Jeanine Matthews Divergent Novels & Stories

MATTHEW I can't stop myself from smiling. Everything is perfect right now. The place where I landed and Aleia. This is the kind of life that every man wanted, but I know I can't stay here forever. I just need to buy some time, hoping that when I come back, the engagement thing is gone. But I think I can't go on with my life without her. I wanted to take her with me. She is the perfect girl that I am looking for. Plain, simple, independent. But would she leave this place just to be with me? This is her home.

“This isn’t something to take lightly! You’ve been having attacks. Blackouts. Flashbacks. What if it gets worse? You don’t even know what’s triggering them—” “I don’t want to know anymore.” His voice cut through the morning stillness. Quiet, but steady. “I don’t care about the past. I don’t care if I was someone else before. If I had another life… with someone named Eloise. Or a brother named Elijah.” His jaw clenched. “They’re not here anymore.” Maren stared at him, lips parted slightly. “I only care about Elisse now,” Matthew continued, his gaze unwavering. “She’s the only person I see. The only one who’s stayed. Who accepted me even when I didn’t know who I was.”

Silence fell, everyone watching. She shook, honestly seconds away from ugly-crying. After everything, all the pain, the whispers, the feeling like a walking cautionary tale—here it was. Her mate. The real deal. “Kieran…” she managed, looking up at him. He was a solid wall of unreadable, cold perfection. And then he said it. “I reject you.” It punched the breath out of her. Her knees went jelly. “I, Alpha Kieran Cross of MoonClaw, reject you, Evangeline Draven, as my mate.”

"You might hurt yourself." She immediately looked down to the floor and shook her head and pulled me away from the shards. She crushed me in her arms and I didn't know how to react. I looked at Salazar with a puzzled look and he was looking at us sharply. Seraphina immediately held both of my hands after breaking the hug. "May I know your name?" "Suerinity," I answered and my eyes trailed back to my mate only to find him looking at me with dark eyes. His hazel olive orbs were shifting to pitch black, an indication of how he was fighting his wolf. "Suerinity Altamera."

I say slowly. “She built it because she was certain you would.” Matthew’s voice is not unkind. “She has been watching your marriage for a year. She saw what Michael couldn’t or wouldn’t. She knew the moment Samuel came back that it was only a matter of time.” I stare at the flash drive. “Why are you giving me this?” I ask. Matthew leans back. Something complicated moves across his face, the first crack in the polished surface, the first glimpse of something real underneath all the calculation. “Because Divine Thomas is not the only person who has been running a long game,” he says. “And mine has a different ending than hers.”

Everything I loved was disappearing into the math. Jax, the man with the scarred face, didn't even have time to scream. He was standing five feet away, his heavy wrench raised to strike a Reaped soldier. The darkness touched him, and he didn't die—illegally, he just *ceased*. One moment he was a man of soot and anger; the next, he was a collection of green numbers that scattered into the air like dust. "Heda! Get them back!" Rowan yelled, his voice cracking.

I frowned, not understanding what he meant, but then pain tore through my body without warning, violent and sudden, dropping me to one knee as every nerve in me lit up like fire, and I heard Natasha shout my name while Matt watched without moving. My blood felt like it was burning. I gasped for air, barely able to think. Matt stepped forward slowly, his voice calm and certain. “The prototype responds to me now.” I looked up at him through the pain, horror crashing through me as I realized what he was saying nd as the agony spread through every part of me, Matt looked down at me and said, “Because the version inside you was never meant to be yours.”

I didn't move, I felt the old pain trying to return, The same feeling I had when the world turned against me before, but this time was different because I wasn’t that girl anymore. I looked at Matthew, everyone was waiting to see if he would step away. Instead, moved closer beside me. His voice was cold enough to silence the entire room, “Anyone who believes this without evidence is exactly who this was created for.” The room went quiet, Elena’s expression changed, she expected him to doubt me, she expected him to leave me standing alone. But Matthew Kane did not abandon what belonged beside him.

“Stay here.” But she was already opening the back door and sliding in. “I’m coming whether you like it or not, Matt.” I fucking hated that nickname. The moment I came up with a nickname for Ari, Hannah had started calling me Matt. I've resented her for it ever since. “Go sit tight with Penelope, Amara, and Skye,” I barked, hoping she’d take my advice and sit this one out with her dorm suitemates. “I can’t afford to have you distracting us with your theatrics while we handle this.”

A violent shudder ripped through my entire body. Before I could even turn to find the source, a desperate grip clamped onto my forearm. "I knew it! I knew you weren't dead! You're coming home with me!" I stared in horror at Daniela, who'd wasted away to half the woman she used to be. "You… H-how are you…" I stammered. "Who the hell are you? Get your hands off Matthew!" Vivian snapped. She shoved Daniela back hard, snapping me out of my daze.