The Rejected Mate novel · Chapter 6 of 24
Chapter 6: The Blessing
Willa went to her sister's pup blessing in a dark green dress with a Stormvale pin on her collar.
Kirk walked her up the hill with her hand on his arm, grinning.
"Remember," he said. "If anyone offers you a canapé, it's a trap."
"I'm not scared of canapés."
"You should be. They have little toothpicks."
It made her laugh, which was what he had meant it to do.
The laugh was still on her face when she walked into the great hall, and two hundred heads turned.
The room had been dressed in white lilies and silver ribbon.
On the dais sat Dinah in a pale blue gown, with a soft, rounded line at her middle.
Her hair was in gold curls, and her hands were folded on her belly.
Caelen sat beside her.
He was thinner, and the hollows under his eyes were dark as bruises.
He looked up when Willa came in, and the color flooded back into his face so fast that a woman near the door gasped aloud.
Everybody saw it.
His shoulders came down, his hands unclenched, and he breathed.
The murmur ran across the hall.
Rufus Braithwaite, standing beside the Luna with his thumbs in his belt, did not smile.
"Miss Ashdown," he said. "How kind of you to come. The Beta's cast-off, we hear, has found shelter in the river country."
A few people laughed, nervously.
Willa walked to the foot of the dais and bowed to the Luna.
"I came to bless my sister's pup, Alpha," she said, in a voice that went to the back of the room. "I'd like the pack to hear that nothing at that Stone bound me but my own word."
"I was told I'd been rejected. Nobody asked me to agree."
"I'm still his mate, and the Moon hasn't said otherwise."
Keep reading free with an account. Start The Rejected Mate from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 5 · All chapters · Chapter 7 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend