Bitter Rejection

Alexa's POV

"Where is he?" I mutter worriedly, staring at the pathway. It's getting darker and that's because night is fast approaching. 

He promised to meet me here, at our usual spot today. I've been waiting since afternoon and now it's almost night. Still no sign of him. 

I stare sadly at the small red box in my hand. Hours ago, I was so thrilled to give this to him. I wanna see the happiness on his face when he opens it and sees that I got him a watch. 

Maybe not as classy as the ones he's used to. But yeah, a watch. Because he loves watches a lot. I bought it to congratulate him on graduating high school today. 

We don't go to the same school and I can't step a foot into his Pack for fear of getting beheaded. So I didn't attend his graduation after-party. So I thought…I thought we'd celebrate here…but right now, I doubt if he's still coming. 

It's been over hours. Waiting here is pretty stupid of me. But I just can't find the will to leave. I miss him so much and I badly wanna see him on a day as important as today. I wanna tell him how proud I am of him. I just wanna see him. 

Tears drop from my eyes as my heart sinks. He's not coming. Lucian isn't coming. I waited in vain. He's not coming…

"Alexa." A voice interrupts my thought. Slowly, I look up and beam at the sight of him, standing near the door of this little shack. 

Excitement bubbles in my heart and I smile widely. "Lucian!" I ran into his arms, holding him so tightly. "I thought you weren't coming. I waited for hours."

"I'm sorry. I had a lot of things to take care of." His voice sounds very dry and cold. He must be tired. 

"I understand. You don't have to apologize." I say, letting go of him. I'm grinning ear to ear like a lovestruck girl. "Happy graduation."

"Thanks." He nods, tucking his hands inside his pockets. For a brief second, it hit me that he didn't hug me back earlier. It was just me holding him. 

And the forlorn look on his face is a bit daunting. But then, maybe he's just stressed, and he has every reason to feel that way today.

I should just be thrilled that he still came here to meet me. Yes, I should just focus on that. 

"I got you a present," I say with my excited tone, refusing to get affected by the coldness he's emitting. I open the box and show him the watch. "Do you like it?"

"It's okay." He replies, not a falter in his eyes. Not excitement. Not curiosity. Nothing. Just a bland reply. 

"Just…okay? It's not pretty? You don't like it?" I ask, unable to keep the hurt from my voice. I've never seen him so cold. And right now, it's breaking my fragile heart into bits. 

"Alexa, we need to talk, please." He says, walking past me. I turn to look at him. He's running a hand through his wavy, dark hair. His tall frame is a bit sagged, emitting an unexplainable aura of misery. 

What's going on?

He turns with twitching eyes. And he seems to be struggling to get some words out. 

"Tell me, Lucian. What's going on?" Tears are already clouding my eyes. I don't know why, but I feel whatever he's gonna say won't be good. 

"Let's never see each other again, Alexa." He drops the words, shutting me down with it. 

I take a whole minute to assimilate them. They trigger hot tears from my eyes. I try to get a hold of his jacket but he evades my touch. 

"What…what do you mean?" Stuttering and sobbing make one look rather pathetic. I just realized that. 

"It means I'm breaking up with you, Alexa. It means I'm gonna reject you as my mate. It means what we have is over. It means I need to take my life a bit seriously now. Do you understand or do you need more explanations?"

I shake my head, refusing to accept those words from him. "Why? Lucian, why would you wanna end this? What did I do that's so unforgivable?"

"It's not you, Alexa. It's not…" he sighs, shoving his fingers roughly through his hair and gritting his teeth. "Please, don't make this harder for us. Just let me go."

"I can't. I can't, Lucian. I can't!" Crying out loud, I rush into his arms, hugging him tightly, ignoring the fact that he's not hugging me back again. 

"Alexa…"

"Don't do this to me. To us. Please, Lucian, please." I cup his face, kissing his lips. "Please, please don't do this."

"I'm sorry but I can't change my mind about it…." He takes my hand off his face, dropping them roughly. "So don't touch me like that anymore. And don't kiss me anymore."

"Is it…is it because of the watch? You don't like it?" I ask frantically, shaking from the tide of tears welling up inside me. 

"It's not about the damn watch! It's about us. Where we truly stand. And because I need to take my life a bit seriously now. I just graduated and I can't afford to mess around anymore…"

"Is that what you're doing with me? Messing around?" His choice of words is very harsh and has me sobbing even harder. 

"Just…just take it as I said it, Alexa. Don't make this any harder than it is. What we have has never been more than just a joke. And I think it's time we end that joke."

"A joke?" 

"Yes. A joke. And that joke might cost me my future and put me at the risk of being disowned if I don't end it now."

"Do you really have to end this?"

"Yes. Yes, I need to. It was great while it lasted and I might never find a love as passionate as what we shared. This might be my only chance at love and I might be miserable all my life…"

"Then why are you throwing it away?! I don't understand. Why are you breaking up with me? At least, give me a good reason, and let's see if we can work it out. Don't just end things like a coward."

His eyes blare and terrifyingly glisten with tears. "Like a coward?" He repeats, sounding really hurt by my words.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have said that…"

"No, hold on. Let me get this straight. So I'm a coward for being realistic? You wanna work this out? How do you plan on doing that?"

More tears drop from my eyes. "I don't know. We'll talk…"

"Talk? About what? Alexa, let's get fucking honest with each other. Yeah? You're an Omega and I'm an Alpha heir. A union between an Alpha and an Omega is forbidden and you know it. Also, you're from Blueberry Pack and I'm from Red Hills Pack. The two packs have an unending feud…"

"I know…"

"And that's why I've never visited your house and you've never visited mine. Because they're gonna kill me if I step foot in your Pack. And they'll do the same to you if you step a foot in my pack. What we shared was fated to end. So don't call me a coward. You don't wanna know how much strength it's taking up for me to do this right now…"

"Lucian, please." I drop to my knees, bawling my eyes out. "At least don't reject me."

"I'm sorry." He sucks in a harsh breath and shuts his eyes firmly. And then he opens them, looking more stern. "I, Alpha Lucian King, of Red Hills Pack, reject you Alexa Dawn as my mate and future Luna."

"Please. Please, don't do it." I sob endlessly, clutching my shrinking heart. I can already feel the impact.

"Goodbye, Alexa." He finalizes, as he walks out of the shack, shutting the door behind him.