CHAPTER ONE - REJECTED

The cloud was heavy, I can hear the sound of my heartbeat in pains for him not to say the words I see through his eyes.

“Don’t,” I said in a tiny voice, my voice shaking. “Please, James… don’t do this to me.”

He stared at me, His gaze hardens, a wicked rime settling over Whats was once warm.

“From this day, you are no mate of mine.” James Cantu, Alpha of the Bloodmoon Pack, said as his hands tightens not to hurt but to silence.

The words were intense, cold, and pierced through the great lobby like claws across stone.

“Is this real? I’m I dreaming?”

My lips tremble slightly, my breath caught in my throat as i stammered. “You… you.. reject me?”

“Yes, this bond ends now.” He responded, his voice was steady and his eyes were focused, no blinking nor darting but his angry words were spat through clenched teeth as he stared directing towards the opposite angle.

“I don’t want you. You’re a looser. Too young. A weak Omega has no place beside me.”

My hands quiver, but i forced them into fists. “Say that again, look straight in my eyes. Say it without your voice shivering.”

James’ jaw clench as he turns head slightly avoiding eye contact, just for a moment, the connection tightening in his chest but he escalates. “I reject you, Leah. I feel nothing for you.”

“You’re lying,” i said in a low tune but in pains, moving closer to him. “Our bond doesn’t lie. I feel it. Every breath you take draws at me, every pound in your heart echoes in mine. And you… ” my voice cracked, “you are afraid of it.”

“Afraid? You think I care?” His laugh was bitter as he hissed. “I don’t fear you. I don’t want you and will never want you.”

“Why can’t you even look straight in my eyes without trembling?” I said as my heart melt away in pains.

He swallowed repeatedly, as if he’s pushing emotions down. Then he said

“Because fate is wicked. And I refuse to let fate read out my life.” And turned away.

“You would rather live empty than accept me?” I said as my eyes crowded with tears.

“I would rather choose strength than pin myself to pity,” he said as his voice raises louder and harsher.

I flinched but lifted my chin. “I may be an Omega, James, but I am not weak. Weakness is refusing the truth right in front of you because you are too much of a coward to accept it.”

“That’s enough!” His voice thundered as he slammed the table, his words echoing across the hall.

My chest rose and melts in shallow. “Tell me, Alpha. Do you even sense the rip up burning within you? Or has your heart already perished so much you don’t notice?”

James’ hand flutter at his side. His wolf roared within him, challenging he claims me, but his ego howled louder. “I feel nothing for you.”

“You feel everything,” i shot back, tears covering my vision. “And mark my words, one day, this rejection will destroy you.”

“Leah….” His voice softened for just a second, he said my name as his shoulder dropped releasing tension for a moment.

I opened my eyes widened as I looked at him softly in tears, but he hardened his tone again. “Leave now…. Get out….. Before I have the guards tug you out.”

I swallowed my sob, forced herself to straighten. “You may reject me, James Cantu. But you cannot wipe what fate casted upon us. You will feel this bond for eternity, even if it drags you down to your grave.”

I could feel my heart beating faster as I walked out of his presence in shame and embarrassment. All eyes were on me murmuring harshly, and I wanted nothing more than to disappear.

He stood still. Frozen. And when i finally walked away, each step sounded like a sharp sword striking his chest.

⸻

Outside, my breathe fogs out in visible white puffs and goosebumps forms instantly. My thoughts filled I missed a foot and tripped down the steps of the Alpha Hall, my heart beating in my ears.

“He rejects me,” i murmured into the dark, my voice breaking out. “The Moon Goddess bound us, and he… renounced me.”

My wolf whimpered inside me, torn, melting in sorrow. I placed my trembling hand to my chest as if i could hold the pieces of myself together.

Maybe he’s right, an evil thought came to my mind. Maybe I am pitiful and miserable.

“No !!,” i said out loud, my voice shaking. “I’m not pitiful nor miserable. I will prove I’m not.”

But my body felt large and heavy like a rock fell on me, my spirit drained. I walked around the silent streets until my legs gave out and i sank onto a bench.

Flashbacks got to me as his hands holding mine at the Moon Festival, the way his scent had surrounded me like fire and smoke. The first time i realized that the bond was real. The way his eyes had softened for just a moment before he chose to sink it under cruelty.

Tears covered my sight. “Why me, Goddess? Why join me to someone who doesn’t need me for who I am?”

My stomach rippled suddenly. Pain twisted through my belly. I doubled over, my hands on my belly as I said to myself “something is happening within me”.

“No… not now…”

The urges to vomit came again, i walked in waves as I managed to get back home. I stumbled home, barely making it inside before falling against my bed. My breaths came in short as I gasps to breathe.

⸻

Morning light creeped weakly through the tiny curtains. My head hammered, my mouth dry. I sat up slowly, pressing my hand to my tummy. It felt… different. Unusual. Heavy. Alive.

My mind raced. “No… No…. it can’t be…”

But my body betrayed me. The late cycle. The sudden illness. The constant tiredness. My wolf beat into a mass of small bubbles inside me, whispering the truth i didn’t want to face.

Heart beating faster, I grabbed a shabby backpack from the shelf and searched blindly with my hands inside of it with lots of herbs, the kind the healers gave Omegas to test for fertility. My hands shook so hard i almost splashed it, but i held myself tight to finish.

The liquid changed in color, red bleeding into gold.

My breath seized. My heart stiff. “No. Goddess, no… Noo…. Not now”

I let go the bottle, glass shattering across the floor. “I am pregnant!!! This can’t be.”

The words struggled out from my lips like a confession.

My knees fasten, and i dropped on the floor, hands rubbing my flat stomach. “I’m with his child.”

Pictures flashed before me, the Alpha’s cold eyes, his words of rejection, his claim that i was weak, unworthy. And now this. A part of him. His lineage. The one thing he swore he would never give me.

Hot water streamed down her eyes. “What should I do now? Should I inform him? Should I flee?”

My wolf whispered, guide it. Protect the pup.

My chest heft as the truth tied chains around me. “He rejected me,” i whispered, tearing against the floor. “But… can I reject his child?”

My head leaned forward, tears soaking in my eyes. The silence of the small room closed in, pressing down hardly against my chest.

At last, my lips trembled around the question that ripped out my soul

“What will I do now, knowing I carry the child of the Alpha who rejected me?”