Chapter 5 Rejected

"What?" Aria blinked, certain she'd misheard him. "What do you mean by that?"

Rafe's jaw tightened, and she watched him step back away from her in disgust. "You're the daughter who's supposed to take over the pack, right?"

"I'm the heir, yes." This wasn't how it was supposed to go. What the hell was he playing at?

"Right. The famous Aria Blackwood." He said her name like it left a bad taste in his mouth. "I should've known."

Lexi shifted uncomfortably beside her, clearly sensing the tension between them. Around them, other conversations continued, but Aria felt like they were in a bubble where everything had gone horribly wrong.

"Known what, exactly?"

"That the Moon Goddess would pull something like this." Rafe ran a hand through his golden hair, messing up the perfect style. "Of course she'd make you of all people my--"

He cut himself off, but Aria heard what he hadn't said.

"I don't understand." she pressed.

"I don't expect you to, forget it."

He's rejecting us, Kestra whimpered in her mind. Why is he rejecting us?

Aria took a step forward, her Alpha instincts flaring. "No, finish that sentence. You're what?"

"Look, princess--"

"Don't call me that."

"--This whole thing is a mistake. I'm not interested in whatever game it is that you're playing."

"Game?" Aria's voice rose enough that nearby dancers started glancing their way. "What game?"

"The helpless future Alpha looking for a strong mate to help her rule." Rafe's tone was casual, dismissive. "Find someone else to play house with."

Lexi sucked in a sharp breath. "Okay, that's a bit uncalled for---"

"Stay out of this," Aria snapped, never taking her eyes off Rafe. Her hands clenched into fists. "You think I need help ruling?"

"I think you need a lot of things. I'm just not interested in providing them."

Aria's hands shook with embarrassment and rage, but she fought to remain composed and refused to show weakness in front of her pack.

"Fine." Her voice went deadly quiet. "Then let me make this easy for you."

"Aria, don't-" Lexi grabbed her arm.

She shook her friend off, stepping closer to Rafe. Close enough to see the flecks of silver in his blue eyes, close enough to smell that intoxicating pine and vanilla scent that made her wolf howl with loss.

"You want to know what I think?" Aria's Alpha presence filled the space between them. "I think you're scared."

Rafe's eyes flashed dangerously. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You're terrified of having a mate who doesn't need you to take care of her, someone who might actually be stronger than you?"

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't I?" Aria smiled, but there was nothing warm about it. "Big strong Alpha can't handle the idea of sharing power with his mate. How pathetic."

The crowd around them had gone completely quiet. Aria could feel her parents' attention from across the room, and she could sense the same tension they felt.

"How dare you, travel all the way from whatever backwater you came from, just to embarrass me and my family?" She asked, glaring daggers at him.

One onlooker gasped, putting a hand over her mouth in shock.

Rafe stepped closer, his own Alpha presence rising up to meet hers. For a moment, Aria thought he might actually challenge her right here on the dance floor.

"That's a lot of effort to waste on a mediocre daddy's girl, so no, that's not why I'm here." His voice was low, dangerous.

"I think you're exactly what everyone says you are. Cold, controlling, and far more concerned with your precious pack than anything else."

He doesn't mean it, Kestra whispered desperately. He can't possibly...

But Aria was past caring at that point. "At least I'm not a coward."

"A coward?" Rafe said, his voice dropping dangerously low, almost too low for her to hear. "Sweetheart, you have no idea what I am."

"You're right. I do', and I don't want to."

They stood there glaring at each other, the mate bond crackling between them like a live wire. Aria could feel it pulling at her, demanding that she reach for him to claim him and make this right somehow.

Instead, she took a deliberate step backwards.

"You know what the really sad part is?" she said conversationally. "I actually thought you might be different. That maybe the Moon Goddess had finally sent me someone worth my time."

Rafe's expression flickered for a second, but it was gone so quickly she might have imagined it.

"I share your disappointment, Blackwood. At least we can agree on that," he said.

Around them, werewolves watched with mouths wide open, astonished that an outsider would dare speak to their future leader with such a disrespectful tone.

Some started to transform, ready to defend her if need be.

Then out of nowhere, Rafe straightened his shoulders and looked directly into her eyes.

"I, Rafael Daniels, future Alpha of the Red Moon pack, hereby reject you, Aria Blackwood, future Alpha of the Silver Crest pack, as my mate."

Shouts of, "What did he just say?" and "Unbelievable" echoed around them, and Aria felt the mate bond shake in protest, fighting against the rejection even as pain shot through her chest.

But she was Alpha Damon Blackwood's daughter. She was raised to be strong and to never show weakness, to endure whatever the world threw at her.

So she lifted her chin and smiled. To hell with the mate bond, this rude good for good-for-nothing boy would not best her in front of her entire people!

"I, Aria Blackwood, future Alpha of the Silver Crest pack, accept your rejection, Rafael Daniels."

The bond snapped and Aria felt a part of herself being painfully torn away. Kestra howled in agony, the sound echoing through her mind until she thought she might lose her head.

But she didn't scream, she didn't cry and she didn't show any of the devastation that was currently ripping through her chest.

Instead, she looked Rafael Daniels dead in the eye and said, "Mark my words. If you ever see me again, then it will be the last thing you ever see."

"On the contrary, Aria, no one will ever see you or your people again after tonight." Then out of nowhere, Rafe shouted, "Red Moon! Attack!"