005

RAYLA

What? I intended to say the word out loud but instead it just echoed in my mind. I stared at my Mom, gone were the soft composed features of her face and now replaced by worried lines, she has unshed tears in her eyes, this made her look older than her age making me feel terrible.

"You heard me right? You are going to reject Damien and then we are going to put all these behind us like it never happened. I'll personally make sure that these rumours remain purely a rumour." She continued taking my silence as an agreement.

"What?" I finally muttered the word out loud. "You care about me so much, you are going to let me go through two rejection in one day? Have you stopped to wonder why the moon goddess paired us together or all you and Jordan are worried about is your reputation?" I demanded.

She grabs my shoulders, shaking me for a few seconds. "I don't think you understand what's at stake here. Do you have any idea how people would look at you? They will tag you two weirdos and us disgusting for allowing it. It goes beyond Moonshine, what about all the formal events we attended as family where we introduce you two as siblings? What about Jenna? Did you think about how this would affect her?"

"I'm not saying I want to be mated to Damien or anything. I'm just tired of hurting, when Brandon rejected me, it felt like I was going to die. A pain I'm sure you relate to when Dad died, how could you even wish I go through that in a day? Why not give me time to recover from Brandon's rejection?" Tears welled up my face and yet it was clear that she didn't understand.

"I'm not just your mother anymore Rayla, I'm a wife and a Luna. In as much as I relate to what you are going through, this cannot go on for another day. If you want to be mated to him then you do realise for you two to be together I have to reject Jordan..."

"Will you be happy then? After taking away your mother's last shred of happiness? What about your sister? If you are able to live with yourself after all these then go ahead." She cleaned her tears with the back of her hand, while adjusting herself too.

I watch her go, dropping helplessly back on my bed. Why am I so hesitant to reject Damien? The idea of rejecting him makes it difficult for me to breathe and yet my Mom was right.

We would never be right, he was my stepbrother, we were raised as close as siblings without blood relationship should be. Did I commit a crime so big that the moon goddess decided to punish me like this? I glanced at the door with blurry eyes as it opened and Damien stepped in.

I immediately turned my back to him, drying my tears so he doesn't know how affected I was about all these. "What are you doing here? If you are here to reject me then let's get on with it..." I gasped in surprise when he pulled me up.

"Is that what you want?" He demanded.

"Are you seriously asking me this? It shouldn't even be a question, you should have rejected me the second you found out we were soul mates. Do you have any idea what this is going to do to our family? To the pack?"

"I don't give a flying fuck what happens to this family or the pack. You are mine Rayla and I'm not going to reject you." He retorted, taking me aback.

I didn't think he was serious about this whole thing, I thought he was going to use it as a joke to mess with me and have a laugh about it but clearly I was wrong.

His hand that was wrapped around my wrist felt electric and I glanced down at it, when did things change so much between us? When we found out we were mates? Yet I didn't believe that myself. It has always been there, no matter how much our parents wanted us to be siblings, it would never work because the mating bond just surfaced whatever we had between us.

"You felt it." He said, his voice low and seductive. Like the devil seducing you into sin, you badly wanted to commit but hesitating.

I jerked my hand from his. "You might not care about this family or the pack but I do. I have been treated badly all my life because of my rank and you think I'm going to make it worse by accepting you as my mate?" I scoffed.

"You are mine, I would never let anyone disrespect you." He paused, his blue eyes pinning me. "You said they treated you terribly, why would you care so much about those same people's opinions?" He steps closer, I didn't back away this time.

He tipped my head back, just like he did in the cafeteria earlier. "I have wanted you for so long it hurts. You think now that I have the chance to claim you, I'll give it up?"

I swallowed hard, wanting the magnetic pull between us to go away. "Did you ask Brandon to reject me?" I asked even though I knew what the answer would be.

"Yes." He replied without any ounce of hesitation.

"How could you!" I shoved him away. "You made him publicly humiliate me! Why? To make sure everyone knows about the rejection or you claiming me?"

"I think you should be more concerned about why he would choose to listen to me and reject you. I'm not going to apologise for my actions because hell! I'd do it over and over again...to...to have you in my arms like this." He pulled me closed, crushing his mouth on mine.

"You... shouldn't do this." I cried, making no move to push him away.

"I know." He replied in between kisses.

"We should be rejecting each other." I cried again hoping to talk some sense into him, knowing deep down he was past reasoning with at this point.

The only response I got was a satisfied moan as he backed me up against the wall to kiss me harder. I felt my control slipping from my grasp, I tried to stay strong, I really tried but for whatever reason I wasn't strong enough to fight this magnetic pull between us.

Even as my mother's words echo through my mind, my lips softened giving him more access, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back knowing we've both crossed a line of no return!

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TBC