3

Jane

“What’s your name?” he asked, stalking closer. I took quick, fearful steps backward.

My heart was racing, and my throat tightening. I opened my mouth, but no words came out as I shivered in fear.

He was so tall I had to crane my neck to look at his face. There was something dangerous about him, something that made it hard to breathe—like the air around him was too thick.

But there was something else, too—something that pulled at me deep inside, making me want to step closer, even though every instinct screamed at me to run.

His eyes burned into me, studying me like I was some kind of bug. When I didn’t answer right away, one eyebrow lifted, amused by how pathetic I must have looked.

“I just asked you a question,” he said indifferently. “Answer me.”

“My name is Jane,” I answered, taking another step backward—only to nearly stumble into a waitress.

“Watch out!” He grabbed my hand, pulling me, and—

Oh Goddess.

It was like lightning shot up my arm and spread through my whole body. Every nerve ending came alive.

It was more than just a touch. It was a sense of recognition and completion, as if I had found the missing piece of my soul I never knew was lost. My entire body hummed with electrifying energy—fate, unfolding.

I gasped and jerked away as if his touch had burned me, because it did—it burned with promise, with possibility, with a future I was suddenly desperate to claim. When I looked up at him, his face had gone pale.

His eyes widened in shock, then narrowed into something that looked like disgust. Like touching me made him sick.

“My name is Richard Brown,” he said suddenly. I didn’t understand why he was telling me that, but before I could even think, he grabbed my hand again.

That electric sensation surged through me once more—and then he said the words that shattered my world.

“I, Richard Brown, reject you, Jane, as my mate, my partner, and the Luna to my pack.”

The world stopped.

Time, breath, and hope—everything ceased to exist.

The room fell silent, save for the gasps of those who witnessed it. It took a full minute for his words to sink in.

And when they did, it felt like someone had reached into my chest and ripped my heart out.

“What did I tell her!” Lissa’s voice cut through the silence. “No one will want a loser like her.”

This couldn’t be real. It had to be a nightmare. I had met my mate—the other half of my soul, the one person meant for me in all existence—and he had looked at me once and rejected me without hesitation.

He rejected me before he even knew my last name.

“Why?” I asked, unable to control the stream of tears already turning into a flood. “Why did you reject me?”

It was a hard pill to swallow. This was supposed to be the beginning of everything good in my life.

My mate—he was supposed to see past my weaknesses, love the broken pieces of me, and help me become whole.

Instead, I was staring into the face of my salvation… as he explained why I didn’t deserve to be saved.

“Are you seriously asking me that?” He squeezed my hand tighter, and it hurt. “Look at you. You’re like a gust of wind. I could blow you away right now and that’d be it. The moon goddess must have lost her mind assigning me a weak wolf like you.”

Each word was a dagger. I knew I was weak. I knew I was nothing special. But hearing it from him—the one who was supposed to love me unconditionally—hurt a thousand times more.

“What could a she-wolf like you possibly offer me? Or my pack?” His smirk twisted cruelly. “With you as Luna, my world would collapse. You’d ruin my legacy, turn me into a joke—and I’ll never let that happen. Accept the rejection, and we walk away like this disgusting meeting never happened.”

Disgusting. Our fated meeting—this sacred moment that should have been the most beautiful in my life—repulsed him.

I wanted the earth to crack open and swallow me whole. But I was still here, still bleeding, and still faced with an impossible choice.

How could I accept his rejection when I didn’t even have a wolf to complete the ritual? How could I let go of the only chance at love I would ever have?

“Still trying to think of a way to convince me?” he snapped. “Accept the rejection now before I do my worst.”

“I… I can’t accept your rejection,” I whispered, eyes locked on the floor. When I finally looked up, I was pleading with everything I had. “Please. I’ll get stronger. I’ll be better. Just… give me a chance.”

I didn’t care about my pride anymore. Not dignity, not self-respect—nothing mattered now.

Without him, I was nothing. Without a mate, I would forever be the pack’s favorite victim, their punching bag. Living proof that even fate made mistakes.

“I should accept you?” His voice softened slightly, and hope bloomed in my chest.

“Yes,” I breathed. “Please. Just one chance to prove my worth.”

“You don’t have to listen to her, Alpha,” Lissa called. “She’s nothing but trash. Even the lowest omega is better than her. Don’t be fooled. She’ll never be worth anything.”

Rage, pure and cleansing, flooded through me. “Shut up,” I snarled. “Don’t poke your nose into what isn’t your business. He is mine.”

“Ha.” His laugh was bitter and empty. “I never thought there would be a day I would be humiliated like this, by the moon goddess herself.”

Even the thought of me embarrassed him. I wasn’t just unwanted—I was shameful.

“Please,” I pleaded desperately.

I could feel it—the bond, the pull, and the way my soul reached for his. Only he could love me the way my mother once promised someone would. Only he could see worth in the worthless.

This ache inside me... it was him. He was the only one who could ever love me.

“Kneel,” he ordered. “Maybe then I’ll consider it.”