The Rejected Mate (Elaine and Michael) novel Chapter 126

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Kathy followed the council healers as they guided Michael down the long corridor, his weight sagging heavily against their arms. The once-proud alpha barely seemed conscious of his surroundings. His eyes—usually sharp, commanding—were dull now, unfocused, as though something inside him had retreated far beyond reach. His wolf, the fierce creature that had once defined him, had curled inward like a wounded animal hiding deep in the dark.

The door to the council infirmary swung open with a soft groan. Pale moonlight filtered through the high windows, casting thin ribbons of silver across the floor. The scent of antiseptic herbs, mugwort, and wolfsbane drifted in the still air. Kathy stepped inside, her heart tightening when she saw Michael lowered onto the examination bed.

The healer, a stern older wolf named Aramis, moved with purpose to Michael’s side. His hands glowed faintly with a soft green aura, illuminating the darkened room. He paused momentarily, a frown creasing his brow as he pressed his fingers lightly against Michael’s chest, where deep gashes had already begun to close, though not without effort. Kathy could see it—the struggle of Michael’s wolf attempting to heal him, albeit slowly and with excruciating effort. The strain of forcing that healing while the spirit behind it remained fractured was evident in every tremor that coursed through Michael’s body.

“We need to evaluate him before you return to Silverblade,” Aramis murmured, his voice low and serious. “His wolf is present, but only just. It feels… muted.” He exhaled slowly, as if the weight of his words hung heavily in the air. “Withdrawn.”

Kathy nodded, her throat constricted with emotion, rendering her unable to articulate her thoughts. She understood all too well. The moment Darius’s wolf had forced Michael to submit in the council hall, she had felt the shift in the atmosphere—a moment that had reverberated through the entire room. It was a moment that had shattered something within Michael, something far deeper than mere bones or pride.

She stepped closer to the bedside, gently brushing a stray strand of hair from Michael’s forehead. There was no reaction from him—not a flinch, not a blink—just an unsettling stillness that filled the air with an oppressive weight.

Eventually, they would have to return to their pack. They needed to explain to their son, Leo, what had transpired here, though Kathy knew that burden would fall squarely on her shoulders. Michael had barely uttered more than a handful of words since the submission, and even those had been quiet whispers, lost to the world around him.

Earlier, there had been a flicker of hope—a tiny spark—when Nathan, Elaine and Darius’s son, had approached Michael with that innocent, gentle honesty that only a child could muster. In that fleeting moment, Michael’s eyes had sharpened, tears glistening as they revealed a raw wave of emotion he had long kept buried. But once Nathan had walked away, that spark had dimmed, leaving Michael’s gaze to retreat back into the dull, distant haze.

The council elders had spoken of the consequences of denying one’s wolf its destined mate. Michael’s wolf had been slowly fracturing long before Elaine had taken her place beside Darius. The night she had rejected him, his wolf had cracked. And when their son began to call another alpha “father,” that fracture had deepened. When Elaine had left him—his mate—the final thread had snapped.

Too much grief.

Too much guilt.

Too much regret.

It was not merely a broken heart; it was a wolf spirit collapsing under the weight of a lifetime’s worth of choices.

And Kathy… Kathy felt her own grief pressing down on her chest like a heavy stone.

She placed her palm over her sternum, breathing through the ache that threatened to suffocate her.

As Elaine’s sister, she was connected by blood. Yet, she had lost her sister long before this moment. She had lost her when she and Michael had chosen to follow orders. She had lost her when Elaine had walked away from Silverblade, severing ties with their parents, leaving the pack that had betrayed her so cruelly.

Years had passed since she had last seen her parents, not since that fateful day when Elaine had chosen her own path. How could she face them? They had stood side by side with Alpha Efrein, insisting that Kathy and Michael obey the command to continue their mating. Her parents had driven the final nail into the coffin. If only they—Elaine and Kathy’s own mother and father—had defied Efrein’s order, perhaps Michael would never have marked her. Perhaps Elaine and Michael would still be together. Perhaps Kathy would still have a sister. A family.

The loss carved deeper with every memory that surfaced.

She glanced toward the infirmary door as it creaked open, revealing a tall figure stepping inside—her older brother, Calvin. His posture was rigid, shoulders squared under the heavy mantle of leadership that had been thrust upon him unexpectedly. As the acting alpha of Silverblade, he bore a weight she wished he never had to carry.

“Alpha,” Kathy murmured instinctively, lowering her head in a gesture of respect. Even though it was temporary, the title still held significance.

Calvin blinked, taken aback by her formality. Yet, he nodded, acknowledging the gravity of the situation. Today, he was Alpha. Today, both Michael and Kathy had been stripped of their titles until the council deemed Michael stable enough to reclaim his leadership—or if he ever would.