1 - Rejection

“I don’t want you,” he said, looking at me with hate. I flinched. I could feel the tears well up in my eyes, but I did not want to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry. He was an asshole and would always be one. I was strong, and I was going to get through this. 

I struggled to do it, but I kept my voice as normal as I could, “Cool. I wasn’t looking forward to this mating either.”

I could see a sliver of surprise through his face, but it disappeared as soon as it appeared. He smirked instead, “It’s a good thing we have a common understanding then.”

“Yeah,” I replied, turning and walking away. I did not want to give him the satisfaction of having the last word. I had too much pride for that. And with that, I walked away from the one person in the universe who was supposed to always be at my side. My mate. Cale. 

***

Cale was everything you’d want in a guy – on paper. He was as handsome as they came. Dark brown hair, beautiful grey eyes and a body I would love to get on. He was also the bad boy. And the best part was that he was the Alpha of our pack. Just my luck that I got stuck with an Alpha mate. 

At eighteen, you can find your mate. It sometimes took years, and sometimes it took only a few minutes. Unfortunately for me, with Cale and me it took only minutes. I was overjoyed, I knew Cale and I also knew a side of him that most people didn’t. 

That joy didn’t last long as he rejected me instantly. As much as I would love to curl up in a corner and cry, I was going about my life for the last three years as if nothing had happened. No one knew Cale and I were mates, and no one was going to. Once one of us mated with someone else the bond would disappear. 

And if people knew Cale had rejected me, I would be an outcast in my own pack. The pack I grew up in, and where everyone was as good as family. 

I looked up to see said mate walking towards me, and I knew he'd stop to make small talk. He always did. And it always broke me bit by bit. 

“Lisa.”

“Cale.”

“How are you doing?”

“I’m well, thank you. How are you?”

“Great,” his voice was laced with disgust. He nodded and walked off, leaving me to my sullen thoughts. 

“Lise!” My name being shouted brought me out of my musings. I turned to see Kate running towards me. 

“Were you just talking to Cale?” she panted. Just hearing his name made me want to cry. 

“Just... just ran into each other,” I swallowed, looking anywhere but at her. I knew she knew that something was off between Cale and me. She took my hand and dragged me towards her car. As we drove home, I knew she was going to say something else. I braced myself. 

As soon as we reached home, she asked, “What’s wrong? You look like you will cry any minute.”

And that sentence was all I needed. I burst into tears and Kate looked at me with surprise. She hugged me until I finally stopped crying.

“Cale…” I started to say, but my throat clogged up.

“What did he do to you?” I could hear the steel in her voice. 

“Nothing,” I replied on autopilot, then shook my head, “Cale’s my mate.”

Her eyes widened in surprise, “Cale is your mate?”

I nodded, not feeling the need to say anything else. She knew what I was going to say, and saying the words were difficult as hell. We sat in silence for a while, before she looked at me with a small smile.

“He doesn’t know what he’s losing, babe.”

I laughed shakily, not wanting to say anything else right now. I got off the couch, “I’m just going to go read for a while. Need to be alone right now.”

I walked into my room, and as soon as my body hit the bed, I started crying. I was trying hard to remain strong, but these small run-ins always messed with my head. Rejection was uncommon in our pack, and the few times it did happen, there was always a good reason. I didn’t even get that. 

Somehow through the crying, I fell asleep. Hours later I felt myself being woken up. I frowned and opened my eyes to see Kate grinning like a maniac.

“What?” I was already weary.

“Get dressed, we are throwing a party and making that asshole regret everything he did to you.”