CHAPTER 6 – REJECT ME!

Sloane P.O.V.

He looks up, and I can’t hide the hurt that is clearly showing on my face, he looks regretful for a second, but it is only a fleeting moment, maybe just a figment of my imagination.

“If you have nothing to say, then I’ll take my leave,” he huffs, turning away.

“Wait!” I exclaim, placing my hand on his arm. Strong tingles spread everywhere from my touch, making me jolt a little. He shivers slightly, and I know he has felt that too.

“You are my mate, why you keep avoiding me? Aren’t you curious about me? Don’t you feel this pull between us?” I hope I don’t sound too petulant; I don’t want to come out as too needy.

He turns to face me, this time he’s looking straight at me, his gaze rakes my body slowly, his eyes flashing green with hunger, igniting a fire inside me. It makes me think that just now he wasn’t looking away out of disinterest, he was doing it on purpose, not to show me how much I can affect him. Or maybe I am just delusional, as Daniel said.

“I am not sure why the Goddess would pair us together, maybe to teach us something, or to make me atone for some past mistake, I honestly don’t know. But one thing is certain, we are not meant to be together. You are an Alpha, I am not worthy of you, and I sure as hell don’t want to be your Luna bitch. So, you see, it can’t work between us.”

His words hurt like a knife; he thinks our bond is a punishment of the Goddess! Am I such an awful choice for a mate?

“There is no «I am not worthy» nonsense in the mate bond; the Goddess paired us to be together, to love each other, ranks and titles are not important. We are mates, we are equals, no one is going to be the other’s bitch,” I state heatedly, trying to make him see reason.

He laughs dryly, shaking his head.

“You are naïve. Your words only work in theory, but the reality is that your father will never accept me, and I don’t want to be seen as the weak consort of Alpha Moore. I am a strong warrior, I am respected and looked upon by my peers, if I became your mate, I would lose everything I worked for, people will make fun of me. I can’t accept that.”

“So, you are renouncing our bond because of your ego and because you are afraid my father will not accept you?” I ask, starting to get worked up.

“You can phrase it as you wish, I have already explained my reasons, I don’t need to explain them again,” he replies coldly, obviously bothered by my words.

“If you are so sure we can’t be together, then why don’t you reject me already?” I ask, my eyes flashing blue.

“Because you are an Alpha, me rejecting you will weaken my wolf, I can’t have that. But you can reject me.”

He says the last words like an invitation to do it right now, like he doesn’t care in the least. Is it so easy for him to give up on us? To give up on me? Maybe it really does not matter to him, but it matters to me. The mate bond is sacred, a gift from the Goddess, not a punishment, not a mistake, and I will not give up so easily, I will make him change his mind, one way or another.

“I am not going to reject you, nor now, nor ever. I believe in our bond, and I will show you that the Goddess paired us together to be happy, not to punish us for something. You are mine, as I am yours, and this will never change.”

He frowns at my words, clearly not satisfied nor convinced by my answer.

“Suit yourself, but be warned, I am not yours, and you are not mine, we are not a thing, there is no us. If you want to keep me leashed to you unwillingly, go ahead, but I am not good at behaving, if you get hurt in the process, I won’t be held responsible for it.”

His tone is low and menacing, his words dripping blazing hot anger which burns me with every word he speaks.

He doesn’t wait for my reply, he just storms away, disappearing in the gymnasium.

This meeting has gone all wrong, I was so eager to see him, to talk to him, and now I wish I hadn’t come here to find him. How stupid of me to think he would like me back.

It takes my all to hold my tears back, and scold my expression into one of apathy,  until I reach my room, and all my emotions unravel in a cascade of tears and inconsolable sobs.

He doesn’t want me; he thinks I am a punishment of the Goddess. His rejection hurts like a knife stuck in my heart, like he really pronounced the rejection words, and although he hasn’t, it feels like he did.

Someone knocks on the door, but I ignore it, I can’t let people see me like this.

“Alpha, we need to attend the ceremony, if we don’t leave now, we’ll be late.”

It’s Daniel. I open the door and hug him tightly, taking him by surprise. I don’t need to hide my feelings from Daniel, he knows everything about me, and I would trust him with my life.

Seeing my state, he immediately pushes me back in the room and shuts the door behind us.

“What happened? Why are you crying?” he asks, full of concern.

“Nathan doesn’t want me, he asked me to reject him,” I manage to say between sobs and wails.

“Then, he’s an idiot, and he doesn’t deserve you crying over him,” Daniel states angrily, trying to console me.

“But it hurts so much, Daniel,” I say, placing a hand over my heart, as it could somehow lessen the pain.

“Sloane, you are strong, you need to get it back together and show that twat that his words don’t affect you, that you are perfectly fine without him. If he can play this game, then you can too. Make him hurt,” Daniel says with a glint in his eyes.

“I don’t want to hurt him, he is my mate, I love him,” I wail out.

“He clearly didn’t care that he hurt you, you need to get your revenge on him!” he continues stubbornly.

I am not sure I want to take revenge on him, but I definitely want his attention, so, with Daniel’s help, I squeeze into a white formal dress, which lands just above my knees, and shows a fair amount of cleavage. I pair it with white high heels and bright red lipstick, and I hurry to the ceremony venue, where Axel is already waiting for me near the stage.

“Never heard of punctuality, Alpha Sloane?” Axel asks me mockingly, with his eyebrows raised, and a finger on his Rolex wristwatch. When I’m closer to him, he assesses me with his gaze, letting lust and appreciation surge clearly in his bright blue eyes. “Never mind, if it means I get to see you dressed like this, I hope you’ll be late every day,” he adds with a smirk.

Then he closes the gap between us and places an arm around my waste, to my utter annoyance.

“You are smocking hot, Sloane, it’s going to be difficult to control myself around you,” he whispers in my ear squeezing me harder against him.

Although I have to admit that he has a nice figure, and that his sexiness would turn on most women, I am not most women, and his advances just make me cringe.

But for the sake of making a certain stubborn mate jealous, I will roll with it, and pretend that Axel’s closeness doesn’t disgust me, and that I don’t want to rip his arm right off.

We climb together on the stage, his arm still tight around my waist, and I immediately feel a burning gaze scorch a hole in my back.

Game on mate!