After Your Rejection Novels & Stories

With a text from an unknown number. Unknown: Better luck next time! Tasha. Another buzz. This one from Sterling Sports Media. Sterling: Thank you for your time today. We’ve decided to move forward with another candidate. We wish you success in your future endeavors. They hadn’t even waited until I got home. A train approached, its lights cutting through the dim station. I stared at it, my coffee-stained blouse sticking to my skin, my portfolio bag suddenly feeling like it was full of lead. Six rejections now. Six.

With a deep breath, I press 'send' and wait, my heart thrumming against my ribcage. The silence that follows feels oppressive, the digital void where an answer should be stretches out like miles of barren landscape. Minutes pass, then hours, and the screen remains achingly blank. My message floats unanswered, a paper boat adrift in a sea of uncertainty. By morning, the rejection settles into my bones—a cold, hard fact. Victoria won't respond. The pain of it is sharp and sudden, despite the anticipation, and I bury my face in my hands, my resolve wavering. The hope that had flickered briefly within me winks out, leaving a familiar ache in its stead.

I can see the fear in her eyes as I stand before her. “I, Alpha Dean Smith, reject you, Tamara Brown, you pathetic little orphan, as my mate and Luna,” I say. I have plans for this pack, and I first want to eliminate all the pathetic wolves in my pack. I can not believe that the Moon Goddess played such a trick on me by giving me the most pathetic she-wolf in his pack as my mate. “I, Tamara Brown, accept your rejection, Alpha Dean Smith. I may be a pathetic orphan in your eyes, but my parents gave their lives for your pack,” Tamara says. I am furious! How dare she not beg me to make her stay?

“Please, just give me a chance.” For a moment, he said nothing, his sharp gaze pinned on me. Finally, he leaned forward. “You are not what I’m looking for,” he said bluntly. “Try somewhere else.” I left the office with my head held high, refusing to let him see how much his rejection stung. Back in my apartment, I collapsed onto my bed, tears spilling over. I felt lost, I have no idea on what next to do. The weight of everything, my mother, the rejection, my dwindling savings, it all felt too much to bear.

I hesitated when I reached the final warning. Once submitted, withdrawal is not guaranteed. I closed my eyes. I thought of Elias, how easily he had walked away from me, how little my love had meant in the end. I thought of how unfair it felt that after everything I had given, I was still the one left struggling. And then I thought of my mother. I pressed submit. For a moment, nothing happened. My heart hammered so hard I thought I might be sick. I kept on looking at my screen, I didn’t know when or how I would be accepted, but I knew I needed it. I’ve gone this far to be rejected.

He slumps against the wall, landing on his arse, out cold. I’ve never known any two mates react this badly to a rejection. Lilly seems to have slipped into a coma because of said rejection, and Bastian is doing the same thanks to Lilly refusing to accept. Usually, when a mate is rejected, they’re in pain for a few days, whether they accept or not. Once they realise all is not lost, and with the help of their friends and family, they move on. Of course, not all mates are lucky to survive the process, but some will even find their second chance mate, some will not.

Maybe the final wave is yet to come, and the worst is delayed? From the stories I have heard or read, I know that the pain that comes with rejection is so intense that it not only knocks you off your feet but causes you unimaginable suffering. Strong wolves take several days to recover, and all the cases in which humans were rejected resulted in only one outcome: death. "OK." I absentmindedly agreed. There was no time to waste. The rejection proved I had nothing left in this pack, and nothing good awaited me. My mate, whom I didn’t expect to meet, also cut me out of his life. It was just Robbie and me. Maybe that was the sign I was waiting for.

Though I am completely aware that she's going to reject me, I still hold on to that small percentage of hope that she will listen to what her heart says and accept my confession wholeheartedly, but then Nowo is Nowo. "Not in the mood to talk, are you?" Talaa inquired as I entered the room. I shrugged my shoulders, expressing my despondence. "Well, I just got rejected. Not once, not twice, but thrice. How will I ever get the mood to talk, buddy?" Talaa, the little sage, offered his wisdom. "Being rejected doesn't mean that it's the end for both of you." I raised both of my eyebrows in curiosity. "Then what does it mean?"

Tomorrow marked the tenth day of the deadline I had given them to accept my rejection. I had to take action. Tomorrow, I couldn’t delay any longer.

A week later. ~~~ “What? After two weeks of waiting, it was rejected?” I exclaim in disbelief, taking the letter from Mr. Moore's hand, disappointment washing over me. I had been so optimistic about receiving a positive response. I pull open the envelope, remove the letter, and stare at the rejection stamp. “Why was it rejected?” I ask no one in particular after reading through it. Am I a failure? There's no doubt. What else could explain everything that keeps happening since I assumed the alpha position?