The White Wolf #Wattys2020

Chapter 9

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Kai

Her scent hit me like a snowstorm. The sweet smell of honeysuckle and vanilla invaded my nose. Antal howled loudly in my head, the sound vibrating in my head.

"We've found her! We've found her!"

"Then reject me."

Our sudden rejoice was short lived as reality came crashing down on us as she spoke those words. Oh, Goddess, what have I done? How could I say such things to my Mate? I didn't even know where all those hurtful words came from and I could kick myself for spewing out such atrocious insults at her.

Mate. She was our Mate, our beautiful Mate. I stared at her for a long time, just taking in her features. The world around me seemed to fade, while I took in her immaculate face. If it hadn't been for her eyes, I would have thought she felt completely indifferent about what I had just said to her. All her facial muscles were relaxed, but her pale orbs held so much emotion. Anger. Sadness. Despair.

"What? Is the Alpha going to go back on his word? Can't he find the words to reject his Mate?" She spat the word "Mate", as though it were acid on her tongue. I suppose it was, seeing as I had degraded her yet again.

"No, please, please don't reject her," Antal pleaded.

I knew it was wrong, I knew I should back down and accept her. Hell, I wanted to so badly. I wanted to touch her again and feel her pressed against me. Antal wanted her to stroke his head again like she did that one night not too long ago.

But I couldn't. What kind of Alpha would I be if I went back on my word? How can I promise my people strength and protection if my Mate could not shift? How could I accept a Mate who wasn't truly one of us?

Antal let out a high-pitched whine, knowing I had made my choice. My heart was clenching and my hands were growing sweaty. I felt dizzy just thinking of rejecting her.

"Please! Please, maybe we can heal her, maybe we can find a way to make her shift!" Antal was grasping at straws and we both knew I wouldn't change my mind. We both knew there was no way to make someone shift if they had no wolf, and seeing as Laura couldn't shift, she didn't have one.

I glanced around and saw my people watching Laura and I both anxiously. I could see the questioning in their faces. Were they already thinking of me as weak because I was taking so long to speak?

"I, Kai Lorell, Alpha of the Black River Pack," I inhaled deeply before continuing, "reject my Mate."

A pressure began to build up in my chest and it took all my strength to stop my knees from buckling. My vision hazed and I couldn't breathe. It felt like my lungs weren't functioning properly and I gasped for the little air I could get. It was as though someone was holding my head underwater and no matter how much I thrashed, I could not reach the surface.

Roland appeared by my side and I grabbed his shoulder to steady myself. He placed a hand on my back and shot me a worried look. It took me a few moments to regain myself and even then I was barely standing on my own. When I straighten my back, I was surprised when my eyes looked into Laura's.

She didn't seem to have moved an inch from where she stood before I rejected her. How could she seem so unaffected? Did the Bond mean nothing to her?

"Well, aren't we glad that's over," she breathed lightly before adding in a more mocking tone, "Congratulations on not stuttering."

She turned on her heel and headed for the pack house, only stopping to shoot the wolf she had just fought a warning glare. I recognised it was Carla, Donatella's wolf. I held back a sigh; not at all surprised it was her who stirred up trouble. Ever since I slept with her a few moons back, she'd been parading herself around the rest of the pack as though she were the Luna. She didn't seem to understand the meaning of "no strings attached".