Rejected

Rejected mate

''Cam please!''

''No, stay away from me. I can't believe you.''

I could barely breathe, my chest tightening as I tried to form words, but they got stuck in my throat. The anguish on his face was so raw—like a knife cutting through me. My knees trembled, but I stayed standing, desperate to reach him, desperate to explain, to plead for him to listen.

''I...I didn't....''

''No!'' he cut me off, his voice low and deadly. ''Enough I can smell the hospital on you so don't lie.''

His words were like ice, each syllable freezing me in place. His eyes, once full of love, were now filled with disbelief and hurt, and it broke me.

''Cam I'm not...''

''I said enough" His voice shattered the last of my resolve, the final blow to my heart. "As of the moment, I,  Camden Davis, reject you, Avery Matthews, as my mate.''

No

No

No

I didn't even register the impact at first. My heart stopped, and for a brief moment, I didn't even feel the pain. But then it hit me like a tidal wave. He rejected me. The love of my life. My mate. The man I had given everything for.

"I never want to see you again. Not anymore. Not after this." He spat the words like they were poison.

"Leave" And with that, he turned and stormed out, slamming the door behind him with a force that rattled the walls.

I didn't know how long I stood there, frozen in place, my ears ringing. The sounds of Camden's departure echoed through my mind, over and over again.

The pack. They must have heard. I could already feel the eyes of pack members on me—eyes filled with judgment and disgust.

"You killed the Alpha's baby."

My heart lurched at the words. My best friend, the one person I thought I could trust, said that to me. After sixteen years of friendship, she believed the worst of me. She thought I could ever do something so horrible, so heartless. It was too much to bear.

Tears blurred my vision as I ran out of the Alpha's office and up the stairs, trying to escape the weight of their glares. I couldn't look back. I couldn't stay another moment in that pack.

I burst into the bedroom Camden and I had shared—my sanctuary, now tainted with memories that would haunt me forever. I grabbed a duffel bag and started throwing in clothes, anything I could fit. I didn't care. I couldn't stay here. Not when everything had been torn apart.

"You never want to see me again? Fine." I whispered to myself, my hands shaking as I zipped up the bag. "I'll leave. I'll raise this baby alone."

He hadn't just rejected me as his mate—he had rejected the very idea of us together, of me being around him.

He wanted me gone.

With the duffel bag over my shoulder, I snuck out the back door, careful not to draw attention. The pack grounds felt empty as I stepped onto the grass, like a part of me was being ripped away. Leaving was one thing, but the part of my soul I left behind with Camden... that was something I couldn't take back.

__________________________________________________________________________

Two Days Later

It had been two days since I left. Two days since I became rogue. Two days since I stepped into the human world.

I couldn't stop thinking about how everything changed so fast. But there was no turning back now.

Today was the day I was meeting Dante—Danny, as I used to call him. He'd been a part of the pack long before everything fell apart. When his mate died, he left. I had never understood why, but we had stayed friends. He was loyal, kind, and always had my back.

He offered me a place to stay, a way to escape this hell I had found myself in. He was renting to me two rooms of his two-story home and had already arranged a job for me as his assistant designer at his company. It was a fresh start—something I desperately needed.

His offer was a lifeline, and he was going to train me in self-defense since, as a rogue, I couldn't rely on shifting anymore. I would need to be strong on my own. Danny was one of the best fighters I knew, and I trusted him to help me.

As I drove up the long, winding path to Danny's house, the beauty of the forest around me was almost surreal. The trees stretched out like towering guardians, the air thick with the scent of pine and wildflowers. I could hear the soft rush of a river nearby, the gentle sound comforting in a way I couldn't explain.

When I saw Danny running toward me, I couldn't help but smile. The weight of the last two days seemed to lighten, just for a moment.

"Avery!" He yelled, waving as he jogged toward my car.

"Danny! Oh my god, I missed you so much!" I threw my arms around him, the familiar warmth of his embrace almost bringing me to tears. "Thank you so much for doing this. I don't know what I would've done without you."

"No worries, love," he said with a smile, pulling back. "You're always welcome here. Now, get settled in. Dinner's on the table. I bet you're hungry."

"Starving," I said with a laugh, my stomach growling in agreement.

____________________________________________________________________________

"HE DID WHAT?"

I had barely gotten settled when Danny's anger broke through the calm.

I had just finished telling him everything—about Camden's rejection, the pack's judgment, and the hurt that followed. And now Danny was fuming, pacing in the living room.

"Don't you worry, Ave," he said, his voice low and fierce. "If that ass is willing to believe someone else over his own mate and say something like that to drive her away, then he doesn't deserve you."

I swallowed hard, fighting the urge to cry again. His words were like a balm to my wounded soul, but they didn't stop the ache inside. It wasn't just Camden who had hurt me; it was the life I thought I had—the life I thought I would have—with him.

"Thank you, Danny." I whispered, my voice thick with emotion.

He paused and shot me a soft look, one that made me feel understood in a way no one else could. "Come on, get some rest. You've had a long drive, and your pregnant ass needs sleep."

I couldn't help but laugh, even through the pain. "I'll try."

Sleep didn't come easy.

I could feel her — my wolf — inside me, her heart aching with every word Camden had thrown at me. She was trying to retreat, to hide from the pain, but it was impossible. She wasn't just rejecting Camden; she was rejecting us both, and it felt like a physical blow.

Her instinct was to protect the bond. It always had been. We had been taught, from the moment we were old enough to understand, that mates were sacred — that a rejection wasn't something we could easily recover from. But Camden had done it. He'd rejected us, and the pain rippling through my wolf felt like a wound that wouldn't stop bleeding.

She howled softly within me, an echo of my own heart shattering. The wolf's instinct was to run, to leave, to find somewhere we could lick our wounds in peace. I could feel her longing for the pack's protection, the safety of Camden's presence, the warmth of a bond that had always been there — even if it hadn't always been acknowledged.

But now, we were alone. My wolf felt the emptiness of that rejection, and I could feel it too, like an ache deep in my chest that wouldn't go away.

When I had stood there, watching Camden turn his back on me, I wasn't the only one feeling the sting. She had tried to fight it, tried to reach out to him, but it had been in vain. She, too, was confused. How could he do this to us? How could he be so cold?

She didn't understand as our pup was still safe and sound.

My wolf was silent now, too exhausted from the emotional storm to do anything but lie dormant inside of me.

But I knew she was there, waiting. And so was I. Waiting for the pain to subside, waiting for Camden to realize his mistake. But deep down, I knew it wouldn't come. Not now. Not after what he'd said.

It was like a part of me had died that night. A part I'd never get back.