Spellbound by His Once Rejected Mate

Your innocent tears

The sea of people outside made me feel a little nostalgic. My opened luggage is still merely half filled with clothes that are tossed randomly inside as I can't help but long for time to slow down a little more.

"I'm going to miss it all." Annais' voice pulls me out of my thoughts and I hurriedly fold another shirt and toss it in the bag.

"Well, we can always come back when we have the free time to do so." I spill my words out in the same hurry as I decide to bag the rest of my closet in the morning.

The doe eyed girl watches me as I suddenly start rushing around and tossing random things I have laying around into the second bag.

"I really can't believe you didn't pack! We have been talking about this for months! We leave the day after Ostara."

"I know!" I sigh deeply and roll my eyes. "But with the celebration, the guests-"

"The Zeke-" Annais interrupts me with a smirk.

I pause and stare at her with wide eyes, my cheeks tinting pink. Zeke. I had almost forgotten about him today. My stomach fills with butterflies as the image of Zeke appears in my head, but is soon replaced by a certain someone else. With a hint of frustration, I toss my last item in the bag and zip it.

"I haven't even seen him today." Annais speaks again, looking out of the window to the celebration down below.

"Me neither." I mumble, as I straighten my back and look around the room a little absent.

"Well-" she pauses and smirk again, wider, eyeing me. "Let's hurry and get ready and head downstairs. I had enough of seeing you rush around like a headless chicken trying to find your shit."

"Lets!" I agree and put on my best fake smile. This rarely flies under her radar, but this time, Annais simply hurries to the bathroom, leaving me alone to get dressed and get ready.

Already ironed and neatly hanging near the wardrobe, my black dress patiently awaits for me. I trace the hem of the see through back without helping but feeling a little childish, as the old money Attire of the icy eyed man springs back into my mind.

Why am I so suddenly obsessed with making a good impression? It had been more than a week of already making a fool of myself in front of him, another night wouldn't do much more. Would it?

With a bit of anxiety gnawing at the back of my heart, I put on the black dress with long sleeves and see through lace back and a flow skirt. I add the wide leather belt to the middle of it and cinch it tightly before pulling on the knee high boots.

"I honestly can't see you wearing anything else tonight. Fits you perfectly, my witchy friend!" Annais snickers as she enters the room and eyes me with curiosity.

"Oddly enough, it fits perfectly." I smile and fix the boots around my thighs before eyeing myself in the mirror. the skirt of the dress is short enough for a bit of my thighs to still peek through, but not short enough to be too indecent. I hope.

I turn and face Annais whose light blue dress makes my heart fill with awe. If there was something that surely made us stand out as a fair was the inevitable contrast that always appeared. Her amazing blonde hair and her always cheerfully colored outfits, with my pitch black hair and rather almost always black outfits.

"Are you ready?" she asks, taking another look at her in the mirror.

"As I'll ever be-" I smirk and swallow down the anxiety of getting out and actually be seen.

***

Around the bonfire, stories started to rise. Odd, old, scary and not, as night started to settle in. the sun was long gone, and most of the celebration had moved inside, since the cold weather was still very much present. While inside the music roared, around the large bonfire, silence throned while the elders of the pack took turns telling stories.

With Annais on my right side and Mark on my left, I felt a little less anxious as the clock approached the middle of the night. There was no sign of Zeke and I couldn't help but feel fidgety.

Across from me with the fire separating me, Seth was standing rather silent, his attention shifting from his phone to my small group of friends every once in a while, making sure to eye me just a little longer, enough to make me even more uncomfortable. I felt inappropriate. My attire, my simple make-up, my simple straight hair- all so innapropriate for his cold and distant eyes.

He wore a buttoned up shirt and a sweater over it to keep him warm, with a pair of black jeans, still giving him a rather old money look with his hair combed back neatly and his face now shaved clean. His knuckles were healed and I could notice new rings on his fingers. There was one that stood out the most, with a large emblem of a dragon with its wings open. As my eyes linger on him for a moment too long, I notice him staring right back at me, over his eyebrows, his phone in his hand.

Anxiety swells in the pits of my stomach once again and I feel the need to get away from here.

But at my side, Annais suddenly stiffens and straightens her back. I can hear a low growl coming from her and for a short moment I worry that something was wrong. She seems to look around for a few moments, until suddenly she stops, freezing in her spot, staring off into distance, towards the parking lot.

"Annais?" I murmur, and set a hand on her shoulder, but she immediately gets up.

"He's here." She mutters, swallowing the lump in her throat before rushing away in that direction.

"Who's here?" I manage to murmur as I watch her run away and vanish in the darkness of the night.

"Annais?" I call out and get up, ready to follow her.

But before I can do so, I feel my heart skip a beat as the most intoxicating scent fills my lungs, overtaking the smell of wood and smoke.

I can't help myself but look towards Seth. It couldn't be him- could it? But when my eyes land on his spot, he's not there anymore. His seat is vacant and I can feel a sense of ease washing all over my body along with a side of disappointment.

Guided by my senses, I turn in the direction of the scent and start following it. It smelled sweet and inviting, like a freshly baked pie. So delicious my mouth was watering and I could barely swallow it all back.

I hurry my steps and a sudden strange ache in my chest forces me to stop. It's midnight. I'm following after my mate. But am I ready? Another sharp stab overtakes my will to walk and I stop, clutching my chest with both my hands, my eyes pinned in the distance.

Between the trees of the forest, I could see two figures. Close. Terribly close and I could pick out moans and groans and a name.

"Oh, Zeke-"

Zeke?

They suddenly stop and I feel my stomach turn upside down, treating to spill everything I had to drink and eat tonight. One of the figures sharply pulls from the other and hurries towards me, fixing their clothes.

Soon, I can pick up the distinct messy hair and wide shoulders and not long after, Zeke stands only a few steps away from me, staring at me with wide eyes. His hair is a complete mess, his lips are swollen and his zipper was still down and -

I have to look away as I clutch my chest, holding back anything that could spill out in this moment.

At first, he seemed surprised. But now, when I look at him with the corner of my eyes, he seems angry. His eyes darkened and his jaw had stiffened and his fists are balled by his side as he seemed to try to figure out what to say.

"You knew-" I finally manage to speak out.

Zeke was a few months older than me and he had to know we're mates. And yet, despite that, he never told me. He never came to me and now-

From behind him, a terribly familiar red head shows up, one of her arms wrapping around his waist in the most innocent way possible. Her green eyes fill with confusion.

She didn't know. He didn't tell her either. He didn't tell her he had a mate and that mate was me?!

My heart aches again and a sob escapes me.

"Don't!" Zeke hisses at me, "Don't you dare make me the monster!" his voice grows in intensity. "What did you expect me to do?! I'm too young to find a mate! A wolfless one that is! You? You better know I was about to reject you from the moment I knew -"He starts speaking with venom and disgust dripping from every word.

"I reject you!" I blurt out as anger suddenly overtook the betrayal that sprouted in my chest. "I, Mellione Lennix, daughter of Marcus Lennix, alpha of The Crimsohide pack, reject you as my mate!"

Despite the bitterness that seemed to fill my stomach, I spill the words out in a hurry, drying the few stray tears that managed to make their way out.

Zeke's eyes widen at first. Did he expect anything else?

"Mate?" Astrela murmurs and shifts her eyes on the boy at her side. "You were-" her eyes widen and her cheeks flush red, as she pulls herself away in shock.

Zeke's attention switches on the red head and I take the opportunity to turn around and run to the pack house as fast as my feet could carry me.

The heartbreak and heartache fills my chest and body with something I hoped I would never get to experience. There was no inner wolf to cry along with me, there seemed to never have been or ever be one. I'm not even sure what hurt more. The fact that I am never going to fully belong to this pack, that there was no wolf inside me or that my wish to have Zeke as a mate turned out to be a total fiasco.

As I make it on the porch of the house, the door suddenly opens and I'm frozen in place again, with tears still streaming down my face, my breath hitched in my chest and my makeup smudged from trying to wipe the tears away.

The man pauses as well, his head leaning ever so slightly to the side as he watches me with the curiosity of a predator, his eyes narrowing slowly as they land on my face. It doesn't take a smart person to notice he suddenly feels disgusted by the tears he sees and his icy eyes darken, his jaw stiffens and so does his whole body.

I can't help but fall deeper into the pit of shame. As if I hadn't already proven myself of being the clumsiest and weirdest kid there was. An ugly sob escapes me as I notice the disgust he watches me with and I gather all my courage and push by him, to get into the pack house and rush to my room.