The Rejected Mate (Elaine and Michael) novel Chapter 32

The moment we reached the main hall, voices rose in alarm, bouncing off the walls like a warning bell. “Alpha Darius! You cannot take her!” Beta Richard’s voice boomed, his posture rigid with both fear and duty. His gaze darted between me–weak in Darius’s arms–and the towering figure of his own alpha behind him.

Darius’s growl reverberated through his chest and into me, low and menacing.

“Stand aside.” His command rolled like thunder, laced with pure alpha authority. The walls seemed to hum with it, the air crackling as wolves in the hall lowered their heads under its weight.

“She belongs to this pack. You can’t just take her!” Alpha Efrein’s voice rang out, cold and clipped, his eyes hard as stone.

“She belongs to no one,” Darius cut in, his voice sharp as steel, each word slicing through the silence. “Not to this pack. Not to the family who abandoned her. And certainly not to the male who betrayed her with her sister.”

Gasps rippled through the hall like a wave, whispers spreading among the pack members who had gathered to witness the standoff.

My eyelids fluttered, heavy, but I could sense them–eyes watching, ears straining, hearts beating faster at the spectacle unraveling before them.

And then came his voice. The one I once thought would always be my shield, my safe place. A voice that used to set my heart racing with love, now twisted into something that filled me with nothing but revulsion.

“Alpha Darius, you do not know the whole story.” Michael said. His voice was firm, but I heard the cracks in it. “We did not have any choice. I chose Kathy as my mate long before I discovered Elaine was my fated one. And Kathy…”

His hand reached out, brushing protectively over my sister’s swollen belly. “She carries my pup. I could not abandon our child.”

The air thickened, pressing down on me like a vice. My throat burned as I forced my eyes open. And there they were–Michael, the male the Moon Goddess destined for me, standing tall but pale, and beside him Kathy, my sister, her hand curled possessively around the swell of her stomach.

His pup. Their pup. The one they celebrated while mine bled out of me.

Darius did not falter. His stride remained steady, his hold on me protective, his eyes glowing faintly with his wolf’s power.

“You had your chance to protect her,” Darius said, his words a deadly blade. “You failed. Now she is under my care.”

“You dare take a member of my pack?” Alpha Efrein’s voice boomed again, his power rolling through the hall like a storm. Several wolves bowed their heads instinctively, cowed by their alpha’s dominance.

“She was yours once–a pack member,” Darius snarled back. “And you broke her. Her mate rejected her. Her parents abandoned her, favoring one sister over the other.”

His gaze cut to Kathy, venom dripping from his voice. “And as if that was not enough, you destroyed the innocent life of the Goddess’s blessing while you all celebrated your so–called mating. Now she is mine to protect. And you will not stop me.”

A murmur of shock rippled again, confusion and disbelief spreading like wildfire.

“What do you mean… destroyed the innocent life?” Kathy’s voice cracked, soft and trembling. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked from Darius to me.

“Sister, what does Alpha Darius mean?” She asked again, her tone breaking with panic.

Slowly, my head lifted. My eyes, hollow and empty, locked on hers. My voice came out flat, devoid of emotion, as if I were recounting a tale that no longer belonged to me.

“The moment you marked each other was the moment you ripped my pup out of me,” I said, my words falling like stones in the silence. “Isn’t it ironic, Kathy? Michael chose you because he said he couldn’t abandon your pup. But you–and him–are the reason my pup is dead.”

The hall froze. Michael’s face went ashen, his body stiff with shock. Kathy staggered backward, her hand flying to her mouth before she collapsed to her knees, sobbing.

“No… no, it can’t be…” She whispered, her tears dripping onto the polished floor.

Michael’s eyes were wide, his face pale, his lips parted as if the air had been ripped from his lungs. Despair twisted his features, and for the first time, I saw the guilt tear through him like claws.

“No,” he choked, shaking his head.

“No, tell me that isn’t true. Please, Elaine! Tell me that isn’t true.” His voice cracked, breaking into a desperate plea.

But I only looked at him, empty and hollow. “I gave up everything for this pack. I gave up my rightful place as your Luna, I gave up my mate. My family. My life. And still… it wasn’t enough. Even my pup was taken from me.”

My voice never wavered, never broke, because there were no tears left to shed. I was numb.

Michael staggered as if struck, one hand gripping his chest, his breath ragged. Each word pierced him deeper, and still I went on.

“Michael,” I said, my voice cold, lifeless. “I have nothing left of my pup but pain. But you–every time you see the mark on your neck, every time you touch it–you will remember. You will remember that the reason you carry that bond is because my child died.”

Michael swayed on his feet, sickened, his face twisted in agony. His knees nearly buckled. Kathy’s sobs filled the hall, her cries of despair echoing against the walls. My parents stood frozen, their faces pale, speechless. Even Alpha Efrein and Luna Beatrice looked shaken, their stern composure cracking under the weight of the truth.

Darius’s voice thundered again, pulling every eye back to him.

“Now, move aside,” he commanded, his power rolling like a tidal wave.

He paused, his gaze cold and merciless. “Or I will ask my beta to contact the council. Do not think I won’t.

The only reason I have not yet done so is because Elaine asked me not to. Because you know what will happen if the council learns the truth–that you rejected your mate, that you abandoned the Moon Goddess’s will, and that your choice cost the life of a child blessed by her. Rejection alone is frowned upon… but the death of a pup?”

His eyes glowed, his voice dropping into a deadly growl. “Your entire pack would suffer the consequences.

The threat hung heavy in the air, suffocating, undeniable.

“Do not force me to do this, Alpha Efrein, Darius warned, his power crashing against the hall like thunder. “ Because I will go to war to protect her. My pack will go to war for a pack member. We do not abandon our own. New or old, she is mine to protect.”

The silence that followed was deafening. Every wolf in the hall held their breath, waiting.

At last, Alpha Efrein’s face hardened. His jaw ticked. And then, slowly, he gave a single nod.

The tension shattered. The guards stepped aside. The crowd parted. The path to the great doors lay open.

And Darius carried me forward, past their lowered heads, past their broken pride, past the ruins of the life I once knew.

Without looking back.