Chapter 5

HIS REJECTION 

Aiana's POV

The next evening, the bar was alive again with its usual self— the laughters from here and there, the clinking of glasses, the low murmur of conversation— I was used to them already. But it was all different tonight. My body felt disconnected from my soul. It was as if I was on the outside and watched everything through a thick pane of glass. 

Nothing seemed to penetrate the storm that raged inside me. 

I couldn’t stop thinking about Jeremy. Every moment since he’d walked out, my mind had been running in circles.

His reaction from last night gnawed at my insides and it twisted my guts into a painful knot. 

I had to talk to him. I had to understand.

Due to my warlock abilities, I had healed faster than anyone who had that kind of injury would. It wasn't even like I was almost dying the previous night. 

I continued to wait for him and it didn’t take long to find him. He was sitted right at the far end of the bar as he leaned against the wall like he owned the place. His amber eyes scanned the room quietly and I knew who he was looking for. 

There was this certain authority about him the kind of presence that would make people give him space without them even realizing it.

I took a deep breath and steeled myself, and walked toward him. My heart was pounding profusely in my chest as I felt both fear and frustration rearing their ugly heads and battling for who would take control of me. But I refused to let him see any of that. I wasn’t going to let him just walk away from this without an explanation.

“Jeremy,” I said and stopped at a few feet away from him. “We need to talk.” I said. 

His eyes shifted to me and I saw that it was cold and distant. There was no single warmness there, not even a recognition of the somewhat connection I knew we both felt. He was just ignoring it. It was like he’d shut himself off completely and had now built a wall of ice between us.

For a moment, he didn’t say anything, he just stared at me with those intense and unreadable eyes. Then, finally, he spoke. 

 “There’s nothing to talk about.” he said in a low and harsh voice. 

I felt anger rise inside of me, but I pushed it down. I wasn't backing out. 

"What do you mean there’s nothing to talk about? You can’t just—” I was saying. 

“Forget it,” he cut me off in a razor sharp tone. “Forget we ever met.” he blurted out. 

His words hit me like a slap to the face and I blinked once at the impact. I was stunned, my mind scrambled to make sense of what he had just said. Was he being serious?

 “Forget we ever met? Are you serious?” I asked him. 

He crossed his arms over his chest and tightened his jaw.

 “Dead serious.” he muttered. 

My heart hammered in my chest as disbelief and anger surged through me.

 “What the hell is going on? I know you felt it too. I know you know we’re—” I was saying but he cutt me off. 

“Stop.” His said in a cold voice that was almost cruel. “Don’t say it.” he warned me and I stared at him as I felt confused. 

“Why? Why can’t I say it? You’re my—” I was saying. I was sick and tired of being turned down. 

“Don’t,” he repeated, he spoke more forcefully this time. His eyes flickered with something darker it was something I didn’t understand. “I don’t want a hybrid for a mate.” he muttered. 

For a second, I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right.....I didn't want to believe that I heard him right. This was the reason?

My heart stuttered and my stomach twisted painfully.

“What?” I breathed out, I was barely able to get the word out.

For so long I had wanted to feel united with someone and now that I had the chance, hw was just taking it away from me because I was a hybrid?

Jeremy’s eyes hardened and his jaw clenched tight.

"You heard me. I don’t want a hybrid for a mate. It’ll ruin everything.” he said and he got up from the chair he was seated and walked out. I followed him behind. 

I felt like the floor had been ripped out from under me as I walked. This...... bond between us was supposed to mean something—it was supposed to be sacred. Right? Wasn't it?

But the way he said those words, the disdain in his voice, it all made me feel like I was nothing. Like I was some kind of mistake.

“Ruin everything?” I echoed as I followed him my voice was trembling despite myself. “What are you talking about? How could I—” I was saying. 

“You wouldn’t understand,” he snapped at me as he cut me off again. His eyes flashed with frustration, as if this was all some kind of burden he had to bear. But he wouldn't explain further. And I was too stubborn to just let this slide. Not when this was about something really important in my life. “You’re not even fully wolf. You’re just… half of what you’re supposed to be.” he mused. 

His words were painful, I got to give him that. They cut deep and sliced through me like a knife. I swallowed hard as my throat tightened while the sting of his rejection sank in like a bile that refused to be swallowed. 

“So that’s it?” I asked, my voice was a lot quieter now but it was still laced with disbelief. “You’re just going to throw this away because I’m not ‘complete’ enough for you?” I asked him, incredulous. 

He didn’t say anything for a long moment. And his silence sure spoke louder than any words ever could.

I could feel the devastation as it creeped in, it was curling itself around my heart like icy fingers. 

This was supposed to be my mate, this was supposed to be the one person in this world I was meant to be with. 

And yet, here he was, standing right in front of me and telling me that I wasn’t enough?

“I can’t bear the thought of having a mate who isn’t even a full wolf,” Jeremy finally said, his voice was low as he spoke, like it was a fact as simple as the weather. “You’ll never fit in. You’ll never be accepted. You’ll be a liability. I don't want that." He said. 

My breath caught in my throat. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. 

“A liability?” I echoed as my voice shook with both anger and hurt. “You don’t even know me.” I scoffed and looked away. 

“I don’t need to know you,” he replied coldly. “I already know enough.” he concluded. 

That was the singlest most cruelest thing I had heard in a while. This was way worst that a punch to the guts. 

He was being cruel to me. 

I clenched my fists in anger as I tried to keep my emotions in check, but the pain was just too sharp, it was too raw. The hope that had been ignited inside me and had somehow been fanned to life just hours ago, the previous night was now being crushed, it was being stomped out by the very man who was supposed to cherish it.

I couldn't even believe it. I didn't want to. 

I took a step closer and my voice trembled as I spoke to him. 

 “This bond isn’t something you can just walk away from, Jeremy. It’s real. We’re—” I was saying but he cut me right off, as usual. 

“I reject you.” he said all of a sudden. 

The words came out harsh and final and they slammed into me like a punch to the gut. I froze and my breath caught in my throat while I felt my heart shatter into tiny pieces in my chest. 

What? 

“I, Jeremy Rock, Alpha of the Rock River pack, reject you Aiana Steel, as my mate,” he repeated, his eyes were cold and distant. “We’re done here.” he said. 

He said those words and I didn't know the particular emotion that I felt the more. Disappoinment? Hatred? Or shame? 

Again someone else didn't want me. 

For a moment, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe. The words of his rejection stung like mad, it was suffocating, overwhelming even. I had never felt pain like this before—not even in all the fights, all the times I’d been bruised and beaten up.

This was different.

This was soul deep.

I stared at him while unable to fully process what had just happened. Our bond—the one thing I thought would change everything—had been severed before it had even begun.

“I hate you,” I whispered. The words slipped out before I could even stop them. And I meant it. In that moment, I hated him with every fiber of my being.

Jeremy didn’t flinch. He just stared at me with an unreadable expression and then.....he turned and walked away from me. 

I watched him go with the tiny pieces of my heart in my hand. The rejection was painful. It was all over before it even started, our bond. The man I was supposed to be with for the rest of my life had walked away and had left me with nothing but the bitter taste of betrayal.