All Chapters of REJECTED BY MY MATE, CLAIMED BY HIS BROTHER : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The moment the doors closed behind me, the scent of the Blackthorn mansion wrapped around my throat like a hand. Pine. Dark wood. Rain. And underneath it all, the unmistakable musk of two powerful Alphas who had lived under the same roof for too long. My wolf recoiled and then pressed forward at the same time, confused and restless. She remembered this place. She remembered the night the bond snapped and left us bleeding on the inside. I forced my breathing to stay slow. Ronan walked ahead of me without looking back, his steps silent despite his size. The hallway stretched long and dimly lit, portraits of past Alphas watching from the walls like they already knew I didn’t belong here anymore. My boots made soft sounds against the polished floor. Every step felt heavier than the last. “You changed,” Ronan said suddenly, still not turning around. “People do when they’re left to rot,” I answered. He stopped walking. The silence that followed was thick enough to taste. When he final

The word settled over the room like smoke.*Mine.*It shouldn’t have carried as much weight as it did. It was only one syllable. But the way Ronan said it, quiet, certain, without even a trace of hesitation, made the air feel heavier. My wolf reacted first. She didn’t submit. She didn’t bare her throat. She went completely still, the way prey goes still when it realizes the predator has already decided the ending.Kael moved.It wasn’t fast. He didn’t have the strength for fast anymore. But the sound he made was low and rough, something between a growl and a warning, and his golden eyes burned as he stared at his brother.“You don’t get to claim her,” Kael said.Ronan didn’t even glance at him. His attention stayed on me, silver eyes steady, almost patient. “I’m not asking for permission.”I laughed once. The sound came out thin and sharp. “Both of you need to stop talking about me like I’m a piece of territory.”“You are standing on Blackthorn land,” Ronan said simply. “And the bond

Sleep did not give me peace.I drifted in and out of shallow, restless stretches of darkness, always pulled back by the low, stubborn pulse of the rejected bond. It felt different now that I was on Blackthorn land again, not just present, but aware. Like it had been waiting for me to return so it could start aching properly.When I finally opened my eyes, pale morning light was pushing through the gap in the curtains. For a few seconds I stayed completely still, listening. The house was no longer quiet. Distant footsteps moved through the halls. Low voices passed somewhere below. The pack was awake, and they knew I was here.I sat up slowly.My body felt heavy, the way it used to after long training sessions when I was younger. I dragged a hand down my face and forced myself to stand. The glass of water Ronan had left the night before still sat on the table, untouched. I picked it up and drank it in three long swallows, more out of defiance than thirst.I changed into clean black clot

The hallway felt too narrow.I walked without knowing exactly where I was going, only that I needed distance from the door Ronan had just closed. My pulse still hammered in my throat. The rejected bond throbbed with a dull, nauseating rhythm, like a bruise being pressed over and over. Every few steps I had to force air into my lungs slowly, carefully, the way I had taught myself years ago when the pain of the rejection used to wake me in the middle of the night.Ronan followed. He didn’t speak at first. His presence stayed a few measured paces behind me, close enough that I could feel him, far enough that it didn’t feel like he was herding me. The control in that distance made my jaw tighten.I stopped near a tall window at the end of the corridor and braced one hand against the cool stone sill. Outside, the morning light had sharpened. The forest beyond the estate looked deceptively peaceful. Sunlight moved through the high branches in soft gold fragments. It felt wrong that the worl

I didn’t move at first. Kael’s voice on the other side of the door had frozen something in my chest. The rejected bond reacted instantly, a low, painful pull that made my breath catch. I remained sitting on the floor with my back against the wood, staring at the opposite wall, while the silence stretched. Another soft knock came. Not demanding. Almost careful. “Seren,” he said again. My name sounded rough in his throat, like it had scraped its way out. “I know you’re there.” I closed my eyes. Part of me wanted to stay silent until he left. A larger part of me knew that avoiding him would only delay something inevitable. I had come back for answers. Hiding from the man at the center of those answers was cowardice, and I had already spent enough years running. I stood. My hand hovered over the lock for a second before I turned it and opened the door. Kael stood in the hallway, one shoulder braced lightly against the opposite wall as if he needed the support. He looked worse than