Price of Rejecting

“Who are you to reject me like that?”

His voice sliced through the stillness—cold, sharp, laced with fury. I froze, my lungs locking tight. My heart stuttered in my chest. Why? Why did it matter to him? He was the one who turned away first. He was the one who shattered me.

Rendell stepped closer, golden eyes like fire-glazed stone. With unforgiving stares.

“Who do you think you are, Elara? Humiliating me in front of my pack?”

His tone was calm now, dangerously flat. The kind of calm before a storm. Beside him, Corrine sneered. Her smile was venom.

“A crazy omega who thought she could be Luna.” Every word hit like a slap.

“Nobody does this,” Rendell added, his voice thick with wounded pride. Like rejecting him was some kind of crime. Like I didn’t have the right. He gave the smallest flick of his fingers.

My gut screamed at me to run. I took a step back but it’s too late. Two guys grabbed me before I could shift, dragging me to the ground like I was some criminal. My knees scraped on the stone which caused people gasped.

“Take her to the dungeon,” Rendell ordered, like I was a threat. A traitor. A joke.

I looked up at him, too stunned to speak. This was real. He was really doing this. My chest burned. My soul trembled. The pain of rejection was still fresh, raw, bleeding inside me. And now this. He felt the bond crack—he had to. I knew he did.But he still looked down at me like I was nothing. I didn’t fight. I couldn’t. My body was broken, my spirit torn. So I let them drag me away.

The dungeon reeked of damp stone and decay. Mold clung to the walls. Iron shackles hung like ghosts from the past. There was no moonlight here. No comfort. Just cold, choking silence. I didn’t know how long I’d been here. Maybe two days. Maybe more. Time blurred into shadows. My wrists were raw from the cuffs, my throat cracked from thirst. My body screamed, But I sat up straight. I refused to lie down. I refused to look broken. Because that would mean he won. Rendell. The Alpha who couldn't handle being rejected.

The sound of boots on stone echoed through the hall, steady and sure. My heart twisted. I didn't need to see him to know it was him. I smelled him before he even got there—pine and leather and a hint of something darker. Something angry. I didn’t get up when the cell door creaked open. I didn’t even flinch or rise. I just stared, hollow and sharp.

“Why are you here?” I croaked. My voice sounds like a sandpaper. “You don’t even like me. Just reject me and let me go.” He stepped inside and closed the door behind him, then he looked at me—so calm, so controlled, so utterly unmoved.

“Because I’m the only one who gets to reject someone,” he said, his tone pure ice. “I won’t let some omega shame me.”I laughed. A cold, bitter sound. It bounced off the stone like a warning.

“The boy who saved me would never have become this,” I said. My voice cracked anyway. “I must’ve been stupid.” Something flickered in his eyes. Not anger. Not arrogance. Something more fragile maybe guilt? Or maybe even regret? I don’t know. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something. Then stopped. His jaw clenched. The war inside him was obvious. His wolf was restless—I could feel it clawing just beneath the surface. Then after some minutes, he turned and left without a word. The door slammed. And I sat there again. In the dark. Shaking.

Was he guilty? Or was there something else? That memory... of the boy who saved me…

His scent had been different. His eyes—green. Not gold. Rendell’s eyes were gold. Had I been wrong all along? My wolf stirred, her voice soft in my head.

“We were wrong. He’s not who we thought he was.”

“Then we leave,” I whispered. “When we get out, we leave everything.”

No more hope. No more pain. Just freedom. Even if it meant being alone.

At dawn, two guards came. They didn’t look angry. One helped me up and the other handed me water. They give nothing but kindness, small and strange, that chilled me more than cruelty. He even looked me in the eyes for a second and I saw sympathy which made my blood run cold. Nobody had ever looked at me like that before. Not in this pack. Something was up. We left the cells, heading down a path I didn’t recognize, with no clue where they were taking me. We didn’t walk back to the village. Or the pack house. We walked somewhere worse. And then I saw it. The trees opened to a clearing I knew way too well. Flat, open ground, stained with blood and old bones. Where they took traitors. The execution place.

I stopped walking. My legs wouldn’t move. I couldn't breathe. This couldn’t be happening. All this… for rejecting him? I panicked hard

“No. No. This couldn’t be happening. All this… just for rejecting him?” I ask myself. I tried to breathe but I couldn’t. My wolf thrashed inside me, howling for Rendell. For our mate. But there was no answer. Rendell had turned his back completely. And in that moment, I understood something I never wanted to feel: What it meant to be truly, completely alone.