Chapter 721 Are you going to reject me too?
“Alpha Jasper, please accept my rejection.”
Jasmine’s voice cracked on the final word, splintering into the cold air between them like broken glass.
She knelt on the hard ground, her knees pressing into the dirt, one hand clutched desperately over her chest as if she could physically tear out the agony living inside her.
It clawed through her heart, through her soul, savage and unending. Every breath felt like swallowing shattered pieces of herself. Every heartbeat punished her for the crime of rejecting her fated mate.
Jasper went rigid. His hands trembled at his sides, fingers curling and uncurling as he fought the overwhelming urge to reach for her, to pull her into his arms and promise her everything would be alright.
He had waited so long for this moment. A time when the moon goddess would bless him with a fated mate after finding out that Seraphine was already married.
After the love and lust bond, he never expected to face something like this and now, his hopes scattered into the wind. The rejection cut deeper than any blade, carved wounds no healing could ever touch.
But her suffering cut deeper still. He could not bear it. He could not bear watching her break apart because of him, watching her crumble into pieces he could not put back together.
He hoped that she doesn’t regret this one day. “I, Jasper Spencer, accept your rejection.”
The words scraped out of him like broken glass pulled from a wound. A sharp pain lanced through his chest, fierce and blinding, then faded as the bond between them snapped.
The thread dissolved into the crimson night, gone as if it had never existed, leaving nothing but hollow silence in its wake.
Jasmine pushed herself to her feet. Her breath came rough and uneven, her chest heaving with the effort.
Her body trembled with the aftermath, quaking like a leaf in a storm, but she lifted her chin and forced her spine straight. She wiped her face with the back of her hand, smearing tears across her cheek.
“Thank you. Please excuse me.”
She walked away without looking back. Each step was unsteady, but she did not falter.
Kael stared after her, disbelief twisting his features into something raw and anguished. What exactly did Jasmine want? This was not about staying with the Grimroot pack. That much was obvious.
Thanks to Alpha Jasper, the Silver Moon Pack had thrived, flourishing under his leadership. Because of Liah, their connection to Grimroot had never been stronger, their alliance built on trust and mutual respect.
Kael had always wanted to be chosen. Not a spare. Not a backup. Not second best. Now Jasmine had chosen him. She had rejected an Alpha for him, sacrificed everything for him. And he could not reject his fated mate for her.
That truth crushed him, buried him beneath shame and regret until he could barely breathe, until the weight of it pressed down on his chest like a boulder he could not move.
His love felt weak compared to hers. Thin, cowardly, and if Cleopatra became the Alpha of the Western Tribe, he would have to leave the Grimroot pack.
The thought of walking away from everything he knew, from the only home he had ever loved, from the people who had raised him and shaped him, opened a wound inside him that would never fully close.
Kael turned to follow Jasmine, but Voren blocked him. “Don’t.”
Voren’s gaze swept between Kael and Cleopatra, cold and commanding. “You chose your mate. You two should complete the process.”
“I’ll go check on Jasmine.” Seraphine moved before anyone could stop her, her strides quick and purposeful.
Something had changed in Jasmine. She was no longer clinging to a man. She was setting herself free. The chains that had bound her to hope, to longing, to a love that never returned, had finally broken, shattered into a thousand pieces at her feet.
“King Voren.” Cleopatra lowered her gaze, her cheeks flushing with nervousness. Voren forced a smile, polite but distant.
“Cleopatra, Kael is a leader. You have to understand he’ll need time to hand over everything he’s working on.”
Cleopatra smiled shyly, her voice soft. “I’m not in a rush. If I wasn’t an Alpha’s daughter, I would have loved to live here instead.”
Voren was about to answer when another voice pulled his attention.
“Mate.” It was Jasper.
Voren muttered under his breath, “So fast.” He turned and saw Jasper’s second chance mate. Vianna.
Vianna had never been paired with anyone. She had assumed her mate was somewhere in the human world, waiting for her, living a life she knew nothing about.
Who would have guessed her childhood friend would turn out to be her fated mate? The boy she had grown up chasing through the woods, the one who had always made her laugh until her sides ached, was hers.
Jasper could not let himself feel excited too soon. Not after one rejection. His heart hammered against his ribs, hope and fear warring inside him. His voice came out cautious and vulnerable.
“Are you going to reject me too?”
Vianna laughed. The sound was bright and warm, cutting through the tension like sunlight through storm clouds. “Never.”
Relief washed over Jasper. He pulled Vianna into his arms, burying his face in her hair.
“Thanks for coming back, Vianna. This bond healed my wolf so fast. He’s all giddy again.”
Voren smiled, happy that Jasper still found his happiness. Vianna was a great doctor. Seraphine had told him so. That would be a great value to the Silver Moon Pack, and a good reason for Vianna to stay instead of leaving again.
“Congratulations, brother.” Liah hugged both Vianna and Jasper at the same time, squeezing them tight.
“When I saw you both together yesterday, I honestly thought there was something going on. Then Jasper got bonded with Jasmine. Now I know you two are meant to be after all.”
Jasper smiled, suddenly grateful to Jasmine.
“I hope Jasmine finds happiness too.”
“She will.” Liah smiled, and then a mindlink hit her, sharp and urgent. ’Liah, please come to the leaders’ cafeteria. It’s urgent.’
It was Seraphine. Liah excused herself at once and hurried toward the cafeteria. The request was not something she had expected so quickly.