Chapter 4: The Rejection

CLAIRAELLE'S POV

For a second I thought I had imagined his eyes softening for a millisecond before returning to the normal coldness. Then he walked closer toward me, and the air in the narrow space changed. My pulse jumped.

He stopped a just few steps away again. Close enough that I had to tilt my head to meet his eyes. Golden. Unreadable. Cold.

“Human?” he asked.

His voice was low, controlled, and dangerously attractive. But there was no warmth in it.

The word hung between us.

Something flickered in his expression—too fast to name—before it vanished.

“A human,” he repeated. The way he said it made the word sound small. “I can't believe this happened now. Of all places and time. And to someone like you.” he sounded angry.

My throat tightened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You felt it too, didn't you?” His voice stayed quiet, but there was an edge under it now. “The bond snap. I saw it on your face.”

Bond? Like the famous mate bond that existed between supernatural beings?

How can that be possible when I'm only human.

I said nothing still. My heart was beating too hard to think straight. The warmth under my ribs had turned chilly.

The man studied me for a long moment. Then he spoke again, each word deliberate.

“Whatever this is, whatever you felt or I felt, it means nothing.”

I stared at him.

“You must know who I am, so no point in introductions.” he said, keeping his face straight.

I kept staring at him. Forcing myself to control my emotions.

Of course I knew him. Everybody does. But I kept my face blank.

He studied my face then gritted his teeth. “You do not know who I am?” he asked after i didn't confirm I knew him.

I shook my head, biting my lips to keep them from trembling. I don't know why I suddenly couldn't speak.

He sighed heavily. “You're human. Of course you don't.” he said condescendingly.

He looked back at me with cold eyes. “I am the Alpha King, Tobias Kingston,” he said. “And whoever I choose as my mate will stand beside me as not only the future Luna but also the Queen of Cosgrove United. She will hold power, influence, and the respect of every faction in the High Kingdoms. She will not be a common human girl from the lower districts who entered these Games for flimsy prize money.”

The words landed like blows to the chin.

“I could never accept a weak human as my mate,” he said. “I would never stoop so low.”

My chest hurt.

Not in a poetic way. In a real, physical way, as if something inside me had been struck hard enough to bruise.

“I, Alpha King Tobias Kingston, hereby reject you–Whatever your name is–human as my mate,” he said. “And whatever connection exists between us ends here. Do you understand?”

I opened my mouth. No sound came out.

This wasn't supposed to hurt this way.

He waited a second longer, as if making sure the words had landed. Then he turned and walked away without looking back. His footsteps faded down the corridor until the silence returned.

I stayed where I was.

My hand had moved to my chest without permission. My fingers pressed hard against the place where the warmth had been replaced by the cold. My heart suddenly felt twisted, aching, and incomplete.

This should not hurt. It just shouldn't.

I was human. I had just met him today. I did not know his voice, his habits, his past. I had no reason to feel anything for him beyond the ordinary shock of standing in front of someone that powerful.

And yet my eyes were already burning.

I slid down the wall until I was sitting on the cold stone floor. The corridor remained empty. No one came. No one saw.

The first tear slipped free before I could stop it. Then another. I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes, but it did not help. The pain in my chest did not care that none of this made sense. It simply existed, heavy and relentless.

I cried.

I remember crying only three times in my lifetime.

The first was when I buried my mother.

The second time was when I felt hunger so great I had to steal food for my sister and I to feed.

The third was when my sister was diagnosed with lung disease and given a short lifespan of life to live.

But here I was, crying for a man I did not even know.

I did not know how long I sat there. Long enough for the light from the high window to shift. Long enough for my breathing to turn uneven and then slowly, painfully, steady again. Long enough that when I finally lowered my hands, my face felt hot and swollen and my throat ached.

At least thirty minutes had passed. Maybe more.

I wiped my cheeks with the back of my sleeve. My hands were unsteady.

“Fine,” I whispered to the empty corridor.

The word came out rough.

I did not understand what had just happened to me. I did not understand why a stranger’s rejection could cut this deep. But I understood one thing clearly.

I would not let it stop me.

I had not come here for him. I had not come here for bonds or kings or any of the politics that filled this place. I had come here for five million crowns. For Eliana. For a way out of poverty.

I would win the Games. I would take the money. And then I would leave this world of golden eyes and ancient bonds and people who looked down at humans like we were temporary.

I would never have to see Tobias Kingston again.

I would never have to see any of them again.

I pushed myself to my feet. My legs felt weak, but they held up. I wiped my face one more time, smoothed my hair, and forced my expression into something neutral. Then I walked back toward the main halls.

The orientation chamber had mostly cleared, but a group of candidates still sat on the benches near the front. I took a seat at the edge of them, far enough that no one would look too closely at my face. A few glanced over. None of them spoke to me. I preferred it that way.

A man in a dark uniform entered a short time later. He carried a clipboard and spoke with the flat authority of someone used to being obeyed.

“Candidates,” he said. “Listen carefully. In a few minutes you will be escorted to the transport platform. A train will take you from this fortress to the High Kingdoms, where the Games will officially begin. Once you board, you are committed to the preliminary stage.”

He let that settle for a moment.

“If anyone wishes to withdraw, this is your final opportunity. Speak now. After the train departs, withdrawal will no longer be simple, and in some cases it will not be possible at all.”

Silence moved through the group.

No one stood or spoke.

I kept my hands in my lap and my eyes on the floor. The ache in my chest was still there, duller now but present. I ignored it.

The uniformed man checked his clipboard. “Very well. Gather your belongings. We leave shortly.”

Around me, candidates began to rise and collect their things. Conversations started up again in low voices. Someone laughed nervously. Someone else muttered about the High Kingdoms and what waited there.

I stayed seated a moment longer.

Then I stood, touched the pendant at my throat once, and followed the others toward the doors.

I did not look back.

I had a train to catch.

And a prize to win.

~