All Chapters of The Rejected Mate: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

SOPHIA'S POVThe morning of my engagement arrived quietly, though nothing about how I felt matched the stillness outside my window.I sat on my bed while Leah rummaged through my closet, pulling hangers aside with the brisk efficiency of someone who'd clearly appointed herself in charge of the day."I can't believe this is happening," I whispered, watching my own hands twist together in my lap. "I've wanted this for years, and now that it's here, I don't know what to do with myself."Leah turned around, a dress half-pulled from its hanger. "What are you talking about, sis? You're getting engaged to the Alpha. This is what every wolf dreams of.""I know. I just didn't expect it to feel like this," I said, the words coming out smaller than I meant them to. "What if I make a mistake today?""What kind of mistake could you possibly make?" Leah pulled a blue gown free, holding it out at arm's length to inspect it. "This one, or the gold?""I don't care, Leah. Either," I said, too distracted

SOPHIA'S POVThe next morning, a knock came at my door, sharp and impatient, the kind that already told me who was on the other side before I'd even reached the handle.I opened it to find my stepsister standing there, her arms folded, her expression carved from the same cold stone I'd grown up learning to read."What are you doing here?" Anger boiled up before I could stop it, my voice louder than I meant it to be in the quiet hallway."You have no right to be here," Leah spat, not bothering with a greeting, as if the accusation alone was supposed to explain everything."And you have no right to tell me where I can and can't be. I work here now. I'm not leaving," I said, holding the door frame like it might steady me."You have no loyalty to our pack! You've gone against everything and disgraced our family!" Her voice rose with every word, carrying down the corridor."I did what I had to do," I shot back, my chest tight. "I had to start over somewhere, since you took everything I had

DERICK MONDRAGON'S POVThe office had gone quiet for the night, most of the staff already gone, the hum of the building settling into that particular stillness that comes after everyone else has left.I was at my desk, going over a stack of reports I'd been putting off for days, when my phone rang. The sound cut through the silence sharply enough that I knew before I'd even answered it that something was wrong."It's Lucas," my second in command said, tense, his voice clipped in a way that told me he was already moving as he spoke. "We're under attack.""Who?" I asked, already on my feet, the chair scraping back behind me."Night Walkers. They caught us off guard, but we're holding. We need you here."My stomach dropped. The Night Walkers hadn't so much as tested our borders in years, and the sudden break in that silence felt like the first crack in something much larger."How bad?" I asked, grabbing my keys off the desk and already moving toward the door."Bad enough that I wouldn't b

SOPHIA'S POVI woke early, dressed, and headed for the elevator, moving on autopilot through the motions of a morning I hadn't fully braced myself for.I stopped cold halfway down the hall. A werewolf scent, coming from the room next to mine, unmistakable and far too familiar.My pulse quickened before I'd even let myself consider who it might belong to. I knocked, dread already settling in my chest, and the door opened to reveal exactly who I'd feared it would."What do you want?" my stepsister said, cold eyed, unimpressed, as though I were the one who owed her an explanation."What are you doing here? This is my building," I said, still struggling to process the sight of her standing in that doorway."I live here now. Problem?" she asked, one eyebrow raised."Why would you move here? Of all the buildings in this city?" I demanded."None of your business," she said, already starting to close the door."It is my business, Leah, when it's my hallway too," I said, refusing to let it drop

SOPHIA'S POVI made it home with something like relief, until I saw Leah standing outside my door, furious, her claws already out. She looked one wrong word away from losing control entirely."Leah, what is this about?" I asked carefully, my keys still in my hand."I heard you met with my husband today. Alpha Blake." Her teeth were gritted around every word."News travels fast in this family, apparently," I said, unable to resist the jab."Don't change the subject," she snapped."I'm not. I'm just noting it. I did see him," I said, keeping my tone even. "But it wasn't what you're imagining."She didn't believe me, and she made that plain, accusing me outright of still wanting him. I told her I was too tired for the conversation, that it wasn't a no and it wasn't a yes, it was exhaustion, plain and simple.She wasn't interested in letting it go that easily, and for a moment the two of us stood there trading the same argument we'd been having in one form or another since the day Blake ha