CHAPTER 2- Rejection

When Lilian woke up in the morning, she felt an inexplicable pain like something in her had torn apart. She looked around and realized she was inside the library, lying naked on the sofa bed.

What had she done?

She tried to recall what happened until everything had sunk into her mind.

"Oh my..." she murmured.

She was with Morgan last night.

Her fingers absentmindedly traced the bedsheet, and her heart clenched as she saw droplets of blood stained on it. The sharp contrast of crimson against the white fabric served as the sole evidence of the night she had surrendered everything. She couldn't believe she had given her virginity to Morgan for just one night. It was a moment of weakness and oblivion, yet she had no regrets. In fact, she felt a sense of happiness in her heart.

However, another reality hit her that made her feel nervous. She could still feel Morgan's touch, his intense gaze that seared into her soul, his scent that filled her senses, meant one thing—he was her mate. She had dreamed of it like any other wolf but she did not expect it would be the man she dearly loved for so long. A sudden dread crept into her heart because she knew Morgan would never embrace it. What happened to them last night, was only due to the effect of alcohol and it wasn't something to be given much value.

Alpha Morgan was a man of power, ambition, and pride. He had never shown her even a flicker of affection, not once. She was just a nobody in the pack, an invisible in his eyes. So she was certain he would not accept her as his mate. She wasn’t like the other she-wolves who vied for his attention—beautiful, strong, and confident. However, she still believed that somehow it would turn the other way around.

Her speculation held true when the two of them were summoned by the Wolf Council, two days later. The tension in the room was palpable, the weight of tradition and expectation hanging over them like a dark cloud.

"It's time for you to get married, Alpha Morgan. You're not getting any younger anymore so as the Alpha of the pack, you need to have a Luna who will assist you in your leadership." Elder Joseph said in determination, leaving no room for argument.

Morgan furrowed his brows in confusion as he glanced at the council members. "What do you mean?" he asked trying to control his annoyance.

"Lilian is your mate, so you have to marry her as soon as possible," Elder Ursula added, as she shifted her gaze toward Lilian.

Lilian looked at Morgan's reaction and a pang of pain surged through her. Morgan was cold as he curled his lips into a smirk. "No! Lilian is my mate? That is impossible..." He scoffed, with his face in a flat grimace. The idea totally disgusted him.

The room went silent, all eyes on the Alpha, but Morgan remained unfazed, his posture rigid with defiance.

Elder Joseph butted in after clearing his throat. "It’s the Will of the Moon Goddess, Alpha and we could not defy her."

"No. How could someone like her be chosen as my Luna?" Morgan scoffed, his eyes as cold as ice. "I reject the mate bond, Elder Joseph. I don't love her."

Lilian was deeply hurt by Morgan's words. She felt her heartbeat stop for a moment and it seemed her world had torn apart. She only wished that the ground would open up and swallow her into darkness.

Morgan had no feelings for her. Despite what had happened between them that night, the fleeting moment of passion they shared meant nothing to him. She had foolishly allowed herself to believe, even for a moment, that it could have been more—that somehow he would feel the pull of their bond as strongly as she did. But now, standing there, shattered by his brutal words, she realized just how naive she had been.

She felt exposed, and humiliated, as though everyone in the room could see her heart breaking. Her vision blurred as the tears cascaded down her cheeks, betraying her attempt to stay composed. She could feel the weight of their stares—Elder Ursula's sympathetic gaze, Elder Joseph’s concerned glance, and worst of all, Morgan’s indifferent eyes that barely acknowledged her pain.

The walls of the council room seemed to close in around her, the air too thick to breathe. Every second she remained there felt like an eternity of suffering. She couldn't stand it anymore—the humiliation, the rejection, the pain.

"Excuse me," Lilian whispered, her voice barely audible, choked with emotion. Her words came out broken, and fragile, and before anyone could respond, she turned on her heel and bolted out of the room.

She ran, her heart pounding in her chest, each step fueled by the desperate need to escape. She didn’t know where she was going. All she wanted was to be alone. The hallways blurred as she fled, her tears blinding her, but she didn’t stop. She couldn’t stop. Her body trembled with the force of her sobs, her chest heaving as she gasped for air.

She finally stumbled out into the open, the cool breeze hitting her tear-streaked face. But even the open sky couldn’t ease the suffocating weight of her heartbreak. She leaned against a nearby tree, her fingers digging into the bark as she crumpled to the ground, her knees giving way beneath her.

The bond, the sacred connection that was supposed to unite them, had been cruelly severed by his words. He didn’t just reject her. He denied their fated bond, the very essence of who they were meant to be together.

And now, Lilian sat there, alone, her tears falling like rain onto the earth beneath her, wishing for nothing more than for the ground to open up and swallow her whole, to take her far away from the agony of her unrequited love.

******

Morgan paced back and forth in his room, alone with his thoughts. He just only realized now why he'd felt that strange pull towards Lilian that night. He'd initially thought it was just the alcohol, but now he knew it was something more—the mate bond. She was his mate.

"No!" a part of his brain scoffed. But his heart yearned for her. He couldn't forget her scent, her touch, the intimacy they shared in the library.

There was something more he couldn't understand. When he saw her crying at the Council, his heart ached so much that it was hard for him to breathe, especially when he severed the mate bond. But how could he marry her when she was just an ordinary member of the pack?