The Rejection (The Rejection 2)

Melissa always said I was a patient person, but right now, it felt like I couldn’t wait even a second longer. Jeremy, my lovely mate, was supposed to come in like five minutes. We were finally taking our relationship a step further and were going to dinner. I checked my dark purple satin dress again and rushed to the bathroom to wash my hands. As a wolf, I wasn’t supposed to sweat, but my nervousness and trepidation were stronger than me. They kept me pacing around, unable to blink or remain in the same spot for more than a minute.

Jeremy was Moonsong’s Beta. He was tough, muscled, charming, and so damn beautiful. His green eyes were a shade similar to mine, and his hair was copper brown. We, as mates, were supposed to fit in all ways possible, including our looks, so I wondered if I was as hot as him in people’s eyes. He was one of the most renowned wolves in our pack, and I was glad I managed to meet him during winter break before I had to go back to my university in the human lands.

I hoped if everything went right, we’d already be long marked and mated before that happened. There were still few weeks till the new semester. My heart squeezed a bit as I washed my hands. Other wolves usually marked each other in the first seventy-two hours after they met. We’d already missed that mark and doubled it. That thought made me tense. I knew I wanted Jeremy and needed him more than air, and I had no reasons to doubt his intentions to me, but… why were we still on a first kiss basis?

I looked at myself in the mirror and fixed a golden lock that had escaped my sophisticated bun. If I wanted to fit Jeremy and his style of life, I had to learn to walk in high heels, put more make-up on, and take better general care of myself. He had a reputation to keep.

As the Alpha-in-charge, if something happened to our current Alpha, he was trained in all possible spheres of knowledge. Fighting, ruling, strategizing, communicating… He was perfect in every single meaning of the sentence. Even if there was something amiss with him, as there was with all living creatures, I loved it to bits. He was my future husband, my mate. My soulmate.

My chest vibrated with glittering excitement, and I went to the bedroom to look out the window. I was practically prancing in trepidation. Where was he? Small snowflakes, the first for the season, landed on my window, and I opened it to touch a few of them. The cold air seeped into my room, but it never reached my flesh as my kind rarely felt cold. We were creatures with the appearance of humans but with the hearts of beasts. We were wolves hiding in the world of humankind.

The headlights of a car headed down my street, and my heart jumped like I was fifty years older. It struck me painfully, and I nearly fell off my window, trying to see if that was his black SUV. Come on, Jeremy, where are you?!

My jaw tensed as a familiar sedan slid through my eyes and parked in the neighboring house. Mrs. Lee was back from work. If that was true, then— I whirled to the clock in my room. It was ten past seven. Jeremy was late! My mouth twisted into a scowl, and I grabbed the phone off my bed, on the verge of dialing his number. The Beta was never late.

I bit my lip, knowing I had to be patient. He was my mate, he was as excited as me. But if that was true… why wasn’t he here already? This was supposed to be our third date, and perhaps it was going to be the one when we finally put our claims on each other. I had spent the whole day preparing and making sure I’d be as perfect as he always was.

Just as I started nibbling on my red lip, my phone buzzed, and I jumped. Jeremy’s number popped up on the screen, and I dashed to the window, picking up.

“Hello?” I rasped with a tingly voice as an uncontrollable grin erupted on my face.

“I’m here,” he said and looked at me through his SUV’s window. He wasn’t going to come to the door… No matter, he was finally here, and we were going on a date.

Stumbling through my high heels, I only stopped to give mom’s photo a quick kiss, and exited the apartment. When I opened the front door of the building, I exhaled and composed myself, turning into the lady Jeremy deserved. Walking to him, I noticed the appreciative look he gave me and smirked to myself. More is coming tonight, Chloe, just hold on until then!

My left foot slid on a wet tile, and I staggered to the side, barely catching myself from falling. Damn it. My cheeks burned, and I chuckled awkwardly as I glued my eyes to him and pretended I was fine. Even though he was my mate and he accepted me just the way I was, I still got embarrassed. Why now, while he was watching me?

I reached his car and went to the passenger side door, opening it.

“Hi!” I beamed, sitting down next to him, and leaned in for a kiss. It felt like I had been waiting for it for eternity.

Jeremy turned his head to the road, and I pecked his cheek, feeling my stomach knot. My senses kept telling me there was something wrong, and I was starting to believe them. Why wouldn’t he even kiss me? I was his soulmate.

“Sorry I was late, I just got caught up in something,” his marvelous voice said, and goosebumps appeared on my skin.

An unfamiliar female scent that I hadn’t noticed until now hit me, and my brows drew together. It was so potent and sharp, and it smelled of arousal. My whole body flinched at that thought, and I shook my head. No. It couldn’t be arousal. I was wrong. And even if I weren’t, Jeremy wouldn’t do something like that to me.

Not to mention, I was going to feel with my whole body the night he lost his virginity. We were both as untouched as the gods required mates to be. This was our way. Soulmates were put on a pedestal. Their importance in our culture was incomparable. They were incomparable in their significant other’s eyes. Wolves never rejected each other, because even thinking that felt like insanity. Would someone want to lose half of their soul? No. It was preposterous.

The scent must’ve been left by a coworker who was probably thinking about her mate or something. Or Jeremy had lent the couple his car, and they’d become naughty in here. A rush of jealousy flushed through me. I was the only one who could get naughty in Jeremy’s car.

I looked at him and marveled at his sharp features and high cheekbones. He was staring ahead and sucking his lip between his teeth in thought. His beautiful hair was slightly ruffled, and a strand of it was hanging over his forehead.

My brows pinched down as I examined his clothes. His suit was also a bit wrinkled, and his tie—partly pulled out of the suit jacket. What had happened to him today? He was usually sleek in his attire. I remembered the vivid happiness every time our P.E. classes coincided, and I could stare at him from the fence of my neighboring middle school. I’d never thought in my twenty years of life that I’d turn out to be the Beta’s mate. Butterflies swarmed my stomach, and I curled my toes in the uncomfortable shoes.

“How was work today?” I smiled as I put my hand on his arm.

He jumped as if someone pinched him and glanced at it. His lips thinned slightly.

“It was fine. Nothing in particular happened,” he said, not sparing me a glance.

My chest stung at his short response and lack of affection, but I decided to push forward and not put it to heart.

“Okay,” I ventured with a low voice that I was afraid would show my disappointment and added, “One of my human classmates found the perfect place for our internship. It will be held in Chicago, and I heard it would be in a big outsourcing company—”

“I see,” he interrupted, not even listening to me.

I bit the inside of my cheek, and my eyes pricked. Nervousness rippled through my system and made my hair stand on end.

“Are you okay?” I asked and touched his forehead as he took a left turn and started looking for a place to park.

Jeremy caught my hand and removed it from his skin. “I can’t see because of you. Stay still until we get out of the car.”

I stiffened and listened to him, leaning back into the seat to give him a better view of the side mirror. While I looked relatively calm on the outside, a storm was brewing in my heart. Was I missing something? Was there something wrong? He acted as if we were just friends. Or even worse…