Chapter 04 Reject

Hanna

“Down the drain where it belonged,” I answer.

I feel him when he moves from the shadows, his massive form towering over me as he passes, then stands in front of me. Those sensations return and my heart nearly erupts from joy. It can’t help but be happy in his presence despite all the pain it went through. Even the heart deceives itself to keep beating.

“That’s not very nice of you, Hanna. Any chance you can love me again?”

Logan sounds nonchalant. This entire ordeal seems like a game to him. I don’t understand why he wants to torment me so. To my knowledge, I have never wronged him. We trained together as a pack, studied together, learned to live together, and protect each other in the face of danger. I have never harbored jealousy towards him as he excelled in everything, only ever admired him from afar. So why … it doesn’t make any sense why he’d go out of his way to break me any more than he has.

But this isn’t the time to entertain such thoughts, nor should I hope for a logical answer. In the first place, he’s an Alpha. I’m just an Omega like any other. Disposable. Replaceable. Invaluable.

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

“I have every right to see my mate.”

Mate. He keeps throwing the word around like its trash.

“One who doesn’t value the bond has no business talking about mates.” I’m face to face with his chest, but in this situation, I can care less if he isn’t on speaking level. He can kneel before me if he wants me to look at him with disgust. “I’m not your mate, Logan. I told you I’d meet you tomorrow with Dean. You should go back now.”

“Heh. No one around here can order me around, little mouse. Can’t you see it’s a privilege exclusive to you?”

Dean hasn’t returned yet. With every passing second, I wish he’d come right around the corner and interfere.

“With all due respect, Alpha, this is too much, even for you. If you wanted to stop by, there are more appropriate times. Has Evergreen stooped this low under your leadership?” I say firmly, doubling down on his rude behavior.

“The Alpha himself, your mate, came to see you. Instead, he heard a disgustingly sweet confession. How do you think that made him feel?”

Logan cups my cheek like I did to Dean earlier, and I stiffen. Something lurks beneath my skin, crawling and electrifying when he caresses the pliant flesh with his thumb.

I hate it. This. It’s because of this bond that I threw caution out the window and it came back to bite me in the ass. I don’t want to be hurt again … by him … simply because of a bond that’s out of my control.

I’m tired of being tethered to him even when we’re miles apart. Of Logan occupying my thoughts when I’m sure he’s considered me dead these past two years.

“Reject me,” I whisper, my chest squeezing. It’s tiring to always be this angry and resentful. A new life is waiting for me, one I forged from the iron-filled lemons that life threw at me. But I can’t move forward with this collar on my neck—tied to a chain being pulled by him. “Reject me, Logan.”

Gentle fingertips tap along my cheek, down my jawline. They rest there. Then he lifts my head up to look at him. Darkness surrounds us. The lights coming from the dining room fall onto his beautiful face like he’s the sun pushing the darkness away. I see my favorite color in his eyes, studying my face as if searching for something, perhaps a tell to confirm a lie.

But he’ll find that there is none.

“Why?” he asks so softly it shocks me. “I feel our bond just as much as you. Why should I reject what we have?”

‘We’re not right together, Hanna.’

“You’ve done it once. I’m just asking you to do it properly this time.” I touch his wrist. Big mistake. More of those sensations settle on my stomach, making me feel more nervous than I should.

 “I didn’t reject you then, Hanna.”

‘This was a mistake. You should go after I leave. If Madeline sees us together–no—never mind. I’ll leave first.’

It hurts to breathe when these memories are forcing themselves out of their chests. With them returns two years’ worth of pain slamming into my heart at once, breaking it all the more into a million shards.

“You did it wrong, Logan. Do it right this time. For both of our sakes.”

For Leanna’s sake.

I bravely put on a smile. It’s not right no matter how I look at it from my perspective, but Madeline truly loves him. She’s always been there for him for as long as I can remember—waiting on him, taking care of him, and cheering him on. Every Evergreen knows of her dedication towards him, some expecting her to be his mate. She’s been teased as the future Luna of the pack since she was a teen, when she was still blossoming into the beauty that she is today.

Logan isn’t supposed to be hers, but they truly deserve each other. Therapy has taught me I should accept this fact and use it to carry on. They hurt me, but they’re happy. I can’t let them keep hurting me. I should also move forward and be happy. I owe it to myself, to dad, to Lea, and to Dean.

He leans forward and rests his forehead on mine. His eyes are closed, the sensations between us stronger than moments ago. “I don’t want to.”

“Then I’ll do it for you.”

My heart is protesting. Something within me is mourning what I’m about to do. It feels like I’ll lose an important part of me forever, but I know it’s where my freedom is held captive. “Alpha Logan Greene of the Evergreen Pack–”

“Don’t.”

“We were brought together by the goddess, but our hearts belong not to each other.”

“Hanna,” he growls, his hold on my jaw tightening, but I press on.

“My heart rejects our bond. Hanna Wells of Evergreen Pack humbly requests for your heart to do the same.”

It truly feels like something is about to break. This sense of loss is incomparable to when I left the pack.

Logan looks so out of it, too. His usual confident demeanor has crashed into one of sorrow, like he’s about to lose someone he cherishes. But I can’t let it deter me. This is simply the workings of our mate bond doing everything it can to keep us together.

They say that for our kind, to lose a mate is like losing half of our soul. Facing him like this while I say these words, I understand what they meant now.

Tears brim my eyes from an unspoken cry.

His face leans closer still, and memories of our night flash through my mind. It had felt so perfect then, so right. We were one for a night, then within a fortnight, we were apart. I missed this face so much, but I have to let go.

“Do–”

The question never leaves my mouth. It’s sealed with lips so soft butterflies erupt in my belly. It’s like our first kiss all over again when he gently lays a hand on the small of my back and pulls me flush to him while his warm palm cups my cheek.

My lips part on their own, and he takes the initiative in deepening the kiss. He leads me slowly, yet so full of passion, like he’s afraid I might run and disappear.

But where would I go when being in his arms feels like my place?

Those painful thoughts leave me like they’ve never been real, and all I can think of is how this is real. He tastes like the forbidden fruit, yet it’s mine to partake, and he smells like I’ve known him from that night. From when I’ve cried his name in a voice I’ve never known existed and moved in ways known only by us, the skies the witness to our immature love and promises.

I return his passion with equal fervor, my arms throwing themselves around the back of his neck and pulling him down to me. Logan smiles and so do I.

Then I’m once again slammed from the peak into the deepest depths when Dean’s surprised voice catches me off guard.

“Hanna?” he says weakly.

At the same time, a crash comes from upstairs.

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