Bonded then Rejected

Lyra’s POV

I walked back to my room slowly, my chest still hurting, the hallway was longer than before, and every wolf I passed turned to look at me.

Some whispered, some stared, some laughed, but I kept my head down.

I did not want to hear what they said, and when I reached my small room,  I closed the door. For a moment, I just stood there with my hand still resting on the door.

Then my legs gave up, and I sat on the bed. The room felt strange, and everything looked the same.

But nothing felt the same.

Three years.

Three years of waiting.

Three years of believing I would marry Kael, all gone in one night.

My eyes moved to the window, and the moon was already rising.

Tonight was the Moon Goddess Ceremony, and my chest tightened again.

The thought returned.

“What if the Moon Goddess chooses Kael and me?

What if we are mates?

Would he still turn away from the bond?

Or would he finally see me?”

I shook my head.

Stop it, Lyra.

You already know the answer.

Still… my wolf moved inside me, restless and nervous; it was like she was waiting for something.

Hours passed, and soon the pack members began walking toward the ceremony ground.

I then heard their voices outside, laughing, talking, and excited, and then I stood slowly.

My legs felt weak, but I still walked out of the room.

The ceremony happened near the sacred altar.

When I arrived, the place was already full, and torches burned around the clearing.

The altar stood in the middle, and the priestess stood beside it, and everyone waited for the ritual to begin.

I then moved to the back of the crowd. I did not want anyone to notice me, but then I saw him.

Kael.

He stood near the altar. He was tall and strong, and Serena stood beside him, and her hand rested on his arm again.

It belonged there, and they looked perfect together.

The future Alpha.

The future Luna.

My chest tightened, and I looked away quickly.

The priestess then raised her hands.

“Tonight,” she said loudly, “the Moon Goddess will reveal fated mates.”

Everyone bowed their heads, and the moon rose higher.

Silver light spread across the clearing, and the ritual began.

One by one, wolves began to feel the bond.

A girl near the front gasped and ran toward a boy, and they laughed and hugged each other.

“Mate!” someone shouted happily, and more wolves began finding their mates.

Laughter filled the air and joy spread across the clearing, but nothing happened to me.

Then I lowered my head.

Of course.

Why would the Moon Goddess choose me? I was just an omega. A girl no one wants.

Then suddenly, my chest burned and I gaspsed and pain spread through my body, and my wolf howled inside me as I grabbed my chest with my hands. “What is happening?”

The burning grew stronger, and it spread through my veins, and my head lifted slowly and across the clearing,

Kael stopped moving, and his eyes met mine. The moment our eyes locked, the bond snapped into place.

I felt it, strong, and my breath stopped.

Mate.

Gasps spread through the crowd.

“They’re mates!”

“The Moon Goddess chose them!”

My heart began beating fast, and hope exploded inside my chest. The Moon Goddess bonded us; she chose us.

Maybe Kael will accept the bond, maybe everything would change now, maybe he would remember the three years we spent together.

I then took a step toward him, and my eyes were filled with tears.

“Kael…”

He then looked at me and for a moment his face changed, and something moved in his eyes, something uncertain, and then hope grew stronger inside me.

Then Serena grabbed his arm, and her nails dig into his sleeve, and her face was filled with anger.

“You cannot accept that bond!” she said loudly, and the crowd began whispering.

Then the elders looked nervous, and Serena turned to Kael again.

“You promised me,” she said.

“You said she meant nothing.”

My heart trembled, and Kael looked at me again, and for one moment I thought he would speak differently.

For one moment, I thought he would choose the bond, then his face changed, and the emotion disappeared, his eyes became hard, and his voice rose across the clearing.

“Lyra Vale.”

My wolf trembled.

“I reject you as my mate.”

The words struck me like lightning, and the bond broke; pain exploded inside my chest, and I fell to my knees.

My wolf screamed inside me, and it felt like my heart was being torn apart.

The crowd stared, no one moved and no one helped, and then Kael continued speaking, and his voice carried across the ceremony ground.

“You are too weak to be my Luna.”

Each word was like another knife and then he pulled Serena closer to him, and her smile returned.

“My Luna is already here.”

The crowd grew silent, and Serena looked down at me, and her eyes shone with victory, and then she spoke.

“And I never want to see her again.”

The elders looked at each other, and then the head elder stepped forward and his voice sounded firm.

“The decision is made.”

My body shook on the ground.

“Lyra Vale is banished from the Stormclaw Pack.”

The words echoed in my head.

Banished?

My chest hurt so much that I could not breathe, and then I pushed myself up, and my legs felt weak.

My eyes moved to Kael, but he did not look at me, not even once, and something inside my chest broke.

I then turned and ran, I ran past the wolves staring at me, past the altar, past the pack house, and I ran toward the forest.

Tears blurred my vision, and branches hit my arms but I kept running, and my wolf cried inside me.

The broken mate bond burned in my chest, but I did not stop, and I did not look back.

Then the forest swallowed me, and I disappeared into the night.