The Rejected Mate (Elaine and Michael) novel Chapter 79

As Darius, Elaine, and Nathan leave–no doubt heading toward the cabin where Roselyn now stayed–the silence that fell over the Silverblade Pack House was heavier than any storm. The last fading hum of the engine dissolved into the distance, swallowed by the trees. What lingered behind was a silence filled with ghosts–the kind that pressed on the chest, thick and suffocating.

The late afternoon light dimmed, shadows stretching long across the courtyard. A breeze stirred the fallen leaves, their rustling whisper the only sound left in the wake of Elaine’s return.

Michael stood motionless at the top of the stone steps, staring after the disappearing car as though sheer will alone could bring it back. His hands were clenched so tightly at his sides that his knuckles turned bone–white, veins straining beneath the skin. His chest rose and fell unevenly, each breath jagged with restraint. The Alpha in him demanded control, demanded composure–but the man beneath that title was unraveling.

Every part of him screamed to go after her.

To demand answers.

To touch her, just once, and see if what he felt was just an illusion.

Because he had felt it. The pull. The spark of the bond that should have died long ago. It had been faint–like a heartbeat buried under years of silence–but it was still there. That invisible thread that had once tied their souls together.

He closed his eyes, his jaw tightening. Darius’s scent still hung in the air–strong, territorial, protective. Nathan’s laughter, light and innocent, still echoed faintly between the stone walls. Those two sounds–the scent of another Alpha and the voice of a child that wasn’t supposed to exist–cut deeper than any blade.

“How can this be possible, Kathy?” Michael’s voice broke the stillness, rough with disbelief. The mate bond… it’s still there. And Nathan-” He stopped, shaking his head as if the words themselves were too heavy to say. “Elaine suffered a miscarriage. How is any of this possible?”

Kathy, who had been standing a few paces behind him, stepped closer. Her face was pale, eyes glossy with confusion and sympathy. “I don’t know,” she said quietly. “None of this makes sense.”

Michael turned slightly toward her, his expression hard but pained. “Kathy, you and I agreed to respect Elaine’s privacy. We told Darius we wouldn’t try to talk to her. But this-” He exhaled sharply, raking a hand through his hair. “This isn’t just about privacy anymore.”

Kathy nodded slowly. “As Alpha and Luna of Silverblade, we can’t ignore it. But still, Michael, I don’t want to cause her more pain. Not after everything she went through.”

He looked at her then, eyes storm–dark and distant. “You think I want to? Seeing her again…” His voice faltered, then steadied with quiet resolve. “I wasn’t expecting to feel anything other than guilt. But definitely not the mate bond”

He looked down at his hands, remembering the way her scent hit him the moment she stepped out of the car. Familiar, haunting.

The way her eyes widened when she saw him.

The way she trembled when the bond sparked between them.

He swallowed hard. “And yet… it’s not just her. It’s the boy too.”

Kathy blinked, startled. “Nathan?”

Michael’s gaze lifted slowly, filled with a strange, haunted certainty. “When he stood there- when he looked at me–I felt it. A pull. A connection I can’t explain. Like a tether, faint but real. It’s not my imagination, Kathy. I could feel him.”

“But-” Kathy hesitated, her brow furrowing. “Elaine miscarried. The healers confirmed it. You saw what it did to her… how she left with Darius. There’s no way-”

“I know what I saw. And what I felt,” Michael cut in, his voice tightening with restrained emotion. “Darius may be raising him. He may even believe Nathan is his. But the bond doesn’t lie. That child…” He paused, the words heavy on his tongue. “That child might be mine.”

Kathy’s eyes widened. “Michael… what are you saying?”

He turned away, staring into the darkening forest where the car had vanished. “I’m saying that something is wrong here. Deeply wrong. The bond between Elaine and me was supposed to be broken when she left–when I rejected her. But it wasn’t. It’s faint, yes, but it’s still there. And now there’s a boy who carries both her scent and my connection.”

For a moment, neither spoke. The only sound was the wind brushing through the trees and the distant call of a hawk overhead. The weight of his words hung between them, heavy and electric.

Finally, Michael spoke again, voice hardening with resolve. “I need answers. I need to talk to Councilor Lucius. He’s the only one who might know how this is possible–why the bond never died.”

Kathy’s head snapped up. “Michael, no.” Her voice trembled slightly, a mix of fear and urgency. “If you talk to him, this whole situation–everything your father tried to bury–it will come out. The Council will start asking questions we might not be ready to answer.”

Michael turned toward her sharply, eyes blazing. “I don’t care anymore. Hiding the truth is what destroyed this pack once before. If my father hadn’t covered up what happened–if he had done what was right–maybe Elaine wouldn’t hate us as much as she does now.” His voice cracked on the last words, grief seeping through the cracks of his authority.

Kathy’s shoulders sank. She could still remember that night–the night Elaine left. The shouting, the blood, the scent of despair that lingered long after. The Silverblade Pack never truly recovered from that loss. “I know,” she said softly, her eyes glistening. “You’re right. Whatever decision you make, I’ll stand by you.”

For a long moment, Michael didn’t speak. His gaze drifted toward the horizon, where the trees blurred into twilight. The mark on his chest–the faint scar where his wolf’s bond to Elaine once burned bright–throbbed faintly, like an echo that refused to die.

Then, his voice dropped to a whisper. “Kathy… Nathan. Elaine’s son.” He looked at her fully his eyes distant but sure. “I’m certain he’s mine.”

Kathy’s breath caught. “What? But Elaine said he was Darius’s. And she… she miscarried that time.” Confusion tangled with fear in her voice.

“I know what she said,” Michael murmured, his gaze dark and unreadable. “But I also know what I felt. There’s truth buried somewhere in all this. And I’ll find it.”

He turned toward the window again, his expression hardening, voice firm but quiet. “Just not now. Not yet. Darius’s Alpha aura is at its peak–he’ll protect her with everything he has. If I confront them now, it’ll only push Elaine further away.”

Kathy nodded slowly, her heart aching for him–for all of them.

“So you’ll wait?” she asked gently.

“I’ll wait,” he said. ” For now, what I can do is to get answers on why the mate bond is still there.” His jaw clenched, and his eyes narrowed as he watched the sun dip below the trees.