1: Rejected

Bella

“Ahh…” I rolled out of bed, my body still trembling from the aftermath of my climax. My arms clutched the duvet as I tried to convince myself that he hadn’t just acted cold after everything.

“So, when are you going to announce our mate bond?” I breathed, shifting my gaze to Lucian, who was busy fixing his shirt buttons.

He didn’t reply until he finished clipping the last one. “And who said I was going to do that?” he asked coldly. “Have you ever heard of a prospective Alpha marking an ordinary Omega? Or is history starting with me?”

I shook my head, forcing myself not to imagine he had just said that to me. My boyfriend of two years had just humiliated me to my face?

“But that wasn’t what you promised me a while ago. You said you’d let the entire pack know about our relationship and bond. So, what changed now?” I asked, gripping the duvet like my life depended on it.

I couldn’t imagine him seeing me naked again after the insult he’d just dealt me.

He scoffed. “That you chose to be a foolish girl who could be easily lured into bed doesn’t mean promises suddenly become sacred.” His lip curled in disdain. “I might have said that, and I’m not denying it, but only because I wanted to see what having you as my mate would feel like. And I must say, it’s the best ever.” He smirked.

“But I can’t be with you, Bella. I’m sorry.” He turned to leave, but I stopped him.

“How could you, Lucian? Does it mean that all these years together, you only wanted to have a taste of me? Or was it when you realized I was your mate that you decided to execute your agenda?” I asked, fighting back the revulsion churning in my chest.

He didn’t reply instantly. He slide his hands into his pants pocket, and for a brief moment, I saw vulnerability in his gaze when it met mine, but it didn’t last.

“You can choose whichever story soothes your soul,” he said flatly, “but one thing is clear, I can’t be with you.”

I couldn’t help but drift down memory lane as flashes of our happy moments played in my mind. He had promised me marriage. He had always been there for me, protecting me all these years as my boyfriend, with nothing attached to it.

He never asked for my body until today, when he finally recognized me as his mate. I was delighted, so mesmerized by the bond that even though I wanted to say no when he made his advances, I allowed him.

Wasn’t it my desire to give my virginity to the one who would be my mate? I wasn’t disgusted by that thought, until now.

“I think I’m missing one more thing,” his voice snapped me out of my daze.

“Which is?” I asked, trying hard not to sound weak or broken.

He glared at me firmly, calculating, but that cruel smirk curling on his lips was visible.

“I, Lucian Maxwell, soon-to-be Alpha of the Black Moon Pack, reject you, Isabella Montero, as my mate and Luna,” he declared, much to my chagrin.

“And I, Isabella Montero, accept your rejection,” I blurted out firmly, despite the sudden pain that struck my chest.

I wasn’t going to let him see me as weak. He hurt me. He severed our bond. He shattered everything we had built, and now he was walking away as though it had never meant anything to him.

“Anything else?” I asked as he paused halfway through the door, shock flickering in his eyes.

Wasn’t that what he wanted?

“And you accepted the rejection just like that?”

“Yes, of course. Or what were you expecting?” I asked. But he shook his head, clearly upset, his jaw clenched.

“Don’t tell me you’ve been cheating on me all this while, secretly seeing someone else and waiting to be rejected so you could hop into his arms,” he blurted.

I didn’t reply. Instead, a burst of laughter escaped my lips.

“Does it matter if a more reasonable Alpha out there appreciates everything you’ve just thrown away without a second thought?”

His teeth gritted visibly, his nose twitching, eyes glowing a sharp shade of red.

“I don’t want to see anyone near you, and I’m not going to warn you again,” he snapped, turning to the door.

“We’ll see about that,” I called out just as the door slammed behind him. I knew he’d heard me because I heard his low growl from the hallway.

Left alone, my chest heaved with bitterness, anguish, and disbelief. I couldn’t change the fact that I’d chosen to disguise myself as an Omega, or that he had chosen to reject me. But if I could wish for one thing, it would be that this day had never come.

I didn’t know how long I stayed wrapped in the duvet, partly soaked with my own blood, drained in misery, telling myself I wouldn’t let him break me. That it wasn’t the end. That I would make him pay for this foolish act of his, until I finally stood up and dashed to the washroom.

Moments later, I was dressed and stepping out of my little apartment. It was already dark, but I didn’t care. I needed to clear my head.

I needed to forget everything that had happened, so I stepped into the night in my half-slipped mini gown, the same one I’d bought a year ago and kept for my wedding night, when I would slip into it with my mate by my side.

It didn’t matter anymore. I braced myself and walked a long distance through the lonely, cold street. I kept walking until I spotted the dimly lit bar ahead.

A soft chuckle escaped my lips. I continued forward, and soon I was at the gate of the bar, when I saw it.

A shadow loomed in the dark. Tall. Muscular. Powerful. He wore a white polo that clung to his sculpted torso, and even from a distance, I could see the faint curl of his lips.

I wasn’t moved by his size or strength,

not until he finally spoke. Just then I knew something changed.

"What's a pretty damsel doing out here alone at this unholy hour?"