My Alpha Refused My Dying Rejection

No.1

Aline POV

The scent of antiseptic and drying sage was the first thing to assault my senses, a sharp contrast to the numbness spreading through my chest. I sat on the edge of the examination bed in the Pack infirmary, my legs dangling like a child's, though I felt ancient. Withered.

I am sorry, Aline, the Pack Healer, an elderly woman named Martha, said softly. Her voice was heavy, laden with a pity I didn't want. She pushed a piece of paper across the scratched oak desk. "The pup... its soul has returned to the Goddess."

I didn't cry. I think I had forgotten how. My hand rested instinctively on my flat stomach, cold and empty.

It was the bond, wasn't it? My voice was a rasp, like dry leaves scraping over stone.

Martha nodded grimly. "A pup needs the strength of the Mate Bond to survive the first trimester. Yours... yours has been starving for three years. Your inner wolf is fading, child. We can perform the procedure to remove the physical tissue so you don't succumb to infection, but the spiritual necrosis from your rejected bond will keep spreading to your heart. If he doesn't claim you soon, you will die."

Die. The word hung in the air, devoid of terror.

My phone buzzed in my lap. It was a notification from The Alpha Tattler, the pack's gossip feed. My thumb moved automatically, a habit born of masochism.

The screen lit up with a high-definition nightmare.

A MATCH BLESSED BY THE MOON: ALPHA KADEN AND HIS TRUE LOVE, CORI MULLINS, RETURN!

The photo was taken on the private airstrip. Kaden Warren, the Alpha of the Black Moon Pack-and my secret, fated mate-was descending the jet stairs. He looked magnificent, radiating power and vitality. His hand was possessively placed on the small of Cori Mullins' back. She was beaming, looking up at him with adoration, and he was looking down at her with a softness I had never, not once, seen directed at me.

While our child was dying inside me because of his neglect, he was playing the perfect partner to another woman.

A bitter laugh bubbled up in my throat, choking me. "He looks happy," I whispered.

Aline... Martha warned gently.

I picked up the pen. The ink flowed black and permanent as I signed the consent form for the D&C procedure. I was signing away the last physical tether between Kaden and me.

Do it, I said, my eyes fixed on Kaden's smiling face on the screen. "Cut it out. I want nothing left of him inside me."

The procedure was a blur of clinical pain and cold metal, but it was nothing compared to the hollow ache in my chest. An hour later, I stumbled out of the recovery room, my body feeling light, too light, as if parts of my soul had been scraped away along with the pregnancy.

The corridor outside was dim, the stone walls radiating a chill that seeped into my bones. I just wanted to crawl into my small bed in the servants' quarters and sleep until the end of the world.

But the air suddenly grew heavy. Static electricity prickled along my skin, and the scent of rain and ozone-his scent-slammed into me.

My inner wolf, usually dormant from weakness, let out a pathetic whimper and curled into a ball.

You.

The voice was a low growl that vibrated through the floorboards. I looked up.

Alpha Kaden Warren stood blocking the hallway, a wall of pure, unadulterated rage. His eyes, usually the color of stormy seas, were now bleeding into the gold of his wolf. Behind him, dressed in pristine white that contrasted sharply with my hospital gown, stood Cori Mullins. She looked at me with wide, faux-innocent eyes, her hand resting lightly on Kaden's bicep.

Kaden took a step forward, his Alpha aura crashing down on me so hard my knees buckled. I grabbed the wall for support.

I felt the bond snap, he snarled, his voice dripping with venom. "I felt the life extinguish. Beta Lucas told me you were here for a procedure."

He didn't ask if I was okay. He didn't ask why. He just loomed over me-judge, jury, and executioner.

He grabbed my shoulders, his fingers digging into my flesh like talons. "You dared to destroy my heir?"

The accusation stole the breath from my lungs. He thought I did it on purpose. He thought I killed our baby out of spite.

I opened my mouth to defend myself, to scream that he killed our baby with his neglect, with his public affair, with his refusal to acknowledge me. But then I saw Cori peek out from behind his shoulder.

Oh, Kaden, darling, she cooed, her voice like poisoned honey. "Don't be so harsh. Maybe the pressure of carrying an Alpha's heir was just... too much for a weak Omega like her. Not everyone is built for such a blessing."

Her words were a precision strike. Kaden's grip tightened, bruising me. He looked at me with disgust, believing the lie because it was easier than facing his own failure.

I looked into the eyes of the man the Moon Goddess had designed for me, and I felt the final thread of our bond wither and turn to ash. There was no point in explaining. He had already made his choice.

I stared back at him, my eyes dry and dead. The silence between us was louder than any scream.

No.2

Aline POV

The silence stretched, taut and suffocating, like a rubber band ready to snap back and draw blood. Kaden's fingers were still digging into my shoulders, his Alpha aura a heavy, physical weight that made the air thin.

I didn't... I choked out, my voice barely a whisper against the crushing pressure of his command. "I didn't kill him, Kaden. I tried to tell you. I tried to reach you."

His lip curled, a snarl revealing lethal canines. "Lies."

I screamed for you! I cried, the desperation clawing its way out of my throat. Tears finally spilled, hot and stinging. "When the pain started, when I felt his heartbeat slowing... I screamed through the link until my mind bled. I begged you to come home."

Kaden released me abruptly, as if my skin had burned him. I stumbled back, hitting the cold stone wall. He took a step closer, invading my personal space, his scent of rain and ozone now tainted with the bitter tang of disgust. He leaned down, his voice a low, dangerous rumble near my ear.

My mind is silent, Aline. There was no call. No scream. Just the quiet of a mate who didn't care enough to reach out. He pulled back, his eyes cold shards of ice. "You are a liar. And a murderer."

Check my phone! I fumbled with the pocket of my hospital gown, my hands shaking so violently I nearly dropped the device. "I called your cell. I messaged Beta Lucas. I-"

He swatted the phone from my hand. It skittered across the floor, the screen cracking against the stone.

Technology fails, he scoffed, crushing the device under his boot. "The Mind-Link does not. Unless you never used it."

I stared at the broken phone, feeling the last flicker of hope die in my chest. He wouldn't believe me. He couldn't conceive that his precious bond, or perhaps his precious Cori, had blocked me.

As if summoned by my thought, a soft, pained gasp echoed in the hallway.

Kaden... Cori swayed, her hand fluttering to her forehead. "I feel so dizzy. The stress of all this... thinking about the poor pup..."

The transformation in Kaden was instantaneous. The monster looming over me vanished, replaced by a worried protector. He spun around, catching Cori before she could fall.

I've got you, he murmured, his voice dripping with a tenderness that sliced through me deeper than any blade. He scooped her up into his arms, holding her against his chest as if she were made of fragile glass.

He didn't look back at me. Not once. He strode down the hallway, carrying the woman who was mocking me with her hidden smirk, leaving me alone in the dim corridor. The gathered pack members stared-some with pity, most with the scorn reserved for a failed mate.

I was the Alpha's mistake. She was his treasure.

An hour later, I was back in my room in the servants' quarters. It was a closet, really-damp, drafty, and smelling of mildew. I curled up on the thin mattress, clutching my stomach. The physical pain of the procedure was fading, but a new agony was taking its place.

It started in my chest, a tearing sensation, as if invisible hooks were ripping my soul apart. My inner wolf, already weak from years of neglect, let out a final, gurgling howl before falling silent.

I convulsed, rolling off the bed onto the icy flagstones. A violent cough racked my body, and I tasted copper. Hot liquid spewed from my lips, splattering onto the grey floor. Blood. Bright, oxygenated blood.

The necrosis. It was spreading faster than Martha had predicted. The bond wasn't just broken; it was rotting inside me.

The door banged open.

I tried to wipe my mouth, to hide the weakness, but my limbs refused to obey. Kaden stood in the doorway, filling the small space with his imposing frame. He looked at the blood on the floor, then at me.

I waited for a flicker of concern. A moment of hesitation. Anything.

Instead, a cruel, humorless smile touched his lips.

Pathetic, he spat. He walked into the room, his boots stopping inches from my face. "You chose to destroy our pup because you were jealous. And now? Now you play the victim to soothe your guilt?"

I looked up at him through a haze of pain. He truly believed it. He thought this-my dying body, my shattered soul-was a performance.

Get up, he commanded, his voice devoid of humanity. "Stop the theatrics. I'm here to tell you the new rules of your existence, not to watch you wallow in your own mess."

I lay there, the metallic taste of blood heavy on my tongue, realizing with terrifying clarity that the man standing above me wasn't just a bad mate. He was my executioner.

No.3

Aline POV

The metallic tang of blood coated my throat, thick and choking. I lay on the freezing flagstones, my body trembling not from cold, but from the sheer effort of keeping my heart beating. Kaden loomed over me, his shadow stretching across the damp floor like a grim reaper waiting to collect his due.

Stop it, he sneered, his voice dripping with disdain. "This performance is becoming tedious, Aline. Do you really think vomiting a little blood will make me forget what you did? You killed my heir."

I tried to speak, to deny it again, but a fresh wave of agony rolled through my chest. The necrosis. It felt as if black vines were spreading through my veins, withering everything they touched.

I... am dying, Kaden, I rasped, my voice barely audible.

He laughed. It was a harsh, barking sound devoid of any warmth. He crouched down, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look into his stormy grey eyes.

Dying? No. You are surviving, just like a parasite does. His grip tightened, bruising my jaw. "Let me make something clear to you, since you seem to rely on this 'fated bond' as your shield. I never wanted a mate. Especially not a weak, manipulative Omega like you."

His words were precise strikes, aimed to maim.

My heart, my wolf, my soul-they were claimed three years ago, he hissed, his face inches from mine. "By the woman who dragged my broken body out of the Rogue territory when I was left for dead. Cori saved me. You? You are just a cosmic joke. A trap set by the Moon Goddess to test my loyalty to her."

The air left my lungs. Cori? He thought Cori saved him?

Memories of that night three years ago flashed through my mind-the smell of burning flesh, the weight of a wounded wolf on my small shoulders, the hours I spent dragging a stranger to safety while hiding my scent. I had never told anyone. I thought he knew. I thought his wolf would recognize mine.

But Cori had claimed the credit. And he believed her.

The injustice of it snapped something inside me. Not anger-I was too drained for that-but a cold, hard realization. He would never see me. As long as this bond existed, I was just a prisoner in his narrative of hate. And the bond... it was literally rotting my organs.

If I stayed, I would be dead by the next full moon.

Get up, he commanded, releasing my chin with a shove. "Clean this mess. I won't have the servants seeing their Luna wallowing in filth."

Luna. The title sounded like a slur coming from his lips.

I didn't reach for the rag. Instead, I planted my hands on the bloody stones. My muscles screamed in protest, my bones felt like brittle glass, but I pushed. I forced my trembling legs to straighten. I stood, swaying, clutching the edge of the rickety wardrobe for support.

I looked him in the eye. For the first time in months, I didn't look at the floor.

I will leave the Black Moon Pack, I said. My voice was hollow, stripped of emotion.

Kaden blinked, taken aback by my sudden defiance, before a smirk curled his lip. "Is that a threat? Are you going to run to the Elders? Tell them I'm mistreating you?"

No, I whispered. I took a breath, gathering the last shreds of my spirit. "I am setting us both free."

I straightened my spine, ignoring the searing pain in my chest.

I, Aline Romero, I began, the ancient words tasting like ash on my tongue, "reject you, Kaden Warren, as my Mate."

The silence that followed was absolute. The air in the small room grew heavy, charged with the static of broken magic.

Kaden's smirk froze. His eyes widened, not with pain, but with sheer, unadulterated shock. An Omega rejecting an Alpha? It was unheard of. It was an insult to his rank, a slap in the face of his authority.

You dare? he growled, stepping forward, his Alpha aura flaring hot and suffocating. "You think you can reject me? This is just another game! You want attention? You want me to beg?"

He raised his hand, and for a second, I thought he would strike me. I didn't flinch. I was already broken; he couldn't break dust.

Suddenly, his eyes glazed over. His hand froze in mid-air.

The connection. Someone was mind-linking him.

I watched the rage drain from his face, replaced instantly by a look of frantic concern. The transformation was nauseating.

Cori? he said aloud, forgetting I was there. "Calm down. Breathe. I'm coming."

He looked at me then. But he didn't see the woman who had just severed her soul for him. He didn't see the blood on my gown or the death in my eyes. He looked at me like I was an obstacle in his path to something that actually mattered.

We are not done, he spat, pointing a finger at my face. "Do not think this little stunt gets you off the hook. You stay here until I decide your punishment."

He turned on his heel, his heavy boots thudding against the stone floor as he rushed out the door, chasing the phantom pains of a liar, leaving his true mate to die in the dark.

The door slammed shut.

I stood there for a long moment, listening to his fading footsteps. The bond in my chest gave a final, agonizing throb, then went silent. It wasn't fully broken-he hadn't accepted the rejection-but the damage was done.

I looked at the small, barred window. The moon was hidden behind clouds, but I knew it was there.

He's wrong, I whispered to the empty room. "We are done."