All Chapters of Rejected But Elevated : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

She woke up to the smell of pine ash and cold embers.The world was quiet—too quiet. The sort of quiet that was borrowed, stolen, from elsewhere, from some other world. Cassie opened her eyes across the gray of morning, her heart thudding hard as darkness around her hardened into twisted walls and a groaning ceiling. An old cabin. Rotten half-way through. Devoured by the woods.Her first gasp was small. Her second hurt.The air was cold. Her body was stiff. But above all, it was the realization that she was truly gone—left behind the bond, the vows, the two sides of the soul vowed to her and yet unfulfilled.She slowly sat up, her fingers tracing the linen coverlet that had been hastily tossed over her. The hearth was lit with the coals of a dead fire, and in the back corner—Kael.He stood beside the wall, a leg pulled up, sword laid beside him, robes haphazardly creased. His eyes were closed, but his stance indicated alertness, not sleep.Cassie's throat constricted. "This wasn't wh

The wind howled at the cabin, crashing its eaves with grasping fingers. The fire spat and hissed upon the hearth, casting weak shadows on the wood walls. It was a hunter's cabin, abandoned to age and overgrown in the upper pines of the Northern Ridge. Now it was Cassie's captivity.Kael strode like a wolf too long cooped. He'd barely spoken since they'd left the ridge top. He had to ensure that Cassie had enough and was comfortable. He witnessed how swiftly the pack'd destroyed her.How easily they'd been willing to replace her.But even that betrayal had been low-level compared to what she learned now.Deep down, he felt the need to be with her in her trying moment.She sat on the ground next to the fire, Kael's duffel bag in her lap. He had gone off to hunt, telling her she needed fresh meat. She didn't need meat.She was tracking something else.The letters had been hidden under a false lining, held with black ribbon. She had not intended to snoop—but something had bothered her f

The aroma of pine and smoke interwove the air as Cassie moved beyond the border stones, her heart beating to each step in a slow, fearful rhythm. She'd worn a hooded cloak dyed the shade of twilight storm, the fabric hugging her like a second skin. Underneath, the beat of her pulse had been louder than the sound of music carried through from far away.It was the Festival of Remembrance.Of course it was.Lanterns swayed like fireflies, hung from wood rafters and silver wires. Wolves capered in human form, dressed in ritual grays and whites, paying their respects to the dead. The evening hummed with respect—candles, laughter, and an intimacy she had once so wretchedly longed to be a part of.She was now but a specter to them.Cassie embraced the shadows, flowing like smoke between tents of merchants and fires. She passed by the familiar faces—warriors she'd trained, Elders who'd told her she was worthless, children who'd placed flowers at her feet at dawn. They smelled so achingly fami

The wind raging beyond the window of Cassie hammered at the glass in mournful protest. The fire had burned out of the fireplace, and a faint amber light fell over the shattered floorboards. Her mother's journal lay tight in her fists, but its pages offered her no solace. No letter written could soothe the pain within her—the pain of seeing too much, of being saddled with more than she ever should have been.Her hand slid down onto her belly. The baby stirred softly under her hand, a shudder that was calming and hurting.She was not alone.The footsteps groaned in the hallway. For a second, she hoped it would be one of the twins. Lark, say, with another apology in the unspoken manner. Or Mark, stiff with his impassive hurt. But when the knock came, it was softer. Almost tentative."Cass?"Daisy's voice outside the door. "Are you awake?"Cassie paused. She hadn't heard or seen Daisy since she'd come back. Their friendship had fallen apart—no, broken—beneath the strain of secrets, betray

The cabin in the middle ground was smaller than Cassie recalled. Or perhaps she had merely grown beyond her own skin.She slumped over the fire, pen over paper, journal in her lap. The fire spat mindlessly to one side of her, but its heat could not possibly melt the bitter chill in her breast."To my little moon."The words were barely readable as she scribbled them onto the first page."I don't know who you will be. I don't even know if I will live long enough to find you. But I must tell you, no matter how much the world is lying. Even if they call me a coward or curse. Even if your father never utters your name."She paused.Her hand trembled and released from the page. She closed her eyes. Her unborn child moved quietly in her womb—the only heartbeat close enough to hear her without judgment. The only heartbeat that hadn't abandoned her.Cassie sniffed and continued writing."I loved him. I hated him. I still do both. What kind of Luna does that make me? What kind of mother?"She