Free Web NovelChapter 47: The Pain of Rejection
"Harper, it’s fine. It’s not as bad as it looks," Elijah said weakly, as he caught the stricken look in my eyes. "I heal fast and it’s not as though I don’t deserve it."
"You don’t! This was my fault!" I cried out, upset and enraged that he was blaming himself.
"I let Damon down when I failed to keep an eye on you," Elijah insisted. "Harper, you don’t see an issue because you are now alive and well. But what if something had happened to you when you tried to escape?"
I kept silent, letting Elijah talk. I had a feeling he needed to get it out of his system.
"You saw what happened to Charles and Elena. What if the vampires were lying in wait, and they ambushed you when you were alone? How could Damon possibly forgive me for such a lapse in my duty? You’re his fated mate, our future Luna. How could I forgive myself?"
"I’m not going to become the future Luna," I began, and Elijah’s eyes widened with horror, as though he thought I was going to kill off Damon.
"Are you planning on running again?" Elijah demanded. He tried to get up to stop me, even though he was still heavily injured and in a lot of pain. I had to marvel at his loyalty to Damon― Damon must have brainwashed him somehow, for Elijah to still speak up for him even after being beaten to a pulp.
"No, I’m not," I hurriedly said, trying to push him back down. His nostrils flared as he caught my scent.
"Your scent is different," Elijah said suspiciously. "What happened to you?"
"She smells like Blaise, doesn’t she?" Nicole added. "That’s why I mistook her for Blaise when she was at the door."
"So... you spent time with Blaise, but that doesn’t explain the huge shift in scent," Elijah said with a frown on his face.
As expected of the charlie of the pack! Elijah’s nose must be more sensitive than most of his packmates. None of the other wolves thought there was anything strange about my scent.
"Wait... don’t tell me..." He looked up at me, his face ashen with understanding. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
I nodded. "I marked Blaise, and he marked me in return. We are now a pair of fated mates, tied together for all eternity."
There was a loud gasp from Nicole, before she clapped her hands, her eyes brimming with unconcealed joy. I felt happier just witnessing her being supportive of me.
"That’s fantastic! Congratulations! I wish both of you every happiness in your relationship."
In contrast, Elijah was a lot less enthusiastic about this new knowledge.
"That’s terrible!" Elijah exclaimed, with panic in his eyes. "Damon is going to lose his mind! Do you know what you have done? You will cause havoc in Fangborne!"
"Elijah, I don’t know how to put this nicely, but I don’t really care much about Fangborne, sorry," I said, with not much apology in my tone. It was hard to care about a pack led by an alpha who heartlessly slaughtered my best friend. "You guys have effectively held me prisoner since I arrived here."
Nicole made a noise of agreement, and Elijah looked at her in betrayal.
"What? I only have one eye, but it works fine. I saw the state she was in when she was first brought in. And I know she was chained down," Nicole said shrugging. "I also saw the marking ritual."
"More importantly, I found myself a mate that would devote himself to me, instead of whoring around and making a mockery of the Moon Goddess’s intentions," I said firmly, pointing to the mark Damon left me on my right shoulder.
"I cannot accept being marked without giving mine in return. He had many chances to do right by me," I continued. "Elijah, was I supposed to wait my entire life for him to finally treat me with respect before I found someone else? What if he never does? Was I supposed to just accept this mockery of a mate bond for my whole life? If it was you, what would you have done?"
Elijah opened his mouth, but this time, no words emerged. An ugly flush crawled up his throat. It seemed that my words had hit him hard.
I continued to speak, "The Moon Goddess gave me two mates for a reason. Who knows? Maybe she knew that Damon would be unsuitable so she gave me his brother too. Blaise is willing to actually commit to me. But you can relax; I will not be making any escape attempts now. I will simply not be Fangborne’s Luna, but Blaise’s... wife."
A faint blush rose to my cheeks at the last word of my sentence. We hadn’t talked anything about marriage, but that was what mates did, right? To have completed the mating process would be the equivalent of a human marriage.
Elijah stared at me and nodded despondently. "I understand your decision, Harper. I can’t say it’s not a courageous decision. Part of me wished I had that strength of will to walk away when she tossed me aside, but instead, I’m just back in another mess now that we’re living in the same packhouse."
Elijah’s fated mate had rejected him, but it seemed that he still couldn’t let go of her. My heart twisted in pain for him.
"I’m sure you’ll find someone who loves you more in the future," I said. "Who is your fated mate anyway? Can’t you just make her live somewhere else?"
Elijah outranked nearly every other wolf. If he made his ex-fated mate leave, who was going to stop him?
"I can’t, Damon assigned her to House Orion since she caused so much trouble for you," Elijah said. A nagging sensation emerged; Elijah’s description sounded very specific, and all signs pointed to one particular person.
"Oh god, is Susie your fated mate?" I asked, horrified.
There was a stagnant pause before Elijah gave a quick, jerky nod in response.
"I’m sorry, she doesn’t deserve you," I said, shaking my head. Suddenly, Susie’s words about how she didn’t want to settle for a mere charlie when she could have an alpha for a mate made a lot of sense, as well as Elijah’s insistence on hoping I could be the new Luna.
If I became the new Luna, Susie’s ambitions would come to nothing, and she would be forced to accept this defeat. Elijah was probably hoping that she might change her mind― and take another look at what she gave up in the pursuit of power.
Elijah had been dealt a bad hand. He sighed at my words. "Don’t say that... I guess I must have committed some sins in my past life for the Moon Goddess to saddle me with someone who didn’t want me. It’s a painful experience I would not wish on my worst enemy, let alone my Alpha."
Of course, his thoughts went back to Damon. Elijah was still trying to speak up for him.
"Damon will feel hurt and betrayed for a long time. You practically cucked him," Elijah said worryingly. "I’m worried that Fangborne, and Blaise especially, are going to pay the price for his emotions."
Well, that certainly sounded ominous.
