CHAPTER SEVEN – Rejection

Logan’s POV

I wanted to reject her on the spot.

But when I saw her standing there on the stairs, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t say those words.

I saw that she was happy when she looked at me. She wanted to come to me. But she saw my cold stare and stopped herself.

Goddess, she was beautiful. I always thought that she was pretty and hot, but now that she was my mate, she was even more beautiful than before. She smelled like strawberries and watermelon. Her long brown hair fell freely down her back, and her blue eyes were an ocean I wanted to swim in. Her lips were perfect. Her tiny body was perfect. Every curve was made for me. I just wanted to touch her.

I clenched my fists to stop myself. I shut Leon out entirely because he would kill me for what I was about to do. He was so happy when we smelled her. I didn’t want him to see this. I would deal with him later.

I was relieved when Andrew told her to go upstairs. I would be able to think clearly now that she wasn’t here.

I could tell Andrew was not happy with my explanation. But he knew that I was right. He knew that the pack always came first. And his sister was still a child. She just shifted today. She couldn’t control her wolf correctly or fight in her wolf form. The rogues would use her against me, and that would ruin the pack. I needed a strong Luna. Sienna would be a great Luna. She was strong and kind. Our pack would benefit from having her as a Luna.

“Andrew,” I called him after he didn’t respond.

“Fuck,” he muttered. “You are right. Sienna is strong, and she would be a great Luna. But that doesn’t mean my sister couldn’t get stronger.”

“It doesn’t,” I agreed. “But we don’t have the time to train her, to make her stronger. Rogues would use her as a liability against me, and the pack would suffer. You know I am right.”

He nodded and ran his hand through his hair.

“Do you want to tell her now?” he asked me.

I nodded. “Yes. It doesn’t make sense to wait.”

“Fine,” he said. “I will go get her.”

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. I couldn’t get distracted by the bond. I couldn’t get distracted by her. I needed to do this for my father and my pack.

It wouldn’t sever the bond. Nothing did. I would still feel her, she would still be my mate, but I would be free to make Sienna my Luna.

“Fuck!” I heard Andrew yell, and I immediately ran upstairs.

Her smell was so intoxicating up here. I couldn’t help but breathe it in deeply.

“What happened?” I asked Andrew.

He came out of her room, but she wasn’t with him.

“She left,” he growled.

I froze, and my heart started beating painfully. She left. She probably heard us and left. What if something happened to her? I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t live without her.

‘Leon?’ I called my wolf. ‘Can you feel our mate’s wolf? Is she okay?’

‘No,’ He growled at me. ‘Her wolf is in pain. She retracted far back in mate’s mind. I can’t feel her.’

Fuck.

‘You are a complete fucker, Logan,’ Leon growled. ‘Mate is perfect and strong. You will be sorry for what you did.’

I didn’t respond, and I pushed him to the back of my mind. I didn’t need that now. He was an animal. He reacted purely on instinct. And his instinct was to get his mate. I had to be the one to reason and think about our pack.

Andrew ran past me and went downstairs. He grabbed his jacket and ran through the front door. I followed him in a daze.

“Come on, Logan,” he growled. “Follow her scent. Where did she go?”

I focused on him and did what he told me to do. Her scent was the strongest underneath her bedroom window, and it continued toward the forest.

“Shit,” Andrew muttered.

We hurried towards the forest, and I told him where to go based on the intensity of her scent. It wasn’t hard to follow her, so it couldn’t be long since she walked this path.

Suddenly, her scent just stopped. I couldn’t smell her anymore. It was like she had just disappeared. My heart stopped beating.

“What’s wrong?” Andrew asked.

“I can’t smell her anymore,” I said quietly. “The smell is completely gone.”

“Fuck!” he yelled. “She used masking spray.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm myself. She was okay. I would have felt if something had happened to her.

“Emma?!” Andrew yelled.

‘Leon?’ I called my wolf. ‘I know you are mad at me, but I need you to try and talk to her wolf. Tell her to come back.’

‘I will,’ He growled. ‘But not because of you. I want my mate to be safe.’

“Leon will try to talk to her wolf,” I told Andrew.

“If something happens to her, I will kill you. Alpha or not,” he growled at me.

He was the only one who could say something like that to me. If he wasn’t my best friend, he would be dead already.

“She is okay, Andrew,” I said. “I would feel if something happened to her.”

“What if she decided to leave the pack, huh?” he growled. “To become a rogue because she heard her mate, the one person who should love her unconditionally, say that she is not strong enough to be his mate and Luna?!”

“I didn’t do that. Not yet anyway,” a voice said from the forest.

Andrew and I turned towards the sound. Emma was leaning against the tree. I let out a breath I had been holding. She was okay.

She was wearing tights that let me see her legs perfectly. Her face was even more beautiful than it was back at the house. How was it possible for someone to become even more beautiful in a matter of minutes? I had to use all my strength not to go to her and make her mine. If I was a regular wolf and not an Alpha, I knew I wouldn’t be able to do that.

Andrew ran towards her and hugged her. I got jealous. I wanted to do that. But I knew I couldn’t. I had to be strong.

“Goddess, Emma,” Andrew yelled. “Don’t ever do that again!”

She didn’t hug him back. She stepped away from him and looked at me.

“You are here to reject me, right?” she said quietly. “Come on, do it. Let’s get this over with.”

Andrew and I shared a confused look. How was she so calm? So… strong? I looked back at her, and she was staring at me with her head held high.

I took a deep breath and walked closer to her. “You know why I have to do this.”

“I do,” she nodded. “I heard everything.”

I nodded and ran my fingers through my hair. Every part of me was screaming at me not to do this. Leon clawed his way to the front of my mind to see his mate. He was growling and whining. I didn’t want to do this. I wanted her. But I had to do it for my pack.

I took a deep breath and looked directly into her beautiful eyes.

“I, Logan Carter, Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack, reject you, Emma Parker of the Crescent Moon Pack.”

I could feel my heart breaking. Leon was howling inside me, and I could feel his pain.

She was looking right at me, and I could see the pain in her eyes, but she refused to show it. Most wolves fell to their knees from the pain. I wanted to fall to my knees and claw at my chest. But she didn’t. She was standing there with her head held high. She took a deep breath and closed her beautiful eyes.

“I, Emma Parker of the Crescent Moon Pack, accept your rejection.”

I closed my eyes and felt tears running down my cheek. When I opened them, she was gone.

The bond was still there. Nothing had changed. I felt the same way toward her. I still wanted her. But I just opened the door for me to mate with another she-wolf.