Curse of the Moon Goddess
Rejection

Jace’s POV

I was kicking myself internally for my stupidity. When Lizzy and Sage had gone outside, I had mentioned I would talk to them about their behavior. Lukas essentially told me to back off his mate. He would talk to her and I could talk to Lizzy. I suggested we do it together. That’s when he said he was going to make Sage his mate. He couldn’t stand it any longer. The stress of not knowing where she was, if someone was hurting her, or if her heart belonged to someone else.

I wanted to scoff at him. Tell him what he was feeling was only a fraction of what it could be. Imagine not knowing if the one you love was even still alive. Imagine not knowing if she had found another love lifetimes ago. Imagine watching her die over and over again, never being able to get there in time. But I couldn’t say any of those things. I was trapped in my own conflict of feelings. Then I had to go and make matters worse when I picked Lizzy up. My finger grazed along her collarbone where her mate would mark her. I felt a cold shudder rush through me. I couldn’t bring myself to look into her eyes knowing she was looking at me.

The entire way inside I wanted to turn back and pull her into my arms and away from Lukas. He was my best friend. How could I try to steal away his mate like this? I needed to talk to Venessa. I needed to know if I felt this way around her or if I could feel this way toward her.

I walked down the stairs when I could hear her voice, low and almost inaudible. I moved closer to hear better.

“He cannot replace out Ian. Don’t you dare mess this up for me. I already have little miss new wolf doing a great job at that.”

“I’m not trying to mess this up for you. You think I want to see you get hurt? I don’t. I hate this whole situation. Why would the Moon Goddess pair you with both of us? That’s so messed up,” Ian’s voice stung with hurt, anger, and jealousy.

“Shut it. Do you want someone to hear?” Venessa shot at him venomously.

I could hear the whine in his voice as he asked, “If Jace hadn’t been your mate. If I was the only mate you had found, would you have accepted me?”

There was a long silence before Venessa finally spoke sadly, “I don’t know. And now we’ll never know.”

“And if Jace accepts you, you’ll reject me, right?”

There was a deadly silence. My legs gave out on me as I thought of Ian. The poor guy has been going through this all alone ever since he met Venessa. I thought the only person getting hurt here was Venessa and myself. I didn’t know how much Ian was suffering because of my indecisiveness. I had to make a decision tonight. I couldn’t let this go on.

I thought of Lukas and Sage outside talking. She most likely has accepted him as her mate by now. Who knows? The two may even already be mating. My blood boiled at the thought of the two of them walking back into the house, hand in hand, their marks visible right above the collarbone.

Then I thought of Ian and Venessa. I imagined the two of them mating, walking hand in hand, laughing, and smiling at one another. I felt a twinge of sadness, but mostly I felt relief at the thought. I guess that was my answer. Even if Sage accepts Lukas tonight, I could never accept Venessa as my mate. She deserved someone who could love her with his full heart and give her all his love, not just a part. I want this wait for Aleina to end, but I can’t end it by being with another.

Taking a deep breath, I made up my mind. I stood up and walked into the kitchen where I found Venessa and Ian no longer talking, simply looking at one another.

“Am I interrupting something?” I asked casually as I walked in.

The two of them jumped four feet in the air, looking guilty as sin.

I smirked as I remarked, “One would think I really did interrupt a romantic moment between you two with that reaction.”

The two immediately started talking over each other. Making excuses and trying to come up with a story that made sense.

I simply shook my head at their nonsense and chuck;ed slightly. “I’m not mad at the two of you. In fact, I’m glad.”

The two exchanged confused looks. I took the opportunity to walk up to Ian and place my hand on his shoulder.

Looking into his eyes I tried my best to sound reassuring, “I’m glad you found your mate man. Please take good care of her for me. Don’t let her go. And… please forgive me.”

“Wha…? I mean, but… uh,”

I turned away from him as he continued to stumble over his words.

I brushed away a hair from Venessa’s face, “You’re very beautiful Venessa. This has nothing to do with who you are or the fact you are also mated to my Beta. He is a good man and will be able to love you more than I ever could. I wish I could explain everything to you, but I can’t. The Moon Goddess is cruel to have mated you to me. And, I’m very sorry.”

She grabbed my hand tightly as tears started forming, “Don’t. Please don’t.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“At least,” she choked out, the tears already falling, “tell me why. What did I do?”

I shook my head. “You’ve done nothing. I’m just not capable of loving anymore. A long time ago, I lost someone dear to me and, I just can’t seem to love the same way. Ian has always wanted a mate. I know he’ll take very good care of you and love you more than anyone else in the world. Don’t turn away from him. It’s not his fault and it’s not yours. If you need to hate someone, hate me.”

“Is it because of Sage?” Ian asked, his eyes burning with anger towards me.

I shook my head while responding, “No. She reminds me a lot of the one I lost, but after tonight she will most likely belong to Lukas. I would never do that to a friend. She’ll continue to be a little sister to me. That’s all. I’m meant to be alone.”

Ian still looked like he was going to punch me. I stood there, closing my eyes, waiting for it to happen.

My eyes flew open in shock as I felt his arms wrap around me in a hug.

“You won’t be alone Alpha. I’ll always stay by your side. You’ve never given me a reason not to. Even with Venessa, you never led her on, giving her false hope. Even with Sage, you didn’t do anything that a brother wouldn’t have done. I have no reason to hate you. Except for making my mate cry. But I’ll forgive you. Because you’re my Alpha and my brother.”

We pulled apart, our hands on one another’s shoulders. I finally turned to Venessa, looking into her glistening eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

She smiled softly. “No need to be. I, Venessa Wolfang, reject you, Alpha Jace Bloodclaw, as my mate.”

I gave a small grimace knowing what was about to come, “I, Alpha Jace Bloodclaw, reject you, Venessa Wolfang, as my mate.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, the excruciating pain sent me doubling over, hardly able to breathe. Venessa was shocked more than anything, as she felt the slight tug of our bond severing. Ian was standing, ready to catch her, not expecting me to end up on the ground. They must have exchanged looks as they both started checking on me, asking if I was ok if there was anything they could do. I shook my head as my whole body was ensnared in fire. I did my best to hold back the cries. My whole body burned and froze at the same time. I cursed the bloody Moon Goddess. How was this fair? All I wanted was Aleina back. I’m tired of the pain and heartache.

However, the pain was soon forgotten as I heard the blood-curdling howl of another wolf. It was then followed by another, fiercer sound of another wolf. I recognized both sounds. I raced to my feet, stumbling like a drunken cat.

“Jace, you shouldn’t be getting up. You’re not well,” Ian tried lying me back down, but I refused to budge.

I looked him in the eyes. “That was Lukas and Sage. Something is wrong.”