Chapter FOUR

　　I swallowed my saliva and take one step backward, but he takes a longer step towards me, bringing him even closer to me. I haven’t seen Jordan in a long time and I always try to avoid him, because he said once that I reminded him of the incident, and he would rather not set his eyes on me.

　　Jordan is two years senior to me. Oh goodness, that means he has known about me being his mate for the last two years and he said nothing about it. He was scrutinizing me, staring down at me with loathe, and his nose scrunched up.

　　“Why did you bring me here?” I ask him, trying to keep the fear out of my voice.

　　He doesn’t respond immediately, apparently enjoying my discomfort. I’m here thinking of the many ways he can end my life right now and no one would know about it. He didn’t just bring me to his brother's death scene this time in the night just to hang out here.

　　He starts to walk around me in circles, sniffing me as he did.

　　“I’m sure you remember this spot all too well. This is where you stood and laughed while my beloved brother took his last breath, ” he says with clenched jaw and I feel tears burn my eyes at his accusation. That had been the worse night of my life. How could he even think I laughed through it?

　　“I didn’t –” I didn’t get a chance to speak, he wouldn’t let me.

　　“You need to stop denying Tiana!” he exclaims. He was still going around me “How is it that you were here with him but you didn’t get even a scratch? That’s because you had it all planned out, you little she-devil, ” he accused.

　　I didn’t stop the tears from falling this time. I was barely six years old for crying out loud. How could I have planned to murder the future alpha? What is in it for me? Jayce was my closest friend as a kid.

　　“Seeing your mum left you and your wretched father, you must have been deranged from that young age, and my unsuspecting brother happened to be your prey, ” I see his eyes flash red and I felt my stomach turn as more tears continued to pour from my eyes.

　　“Stop it Jordan, Please, I didn’t plan anything. I was barely six, ”

　　“Oh shut up,” he thunders, his aura filling the air and causing me to shiver. He’s an alpha male after all, and he was going to show me that anyway he could.

　　He grabbed my neck and squeezed, lifting me off my feet while I struggled with his hands, gasping for air, my legs thrashing wildly in the air. He had that wicked glint in his eyes. He was happy that I was in pain.

　　“I’ve waited for this day for two years now, ” he grunts before letting me go roughly, making me fall to the floor with a loud thud. I massaged the area his hands had gripped me and coughed severally, water pouring out my eyes but he kept coming for me, and I kept crawling away on the ground. I wasn’t going to die like this, not without a fight at least.

　　“I found out you were my mate two years ago, and although I would like nothing more than to end your life with my bare hands, I’d rather you stay alive and suffer. Death would be too easy for you. No, you have to beg for it, ” he spat with venom.

　　I stagger back to my feet but he brings his hands up to smack me on the face. Because I already saw it coming, I easily ducked under his arms. He swirled around and grabbed me by my hair, then drags me back before burying his head in my neck and breathing in my scent.

　　He lets out a slow groan, then snaps his head to meet mine “It’s so hard Tee, my wolf wants you, but you are a traitor, ” I see him swallow hard but his grip on my hair is so painful. I have already developed a headache and my eyes are turning.

　　“I, Jordan Thompson Walker, future alpha of Eclipse pack, reject you, Tiana Aldridge, as my mate,” He lets out the most hurtful words. I felt a heart-wrenching pain in my chest, as well as a whimper within me that had to be from my wolf. I’d only just felt her presence and now it seems like she was leaving me so soon.

　　My first thought was to beg, because it feels like a part of me was slowly dying, but I couldn’t beg. Begging him would mean living the rest of my life in torture. He hates me, he thinks I had something to do with his brothers death. If this rejection was going to kill me, then so be it. I would rather die than leave the rest of my life at his mercy. I would rather die than remain in this pack and die a wretched maid.

　　Maybe now the alpha would give me permission to leave. A rejection from a mate is a good enough reason isn’t it? But I doubt my alpha would let me go still. Just like his son, he would want me to suffer. Leaving would be too easy.

　　He releases my hair from his hard grip and I stepped away from him. I can see the smug smile planted on his face. I bet he had planned this for a long time.

　　To werewolves, the mate bond is very sacred. Our mates are given to us by the moon goddess and they are to complete us. A rejection is very rare and if it happens, it can weaken our wolves or even lead to the death of the rejected, especially if her partner moves on to mark someone else.

　　“Accept the rejection, you moron,” He snarled at me. I can feel myself going weaker and weaker. I do not want to be subjected to a life of slavery but at the same time, I want to be with my mate. I didn’t have much expectations before perceiving his scent this evening and then I had hopes all of a sudden. That’s the thing with the mate bond, It’s so hard to break but I wasn’t going to keep being the pitiful maid anymore, I would rather die than beg. Yes, I’d rather die.

　　I looked him straight in the eye then, standing to my full height with as much confidence as I could muster.

　　“I, Tiana Aldridge, accept your rejection, Jordan Thompson Walker. As of this day, I cut all ties binding me to you as your mate,” I say with equal venom in my voice but deep down, I was hurting, my wolf’s whimper had become even fainter and I could barely feel her presence anymore.

　　The smug smile on his face was immediately wiped off and I saw his Adam’s apple move as he swallows. His eyes had turned darker and I could have sworn I saw pain in them but he was masking it so well, glaring at me like he didn’t feel a thing.

　　I feel like I may be sick anytime. I haven’t been sick since I remember but right now, I could feel my palms growing cold and my eyes heavy but I kept a straight face. He’s not going to see how much of a wreck I am from his rejection. I glance around the environment again. This is where Jayce died, this is where I got rejected, the two most painful events in my life. I don’t want to remain on this pack lands anymore. Twelve years and four months are enough.

　　“You are going to regret this,” Jordan spits and reaches for my neck again but this time, I held on to his hand before it reached it’s target area and wrestled with him. He stared at me in shock, surprised that I would challenge him but I pushed with all the strength in me.

　　He let’s out a loud growl, emanating his alpha aura and I didn’t know when I fell to my knees, breathing heavily. He laughs a sad laugh then, then walks closer to me and kicks me hard on my left side, causing me more pain.

　　I cried out and clutched at my sides, curling into a ball to protect myself from any more attacks, but he just laughs.

　　“Pathetic, ” he drawls before spinning around and leaving me there.

　　I laid there for at least another one hour, crying and cursing. Memories of how the last twelve years had panned out playing in my mind. I didn’t think one could survive the amount of pain I feel right now, but I allow myself take in all of it and nurse the internal bruises I felt, the physical ones were already healing fast.