The Rejected Mate (Elaine and Michael) novel Chapter 97

The Aftermath of the Rejection – Silverblade Packhouse

The door clicked shut behind Darius and Elaine, and the silence that followed was deafening.

Michael stood frozen for a heartbeat, his chest rising and falling in shallow, uneven breaths. The walls of his office once symbols of power and order now felt like a cage closing in on him. His knees gave out before he realized it, and he sank into his chair, every ounce of strength drained from his body.

The rejection was supposed to be just a ritual words uttered to sever a bond that, in the eyes of the pack and the Moon Goddess, no longer existed. Lucius had assured him there would be no pain. No pain, he had said. Just a clean break.

But Lucius was wrong.

Michael’s hands trembled as he pressed them against his chest. The pain was sharp and cold, cutting deeper than any wound he’d ever endured in battle. It wasn’t just in his heart – it was in his soul, a raw, tearing ache that burned through every nerve.

He could still feel his wolf’s anguish echoing inside him, a feral scream that refused to fade.

“You caused this!” his wolf roared from within, voice trembling with fury and grief. “You caused us our pup and our mate! Because of you, I lost them both!”

And then silence.

The presence that had been his constant companion, his other half, retreated into the dark recesses of his mind. Michael called for him once, twice, but there was no response. Only a hollow emptiness remained.

He leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the ceiling, and exhaled a shuddering breath. He had expected relief, maybe even closure. Instead, all he could see – burned behind his eyelids – was Elaine’s face as she stood beside Darius.

The way her eyes softened when she looked at the Crescent Moon Alpha. The way their bond shimmered in the air, tangible and powerful, blessed by the Moon Goddess herself.

Michael had seen many things in his life – victory, defeat, betrayal – but he had never seen that kind of happiness. That pure, unrestrained joy that radiated between two souls destined for each other.

He and Kathy had chosen each other out of love, or at least what they had believed was love. A quiet, steadfast affection born of shared guilt and duty. But looking at Darius and Elaine, he realized it had never been the same. There had never been that divine spark – that overwhelming certainty that the universe itself had conspired to bring them together.

Their love had been a choice. Elaine and Darius‘ was destiny.

He stood slowly, feeling decades older than he had that morning. His wolf was silent, his chest hollow, but he moved as if on instinct down the hall, past the portraits of Alphas before him, toward the one person who had always been by his side despite everything.

Their room was dim when he entered. The curtains were drawn, and the faint scent of lavender lingered in the air. Kathy lay on her side, her back to the door, motionless except for the slow rise and fall of her breathing.

Michael hesitated for a moment in the doorway. Something about her stillness sent a pang of unease through him. Then, quietly, he crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed.

“It’s done, Kathy,” he said softly, his voice hoarse. “We’ve officially severed our bond. Elaine… she found her second chance. It’s Darius.”

Kathy wiped at her tears, though more kept falling. “We thought we were protecting the pack, doing what was right. But all we did was destroy what the Moon Goddess had blessed.”

He could barely form the words. “Who… who is he, Kathy? Who’s your mate?”

She shook her head, her shoulders trembling. “Don’t ask me that,” she whispered. “Please. Don’t make me say it. Just thinking about him his face, his scent it hurts too much.”

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Michael wanted to reach for her, to hold her, to share the pain that was breaking them both apart. But all he could do was sit there in silence as the truth settled over them two souls who had defied destiny, now living with its consequences.

The room was heavy with sorrow, the air thick with what–ifs. Outside, the night wind howled through Silverblade, carrying with it the faintest whisper of a truth neither of them wanted to face.

They had severed one bond… but in doing so, they had torn open every old wound the past had tried to bury.