The Public Rejection

Lorien

The morning air was crisp, carrying the scent of pine and damp earth as I stepped outside. My body still ached from last night, from him, but the pain was overshadowed by a growing sense of anticipation.  

Cassius had come to me.  

He had found me in the dark, his hands desperate as they claimed me, his body pressed against mine, his breath uneven as he whispered my name like it meant something.  

And for the first time in my life, I had felt wanted.  

I was happy about what had happened between us, but I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach as I hadn't woken up with him by my side. 

I had expected him to be at my side the second I woke up, because mates that were newly discovered were practically inseparable.

I searched for him all overy house, even checking the surroundings, but I didn't find him. 

I decided to take a walk, hoping that I might find him on the way. 

I clutched the hem of my jacket, pulling it tighter around myself as I walked toward the pack house. The murmurs of the pack carried through the morning air, but I barely heard them. I only had one thought—had last night changed anything?  

Had it changed him?  

Before I could reach the steps, a powerful voice rang out.  

“Let everyone gather! There is something I must say.”  

Cassius.  

I froze, my heart slamming against my ribs. The urgency in his voice sent a ripple through the pack, drawing wolves from every corner. Omegas emerged from the kitchens, warriors abandoned their training, and the elders moved to stand at the front, their expressions curious but expectant.  

A pit formed in my stomach as I saw him standing on the platform, his broad shoulders squared, his golden eyes hard and unreadable. Beside him stood Julian, his Beta and closest friend, his face a mask of neutrality.  

I swallowed, forcing myself to take a step forward.  

Then Cassius spoke.  

“I, Cassius Blackwood, reject Lorien Vale as my mate.”  

The world tilted beneath me.  

For a moment, I thought I had imagined it, that my mind was playing some cruel trick on me. But then, as the words settled, a stunned silence fell over the crowd.  

Cassius’s gaze swept over the gathered wolves, his expression void of any emotion. And then, as if rejection alone wasn’t enough, he added,  

“An omega like him is beneath me. He is also a man, and I cannot, even with the Moon Goddess's approval, have anything to do with another man,”  

The silence shattered into laughter.  

Mocking. Cruel.  

The warriors grinned, some elbowing each other as if this were a joke, while the omega girls whispered behind their hands, their eyes alight with amusement. Even some of the elders nodded approvingly, as if Cassius had just made the right decision.  

I couldn’t breathe.  

The air felt too thick, too suffocating.  

“Did he really think the Alpha would accept him?” someone sneered behind me.  

“A male omega? Disgusting.”  

“As if any Alpha would claim one of those.”  

The words stabbed into me, one after another, their edges sharper than any blade. I wanted to move, to run, but my body was frozen in place, my mind reeling from the force of Cassius’s rejection.  

I lifted my gaze to his, searching—desperate—for something, anything, that might tell me he didn’t mean it. That last night hadn’t just been… nothing.  

But his eyes were cold. Empty.  

The Cassius who had held me in the dark, who had trembled against me, was gone.  

“Cassius, how could you even—?”

Even Julian’s quiet murmurs could not mask the overwhelming cruelty that filled the room. I barely heard his soft, “I’m sorry,” as I passed him by, his eyes filled with regret, but I didn’t stop. I needed to escape this chamber of humiliation before the sting of rejection became permanent.

I took a step back, then another.  

I barely noticed the crowd parting for me, barely heard their laughter continuing behind me. My legs carried me away, through the pack grounds, past the warriors still smirking, past the omegas who looked at me with a mixture of pity and disgust.  

I didn’t stop running until I reached the small, run-down house I called home.  

The door slammed shut behind me, the sound reverberating in the silence. My breath came in sharp, uneven gasps as I pressed my back against the wooden frame, my fingers digging into the fabric of my cloak.  

Cassius had rejected me.  

Publicly.  

Without hesitation.  

I squeezed my eyes shut, my hands trembling as they curled into fists. The pain in my chest was unbearable, suffocating. My body still carried his scent, my skin still remembered his touch, but none of it mattered now.  

Because to him, I was beneath him.  

I let out a shuddering breath, my mind racing through everything I had endured in this pack—the whispers, the isolation, the sneers. From the moment I had presented as an omega, I had been nothing but a disgrace.  

And now, Cassius had made sure that disgrace was set in stone.  

A fresh wave of humiliation crashed over me. The image of the crowd’s laughter, the way they had looked at me—it burned into my memory like a scar that would never fade.  

I couldn’t stay here.  

I wouldn’t stay here.  

I opened my eyes, staring at my reflection in the cracked mirror across the room. My violet eyes—so often filled with hopelessness—burned with something else.  

Determination.  

If Cassius thought I was beneath him, if this entire pack saw me as nothing more than a joke, then fine.  

I would leave.  

I would escape this pack, this life, this endless cycle of shame and rejection.  

I had no family. No allies.  

But I had myself.  

And that would be enough.  

I straightened, wiping the lingering wetness from my eyes.  

The next time I saw Cassius Blackwood, I wouldn’t be the omega he had rejected.  

I would be someone he regretted losing.