The Mate He Was Never Meant To Reject

I couldn't stop smiling.I had tried.

I'd stood in front of the mirror that morning and told myself to calm down, but every time I thought about what today meant, my lips curved into another stupid smile.

Today was the day.After years of loving Zion, today I would finally stand beside him as his Luna.

My Luna.

The thought made my heart flutter.

I had spent the entire afternoon getting ready. I had changed my dress twice, redone my hair three times, and even sprayed on the perfume Zion once told me was his favorite.

I wanted him to look at me and remember why he had chosen me.Why he had loved me.

Why he had promised me forever.

A knock sounded on my door.

"Ma'am, it's time."

I turned toward the door, my heart jumping.

"Thank you. I'll be out in a minute."

The moment the maid left, I looked at myself in the mirror one last time.

"Today," I whispered.

I smiled.

I had no idea that those would be the last few seconds of my life when I still believed I was loved.

••

The ceremony was being held at the courthouse.Pack members filled the hall, their voices blending into a low hum as I walked inside.

My eyes immediately searched for Zion.

He was sitting in the Alpha's chair.My heart skipped.

He looked so handsome.So powerful.I almost smiled.Then I saw who was sitting beside him.My smile disappeared.

Jasmine.My twin sister.

She was sitting beside Zion.Not somewhere in the crowd.Not with Mom and Dad.

Beside him.My feet stopped moving.For a moment, I couldn't understand what I was seeing.

I blinked.Then again.

Maybe I had misunderstood.Maybe there was a perfectly reasonable explanation.There had to be.

"What's going on?" I whispered.

Mom hurried toward me.She didn't smile.

She didn't congratulate me.She didn't even look me in the eyes.Instead, she grabbed my arm.

"Please don't cause a scene," she whispered.

I stared at her."Cause a scene?"

My heart began beating faster."Mom, what's happening?"

She opened her mouth, but no words came.I looked past her.

At Zion.He was watching me.Our eyes met.

I waited.

Just like I had waited for him my entire life.I waited for him to smile.To come to me.To tell me that everything was fine.

He didn't.He just stared.And suddenly, a terrible feeling crawled into my stomach.

"Zion?"

He didn't answer.

Jasmine smiled.A satisfied smile.The kind of smile someone wore when they had finally gotten exactly what they wanted.My chest tightened.

"What's going on?" I asked again.This time, my voice shook.No one answered.The entire hall had gone silent.

I looked around.Everyone was staring at me.

And then it hit me.They knew.All of them.

Whatever was happening, they knew.Everyone except me.

"Please," I whispered. "Someone tell me what's happening."

Jasmine gave a small, mocking laugh."What does it look like, Sarah?"

I looked at her.Then at Zion.Then back at her.

My mind refused to put the pieces together.

"This is supposed to be my ceremony."My voice sounded small.

I turned to Mom."Isn't it?"

Her face crumpled for a second."I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"Mom looked away."Mom?"

I stepped closer."What are you sorry for?"

She didn't answer.My breathing became shallow."Today is supposed to be my day."

I looked at Zion again."Isn't it?"

Finally, he stood.The scrape of his chair against the floor sounded deafening.

"Sarah."

The way he said my name made something inside me crack.I wanted to run to him.I wanted him to explain everything.I wanted him to tell me this was some horrible misunderstanding.

So when he looked at me, I held on to the smallest piece of hope.

"Yes?"

He sighed."I'm sorry this is happening."

My heart sank."Why?"

"It's for the best."

I stared at him."For the best?"

He nodded.I laughed.A small, confused sound escaped my lips.

"For whose best?"

He didn't answer.My eyes burned."Zion, what are you talking about?"

He looked away from me for a moment.Then he looked back.And I knew.I didn't know what he was going to say.But somewhere deep inside me, I knew my life was about to change.

"I, Zion Darius, Alpha of the Moonlight Pack..."

My heart stopped.

"reject you, Sarah Marcus, as my mate."

For a moment, nothing happened.I simply stared at him.I heard the words.I understood every single one of them.Yet my mind refused to accept them.

That wasn't possible.Zion couldn't reject me.Not the boy who had held my hand when we were children.Not the man who had promised me that I would be his Luna.

Not the man I had spent years loving.

"No."My voice barely came out.

I shook my head.

"No."

A sharp pain suddenly tore through my chest.I gasped.My hand flew to my heart.It felt as though something had reached inside me and ripped it apart.

I stumbled backward.

Sarah!"

I barely heard Mom.

Another wave of pain hit.

I bent forward, struggling to breathe.

"No... no..."

Tears spilled down my cheeks.I looked at Zion.

He was still standing there.Still watching me.

"Why?"My voice broke."Why are you doing this to me?"

He didn't move."What about your promises?"

I wiped at my tears, but more immediately replaced them."You promised me."

My throat tightened."You promised you would choose me."

His jaw clenched."Sarah..."

"You promised!"My voice cracked across the hall.

"You said I was your future. You said you would make me your Luna."

He lowered his eyes.And that hurt almost as much as the rejection.

"Was all of it a lie?"

Instead, he said, "The pack needs a Luna who is strong enough to stand beside its Alpha."

I stared at him.

"You're not fit to rule."

I felt my heart break all over again."Why?"

My voice had become a whisper."I'm strong."

I looked around desperately.

"I'm strong enough. I've trained. I've tried. I've done everything you asked."

My gaze returned to him."Why her?"

Jasmine straightened proudly beside him.Zion's eyes moved toward her.

"Jasmine has awakened her wolf."

My stomach dropped.

"And you haven't."

I swallowed.Those four words shouldn't have mattered.But they did.They destroyed me.

"You still haven't shifted."

The room blurred.All those years of trying.

All those nights praying my wolf would finally answer me.All those times I had wondered why I was different.

And now the person I loved had taken the one thing I was most ashamed of and used it to explain why I wasn't worthy of him.

My legs trembled.I couldn't feel my feet anymore.

I dropped to the floor.The cold concrete hit my knees.Someone gasped.I didn't care.I couldn't hear them.

I could only hear his voice repeating inside my head.You still haven't shifted.You're not fit to rule.

I reject you.

My eyes found Jasmine.She was standing beside him.My twin.My own sister.

The woman who had spent her entire life sharing everything with me.And now she was taking the one thing I had believed would always be mine.

Zion.My future.My mate.My Luna title.My family.Everything.

My tears fell faster."Please..."

I didn't even know who I was begging.

Zion?My parents?The Moon Goddess?

Someone?Anyone?But no one came to save me.Then Zion turned toward the pack.

"From this day forward, Jasmine will be your Luna..."

My breath caught.

"and my mate." He added

I wanted to scream.I wanted to tell him he couldn't do this.That he couldn't erase five years of loving him with a few words.

That Jasmine couldn't simply take my place.

But my voice wouldn't come.My body was shaking so badly that my teeth began to chatter.

Mom reached down toward me."Sarah..."

I jerked away from her hand."Don't."

She froze.I couldn't bear her touch.Not when she had stood there and watched the person she called her daughter destroy me.

"This was supposed to be the happiest day of my life," I whispered.My voice cracked."Why?"

I looked at Mom.Then Dad.

"Why did you let this happen?"

Dad couldn't look at me.That silence answered me.My heart sank.They had known.They had all known.I had spent the entire morning smiling at them.

I had thanked Mom for helping me choose my dress.I had hugged Dad before leaving.I had walked into this room believing my family was there to celebrate me.

They had known I was walking into my own humiliation.

"How long?" I whispered.

Neither answered.

"How long have you known?"

Mom finally spoke."We did what was best for the pack."

I laughed through my tears."The pack."

That was all I was?Not their daughter.Not Zion's childhood sweetheart.Not a woman who had loved him with everything she had.Just a problem that needed to be replaced.

Mom's voice hardened."You're sick, Sarah. You're not fit to rule."

I stared at her.The woman who had held me when I cried as a child.The woman I had believed would always protect me.

And now she was telling me I wasn't good enough.Something inside me died quietly.I forced myself to stand.My legs shook beneath me.

I almost fell.But I stayed upright.I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of watching me crawl.

I looked at Zion.He was staring at me.There was something in his eyes.

Regret.

Once, I would have clung to it.I would have searched his face for proof that he still loved me.

Not anymore.

I lifted my chin even though tears continued sliding down my cheeks.

"If this is what all of you wanted..."My voice trembled.I swallowed the lump in my throat."then I accept."

Zion's expression changed.I looked directly into his eyes.

"I, Sarah Marcus, daughter of Beta Marcus, accept your rejection."

The pain in my chest intensified.I nearly cried out.But I refused to look away.If he was going to break me, I wanted him to see exactly what he had done.

I wanted him to remember my face.My tears.

The way my hands shook.The moment he destroyed the woman who had loved him since childhood.

My vision began to darken.The last thing I saw was Zion staring at me.And then everything disappeared.

***

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I felt was pain.Not the sharp pain in my chest.Something deeper.Something that felt like it had settled inside my bones.

"She's awake."

Mom's voice.My stomach twisted.Then everything came back.The ceremony.The rejection.

The tears came before I could stop them.I turned my face away.I didn't want them to see me cry again.But my body betrayed me.

A sob escaped.

Dad rushed to my bedside."Sarah."

I looked at him.His eyes were red."I'm glad you're awake."

He reached for my hand.I stared at it.

That hand had held mine that morning.He had smiled at me.He had watched me leave the house believing I was going to become Luna.

And he had said nothing.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry the decision had to be made without your consent."

I finally looked at him.The question came out before I could stop it.

"Do you hate me?"

His face crumpled."What?"

"Do you hate me that much?"

"No."His voice broke."Sarah, you're my daughter. I love you."

I wanted to believe him.God, I wanted to.

But if he loved me, why had he let them do this?

Before I could ask, Mom walked over.Her arms were folded across her chest.

"Stop being childish."

Dad turned sharply."Grace."

"What?" she snapped. "Am I lying?"

She looked directly at me."You're sick. You haven't awakened your wolf. You can't rule the pack."

Each word landed heavily.

"You should be grateful Jasmine is taking your place."

I stared at her.Grateful?For losing Zion?For losing my future?For being rejected in front of the entire pack?For watching my sister become the woman I was supposed to be?

My lips trembled."Grateful?"

Mom didn't soften."Yes."She sighed impatiently.

"We're doing you a favor."

A favor.

I stared at her through my tears.I couldn't understand.How could losing everything be a favor?How could watching the person I loved choose someone else be a favor?

How could my own family breaking my heart possibly be something they were doing for me?

"What favor?"

Mom's expression changed.For the first time, she looked almost uncomfortable.

She glanced at Dad.Dad's face had gone pale.

My heart began pounding.

"What favor, Mom?"

Neither answered.

I pushed myself higher against the pillows."Tell me."

Mom looked at me.And then she said the words that made my blood run cold.

"You'll understand soon enough."