010~ REJECTED REJECTION

Vaelra

My whole body tremble with rage the second the name leaves his lips.

"Don't call me that!"

I clench my fist and swing for his face, but he catches my wrist before my knuckles can even graze him and pin it against the wall above my head.

"Why?" A mocking smile pulls at his lips. "Is that what your dead lover used to call you?"

I bare my teeth at him. "Don't you dare."

His smile widens.

"Vae." His voice drips with amusement. "Vae"

I swing the other hand at him, and he catches that one too and pins it beside the first.

"You're persistent."

"I'm going to fucking kill you."

"You're welcome to try."

"Unhand me!" I grit out, yanking against his grip with everything I have, but the bastard is stronger.

"If you keep moving like that, that blanket will fall."

I ignore him and jerk my knee upward, aiming for his groin, but his hand catches my thigh before I can connect. At the same time the blanket slips from my chest and falls to the ground.

"D—don't look."

"I've seen enough of you."

My breath catches as he steps between my legs, keeping my thigh trapped against his side with the heat of his body pressing in.

His thin linen cloth is the only thing between us, and even that feels like too little.

"Get the fuck off me!"

I twist harder, but his grip doesn't budge.

He shifts closer, carrying a faint scent I can't place and I inhale before I can stop myself.

My heart pounds harder, my breathing turning too fast. Something about his scent makes my head feel strangely light, as though my body is recognising something my mind hasn't.

His eyes flicker as he notices my reaction.

"What's wrong, Wildfire?" His voice drops lower and rougher.

His nose brushes the side of my neck, and every hair on my body stands on end.

I bite down hard on my lip, hating the way my body seems to crave his touch.

"Can you feel it?" He murmurs against my skin.

"Feel what?" I force out. "The only thing I can feel is your fucking rancid breath!"

"The mate bond."

"Fuck you and the stupid mate—" The words die on my tongue.

My eyes snap to his.

His mismatched eyes begin to glow as he says the single word that makes my whole world come crashing down. "Mate."

"No," I whisper, horrified. Then louder, "No."

He presses harder into me. "Yes."

I shake my head frantically, trying to deny the truth even as every subtle sign since the day we met until now plays through my mind.

"You're lying."

He has to.

"You feel it." He drops my thigh and lifts my face with one hand. "Your body already knows."

"I don't feel anything except the urge to tear your throat out!"

I thrash against his hold again, harder than before, the backs of my shoulders and arms scraping roughly against the stone walls, pain flaring across my skin, but anything is better than the way his scent keeps trying to unravel something inside me.

"No matter how much you deny it or hate it, Wildfire..." his gaze burns into mine. "You are mine."

"I'd rather die than accept that the Moon Goddess is sick enough to chain me to the monster who killed the only man who ever loved me!"

The moment the sentence leaves my mouth, his expression changes. It is gone so quickly that I almost miss it

"You act like it's a death sentence."

"I'd call it worse." I glare straight into his eyes. "At least death would mean I never have to wake up and see your face again."

His eyes darken, and jaw clenches so tightly a muscle jumps in his cheek.

"I regret giving him an easy death." His hand thightens around my wrists not enough to bruise, but enough to remind me how easily he could snap my bone if he wanted to.

"I should have made you watch while I rip him apart piece by fucking piece. The hands that touched you first, then his fucking cock, then evwrything else, slow enough that he stayed awake for most of it. Until the only thing left was a wet bloody smear on the ground and the sound of you choking on your own screams."

A scream tears from my throat as I lunge forward as far as his hold allows and sink my teeth into the side of his neck, hard enough to taste blood.

He hisses, but he doesn't pull away.

My entire body is shaking so hard I can barely stay on my feet as I cry against his skin, tears and blood mixing on my lips.

"You didn't have to kill him," I choke out.

"He touched what belongs to me. No one gets to do that and keep breathing."

"I don't belong to you," I snarl as I pull back. "And I never will be."

Then I say the words that feel like I'm tearing something vital out of my own chest.

"I, Vaelra Howler, of the Crescent Moon pack, reject you Alpha Raze Blackthorn as my mate and Alpha."

I have always imagined this moment, the moment my mate, if at all I would have one, looks at me and rejects me for being wolfless. I had prepared myself for the heartbreak and crushing pain. I never imagined I'd be the one doing the rejecting.

Silence.

Then, a dark, low chuckle rumbles from his chest, sending a shiver down my spine.

He leans in until his lips are almost brushing mine.

"I Raze Blackthorn of the Blood Moon Pack..." His voice drops to a deep, possessive growl. "Reject your rejection."

My eyes widen. "You can't do that."

"I just did."

"Why?" My voice cracks. "Why would you even want me?"

His expression doesn't change.

"I'm wolfless." I emphasise the last word. "I'm cursed. I'm not even a virgin."

I know how much wolves hate deflowered shewolves and an arrogant Alpha like him should hate it even more.

It's almost laughable how they can sleep around as they please, yet expect their mates to remain untouched for them.

"I don't care."

"You should!"

"I'm not what you wanted or expected. No one wants me, and you shouldn't." I try to make him see that only an idiot would refuse to reject me.

"I still don't care."

I guess he is an idiot.

"You fucking lunatic!" My chest heaves as I yell. "I don't accept this. I will never accept it. I will hate you for the rest of my life."

His silence stretches between us as he holds my eyes, and I think he's finally seeing the mistake the moon goddess made.

His hands loosen around my wrists, and he lets me go.

"At least you feel something."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

He doesn't answer. He turns away from me instead and starts walking toward the door he came through.

My heart beat quickens. "Wait."

He keeps walking.

I hurry after him. "You have to reject me."

He reaches for the door.

"Please."

Tears blur his figure in front of me.

When he finally stops, hope sparks in my chest for one foolish second.

Then he looks back at me. "No."