Chapter 8: The Rejection

Jessie's POV

The word "Mate" escaped my lips before I could stop it, echoing through the pack house like a sacred vow. My wolf moved with satisfaction, finally recognizing what she had been searching for all along. I felt Ethan's hand tighten around mine, so warm and reassuring, oh, how much I didn't want it to end, and for a brief moment, everything felt right in a world that had been so devastatingly wrong.

Then I saw my father's face.

Alpha Marcus stood frozen, his expression shifting from shock to confusion to something that looked almost like fear. My heart sank. This wasn't the joy I had expected to see. This wasn't the relief of a father watching his daughter find her destined mate. It was something entirely different, I know that look, I know my father.

Behind him, Derek's face had gone red with barely contained rage, his jaw clenched so tightly I could practically hear his teeth grinding. Gaty stood beside him, pale as a ghost, her eyes darting between Derek and me like a trapped animal.

"Everyone, leave us. Now!!" My father's command cut through the air like a blade, and I watched as pack members scattered, disappearing within seconds.

Derek and Gaty remained rooted to their spots.

"That includes you two," Dad said, his tone brooking no argument.

"But Alpha Marcus," Derek protested, stepping forward with his hands raised. "The promise you made was to me. I was supposed to save Jessie. Thi..s this stranger has no right to...”

"I said leave." My father's voice dropped to a deadly warning, and I felt his Alpha aura flare enough to make Derek stumble backward.

Gaty grabbed Derek's arm, pulling him toward the door. "Come on, Derek, let's go."

I watched them leave, Derek shooting one last hateful look at Ethan before the door closed behind them. The silence that followed felt heavier than anything I had ever experienced.

Now it was just the three of us, my father, Ethan, and me.

Dad turned to face us fully, and I could see how tired he looked. The loss of Mom, the kidnapping, everything had aged him in ways that broke my heart. In my previous life, I had never noticed these details, too wrapped up in my own grief and Derek's manipulations. But now, seeing him clearly, I realized just how much he had been carrying alone. My dear father.

"Alpha Ethan," Dad began, and I noticed immediately that his tone was cold, formal. "I am grateful that you saved my daughter. Truly, I am. But…"

"Father…" I started, anxiety rising in my chest.

"Let me finish, pup." His voice softened when he addressed me, and I saw the love there, the same love that had always been there, even when I had been too blind to see it before. "I made a promise, yes. A promise born of desperation and fear. But now that I see the situation clearly, I cannot, in good conscience, honor it."

My heart dropped into my stomach. No. This couldn't be happening. Not again. In my previous life, I had been forced to marry Derek because of this promise. Now, when I had finally found my true mate, was my father going to reject him?

"With all due respect, Alpha Marcus, we are fated mates. The Moon Goddess herself.". Ethan's voice was controlled, but I could feel the tension coming from him through our connected hands.

"The Moon Goddess has made mistakes before," Dad interrupted, and I gasped at the blasphemy. "Or perhaps not mistakes, but pairings that were... com..plica..ted. Difficult."

"What are you saying, father?" My voice came out small, hurt. This was not how it was supposed to go. I had been given a second chance to change my fate, to avoid Derek and Gaty’s trap, to find my real mate. And now my own father was standing in the way? Oh, how I wished he knew the gravity of the mistake he was about to make.

Dad walked to the window, his back to us as he spoke. "Alpha Ethan, you are the leader of the Shadow Pack. Your reputation precedes you, tales of your strength, your ruthlessness in battle, your iron control over one of the most powerful packs in the Northern region."

I felt Ethan's hand tense in mine, but he remained silent.

"I fail to see how that's a problem," Ethan said carefully.

Dad turned back to face us, and his eyes were harder than I had ever seen them. "Your pack is feared, Alpha Ethan. Feared for good reason. You rule with absolute authority, you show no mercy to your enemies, and you have built your territory into a fortress that no one dares challenge." He paused, and I saw pain flash across his face. "My daughter has just lost her mother. She is grieving, vulnerable. I will not send her into a life where she will be nothing more than a trophy mate to a powerful Alpha, where she will be expected to suppress her own strength to fit into your world of politics and power plays."

"Father, that is not fair," I protested, though doubt was already creeping into my mind. Was he right? In my previous life, I had rushed into marriage with Derek, blinded by what I thought was love and duty. Was I about to make the same mistake again, just with a different man?

"Isn't it?" Dad challenged, turning his gaze to Ethan. "Tell me, Alpha Ethan, what do you know about my daughter? Beyond the mate bond, beyond the pull you feel, what do you actually know about who she is?"

The question hung in the air, and I found myself holding my breath, waiting for Ethan's answer. In my previous life, Derek had claimed to love me, but he had never truly known me. He had never cared to know me. Would Ethan be different?

Ethan's silence was deafening.

My heart cracked a little. He didn't know me. How could he? We had barely spoken, barely spent any time together beyond him rescuing me and the funeral incident. The mate bond was pulling us together, yes, but was that enough?

"Exactly," Dad said, though there was no triumph in his voice, only sadness. "You don't know her. And she doesn't know you. The mate bond is powerful, yes, but it is not enough to build a life on, not when that life would require her to leave everything she's ever known to join a pack where she has no allies, no friends, no support system."

"I would be her support," Ethan said, his voice rougher than before. "I would protect her, provide for her, give her everything she could ever need."

"Everything except freedom," Dad countered, and those words hit me like a physical blow. "Everything except the choice to discover who she is meant to be on her own terms, not as someone's mate, but as herself. As Jessie."

Freedom. The word echoed in my mind. In my previous life, I had had no freedom. Derek had controlled everything, manipulated everything, taken everything from me. And now my father was offering me what I had never had before, the choice to be my own person.

My hand slipped from Ethan's, and I immediately felt the loss like a cold wind sweeping through me. When I looked at him, I saw something raw and painful in his eyes, but I could not bring myself to reach for him again. My mind was too chaotic, too confused.

"Alpha Ethan," Dad continued, his voice taking on a firmer tone. "I am rejecting your claim to my daughter. And I have already made my choice for who she will mate with."

My head snapped up. "Wh..at?"

"I choose Derek for you, Jessie," Dad said, and the words hit me like a physical blow. "I have known Derek since he was a child. His father and I were close friends, allies who fought side by side in many battles. Derek has proven himself time and time again. He is trustworthy, loyal, and he has been training to one day unite our packs through marriage."

"No." The word came out as barely a whisper, my throat closing up with panic. This couldn't be happening. Not again. Not in this life, too.

"Derek tried to save you tonight," Dad continued, oblivious to the terror rising in my chest. "He came for you, just as he promised he would. The only reason Alpha Ethan got there first was mere chance, nothing more. But Derek's intentions have always been pure. He cares for you, Jessie. I have seen it."

"You don't know what you're talking about," I said, my voice shaking. "Derek doesn't care about me. He only wants…"

"He wants to unite our packs and build a future together," Dad interrupted. "Unlike this stranger who appears out of nowhere claiming to be your mate. How do we even know the mate bond is real? You are young, grieving, vulnerable. Your wolf could be confused."

"My wolf is not confused!" I snapped, my hands clenching into fists. "Dad, please, you can't do this. You can't make me mate with Derek."

"I can, and I will," Dad said, his Alpha authority controlling his voice. "Derek is a good man from a good family. His father was my brother-in-arms. I trust him, and I trust his son. You will give him a proper chance, Jessie. That is my final word on this matter."

I felt like the walls were closing in on me. This was exactly how it had happened in my previous life. My father, believing he was doing what was best for me, had pushed me toward Derek. And I had gone along with it, too dutiful, too obedient to fight back. I had married Derek, and it had destroyed me.