The Public Rejection

"Kaelia?! What are you doing here?"

His words struck her like a physical blow. Her knees buckled under the sheer weight of his voice, but she forced herself to stand upright. Was that it? Out of everything he could say, that was his first question? He did not ask if she was hurt. He did not ask why she was covered in mud and gasping for air.

Kaelia swiped a shaking hand across her dirty face, smearing the tears that crawled down her cheeks. She glared up at him, her eyes burning with raw hatred. "I thought I would never regret meeting you, Cass." Her voice shook, harsh and broken in the quiet night. "But now I do. I regret ever setting my eyes on you. I should have sliced my own throat instead of letting you sink your teeth into my neck and leave your mark. It would not have hurt as much as this."

"Kaelia, I..." Cassian hesitated. He took a slow step down the stone podium toward her. "I am sorry, Kaelia, but I—"

"You are not sorry!" she screamed, her voice echoing over the stunned pack. "If you were truly sorry, you would have rejected me like a man before doing something like this!" She shifted her burning gaze to the side. Nadia shrank back, avoiding eye contact. "And you... you are no sister of mine. You could never be. I would never do this to you, Nadia."

Nadia hung her head. Her body shook as she reached out to grab Cassian's arm for support. "I love him, Kaelia," she whispered, thick tears streaking her flawless face. "I... I am sorry. I wanted him. He wanted me. I am so sor—"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Kaelia slammed her muddy hands over her ears. "I do not want to hear it!"

"Kaelia." Cassian moved closer. He did not stop until he stood towering directly in front of her. "I am sorry you had to witness this. You are right. I should have rejected you first. But I lacked the courage. I had to wait until you were gone."

A cold shiver racked Kaelia's bare body. The icy breeze bit at her skin, but the chill inside her veins was worse. "So this was your plan all along? To send me off on a dangerous mission so you could sever our bond? So you could build a new one with her while I was away? How... how could you, Cass?"

"I know, and I am sorry. But what is between me and her grew stronger than what we had. I do not feel the spark anymore, Kaelia. I love you, but not like I love her. I am sorry, but this is something I must do. Brace yourself. It is going to hurt."

Kaelia bit down hard on her lower lip. She looked away, fighting the desperate urge to let the cries and screams tear through her mouth. She hated him.

She hated him for not loving her enough.

She hated him for giving up on their bond without even trying to fix the distance between them.

She hated him for choosing her own flesh and blood.

She hated him for tearing her chest apart and watching her bleed.

For everything good and bad, she hated him. She hated him. She hated him.

But the worst part was the agonizing truth: her hate could not overpower the stupid, naive love she still held for him in her shattered heart.

It was a nightmare she had sensed coming. She had foreseen the coldness in his eyes over the past few weeks, yet the reality was unbearable. This day never should have come.

"I am sorry, Kaelia," Cassian said, his loud voice echoing over the silent meeting grounds. "But I, Cassian Thorne, reject you, Kaelia Vance, as my mate. You are no longer Luna of this pack, nor are you my fated mate. Accept my rejection."

The words unleashed a hurricane of agony. Kaelia dropped to her muddy knees. A guttural scream tore from her throat as the broken bond ripped through her veins like dark poison. The pain was lethal. She did not want to say the words. She wanted to let the severed tie drag her into the earth. But her wolf whined, clawing at the back of her mind. If she did not accept the rejection, the agonizing force would kill her right there on the dirt.

Gasping for air, she forced her shaking jaw open and choked out the words. "I... I, Kaelia Vance, accept your rejection. I am no longer Luna... nor am I your fated mate."

Saying it felt like swallowing crushed glass. A heavy numbness washed over her skin. The searing pain slowly faded away until nothing but an empty, gaping void remained in her chest. Shaking, she pushed herself up to her feet. Shame coated her naked body, but she held her chin high.

"I hope you never regret this, Cass," she whispered. "You neither, Nadia."

Kaelia turned her back on them and walked down the stone podium steps. She moved past the dense crowd of pack members. These were her people. She had fought feral rogues for them. She had bled to keep their children safe. She had poured over three years of her life into serving them. Yet, as she walked past them in the freezing night, nobody spoke a single word. No one offered a hand or a warm coat. They just watched her walk by with blank, indifferent faces. Why did they not care? How could they just stand there?

"Kaelia..."

She paused. That voice cut through the silence.

Her father stepped out from the wall of quiet wolves. Silas hurried toward her, unfolding a large, thick woven blanket in his hands.

"Oh, my sweet girl," Silas murmured. He tossed the warm fabric over her freezing shoulders and pulled her tightly into his broad chest. "If I had known this was going to happen... if I had known about Nadia's affair, it never would have gotten this far."

"Dad... Dad..." Kaelia's voice broke. The tough exterior she tried to maintain shattered into a million pieces. "It hurts. It hurts so much, Dad."

"I know," Silas said, rubbing her trembling back. "But a point will come when the pain fades. And when that time arrives, you will realize he was never worth your tears." He hugged her tighter, tucking the edges of the blanket beneath her chin to block the bitter wind. "As soon as I saw the hint of a mating ceremony, I had a terrible feeling something like this would happen. I am so sorry this happened to you, and even more so because it was your own sister."

Kaelia buried her face in his chest, sobbing against his shirt as he guided her away from the meeting grounds. They walked through the dark woods toward their small house situated at the edge of the territory. The judgmental stares of the pack faded behind them, but the silence of the forest offered no peace.

"You are strong, Kaelia," Silas said, his arm firm and protective around her waist. "I was the one who trained you. You will survive this. The goddess grants second chances. I pray you find a mate who is far better than our Alpha."

Kaelia nodded against his shoulder. She barely processed his words. Her wolf was howling in the back of her mind, a wounded and deafening sound thrashing in the dark void Cassian left behind. Was she really wounded, or was she just dead inside? Cassian had reached into her chest and ripped out her heart, leaving her shell behind.

"Pull yourself together, Kaelia," her father urged gently. "He will regret it. I promise you."

Her lips trembled. She nodded again, unable to form actual words.

"Nadia is sweet and beautiful," Silas continued, his voice steady as they walked through the trees. "And you are beautiful too, but you have always been fierce. Tough. He will miss that side of you. He will want you back. If Nadia was more compatible to be his mate, the goddess would have paired them from the start. He will come crawling back. And then, you will get the chance to reject him just like he rejected you."

They reached the wooden porch of their home. Silas opened the front door, gesturing for her to step inside the warm house. Kaelia stopped in the hallway and turned back to him. Her heart pounded a slow, heavy rhythm against her ribs.

"Dad...?"

Silas stopped and looked at her with sad eyes. "I know, my child. I wish there was something I could do to fix this. I wish my words could make the betrayal disappear. But life is not that easy, and you know it." He patted her shoulder and nudged her forward. "Go. Get some rest. I know you are exhausted."

Kaelia nodded. She pulled the blanket tighter around her skin and walked down the short hallway. She pushed open the door to her old bedroom.

It was the room she used to share with Nadia before she moved into the Alpha estate with Cassian. The space was small. Two single beds sat on opposite sides of the room. She remembered how comfortable her mattress used to be. She remembered the cold nights when Nadia would climb out of her own bed and cuddle against her for warmth instead of sleeping alone.

Kaelia stood in the center of the dark room. She looked at Nadia's neatly made bed, and then at her own. The silence of the house pressed down on her chest. Her father told her to rest, but the thought of sleep was a cruel joke.

How was she supposed to close her eyes when her fated mate was no longer hers? How was she supposed to survive this agonizing night, trapped in this room, knowing the man she loved was claiming her sister? The hollow grief gnawed at her bones. She stared at the empty beds, suffocating under the weight of her shattered future.