Rejected

Leona’s point of view

“I don’t want her as my mate!” Bastian’s voice booms in the alpha’s room. I can’t stop my tears; every time he speaks, it’s like he is twisting a knife in my chest.

I let out a shuddering breath, lifting my gaze to meet his eyes. He has his jaw clenched so tight, his nostrils flaring in disgust, and he looks like he has been told the worst news of his life.

“You will accept her as your mate. That’s final!” Alpha Paul growls, slamming his hand on the table, making me flinch, but Bastian doesn’t budge.

“I would rather die than have that as my mate!” he growls; a gasp leaves my lips.

That.

That’s what my mate refers to me as.

I lower my head, letting the tears stream down my face. I am pathetic. That’s for sure. I am letting other people speak on my behalf.

A mate should be something that completes you, but it seems to Bastian that I am just another thing he wants to get rid of.

“You are going to mate with her. That’s final,” Alpha Paul continues to insist. I feel sorry for him because he has to choose between his son and me.

How could Bastian stand there and not feel any remorse? What was it he hated about me? Was it my body? Am I too ugly? Is it because I am wolfless?

So many questions are going through my mind. I want to ask him, but my voice is stuck in my throat.

“Then you will lose the only heir you have. Is that what you want?” He threatens. Gasps fill the room; he would rather die than be my mate.

He hates me that much.

I can feel everyone’s gaze on me. When I lift my eyes looking at my mom, she looks like she can’t believe what’s unfolding before her. Tears fill her eyes, and she is trying not to cry.

It’s not every time you get to see Lydia Hawthorne break. But she must hate this. It must remind her of how my biological father rejected her and me.

A pack having no heir? That’s not something I want this pack to be. They took in my mom and me when we had nothing. Mom always tells me the story of how she had nothing, and the couple accepted her, letting her chase her dreams.

I choke back a sob, wiping my tears. “Reject me,” I finally say.

I hate being the center of attention. This makes me so uneasy. If he doesn’t want me, then he just needs to reject me.

“Leona,” the Luna’s voice comes as I blink back my tears. If he doesn’t want me, then we should both be free.

Bastian tilts his head like he is assessing me. Like, I have a hidden agenda. Yes, I have an agenda. I just want to go back to my room and cry myself to sleep.

Forget about this nightmare I had on my birthday.

Damn you, moon goddess. You should always wait until after someone’s 18th birthday. At least they don’t have to feel shitty on their birthdays.

“Sweetie, no.” My mother shakes her head; you can see the panic in her eyes and hear the pain in her voice. She is hurting as well.

“I am wolfless. I am sure it won’t be that bad,” I sniffle back, letting the tears roll down my cheeks, playing with my fingers.

“No. It will kill you. You are too weak!” My mother growls, getting up to her feet as she strides towards me. Then let it be so.

If it were written that I would die today, then so be it. I don’t need their pity.

“Baby no.”

“It’s fine, Mum.” The tears fall from my eyes as I lift my gaze, meeting Bastian, who looks at me with such disgust and disdain. He wants this to end; I am happy to end it for him. He does not need to take his life.

“Reject me. I know I will survive,” I say to him, getting to my feet. I won’t cower like a coward. He doesn’t want me, fine! Even my wolf wants nothing to do with me.

He swallows hard, raking his fingers through his raven-black hair, his brown eyes blinking several times as he looks at his father, then me.

“If you reject her, you might as well leave this pack. I will not let you treat her with disrespect,” the alpha says as I turn to look at him. He doesn’t mean that.

He can’t banish his own son because he disrespected me. That’s crazy.

“Father”

“It’s your choice,” the alpha says as he sits back in his big leather chair, then waits.

I don’t know if he actually means it that he would lose his position because of rejecting me, but something deep in me stirs. This isn’t right.

Bastian chuckles dryly, then comes closer. “Fine. I don’t mind. I, Sebastian Pearce, reject you, Leona Penelope Hawthorne, as my mate and future luna.” When the last word leaves his lips, I feel an excruciating pain in my stomach, like my guts are being pulled out; everything hurts. My chest feels like someone just pulled my heart out, then squeezed it until it popped.

“No, Leona, don’t,” Luna Kelly pleads, shaking her head. I fall to my knees, then look at her. Tears fill her beautiful brown eyes.

“I, Leona Penelope Hawthorne, accept your rejection,” I say, tears rolling down my cheeks. something ripples out of me, feeling the mate bond even as it snaps.

I let out a shriek so loud my voice fades as the pain takes over my entire body, and I fall to the ground, on my knees.

“Oh goddess! Leona!” My mother panics, coming to my side. Holding my hands, my heart races so fast, my skin feels like it’s on fire.

“Mum... Mum, make it stop!” I plead, crawling out of my skin. It burns. I feel my skin on fire. I fell on the ground, curling into a ball as I held my knees to my chest.

“No. No…” I cry, this is not how I die. “We need to get her back home. Come on!” I hear my mother’s voice, but it’s like she is not with me. The voices overlap, and I can hear someone shouting and screaming. Whimpers. Sobs.

If this was my fate to be rejected on my 18th birthday, then, moon goddess, you are a cruel goddess.