The Rejected Mate (Elaine and Michael) novel Chapter 16

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you,” Alpha Darius’s deep voice cut through the low hum of the dining hall.

Elaine nearly dropped her fork. Her heart leapt to her throat as she lifted her gaze, startled to see him standing right in front of her table. She hadn’t even noticed his approach. It was as if he had simply appeared out of nowhere, his presence commanding enough that the air seemed to shift with him.

“Why are you here, sitting alone?” He asked, his brow furrowing slightly as he studied her.

“Alpha Darius…” That was all Elaine managed, her voice catching as though her throat had forgotten how to work.

“What did I tell you earlier?” His tone softened, and his lips curved into an easy smile. “Just call me Darius.”

His smile was warm, disarming. It held none of the sharp edges she was used to from alphas, none of the practiced superiority she endured daily from her own leaders. Something about it tugged at her walls, and against her better judgment, she felt the corners of her lips twitch upward.

It had been so long since she’d smiled for real that the sensation startled her.

But before she could respond, another voice cut in sharply.

“Alpha Darius, you know her?”

Michael’s voice carried an edge that made Elaine’s stomach twist. He was staring at her from across the hall, his expression dark with something she couldn’t quite name—anger, maybe? Displeasure? As though she had committed some unspoken offense simply by existing. His eyes, once so full of promise, now looked at her as though she were a problem he wished would vanish.

“Yes,” Darius said easily, turning his head toward Michael with unshaken calm. “Met her after my run earlier. Got to know a little.”

He said it almost teasingly, and the hint of playfulness in his voice sent heat rushing to Elaine’s cheeks.

She didn’t know how to react. This was still a stranger, wasn’t he? And yet, every time their paths crossed, something inside her shifted. Around him, the crushing weight of judgment seemed to lighten, as if he carried a different kind of air with him, one that made her feel safe.

Michael’s jaw tightened. Elaine could feel his gaze burning into her, a silent accusation she could not understand.

What right does he have? she thought bitterly.

He sat there, Kathy’s hand entwined with his, her presence draped over him like a claim of ownership, parading her proudly as his chosen Luna. And yet he glared at Elaine as though she were the one out of line, she the one who had betrayed. The hypocrisy stung so sharply she had to clench her fists beneath the table to keep from trembling.

“Anyway,” Darius said, his tone brightening again, as if unaware–or perhaps deliberately ignoring the tension that stretched across the hall, “why are you sitting here alone? I was looking for you at the beta table.”

“This..” Elaine hesitated, her voice small, though her eyes stayed fixed on him. “This is my place.”

Confusion flickered across Darius’s features. His gaze swept the nearly empty end of the table, the stark contrast between her isolation and the clusters of laughter and camaraderie filling the rest of the room. It didn’t make sense to him.

She was the daughter of the Beta, raised within this powerful pack. By all rights, she should have been seated proudly near the front, surrounded by respect. Instead, she was tucked away like a shadow no one wanted to claim.

He didn’t press her. Not here, not in front of everyone. But he didn’t need to. He could feel it, the thick current of tension that hummed between her and the Alpha family. Even her parents stood stiffly, discomfort etched across their faces, their glances flickering nervously toward her as though afraid Darius might ask the very questions they wanted buried.

There was a story here, and he would bet his Alpha status that it was the reason this accomplished, sharp–eyed young woman was forced into the margins.

“Not today,” Darius said firmly. His tone brooked no argument, but his smile remained warm and inviting. “Today, you will sit at my table. Come. Let me introduce you to my Beta.”

He extended a hand slightly, as though to guide her. His presence radiated confidence, the kind that turned heads and silenced doubts.

Around the hall, conversations faltered, curiosity sparking in every corner. Elaine felt every gaze snap toward them, the weight of collective shock pressing down like a physical force.

“You do not mind, do you, Alpha Efrein?” Darius called out casually, his tone polite but edged with something that made the question feel less like a request and more like a declaration. “I know we’ve only just met, but I truly enjoyed our walk earlier.”

The words hung in the air like a challenge.

Elaine’s breath caught. She didn’t know where to look–at Darius’s easy confidence, at her father’s stony silence, at her mother’s anxious eyes, or at Michael’s furious glare.

The entire hall had gone still, as though the walls themselves leaned closer to witness.

Michael’s expression was carved from fire and ice, fury blazing in his eyes even as his hand tightened protectively around Kathy’s. His reaction made no sense. What right did he have to feel anger when he had already cast her aside? He had chosen his path, chosen the Luna sitting beside him, chosen to brand Elaine as unwanted. And yet here he was, glaring as though she were betraying him by being noticed, by being… seen.

Hypocrite. The word burned in her mind. He wasn’t the only one. From the Alpha to the Luna, to her own family who stood silent while her world was stripped away, all of them were hypocrites. Every single one of them.

They all knew the truth. They all knew she was the true Luna, Michael’s fated mate, chosen by the Goddess herself. Yet because Alpha Efrein decreed otherwise, because Kathy already carried the future heir. They cast her aside as if she were an inconvenience, an interloper, a mistress, a rejected half–life forced to live in the shadows.

And now, for the first time, someone dared to reach into that shadow and pull her into the light.

Elaine’s heart hammered. She did not know whether to follow or to run.