My Mate's Rejection

CHAPTER ONE

I took off running, dodging trees and their branches. My heart thudding at a dangerous pace, increasing its rate with every step I made. Everything seemed to blur together, from the brightness of the blue sky to the deep green of the forest. All that mattered in that moment was that I had to get away. Get away from him and his emerald green eyes that sought their way into my soul. The same orbs that hardened with anger and sadness when he rejected me, yet made me want to fall deep into the green pools and never return.

Some how my paws managed to avoid roots and fallen trees as I kept running, pushing myself further and further into the forest. My wolf had officially taken over, trying to run from the pain and humiliation he inflicted so easily on us.

“How could he do this to us?” my wolf asked.

Meeting your mate was supposed to be the best thing that could happen to a wolf. When you find your other half, everything makes sense. That was not the case for us.

“I don’t know,” I responded. My insides clenched at the thought of his rejection.  How my brother’s best friend made a complete fool out of me in front of the whole school. Especially when I gave him my heart and he crushed it into tiny pieces.

 Gradually I started to gain control of my wolf, making her slow down. We had finally made it to the clearing. I took in the familiar sight of the lazy river dribbling its way down over the rocks and the greenest meadow I had ever seen. Over the past few years this has become the place where I go to think and take a step back from reality. I can still remember the day I stumbled upon this gorgeous open space. My brother Carson and I had just celebrated our fourteenth birthday the week before, meaning we also had our first shift into our wolves.

Carson and I were testing out our new wolf strengths and abilities by seeing who was the fastest. “I bet I could beat you running with my eyes closed,” taunted Carson. “My wolf is twice as big as yours!”

He was right about one thing, his wolf was huge. It stood tall and husky with tons of charcoal colored fur and big blue eyes.

 “Don’t kid yourself Car Car. We both know that my small stature allows me to run faster,” I retorted.

Carson and I were twins, but you would never have guessed so. My wolf was the exact opposite of his. While Carson’s wolf was dark and large, my wolf was a golden color and quite a bit smaller. The only similarity we shared was our mother’s dark blue eyes.

“On the count of three, we’ll race from here to the boarder. The first one there will be the winner and we can settle this once and for all that I am the best, strongest, fastest, older brother ever!” Carson stated.

Oh and I forgot to mention that Carson is a whole two minutes older than me, which he makes sure to remind me every second he gets.

“We’ll see big brother. And you forget to remember that we are only a couple of minutes apart so that hardly makes you so much older than me,” I replied sarcastically.

“Whatever you say...Are you ready?” he asked. “No, the question is are you ready to get your ass handed to you?” I laughed.

Carson chose to ignore my comment and started to count. “One, two, three!” Carson bellowed. And just like that we were off, running as fast as our newly shifted bodies could take us. We were tossing insults and nudging each other back and forth on the path. That was until Carson hit me a little too hard, causing me to tumble off the side, through some bushes, into the clearing. Ever since that day, I’ve felt a connection with the place.

The rustling of bushes to my left caused me to jerk out of my memory back into the present. I slowly turned in the direction of the bushes, crouching low to the ground, ready to attack. My wolf let out a warning growl, curling back her top lip to bear her sharp teeth. The bushes stopped moving and out leaped a small brown wolf. My muscles relaxed when I realized the wolf was not a threat, but my best friend Summer.

“Alexis Evans!” Summer fumed.  Oh shoot. She was really mad. I could tell because she and my mother tended to use my full name when they were upset with me. “Do you know how long it took me to track you down after you took off? Or how I tried to connect with you through the pack mind link, but couldn’t cause you turned it off?” Summer yelled.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, trying to hold back the tears that had been threatening to fall since the incident.

“Oh Lexi,” Summer cooed, “you know you can tell me anything right?” I just nodded my head and looked away.  “Come on Lex, tell me why you left school in such a rush today.” That was it. I couldn’t hold back anymore.

The dam had broken and all the built up pain came flooding down my cheeks. “ I-I got re-rejected by m-my mate,” I sobbed into Summer’s shoulder.

“Aww, Lexi are you sure?” Summer asked frowning.

“As sure as the look on his face and the words that followed when he rejected me,” I sniffled.

 Summer hugged me close and then asked the words I had been dreading to hear since she found me. “Who is it, Lexi? Who is the douche that is supposedly your better half?”

“You’ll never believe me…no one else at school does either,” I mumbled. 

“You can tell me Lexi and I will believe you. We have been best friends almost as long as you’ve known Carson,“ Summer said.

When you think about it that’s a really long time considering that Carson and I are twins, and we were together in the womb for 9 long months. Summer’s pleading eyes were my downfall.

“Liam James,” I whispered.