Alpha's Torn Heart

Rejected

KATHERINE

When Dad braked in front of the beach, I felt like throwing up. My stomach was twisting almost painfully, and I could feel the bitter taste of bile coating my throat's walls.

And so, the time had finally come. I was really going to get out of the car and get married.

Calm down, Varya said. You can't throw up on the groom. Take it easy.

How the hell am I supposed to take this easy?!

"Ready, honey?" dad asked. His smile flashed for a second in the rearview mirror, a big, warm, sincerely happy smile.

I nodded quickly and he got out of the car: a few moments later, he opened my door and offered me his arm.

Moon Goddess, please help this devoted daughter of yours. Support me in the trial that I will have to face, make sure that nothing happens to me, make sure everything is okay, I whispered that prayer in my mind, hoping it would be heard.

Moon Goddess, please help this devoted daughter of yours ... I began to repeat the prayer, but suddenly I was distracted by a strange, intoxicating scent. The smell of salt, chocolate and forest were mixed in a fragrance so masculine and sensual that it made my head spin; I had never smelt it before, and instinctively I wondered why my senses, among all the smells I could perceive, had chosen to focus precisely on this, and this only. In any case, it was that smell that made me get out of the car: within me I felt the urgent and pressing need to find out whose smell was it. That need was so urgent that I almost didn't even notice the huge crowd of guests in front of me. Intrigued, I concentrated on the scent, trying my best to find out where it came from without looking like a truffle dog. The track was not clear, but I felt that the further I proceeded towards the gazebo of white flowers, under which I was supposed to get married, the stronger it became.

Mate! Varya suddenly exclaimed. I could feel her jumping up and down in joy in my mind, excited and excited.

What?

Can't you feel it too? It's him! He is our mate! It's his smell! He's here!

Suddenly the trace became clear, obvious, impossible to lose: it led directly to ...

Oh, goddess, I whispered to myself. The man to whom that perfume belonged was standing under the gazebo: his gaze was fixed on me, deep, unreadable, of a limpid gray. Involuntarily my eyes were drawn to the rest of his figure: Murtagh (he could only be Murtagh, since the other two men under the gazebo were an Elder around his eighties and another man who looked almost fifty) was at least 5'9 '' tall and his whole body was a bundle of muscles that wriggled underneath the skin. His face was perfectly chiseled and the most attractive I have ever seen: his hard jaw line, straight nose, strong eyebrows and amazing lips were all perfectly balanced in an irresistible combination of male beauty and strength. His grey eyes were enhanced by his hair, shiny chocolate brown waves that, under the moonlight, looked almost sprinkled with morning dew.

Everything about him was a reminder of his strength, his prowess, the fact that he was a warrior and a future Alpha; the stories had to be true.

As soon as his eyes met mine I knew that Varya was right: he was my mate. Every fiber of my body screamed at it: from the butterflies in my stomach, to the strange sensation I felt in the lower belly, to the unconscious desire to bury myself in his arms and never abandon them.

How is it possible? I don't even know him!

Even so, those feelings increased as I got closer to him.

What if he doesn't want me? Doubt crept through me. What if he refuses me?

Well, then he'd be an i***t, Varya commented. Her happiness was uncontainable, and I had to try hard to keep it at bay: if I had let it take over, chances were that I'd jump on him like a wolf in her heat. You are his mate, plus you're perfectly healthy and capable of producing many small puppies. It’d be his loss, girl.

A few steps later I found myself in front of him, and for the Goddess, up close he was even more attractive, and his perfume intoxicating. I felt dad kissing my hand and repeating me that he loved me, and saw him reaching his Beta, Mark, in the front raw, but all those sensation were like the ones of a distant dream: all my attention was focused on him, on my mate.

Say something, I begged him, even though I knew he couldn't hear me. Do something ...

Suddenly something changed in his eyes; from gray, they first became black, and then amber. His wolf was taking over, and I felt that Varya was doing the same too.

"Mine," he growled, his voice halfway between human and feral. He reached out and grabbed my wrist, pulling me against his chest and squeezing me against him. At that moment, the world around me ceased to exist: there was only me and Murtagh, it was only us. Just feeling his hands, big and strong, hold me close to him sent me into raptures, making me feel sensations that I never imagined existed. The way he tangled his fingers into my hair, tugging them just a little, how his chest felt warm and solid against my cheek ... everything about him was amazing, mesmerizing, perfect. Varya, inside me, howled with happiness. Her joy also infected me, so much that I tried to hug him as well ... when it all ended.

Suddenly he shuddered and parted abruptly from me: his eyes were gray again.

"What happened?" he whispered, his voice filled with tension and something I could only identify as anger.

But ...

"You claimed her as your mate" the Elder, who was in charge of celebrating the wedding, said with a smile. "You declared it in front of your assembled pack".

"My wolf did it" Murtagh retorted, still speaking softly so the guests wouldn't hear. "Not me".

My mind went completely blank as I felt my chest tighten painfully with sorrow, confusion and desperation. I was his mate: he had declared it himself, he said I was his, that I belonged with him. Why was he taking it all back now?

Varya's happiness also faded: in its place, a horrible sense of confusion and bewilderment grew.

"This makes no difference" the Elder said solemnly. “You, Murtagh Kirk, son of Alpha Raynard of the Silver Sea pack, have declared that this woman, Katherine Black, daughter of Alpha Derek of the Bright Moon pack, belongs to you, thus depriving her and yourself of the possibility of a rejection, and therefore you are bonded for the rest of your lives. You are now One; one soul, one body, one mind. This makes the marriage superfluous: now your packs are united by a much deeper and more solid bond than the one that would have been established through your marriage. Rejoice, children of the Moon, and be happy, for the Goddess has decided to bless you. When the time comes the two of you will be Alpha and Luna: honor your titles".

The crowd exploded in cheers and cheers of jubilation, but I hardly heard them: I could only feel my broken, shattered heart, and my anger. 

I was furious with myself for the pain I felt; I had met him only three minutes before, I knew nothing about him, yet his rejection burnt like hell; and I was furious with him for first declaring me his and then refusing me, precluding any possibility of having a second chance with another mate.

Because of him, I was now stuck in a completely loveless relationship, forever.