CHAPTER 4: THE ALPHA’S REJECTION

AURORA

“There’s no way in hell…”

The entire field stayed quiet.

“That she is my mate… no way I’m accepting a mate like you.”

Xavier’s voice sliced through the sacred circle like a blade, loud enough for every wolf in the pack field to hear. The full moon seemed to dim above us, or maybe that was just my vision blurring as the words sank in.

I felt every eye in the pack turn toward me.

My heart pounded painfully inside my chest as I looked at Xavier.

I stood frozen, the mate bond pulsing between us like a living thing—warm, insistent, desperate for connection.

But Xavier looked at me with pure revulsion. His perfect jaw clenched, those sharp alpha features twisted in disgust. He was everything the pack worshipped: tall, broad-shouldered, radiating power in his ceremonial black robes.

And I… I was the girl they all mocked. Fat, curvy and wolfless.

“Xavier…” the priestess began.

“No.” His voice was sharp and cold.

“The Moon Goddess has a sick sense of humor if she thinks I’d tie myself to a fat, wolfless nobody. Look at you.” His rising voice continued.

His gaze raked over me, lingering on my hips, my stomach, my simple dress that suddenly felt too tight. “You’re not Luna material. You’re not even pack material.”

Laughter erupted around the circle. Sharp, cruel bursts that stabbed deeper than his words. I saw Lila step closer to him, her hand sliding possessively around his arm. She wore a look of feigned shock, but her eyes glittered with triumph.

“Xavier, please…” The words slipped out before I could stop them. My voice cracked as the bond tugged painfully at my chest, as if begging him to stop.

He laughed, he actually laughed. “Please? You think begging is going to change this? I, Alpha Xavier Thorn, future leader of Mooncrest Pack, rejects you, Aurora Blackwood, as my mate.”

The moment the words left Xavier’s mouth, it felt as though someone had reached inside my chest and ripped my heart apart with their bare hands.

A scream tore from my throat before I could stop it.

The pain was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. It wasn’t physical pain alone. It was deeper. Crueler. It felt as though my soul itself was being shredded apart piece by piece.

I collapsed onto my knees in the dirt, clutching my chest as unbearable heat exploded through my body.

The bond had barely formed, yet his rejection tore through me with merciless force. Every nerve in my body felt like it was on fire. My bones ached. My lungs burned.

Tears streamed down my face as I doubled over.

Why? What had I done wrong?

The question echoed endlessly inside my head. Around me, the crowd began whispering, then the whispers became laughter.

Cruel, mocking and merciless.

I could hear every single one of them.

“She actually thought the future Alpha would accept her.”

“Look at her.”

“How embarrassing.”

“Poor Xavier.”

Their words struck harder than the rejection itself. I lifted my head and through my blurred vision, I saw my parents standing among the crowd.

Not one of them looked concerned, my mother looked horrified, while my father looked furious.

As though my rejection was somehow another failure I had committed against them.

Beside Xavier, Lila wasn’t even trying to hide her happiness anymore. The triumphant smile on her face was impossible to miss and something inside me shattered.

I looked up at the moon hanging high above us. The same moon I had prayed to my entire life. The same moon goddess I had begged to remember me.

A broken sob escaped my lips.

“Why?” I whispered.

My voice trembled. “Why me?” But nobody answered.

The pain continued tearing through me as fresh tears spilled down my cheeks.

“What did I do wrong?”

I wasn’t speaking to Xavier anymore, I was speaking to the Moon Goddess herself.

“What have I ever done to deserve this?”

My voice cracked. “I tried so hard.”

The words came out between sobs. “I tried to be good, I tried to help as many as I could, I tried to make my parents proud, to be the perfect daughter.”

“I tried.”

A harsh breath escaped me as another wave of agony ripped through my body.

“But nobody ever sees me.” I pressed a trembling hand against my chest.

“Why does everyone hate me?”

The field had gone completely silent now, even the laughter had faded. But I couldn’t stop.

Years of pain were pouring out of me.

“What is so terrible about me?” I cried. “What makes me so unworthy of being loved?”

My shoulders shook violently.

For a moment, there was nothing but silence and pain.

Then suddenly—

A strange warmth spread through the very center of my chest.

Soft, ancient, powerful. And for the first time in twenty-one years…

A voice spoke inside my head.

“Enough.”

The single word froze me completely and my sobs stopped. The pain didn’t disappear, but something stronger pushed against it.

Something fierce and protective.

“Little one,” the voice whispered.

“Pathetic,” someone muttered just as I was trying to understand what was happening to me.

Then a familiar voice cut through the chaos.

“Xavier Thorn, you foolish boy!” Nana Cromwell pushed through the crowd, her small frame radiating unexpected authority. Her silver hair gleamed under the moonlight as she stepped between us.

“Do not do this. The Moon Goddess does not make mistakes, she is your mate!” Nana yelled.

“Rejectimg your fated mate carries a heavy price. Mark my words, child. You will regret this night for the rest of your days.” Nana continued.

Xavier sneered down at her. “With all due respect, Nana, stay out of this. I know what I want.” He glanced at Lila, who preened beside him, then back at me with cold finality. “And it’s definitely not her. I choose Lila Blackwood as my Luna. She has always been the one worthy of standing by my side.”

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause. Lila’s face lit up with pure delight as she pressed herself closer to him, waving modestly at the pack like she’d just been crowned.

The pain intensified and I cried out, falling to my knees in the dirt as heat like I’ve never felt before surged under my skin, unbearable now.

I looked down through tear-blurred eyes and froze.

Silver runes were glowing on my skin, they were beautiful intricate patterns, blooming across my forearms and up toward my shoulders.

They shimmered like moonlight on water, ancient and alive. I heard gasps around me that turned to shouts.

“What the—?”

“Is she cursed?”

“Freak! Look at her!”

The crowd recoiled. Someone threw a stone that bounced near my feet and Lila’s face twisted in horror and something darker, maybe fear?

But inside my head, through the agony, a voice I’d always been praying for finally spoke. Soft, feminine, ancient and very powerful.

“Little one… breathe. I am here. I have always been here.”

My wolf.

Tears streamed down my face as another wave of pain crashed over me. The runes pulsed brighter, casting ethereal light across the ceremonial ground.

“Do not cry for him. He was never worthy.”

I clutched my head, rocking slightly. “Who… who are you?” I whispered inside my mind.

“Your other half. Feel me, Aurora. Feel our strength rising.”

The voice wrapped around my shattered heart like a warm embrace, easing the worst of the tearing sensation just enough for me to lift my head.

Xavier was still standing there, but his expression had shifted from disgust to confusion as he stared at the glowing marks on my skin. Lila clung tighter to him, her smile faltering.

Nana knelt beside me, her hand gentle on my shoulder. “Child, breathe through it,” she murmured softly, shielding me slightly from the worst of the stares.

The pain began to ebb, replaced by a strange, buzzing power humming in my blood. The runes faded slowly, sinking back beneath my skin, but I could still feel them—waiting.

“They will pay for what they’ve done to you,” my wolf whispered, her voice gaining strength. “But not tonight. Tonight, we survive. We endure. And when the time comes… we rise.”

I pushed myself to my feet on trembling legs, wiping dirt and tears from my face. The pack stared at me like I was something unnatural as I made to move.

Xavier’s jaw was tight, a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes now, but he turned away, pulling Lila closer and raising their joined hands to the cheering crowd.

The priestess cleared her throat awkwardly. “The Moon Bond ceremony… continues.”

But nothing felt the same. The bond was gone. It had been severed by his rejection—but something deeper had awakened inside of me.

I looked up and smiled, maybe the moon goddess didn’t hate me after all. Maybe she was finally remembering Aurora Blackwood.

As the crowd dispersed into uneasy chatter, I caught movement in the shadows beyond the torchlight. A tall figure, cloaked in darkness, watching. He stepped back and vanished before I could focus.

Nana helped me away from the circle. “Come, my cutie. Let’s get you home.”

Home. The word tasted bitter but as we walked, my wolf’s voice lingered in my mind like a promise.

“This is not the end, Aurora. It is only the beginning.”

I shivered, gripping Nana’s arm tighter. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t completely alone.