THE BROKEN LUNA

Chapter 3 : Followed By Painful Rejection

What were the chances of someone finding their mate the very same day they gain their wolf? The chances were pretty low but never zero. Especially when the mate belonged to the same pack. Which wasn't rare either.

Was it a good thing for Stella though? Of course not. There was not a single person in the entire Silver Howl pack who would happily accept Stella as their mate.

Stella couldn't fight against the mate pull. It was a thick rope binding her and pulling her towards the other end. The door opened suddenly.

The scent grew stronger and so did Stella's fear of rejection. She dare not look at the opened door and who might be standing there. A shadow fell on her.

Stella closed her eyes but couldn't stop herself from taking deep breaths one after the other. The feeling of a mate's scent was like no other.

It was an airy and refreshing scent.

Stella wasn't ready for the rejection. She wasn't ready for a mate either. It was a known fact for Stella that her mate would reject her if she ever found him. The day ought to be easier since she knew the facts.

It wasn't.

"Raise your head."

The voice caused her to stop breathing. Her heart jolted. Her head whipped up and she ended up seeing the face that was the reason she once thought of dropping out of school.

Austin dresses in a black biker jacket and both hands in his jeans pockets looked down at her with much more disgust than he did at school. Behind him, Nora watched them both in horror. Nathan came up soon and the small door frame was filled with an audience.

Stella's eyes started to water. Her clothes were soaked once again but this time she couldn't care less.

Austin lifted his foot and kicked her arm. Stella couldn't defend herself. She fell on her side and hit her head on the short bed frame. A trickle of blood framed her face and dripped on her shirt. A couple of drops mingled with the water filling the floor of her room.

"You are his mate?!" Nora cried out loudly. She never knew how to keep her voice low.

Stella didn't have the mind to pay attention to her though. She started to hate the mate pull. It made her want to get closer to Austin.

Her eyes were stuck on him despite being filled with tears. Austin sneered as if it didn't affect him at all.

Then came the much awaited words.

"I, Austin Bradshaw, of the Silver Howl pack, reject you, Stella Carson, as my mate. With the goddess as my witness, I refuse to mate with you."

Thunder struck outside the window. Austin flinched and gripped his chest. Stella didn't have to guess what was happening to him because the same thing was happening to her as well. Like a piece of her heart was being ripped out. It was a pain no one should have to feel.

While Austin was still able to stand and bear it with his healthy body, Stella's condition was near death. She rolled on the wet floor, gripping the skin of her chest in agony.

The door closed. She was left alone to bear the pain of rejection.

Serena must not have expected such a blow right after gaining consciousness in Stella's body. All of her commentary stopped.

The pain of rejection can never be compared to anything else. It hurt so much that Stella passed out again from the pain.

It was a new personal record of the amount of times Stella passed out. She couldn't keep up with the pain, and her body decided to shut down. Her eyes were still leaking tears, and her chest trembled with each breath, even in an unconscious state.

The sky outside was clear when Stella woke up. She couldn't hear a sound outside. The tears had dried up on her face and all the water on the floor was still there, some soaked into her body and clothes.

She dragged herself off the floor and leaned on the bed frame. Breathing was hard. A chunk was taken out of the already battered and brushed heart.

"Stella." Serena called her.

"I am fine. I was expecting it." Stella responded. The good thing about talking to Serena was that Stella didn't have to move her lips or make a sound.

The pain was gone. It left behind a dull throb in its wake. It got worse whenever she moved, but that wouldn't excuse her from doing her work.

Stella really couldn't afford another beating after this. She might actually die. Her father's last words have to be honoured even if she had to be brave through the pain of rejection.

The atmosphere in the house was not the best. Stella had changed into another pair of dry clothes when she went downstairs.

Nancy was holding the curled up and crying Nora on the couch in the living room. Nathan and Titus were nowhere in sight.

The last step creaked under her weight. Nancy's soothing words for Nora stopped. She looked up, viciousness shining in those dark brown eyes.

"I knew from the first day you were sent to me that you will be a disaster for my family." Nancy hissed full of hate.

"Mom, why is it her?" Nora cried louder. She buried herself in Nancy's arm and threw her legs out to show how upset she is. The coffee table shook from the impact of her legs and fell.

"It's alright, sweety. She got rejected. Austin is yours." Nancy comforted her.

"No! He isn't! I don't want him! How can he be here mate?! That's disgusting!" Nora snapped while crying. Her face was red from breathing hard. Her hair in disarray and dress soaked with tears. To say, both their birthdays were ruined because of a man.

Stella wasn't spoken to again. She quietly made her way to the kitchen. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her er chest, she prepared the food she was told to make for Nora to celebrate her birthday.

Right when everything was done, the front door opened. Nathan and Titus returned and announced that they'll be eating out to celebrate Nora's birthday and change her mood.

Stella stopped stirring the soup in the pot and gave a glance to the five more items she has made. She gulped, hungry and sad.

Nancy entered the kitchen and pinched the back of her back. Stella gasped and shivered.

"Listen here, you wench. I don't want a morsel gone from this. If I come back and see you have nibbled on the food, you'll face a fate worse than being rejected."

The weight on the back of her neck was gone. Stella gasped and coughed. Like a recently closed wound had opened, her heart hurt again.

The family left. Stella packed up all of the food. The enticing smell made her stomach rumble but she knew it would be worse if she ate anything out of it. Nancy has installed cameras all around the house. She'd know.

While packing it all up, Stella wasn't able to hold back anymore. Grabbing the platform for support, she burst into tearful sobs.

On a rare occasion, she had someone to comfort her.

"It's okay, Stella. You'll find someone better than him. It's not the end of the world. You'll get out of this place soon."

"Aren't you affected? How are you still able to comfort me?" Stella asked. She found her voice to be much more stable in her head. Her lips were trembling so bad that not a word could be said.

At least Serena was able to hear her properly.

"It hurts." Was all she said.

Stella spent the next few hours of the dull evening wiping down the floor of her bedroom. Any leakage down the hall would only make her more miserable.

Lying on the thin and hard mattress with her stomach growling was not the best feeling in the world. Yet, it was a thousand times better than lying passed out on the cold and wet floor with bruises on the body.

Stella stared at the wall with her eyes open. She didn't want to fall asleep. The image that haunted her very night was right behind those blue iris given by her father.

Not today, she prayed to whoever was listening. Her tolerance for pain was only this much. Stella didn't wish to challenge it.

The prayer wasn't answered.

The nightmare came like an unstoppable force and knocked her down into a puddle that bound her limbs in place.

Stella found herself once again at an elevated branch of the tree. Her childhood self clamped a hand over her mouth to reduce the wound of her sobs and breathing.

The pungent smell of blood filled her nose. She closed her eyes to no use. The image was painted behind her eyelids, never to be erased. It stuck to her like a curse with no way to break it.

However, this time the nightmare did not end the way it normally did. It decided to torment her futher by bringing the recent events into play.

Austin appeared at the foot of the tree. Stella recognised him by the shows that he always wore. Those were the shoes she always saw first with her head lowered at school and what followed was a normal day of new bruises and an earful of degradation.

Those shoes were stained with something awful and sticky. Stella's heart leaped into her throat and threatened to jump out of she so much as opened her mouth.

Austin tilted his head up. His mouth was stained with blood. It dropped down his chin and collected on his shoes. His lips parted to show blood stained teeth in a grin.

"You are next." He mouthed. His eyes turned a striking red. Suddenly, he leaped up into the air. He was already at the same level as Stella. She has nowhere to run. His arm stretched out and transformed into deadly claws. He wanted to kill her. Take her heart and crush it.