The Rejected Mate (Elaine and Michael) novel Chapter 111

“Evan?”

Kathy’s voice trembled as she called out to him—barely above a whisper, yet loud enough to strike the air like a stone thrown into still water. Evan paused with his hand on the doorknob. The muscles in his back tightened beneath his shirt, but he did not turn, did not look at her. For a heartbeat, the world held its breath with him.

The hallway they stood in was quiet, empty. Soft lantern light flickered along the stone walls of Crescent Moon’s pack house, casting warm shadows that did nothing to soften the chill between them. Outside, she could hear distant laughter—guests still celebrating somewhere, oblivious to the heartbreak unraveling inside these walls.

Kathy swallowed hard. Her fingers curled against her palm, fighting the urge to reach for him, to stop him, to feel the overwhelming urge to reach out, to stop him, to grasp any feeling other than the crushing weight of regret pressing down on her chest.

“Evan,” she tried again, voice cracking under the strain, “I’m sorry. I am so, so sorry.”

Still, he kept his back to her. His shoulders rose stiffly, sharp and unyielding, as if her words were daggers slicing through his very core.

“I didn’t wait for you,” she confessed, breath faltering. “I should have. Goddess, I should’ve waited. But I was forced, Evan. The Alpha ordered me to move forward with my mating to Michael.”

Each time she spoke the truth, it left a bitter taste on her tongue. The memory of that day—the ceremony, her Alpha’s cold command, the helplessness hollowing her soul—pierced her heart anew.

“I had to watch my sister suffer,” Kathy whispered, her voice breaking. “I had to watch Elaine see Michael choose me over her. Both of us—Michael and I—we were ordered by the Alpha to betray her. To betray the people we love.”

Her breath hitched painfully. “I never wanted this life. I never wanted any of this. And I never wanted to hurt you.”

The silence between them stretched taut, like a fragile thread ready to snap. Finally, Evan’s hand slipped away from the doorframe. A low, humorless laugh escaped him—wounded and bitter.

“You were forced?” he echoed, disbelief laced with scorn. “Luna, tell me—are you really that weak?”

The title—Luna—landed on her like a blow, sharper than if he had spoken her name plainly. It felt like an accusation, a reminder of the life she carried that he believed she had chosen willingly.

A curse wrapped in a single word.

“Don’t you have even one bone in your body that can stand up for itself?” Evan’s voice was razor-sharp, capable of drawing blood. “Are you the kind of wolf who blindly follows orders, never fights back, never refuses, never thinks for herself?”

Though his tone was steady, she could sense the storm raging beneath—pain, fury, and betrayal coiled tightly like a beast trapped behind his ribs.

“If that’s who you are,” he said coldly, “then I’m glad you chose Michael. You two fit perfectly—two wolves blaming the world and refusing to lift a claw to change their fate.”

Tears blurred Kathy’s vision, but she forced herself to lock eyes with the back of his head, as if her silent stare could make him turn around, could make him truly see her.

“Please,” she pleaded softly, “try to understand. We were ordered by our Alpha. We had no choice.”

Suddenly, Evan spun around, the movement sharp and thunderous. His eyes, once warm when they first met, now burned with anger and a wound so deep she could feel it in her bones.

“You did have a choice,” he shouted.

The walls seemed to tremble under the weight of his voice.

“You could have chosen not to hurt your sister. You could have chosen not to stand beside Michael at that altar. You could have waited for me—your fated mate.”

Kathy flinched as if struck. His pain was a blade, and she had handed him every edge.

His final words hung heavy in the air, like a quiet before death.

“And you didn’t fight for me.”

Kathy’s breath shattered, her vision blurring at the edges.

“When you agreed to be Michael’s Luna,” he finished, voice barely a rasp, “you threw me away like I was nothing. Like our bond was meaningless. Like I wasn’t worth fighting for, worth waiting for. You knew you had your own mate out there.”

The truth tore her open. There was no denying it—not even a fragment. She had been weak. Cowardly. A wolf who bowed her head instead of standing tall and baring her teeth.

She had failed her sister. She had failed her son. And now, she faced the mate she had lost before she ever truly found him.

Evan clenched his jaw, exhaling slowly as if forcing himself to hold onto whatever control remained.

“Now, Luna,” he said, the title once again a cutting blade, “dry your tears. I wouldn’t want to have to explain to your Alpha why you’re crying when all I’ve been asked to do is escort you to the gardens.”

And then, without another word, he turned away—not in anger this time, but with something far worse.

Kathy broke completely. Silent sobs wracked her body as the man the Moon Goddess had chosen for her disappeared down the hall, leaving behind only her title, her regrets, and a hollow bond that echoed in the empty corridor.