4: Rejected

Selly has never been so stunned in her life before today. Her hand shook and words were stuck in her throat while her eyes just stared at the furry pup.

How is this even possible?

She didn’t wonder for long. Her moment was cut short by the man trying to snatch the baby from her.

His actions were not very appreciated as something seemed to have snapped in her and her protective instincts kicked in like never before. 

Her heart yearned for something, a deep desire to inflict harm on that stupid man.

“The audacity. How dare you!” She said to him, her voice a mere whisper but he heard her nonetheless.

The man frowned at her strange accent but ignored her.

When her claws grew one again, they had a faint glow to them and she muttered something under her breath.

The man, half worried and angered by her earlier stunt, did not notice that the young  woman’s eyes had already turned a deeper shade of amber and were burning with something unrecognizable. 

As soon as he tried to pounce on her, an undetained shriek left his lips.

“Aah!”

He held his face with trembling hands.

Four long lines ran across it. One of them missed his left eye by a few millimeters with the gashes so deep that his bones were exposed. 

Being a rogue, he was used to injuries but this felt different. The pain was excruciating, it felt as if someone had poured acid concentrate on him.

The Luna, witnessing this as she crouched on the floor, was awestruck. Then a new kind of worry filled her. 

Who was this young woman? 

Was she another enemy? 

Were they being attacked by two different groups?

“Please let my son live!” Colette pleaded with the young stranger who now held her son but her words went unheard.

Selly’s rage didn't simmer even when she watched the man writhing on the ground. She wanted him dead.

Holding her little mate with one arm, she  went at the wailing man with all her might, kicking and screaming at him.

“Die.”

The man didn't seem to feel a thing. He was in so much pain that he lost his sense of time and place. 

With a final blow, Selly clawed his left arm and watched as it fell off his shoulder.

If he didn't die due to excessive blood loss then he would surely regret being born.

She knew even if he lived, the scars and wounds would never heal, not after she had infused it with a spell so strong. He would forever be reminded of her when he took a look at the mirror.

Cries of agony filled the place, prompting all the attention to turn to the four of them.

Now, all the enemy ran towards them.

With dozens of rogue werewolves charging at them at lightning speed, the Luna swallowed hard. They were not going to make it out of there alive.

~

He looked good in navy blue.

Standing behind him as he took his time to make himself presentable for the occasion that was a few hours away, Selly swallowed hard.

It was his twenty-fourth birthday.

A simple act of running his hand into his shoulder-length black hair seemed to steer some dirty thoughts in her mind.

Wiping her sweaty palms on her amber satin dress that accentuated her curves , her eyes went past his broad torso onto the mirror, hoping for her actions to be reciprocated through the medium. 

Time flew by so fast yet she looked as the same day she first appeared to him and people always wondered why.

The little pup she had held twenty four years ago was now a man. Tall and pleasant to the eyes.

Even if she had felt like she was being sandwiched between a rock and hard place after finding out her mate was a pup, she chose to stay behind for her mate. 

Her heart still ached for Erichon but she had got used to living with the guilt. 

When time came, she would go back and apologize to her people. Hopefully by then, the conflict must have been resolved. 

All she hoped for was for the Erichonians to listen and understand her reasons. 

Choosing to refrain from revealing her true identity until she had secured the bond, most people assumed she was one of the victims of the many abduction cases from the past and she, not once, tried to correct them.

With time, her strange accent morphed with theirs. 

The faint ruin on little Jordan’s back had disappeared as soon as the baby shifted back into its human form to never show up again.

“It's ok. It will be fine.” She had consoled herself with tears.

She knew that she couldn't leave her mate unprotected. Besides, there was a possibility of her being forced to marry king Veryl if she went back too soon. 

He was, after all her mate, a few years more wouldn't matter. They were supernaturals with a lifespan that was subject to eny.

While she held a special place in the hearts of Alpha and Luna Westhund, Jordan’s parents, to the rest of the pack, she was just someone unimportant. One that didn't have the ability to shift. A lesser werewolf. 

Apart from the partial shift she had when she arrived at their pack, they had never seen her shift again.

Later, she came to understand that her mate was born with a very unstable wolf. 

Born with a human form but shifted as an infant made him attract the wrong kind of  attention from both allies and enemies.

Him being an infant posed risks not only to himself but also his mother. Feeding him proved to be a challenge and so was protecting him.

Only she could tame his unstable wolf. With her around, he shifted back into a human form and led a normal life.

Apart from the scent of a mate, she had nothing to hold on to him and she had a nagging feeling that somehow he was drifting away from her.

She didn't have time and had to spill the beans.

Times have changed. 

He had changed. 

The little innocent boy who had showered her with giggles had grown into a quiet and distant young man. A little detached but perfect all the same.

Her lips stretched into a half smile, it was a good day and she was happy. At last, everything would fall into place.

“You're quite mouthful for someone who doesn't have a wolf.” Jordan said, his somber voice rarely rising.

Her lips turned sloppy, the little smile that had adorned Selly’s diamond-shaped face since she made her way into his room faltered.

Although she was used to him being occasionally mean, his words didn't hurt any less.

She had just confessed to him that they were mates and suggested a way to wake up his wolf by marking him instead but he had regarded her as being…mouthful?

She had waited for many years but Jordan’s wolf seemed to have been dormant ever since he changed back to his human form when he was younger.

It was like it took a long slumber never to wake up again.

Being an alpha’s son, the pack members had their hopes up but alas! his twin brother Dominik had shifted at seventeen while his wolf remained asleep at twenty four. 

A possible alpha heir without a wolf was laughable. He couldn't mind-link. The chance of him ever getting a mate was next to none.

As strong as he was, no wolf could respect such an inadequate son of an alpha even though no one dared to say it in his face as Jordan had a temper whose origins were unknown. A literal ticking bomb.

All that mattered was that he was her fated mate.

“This is a sacred bond. I wouldn't dare try…”

“I have no business in whatever games you're trying to play here. But if I were you, I would think twice before spouting such nonsense next time.”

Her palms closed into loose fists, her voice went a pitch higher, “You are my mate. This makes this matter of utmost importance.”

“I didn't peg you to be someone delusional, Selly.” 

He paused, briefly locked eyes with her through the mirror and went on to adjust the necktie.

“But if it makes you feel better; You are not my mate and never will be. And if by the slightest chance, which is next to impossible in this case, you happen to be one then I, Jordan Westhund, reject you, Selly as my mate and server whatever bonds exist between us.”