away?”
“Yes.”
Riven exhaled.
“That's not exactly the smartest plan.”
“I didn't say it was smart.”
Maya moved closer.
“Elena, maybe you should listen to them.”
Elena looked at her.
“You too?”
“I'm saying you're bleeding from a necklace that shouldn't be able to bleed.”
Maya pointed toward the pendant.
“And three Alpha wolves are claiming you're their mate.”
She paused.
“I think tonight officially qualifies as a bad night.”
Despite everything, Elena almost laughed.
“That's an understatement.”
Roman's mouth curved slightly.
It disappeared almost immediately.
“Elena, you don't have to accept the bond.”
She looked at him.
“But?”
“But you need protection.”
“I can protect myself.”
“You couldn't protect yourself from the assassin in the courtyard.”
The words hit harder than he intended.
Elena's expression tightened.
“I know.”
Roman immediately regretted it.
“I didn't mean—”
“I know exactly what you meant.”
She turned away.
For twenty-two years, she had survived by being careful.
She had learned which streets to avoid.
Which people to stay away from.
Which questions never to ask.
She had survived without a wolf.
Without parents.
Without anyone powerful standing behind her.
She didn't need three Alpha brothers deciding they knew what was best for her.
“I don't want this,” she said.
Roman's expression changed.
“This?”
She looked at all three of them.
“The bond. The title. The protection. Any of it.”
Silence.
Rafael's jaw tightened.
Riven looked down.
Roman remained still.
“You're rejecting us.”
It wasn't a question.
Elena swallowed.
“Yes.”
The word felt heavier than she expected.
Roman took a slow breath.
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
Elena forced herself to continue.
“But I'm doing it anyway.”
Rafael stepped forward.
“You can't just reject a mate bond.”
“Watch me.”
“Elena.”
“Don't tell me what I can and can't do.”
Rafael stopped.
Riven rubbed a hand over his face.
“This is going well.”
Maya shot him a look.
“Riven.”
“What? I'm trying to keep someone from punching someone else.”
Elena almost smiled again.
Then Roman spoke.
“You should know what rejection means.”
She looked at him.
“Tell me.”
“If the bond is fully established, rejecting it can hurt both sides.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“That isn't an answer.”
Roman's gaze dropped.
“It can feel like losing part of yourself.”
Elena's heart sank.
“And if I accept?”
“You become our Luna.”
There it was.
The word she had feared.
Luna.
A crown she had never asked for.
A position that would make her a target.
A life controlled by people who would expect her to obey.
“No.”
Roman didn't argue.
“Then no.”
Elena blinked.
He simply accepted it.
She had expected anger.
Possessiveness.
Perhaps even a command.
Instead, Roman nodded.
“We won't force you.”
Rafael looked at him.
“Roman.”
“I said we won't force her.”
Rafael went quiet.
Riven nodded slowly.
“She deserves the choice.”
Elena stared at them.
That should have made rejecting them easier.
It didn't.
Something inside her pulled toward them.
A warmth spread beneath her ribs.
Her wolf—or whatever remained of it—seemed to recognize them.
She hated it.
“I need to leave,” she said.
Roman stepped aside.
“Then leave.”
Elena hesitated.
“You're letting me?”
“Yes.”
She looked at him suspiciously.
“Why?”
“Because if I make you stay, you'll spend every day trying to escape.”
His voice softened.
“I'd rather have you choose to come back.”
Elena couldn't answer.
She walked toward the door.
Maya followed.
They had barely reached the hallway when a guard came running toward them.
“Alpha!”
Roman turned.
“What?”
“The eastern gate.”
“What happened?”
The guard was breathing hard.
“It's been breached.”
Rafael immediately moved toward him.
“How many attackers?”
“None.”
Riven frowned.
“Then why are you here?”
The guard swallowed.
“Because we found something.”
He looked at Elena.
She immediately felt cold.
“What?”
The guard hesitated.
“A message.”
Roman stepped forward.
“Where?”
“In the courtyard.”
“Show me.”
They followed the guard outside.
The pack had gone silent again.
Warriors surrounded the eastern gate.
At the center of the courtyard stood a wooden post.
Something had been nailed to it.
Elena stopped walking.
A photograph.
Old.
Faded.
A woman stood in the center.
Beside her was a man.
Elena knew them instantly.
Her parents.
Her breath caught.
“No.”
Maya grabbed her arm.
“Elena…”
She stepped closer.
The photograph had been taken years before her parents' deaths.
Her mother was smiling.
Her father stood beside her.
And between them was a baby.
Elena.
But there was something written across the bottom.
Three words.
THEY LIED TO YOU.
Elena's hands began shaking.
Roman reached for the photograph.
She snatched it first.
“Don't.”
He stopped.
Her eyes moved over the image.
Then she noticed something she had never seen before.
Around her mother's neck was the same silver crescent pendant.
The pendant currently in Elena's hand.
Her breath caught.
“How did they get this?”
Riven examined the photograph from a distance.
“Someone had access to your family's belongings.”
Elena looked at him.
“Or someone who knew my parents.”
A voice came from behind them.
“You should ask who took the photograph.”
Everyone turned.
Alpha Marcus stood at the entrance of the courtyard.
His face had gone pale.
Elena stared at him.
“You know.”
Marcus didn't answer.
“You know who they are.”
“Elena—”
“You know what happened to my parents.”
His silence was enough.
She stepped toward him.
“You lied to me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“By lying?”
“Yes.”
“From what?”
Marcus looked at the triplets.
Then at Elena.
“From the people who killed your parents.”
Elena's anger faltered.
“Who?”
Marcus opened his mouth.
A sudden howl tore through the night.
Every wolf in the courtyard went still.
The sound came from beyond the eastern gate.
It wasn't a normal wolf.
It was deep.
Ancient.
Almost human.
Elena's pendant began burning again.
Roman immediately stepped in front of her.
But Elena wasn't looking at him.
She was staring toward the forest.
Something was moving between the trees.
A shadow.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Rafael's claws emerged.
“Everyone inside!”
The warriors raised their weapons.
The shadows stopped at the edge of the trees.
A figure stepped forward.
A woman.
Tall.
Pale.
Her silver eyes locked directly onto Elena.
She smiled.
And Elena heard the ancient voice inside her head again.
Run, little queen.
Elena froze.
The woman lifted her hand.
“Your mother should have finished what she started.”
Roman's wolf erupted into his eyes.
Riven drew his blade.
Rafael stepped beside Elena.
But the woman only smiled wider.
“Don't worry, Elena.”
Her voice carried across the courtyard.
“I didn't come to kill you.”
She looked at the three Alpha brothers.
“I came to take you home.”
Then every wolf behind her dropped to one knee.
Elena's blood turned cold.
Because they weren't bowing to the woman.
They were bowing to her.
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