Once Rejected, Twice Denied.

Chapter Five

TESSA POV:

Keith and I haven't said anything for the past ten minutes. His impossibly broad and muscular back is tense underneath the simple, black tee he is wearing and Goddess, I would be lying if I wasn't completely mesmerized by the way he is flexing as he walks deeper into the forest. Where are we going, anyway?

"How much longer?"

I don't mean to sound whiny, but things are pretty awkward with Aimee wheeling me like a faithful friend behind him. This isn't exactly how I imagined meeting my mate. Aimee was cursing under her breath and whispering quietly to herself. She keeps shooting glares at Keith, who has hardly looked at me since emerging like a dream from the bush. I knew they were mind linking this whole time and it was pissing me off that my best friend and mate were more connected than I could be.

"HELLO? Is anyone going to answer me? Seriously?"

Aimee stops wheeling me now as Keith turns around and looks at me with dark eyes, his penetrating gaze hovering down from my face to the very tips of my toes. Usually, dark eyes mean attraction between mates, but I sense an anger in Keith at this moment and, for some odd reason, I have a feeling it's directed towards me.

"In just fifteen minutes we will be at the boundary line to this pack land."

Silence.

"What the..."

"You will leave this territory and you will never come back here again. Do you understand me, Tessa?"

His whole aura stiffens and increases with bitterness. Aimee walks in front of me and looks livid.

"What the f**k, Keith? YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE GOING TO..."

Two guards appear out of nowhere and inject Aimee with a substance I have never seen before. She tries to turn and pu up a fight, but within seconds her saddened gaze is locked on mine as she closes her eyes and falls to the ground. All I can do is look on with horror as my best friend's body lies on the floor.

"AIMEE!"

I rush forward, but Keith stops me. I have never hated someone more in my life right now. The tingles between his fingers against my waist turn cold as he digs his fingers into my bruised ribs and I feel my lips wobble in pain.

"She is fine, Tessa. She will wake up in a few hours' time unharmed. Enough time for you to get far away from here."

I look up at Keith now and he looks like a monster. An evil smirk appears on his face and I feel myself shudder. How could the Moon Goddess be so cruel to me? How could I be mated to such a douchbag?

"I hate you, Keith!"

He laughs now at my outburst and lets go of me. His eyes seem to turn a shade darker.

"You hate me? That is a joke!"

He walks around now, pulling at his hair and shaking his head. He looks crazy and all I can do is wipe away the few tears that have clouded my vision.

"Do you have any idea how difficult it has been since my eighteenth birthday? Imagine, on the most important day of my life, my wolf goes mad as the smell of roses enters my system and the trail of scent leads me straight to YOU! Imagine the horror in my blood as I realized that me, the future alpha of the biggest pack, had been mated to a pathetic runt with no wolf! I have hated every single day of my life for the past few years. I f*****g HATE YOU, TESSA!"

His words cut me deep and my mind runs wild. He has known I was his mate for years now, but did nothing about it. It explains so much. His weird moments of finding me. The way he stopped calling me runt. Him kissing my neck the other day. Him being in the hospital and him cutting down on his torturing of me. My mind takes me back to the weird conversation that he and Aimee shared while I was in hospital. My eyes widen as a cold realization dawns on me and previous comments from Aimee play through my mind. Did she know this whole time? My best friend...

"Aimee..."

"Oh, BOO-HOO! You have always been a thorn in Aimee's f*****g ass, Tessa. She is my future Beta and you have been dragging her down in every way possible. You are like her personal, little charity case and even she knows that. Why do you think she never told you about me being your mate? When will you learn that she will always choose me and the pack over you? She has to."

My heart beat quickens and I feel myself becoming darkened with heartbreak. She is or was, at least, my best friend. Did she know this plan the whole time? Tears roll down my cheeks.

"I can't be with you, Tessa, and nobody in the pack can know that you and I were mated, so I need you to leave. I have already set the whole thing in motion. The pack will think that your whiny ass couldn't take life here anymore and that you left to be a rogue, which is exactly what you are going to do."

My eyes widen with shock.

"A rogue? You want me to leave the pack? You know what happens to lone wolves out there!"

His evil smirk reappears.

"There, there, Tessa. You will be okay. Maybe they will take pity on a runt like you, OR, maybe they will eat you for breakfast tomorrow morning."

He laughs now and I feel my whole chest tightening.

"I, future Alpha Keith Williams of the Full Moon Pack, reject you, Omega Tessa Shay as my mate and future Luna."

My knees collapse from under me and I feel my body falling. Streams of wetness flow down my face as I scream out in pain. The sound of my ribs cracking again is only half as painful as my soul being ripped from my chest. All hope leaves along with the mate bond. My heavy eyes look up and Keith is still smirking. I hate him. I hate him so much, yet the loss is so difficult to deal with. All I can feel is my hope for a better future floating away. He was my mate and other half. Made to protect me and love me no matter what, yet here he is, smiling at my pain and banishing me.

"I also banish you from the Full Moon Pack."

His hands lift me at the scruff of my hoodie and he drags me across the forest floor on my bruised side. I wail in pain, but he doesn't stop until we both sense the boundary line. With one swift motion, he throws me just over the edge and this simple motion causes a whole series of howls to sound from far in the distance.

"Accept my rejection, Tessa. Release all ties with the pack. You don't have much time before my father gets here, and we all know how he deals with people who leave the pack for no reason. Being a rogue is treason to our kind."

A shudder of disgust and dread fills me. Rogues are killed and if his father finds me, I will be slaughtered.

"I, Tessa Shay, accept your rejection of the mate bond and I release all ties to the Full Moon Pack."

Keith now grabs his chest, as his eyes shut tight. For a few seconds he looks in pain, but then he smiles his way through it like a true psychopath. This is how little I meant to him. Our bond was nothing but a joke. I would never be pretty enough, smart enough or anything enough for him. Tears continue to pour down my face and Keith starts to turn to walk away. Just before he goes, he turns to look at me now with green eyes once more.

"You are on your own now, Tessa. If they find you, I will not help you. You are NOTHING to me and you never were, RUNT."

His words sting me, but not as much as the rejection I just faced. On two wobbly feet, I lift myself up and cry out in agony at how wrecked I feel. Goddess, I wish Keith could have just killed me because the dark woods ahead look far worse than eternal slumber. More howls echo and I can tell they are becoming increasingly close. As if instinct kicks in, I find myself turning to run. I could just stand on the spot and allow them to maul me for leaving, but that just isn't in my nature, so I allow my broken heart to pump energy into each step forward. They will stop searching for me after a few minutes, because I am nobody important and venturing into a rogue territory isn't worth the life of a worthless omega. More tears stream down my face and I feel myself battling for breath. I cannot stop though. I have to give myself the best chance if I am going to make it out of this situation. My feet drag me further into the darkness. I don't even know how long I have been running before I feel my chest caving in and a sense of dark silence envelopes me. For the first time in what feels like hours, I slow down and take in my surroundings. Only now do I realize how staggered my breath is and when I look down, I see that the bruising on my ribs has gotten much worse and there is a crackle in my breath.

"s**t!"

I all but whisper into the void around me. The trees here are much darker and there seems to be less light peering through the trees above, but then this could just be an indication that I have run all through sunset and it is now night time. There isn't a sound around me. A shiver runs down my spine. Is this how my life is going to be now? I gulp down the saliva in my throat and then carry on walking until I see a small, but softer looking patch of moss on the forest floor. It is relatively hidden by a large rock that has a tiny overhang. Perfect. My body slumps down and I close my eyes to breathe in the air around me. It feels like the first time I can actually hear my thoughts since leaving Full Moon and I don't like it at all. The corners of my eyes begin to sting, but no liquid comes out. I am out of tears. My hands slide into my hair, which I can feel is now wet from sweat and I am sure it looks a far cry away from the clean and straight blonde it was in Aimee's room. Another pang of hurt courses through me. I can't believe Aimee knew that Keith was my mate and never told me. I can't believe she would roll me to the border of our pack lands and allow Keith to throw me out and reject me like that? Was I truly that blind this whole time? I always thought Aimee was my sister in arms and it turns out that even to her, rank came first. Now a tear does escape. Yes, being rejected by my mate hurts like silver against a wolf's skin, but the loss of my friend hurts way more. She was the only family I had after my mother left. My mother. I wonder where she is now and why she left. Everybody leaves me. Perhaps I am a curse to people around me and that's why they all go? First my wolf doesn't show, then my mother leaves and now Keith and Aimee. Maybe I don't deserve family, a wolf, friends or a mate. They say the Moon Goddess knows what is in store for us and gives us what our soul needs. Maybe I need nothing.

These are the thoughts that occupy my sad soul as my eyes slowly close and sleep consumes me.