The Rejected Mate (Elaine and Michael) novel Chapter 53

Meanwhile, life in Silverblade pack had been calm on the surface, but underneath the stillness lay fractures that no one dared to speak of aloud. Since Elaine’s departure to Crescent Moon, the balance of relationships within the pack had shifted in ways Michael could no longer ignore. His bond with his parents had grown strained, their conversations clipped and often ending in silence. Kathy’s own ties with her family, once warm and open, now carried unspoken tension as well. They all carried the weight of a decision that had cost them far more than they had ever anticipated.

Michael could not escape the truth–he had sacrificed his mate bond with Elaine, his Goddess–given mate, because of the pup that was growing inside Kathy. At the time, it seemed unquestionable. Every voice around him, from his parents to Kathy’s parents, echoed the same sentiment: the pup must come first, the pup is the future of Silverblade. That future, the continuation of their pack, became the justification for every cruel word, every cold look, every dismissal Elaine endured. Looking back now, Michael could see how inhumanly she had been treated. He could see it with a clarity that burned him from the inside out. But at the time, all he allowed himself to think of was the pup–his pup, his heir.

And yet the truth refused to let him rest. Elaine had been more than just his mate–she had been his heart, the piece of him blessed and bound by the Goddess herself. If he had only kept control, if he had resisted that first kiss, perhaps everything would be different. He had intended to speak with her, to be honest, to tell her about Kathy, his chosen mate, already carrying his child. He had meant to explain and sever things with dignity. But when Elaine’s lips touched his, all his intentions shattered. The bond surged through him like fire and he failed. He gave in to the pull of destiny when he should have been stronger. If he could go back in time, he would. He would hold back, speak the words he needed to speak, and shield Elaine from the heartbreak that followed. But regrets could not rewrite the past.

Because of his weakness, Elaine had not simply transferred to another pack–she had severed herself from everything: her family, her friends, her home. Silverblade no longer held a place in her heart. Michael understood why. They had not only abandoned her, but they had destroyed her. She had lost her pup–their pup–and though no blade pierced her, the wound was mortal all the same. And he, Michael, had been the hand that delivered that loss. He had killed his own child, the life he should have protected above all else.

Since the day of the marking ceremony, he had not been able to look at Kathy’s mark. Elaine’s words haunted him: it will be a remembrance of our dead pup. She had been right. The mark that should have been a symbol of love and unity had become a scar of guilt. Even Kathy could not bear to look at it. She had tried to remove it once Elaine left, desperate to erase the evidence of that day, but no effort could undo it. Her love for her sister had not vanished, but like him, she had chosen the pup over blood, over bond, over the Goddess herself.

Their parents spoke often of patience, of time, urging that Elaine would eventually heal. “She just needs to recover,” they said. “One day she will forgive us.” But Michael knew forgiveness could not be demanded, and healing did not always bring reconciliation. All he wanted was the chance to speak to Elaine again–to tell her the truth. That it had not been his choice to mark Kathy that day. He and Kathy in agreement and they both wanted to wait, to allow time for his bond with Elaine to dissolve completely. But Council Lucius had left them no room to resist. Tradition had bound their hands, forcing the mark before they were ready, before their hearts could accept it.

So many regrets. His bond with Kathy, though born of love, had been built on a foundation of pain and sacrifice. Every step forward with her came with the echo of Elaine’s absence, every smile with Kathy shadowed by the child he had lost. He loved Kathy with his whole heart, but that love was stained. It came with a price that could never be repaid: the loss of his fated mate, the betrayal of the Goddess’s gift, and the death of his pup.

The only consolation he could cling to was the pup he had with Kathy–their living child, the heir to Silverblade, the future of the pack. But even that joy was hollow at times, for the hole in his heart remained. Nothing could fill the emptiness left by Elaine and the pup they lost.

Goddess, what a mess I have made of myself, he thought bitterly. Alpha Darius’s words came back to him with cruel accuracy: he had spit on the blessings of the Goddess, and now he lived with the consequence every day.

He could only hope that time, in its mercy, would grant Elaine the strength to heal. And in his quietest, most desperate prayers, he wished that one day she might find it in her heart to forgive them–not for their sake, but so that she might finally be free of the pain they had caused her.

For Kathy, the mark was more than just a brand upon her skin–it was the reminder of a choice she could never undo. She had loved Elaine, truly, as a sister. They had grown up together, shared secrets and laughter, fought like siblings do, only to return to each other with unshakable loyalty. Kathy had been the one to hold Elaine when she cried as a pup, the one to encourage her dreams. And yet, when the moment of decision came, she had chosen the pup in her womb and the future of the pack over her sister’s heart.

She told herself, again and again, that she had done what any Luna must. That the survival of the pack outweighed personal bonds. But those words were hollow in the quiet of night. When the hallways were empty and her child slept, Kathy’s thoughts turned back to Elaine. She remembered the look in her sister’s eyes when the truth came out–not anger, not hatred, but heartbreak so deep it nearly split Kathy’s own chest open. And still, she had stood by Michael. Still, she had pressed forward.

There were times she pressed her hand over the mark on her neck and hated it. Hated what it represented. She had begged Michael to mark her only after he was free of Elaine, after the bond had dissolved, so no shadow would linger between them. But Council Lucius had demanded it immediately, in front of everyone. Duty had chained them, and obedience had sealed the wound.

Even now, with Michael’s child in her arms–their child, the heir she had fought so desperately to protect–her joy was not complete. Every time she looked into her baby’s eyes, love swelled in her chest, fierce and protective. Yet, behind that love was a thread of guilt that whispered, This child was born of sacrifice. Born of Elaine’s loss. She knew, in ways Michael never voiced, that part of her happiness had been stolen from her own sister.

And Kathy carried that shame in silence. She loved Michael–she truly did–and he loved her back. But she also saw the way his gaze sometimes drifted toward the horizon, as though searching for something that could never return. She saw the pain he carried, the guilt he buried, and she knew it mirrored her own.

Their parents told them both to give Elaine time, that one day she might forgive them. Kathy did not dare hope for that. She knew Elaine’s forgiveness, if it ever came, would not erase what had been done. Nothing could bring back the pup she had lost, nor mend the betrayal of blood and bond.

Kathy’s only prayer now was that her child might grow unburdened by the sins of its parents. That, perhaps, this new life might heal where she and Michael had only broken.

Michael clung to the hope of forgiveness. Kathy clung to the hope of peace. And both knew that what had been shattered with Elaine could never truly be made whole again.