The Rejected Mate (Elaine and Michael) novel Chapter 19

“You keep on telling me you understand my pain, Luna,” Elaine’s voice trembled with barely restrained fury as her gaze locked onto Beatrice. “But tell me, did your mate ever reject you? Did he turn away from the bond the Moon Goddess created for you, because he chose another? Because she was pregnant?”

Her words cracked like thunder through the room. No one moved. No one breathed.

Elaine’s voice rose, sharper now, each question a blade. “Did any of you ever have to sacrifice your mate–your fated–because you were told it might affect the unity and peace of the pack? Did any of you have to sit and watch as the person who was yours held someone else and promised them forever?”

Her eyes burned, tears threatening but held back with sheer force of will. She turned her gaze on her parents. “Did your parents abandon you when you needed them most? Did they sit in silence while you were broken, humiliated, cast aside like nothing?”

Finally, her voice broke into a harsh whisper, raw and bleeding. “Did your Alpha strip you of everything? Your mate? Your family? Your place in the pack?”

The room was frozen. For a long moment, there was only the sound of her breathing–ragged, unsteady–filling the silence.

“We did not abandon you, Elaine,” her mother said finally, her voice trembling. Lucille’s eyes were shining with tears she had not let fall. “Kathy is pregnant with the future Alpha. We had to think of the pack.”

Elaine’s rage snapped. She spun on her mother, voice rising to a scream. “But what about me?!”

Her words echoed off the walls like a strike of lightning.

“Every single one of you hears what the pack members say about me. The whispers. The laughter. The name–calling. Do you think I don’t hear it? Do you think I don’t feel it every time I walk through those halls?” She turned her glare to each of them, one by one. “They call me a w***e. An interloper. A mistress. When you all know who the real mistress is, who the real interloper is standing right there.” Her finger shot toward Kathy.

Kathy flinched, her hands flying protectively over her stomach. “Sister, I—”

“Don’t you dare!” Elaine cut her off, her voice shaking with venom. “Not one of you protected me. Not one of you stood up and told the truth. You let them isolate me. You let them call me names. You let me burn in my pain while all of you played happy family!”

Her gaze snapped back to Michael, and her voice lowered, sharp and deadly. “And you.”

She pointed at him, her hand trembling with fury.

Michael’s jaw tightened, his chest rising and falling as if he were barely containing himself.

“What right do you have to act jealous now? What right do you have to glare at me when I speak with another Alpha? You forfeited that the day you rejected me. You do not have the right. You are not my mate.”

Michael’s wolf flickered in his eyes, his control slipping. “Elaine-”

But before he could say more, Alpha Efrein’s voice thundered. “We might not understand what you feel, Elaine, but the best interest of the pack is always our priority. We do what must be done for its survival.”

Elaine laughed then, bitter and hollow, the sound chilling. She stepped forward, her chin high though her hands trembled.

“And how do you know I wasn’t the best choice for this pack? Tell me, Alpha. Who gave you the right to decide my worth without ever giving me the chance to prove it?” Her voice grew stronger with every word, fury and grief combining into a storm. “I’ve sacrificed more for this pack than any of you. More than you ever did, Alpha. More than Michael. More than any of them. I sacrificed being Luna. We all know it. I should have been the future Luna. The Moon Goddess herself marked me for that role. But I gave it up. I sacrificed who I was when I begged you to let me leave the Beta family, to resign from my duties, because I couldn’t breathe here anymore. And what did you do, Alpha?”

Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “You stripped me of my family name but refused to let me go. Because deep down, you knew I was needed. You knew this pack wasn’t complete without me.”

She turned to Michael then, her voice breaking. “I sacrificed my mate–my Goddess–given mate–for this pack. And you dare to ask me for more?”

The silence in the room was suffocating, broken only by Kathy’s quiet sob. Her voice cracked through the tension, desperate, pleading. “Sister, I am so sorry. Please… please understand. I never wanted this. But I am already pregnant, and I need Michael. I need him to be with me and our child. Please, forgive us.”

Elaine’s gaze flicked to her, cold and unyielding. The pain in her chest clawed at her, but she would not let it show.

Her mother spoke then, her tone trembling. “We did not abandon you, Elaine. We will always be here for you. But you keep avoiding us. You close yourself off. We don’t know how to reach you anymore.”

Her father nodded, his voice firm but weary. “We know we hurt you, but this is where we are now. We cannot change it. We have to move on.”

Elaine’s laugh returned, sharp and cutting.

“Move on? Yes.” She lifted her chin, her voice clear and ringing with finality. “We will move on. After the mating ceremony, Alpha–I will be leaving this pack.”

The words dropped like a stone into still water, sending ripples of shock through every corner of the room.

“No!” Michael’s voice roared, breaking the silence. His control snapped, his wolf flashing in his eyes as he surged forward. “I will not allow it!”

He stepped toward her, his hand reaching out as though to pull her back to him, to claim what he had already discarded.

His voice cracked with desperation. “I cannot allow it.”

Elaine recoiled, stepping back sharply, her voice like steel. “As I’ve said, you are no longer my mate. You lost that right. You have no say in my life anymore.”

Her words cut deeper than any blade. Michael froze, his hand hanging useless in the air.

Elaine’s chest heaved as she looked at them all one last time. Her voice trembled, but her conviction was unshakable. “I will leave this pack. If I must be a rogue to have my freedom, then so be it.”

The room erupted in silence so heavy it felt suffocating. Faces were pale, eyes wide. None of them moved. None of them spoke. They could not believe what they had just heard.

And Elaine–broken, furious, unchained–used their silence as her chance.

She turned, her steps sure, and walked out of the room, leaving them stunned in the wreckage of her truth.