Page 4 of Rejecting his Mate (The Wolves of Black Mountain #2)

Chapter 4

Halle

T he moon is full in the inky black sky. There isn’t a cloud in sight, meaning the stars twinkle back at me. I stare up at them, wondering what my future holds. Tonight is the most important night of my life.

My first moon ceremony.

The night my pack draws my wolf out of my body using old magicks.

It is a rite of passage all wolf shifters must go through, but it’s not one to be taken lightly, which is why all of my pack of the right age are gathered in front of the alpha to watch me take this step into adulthood.

Adeline straightens the white gown I’m wearing, bringing my attention back to her. It is nearly sheer, providing my body with some modesty, though nakedness isn’t something to worry about among our kind.

The garment clings to my breasts before cinching in just beneath them and dropping into a flowing skirt that reaches my ankles. It is beautiful, covered in lace and pearls, inlaid with gold threads.

It feels like a straitjacket.

“You look beautiful,” my aunt says, her face softening as she studies me.

I smile because I don’t want her to worry, but my stomach churns savagely. I should feel elated, but I don’t.

The wolf I share my consciousness with, the wolf my alpha will force me to shift into, is quiet. I can barely sense her at this moment, and I wonder why she isn’t happy about what is about to happen.

Does she know something I don’t?

Sensing Dalton’s presence, I glance over my shoulder. He is standing with his father, talking, but his gaze locks on mine. The smile he gives me is so cold it makes my blood freeze in my veins.

I give him one just as cold back before Adeline takes my head in her hands, forcing my eyes to find hers. “I should never have pushed for your mating.”

This is the first time she has expressed her regret for chaining me to that monster. “It’s a good match,” I say, trying to defend something that cannot be defended.

“No, it’s not, Halle. I promise when the ceremony is over, I will find a way to dissolve your mating to him.”

I blink at her words. Matings can’t be undone—every wolf knows that—but the sentiment warms me. “I agreed to it, too,” I say. “I don’t blame you for this.”

Tears brim in my eyes, but I stop them from falling. I hate being seen as weak. To a wolf shifter, that is an insult, but I feel shredded right now. Raw. Scared .

It feels as if I’m standing on the edge of a precipice, waiting for something to happen.

The quick intake of breath before a storm.

“I blame myself. I thought it would be a good fit, that you would be happy with him, but he’s an asshole.”

I laugh, unable to stop the sound from sneaking out. “You just called Dalton an asshole.”

“I want to call him worse.”

I swallow down the emotions threatening me and change the subject because it is a pipe dream to think our mating can be dissolved. Mating bonds are created using magic. It is not something that can be removed.

“I hate this dress,” I murmur, tugging at the material like a whiny brat. It ticks me off that I’m doing it, but I feel like my throat is constricted like I can’t draw air past the lump occluding my airway.

“It’s tradition,” Adeline says absently.

“A stupid one,” I fire back. “Made up by old men who are long gone.”

“Tonight, you will meet your pack as an equal. You will no longer be a pup but an adult. You will greet your wolf for the first time. It is an exciting night,” she assures me with a watery smile. Her behavior has nervous energy dancing through me. What is wrong with her?

This ceremony is a big deal in our world, and despite everything, I am excited to meet my wolf. She has been with me my entire life, sharing space in my head and helping me.

The reason for my fear is the ceremony itself. It is said to be brutal. I’ve heard stories from other members of the pack about their first moon ceremony, though I have never witnessed one because pups are not allowed to. I’ve been wondering all day if that is because it would make them scared to attend their own.

“I don’t know if I can do this,” I say, unable to hide a slight tremble in my voice. Despite trying to show strength, I falter. I am powerless and fragile.

Adeline pushes my hair off my face. It’s worn loose, as the ceremony calls for, and not in the usual knot I throw it in. “It’s a tough transition,” she says, not sugar-coating the truth. “Every bone in your body will break and change as your wolf comes to the surface. You’ll wish for death at first, but in time you’ll come to relish the pain.”

Sweat beads on the back of my neck and between my breasts. “I don’t want to do it.” I say the words as if she can fix this for me, as she has fixed so many things over the years I’ve been in her care.

But this is bigger than Adeline.

This is our way of life.

I was always destined to stand in this spot and go through this ceremony tonight. This moment was planned from my first breath.

“There’s no choice, sweetheart,” Adeline reiterates what I am thinking. “If you don’t force the change, you risk your wolf taking control when you least expect it, and that is too dangerous.”

I have heard of that happening. It is rare for a wolf within a pack not to go through the first moon ceremony. It is the safest way for our kind to transition without risk to the wolf and without risking human onlookers seeing it. Humans can never know we exist.

Adeline pulls my forehead to her lips, pressing a kiss there. “Whatever happens, know that I love you.”

The statement is odd. Whatever happens? Before I can question it, Klaus strides over to us, Dalton on his heels.

Klaus is enormous in his human form, built to destroy any enemy or competitor. His dark hair drips into his eyes, which are a deep amber color, and his broad shoulders block out the dark sky behind him. As he gets closer, his scent fills my nose, and I dip my head instinctively, as does Adeline, showing the respect and deference he is owed.

“Are you ready?” he says.

Dalton moves to me and leans in for a kiss. Before he can make contact with my mouth, I turn my head to the side, his lips landing on my cheek. I feel the irritation radiating from him, but he says nothing as he pulls back.

I force a smile. “I’m ready,” I tell him. My fear has nothing to do with the ceremony anymore. I glance at Adeline, wondering what has gotten into her.

“I’d like a moment with my mate before the ceremony starts,” Dalton says.

Adeline looks as if she wants to argue, but Klaus answers before she can. “Of course.”

Klaus moves away, and Adeline has no choice but to follow him. I give her a smile I hope assures her I’ll be okay.

When we’re alone, Dalton steps closer to me, his body almost pressing against mine. “We both know this mating was a mistake,” he says. It is the first thing we have ever agreed on. “But we are tethered together now, for better or for worse. Your heat cycle could come at any time.”

I frown at him. Heat cycles can take over a year to happen after a mate bond occurs. With chosen mates, it can take even longer, especially if the mating is not going well.

He cups my face with one hand, sliding it down to rest on my throat. “I want us to have pups as soon as possible. It will solidify my position.”

His position.

I twist my face away from him. “Let’s just get through the ceremony first.”

His brows pull down, and I can tell he wants to hurt me, but he keeps a tight rein on his anger. “Your disdain for me is getting irritating,” he growls. “I am going to be an alpha one day. Do you think you could have found a better match? Show some loyalty.”

I raise my gaze to his. I want to say a thousand things to him. I want to wound him with my words in the same way he hurts me by treating me like his possession. “We both know I’m not a nobody who should be grateful for this match. I could have been with any alpha from any pack. I’m a Beauford.”

He bares his teeth before clamping his jaw together. “As soon as you give me pups, you can leave and go wherever you want.”

He’s crazy if he thinks I would leave any baby with him. I open my mouth to tell him to go to hell, but I hear Klaus calling me. “Screw you,” I hiss at him before stepping around him and walking over to the alpha.

I take his hand, and he leads me across the grass. My pack family sits around in a circle, ready to watch me take this step and finally become one of them. There is a buzz of excitement, an electric current in the air as I stand in front of them.

Peering up at the sky, I try to calm my breathing. The only light comes from the full moon, casting a silvery glow over everything it touches. It invigorates me. The power of the moon is something no wolf can deny. It gives us added strength and makes shifting easier than at other times in the lunar cycle.

Klaus releases my hand. There is a white circle spray-painted over the grass, and I’m positioned in the middle of it. My toes dig into the earth beneath me, the grass cool against the soles of my feet. I try not to focus on the eyes watching me. I try not to crack under their gazes.

Strength. I have to show it.

And I am strong because of my legacy and because of my blood.

I wait as Klaus steps forward with our beta male, Alaric. Like Klaus, he is a huge man with thick muscular arms and a full beard. He watches me for a moment as if weighing up my worth before he turns to our alpha to begin the ceremony.

I barely listen as they speak strange, foreign-sounding words that make no sense to me. I know it is the language of magic, but I neither speak it nor understand it.

Warmth spreads inside my chest as Klaus pulls an athame, a dagger infused with magic, from his belt and slices his fingertip. He passes it to Alaric, who does the same. They drip it onto the ground within the circle.

As soon as it hits the grass, my body twitches.

What the hell?

It happens again, this time more viciously. My wolf starts to pace, getting restless as my back twists to an impossible angle. Pain explodes through me. My spine feels like it’s being torn in two. I try to hold back my cry, but it erupts from my mouth. I drop to my hands and knees, thrusting my fingers into the grass as my legs twist and crack. Every inch of my body is in agony as my wolf is forced to come to the forefront.

She is baying, her muzzle raised as she howls.

My skin heats until I am burning from the inside out. My eyes water as my bones continue to shift and break. The agony of it almost makes me pass out. I wish I would.

Screams fill the air, macabre, ear-piercing sounds.

They are my screams, I realize.

I’m dying.

I don’t know how I’m going to survive this. How does any wolf?

The back of my dress is now torn, but I barely notice or care that I’m exposed to my pack. My body continues to fracture and splinter, twitching and thrashing as my wolf fights to surface.

She’s close.

I can feel her struggling to get through the barrier between us, one that should have lowered by now.

I sob with the pain. I can’t stand it. I feel like I’m being cleaved in half. Clawing desperately at the ground, dirt sliding under my nails, I whimper and cry, my throat feeling like I’ve swallowed blades. My back bows, and I sob as my hips dislocate.

It goes on and on, over and over, but something is wrong. It’s as if there is a block, stopping my wolf from getting through. My body breaks and cracks, but I don’t shift.

Voices reach me, worried ones, but all I can focus on is the agony tearing through me.

Why isn’t she breaking free?

Why is she not changing?

It’s torture, but I can’t do anything but endure it.

Then the pain dissipates. Everything feels sore and achy. I collapse into the grass, breathing heavily. My lungs burn with every inhalation, and I feel sick to my stomach.

“She didn’t shift,” a voice says from behind me.

Alaric, I think.

I open my eyes and look across the grass. My pack is on their feet, some with their hands pressed to their mouths, others standing in silence. Their shock is clear, and it makes my own heart thud in my chest. Kyle is staring at me with horror while Ellie looks stunned.

I am a Beauford.

This kind of defect shouldn’t be possible.

I hear the crowd whispering around me, and my gaze seeks out Adeline. Her face is ashen, her eyes wide.

I didn’t shift.

Why didn’t I shift?

Ugliness creeps through me and I feel disgust and anger down the mating bond. Dalton is standing back from the crowd, his lips pulled into a sneer. His expression is murderous, and I suddenly fear for my life.

“Halle.” Adeline ducks down at my side. I peer up at her, panic starting to fill me.

“What happened?” She doesn’t answer. That scares me more than anything. “Adeline? Why didn’t I shift?”

“She’s latent,” Klaus says, a hint of disgust in his voice.

Latent.

It is a dirty word in our world. Latents are usually hybrids—part shifters, part something else—with a muddied gene pool. Those creatures are hunted by a special order created for that purpose alone.

I am not a hybrid.

Both of my parents were wolves. My father was a Beauford. My mama… I don’t know what she was, and Adeline has never mentioned it. Did I wrongly assume my bloodline is pure?

“You need to get up,” Adeline says, her words trembling.

She helps me to my feet, and I’m shaking too.

“She’s defective,” Dalton spits the words like he’s tasting poison. “I won’t be mated to a latent bitch.”

I flinch, even though I feel exactly like what he’s telling me.

Defective.

Broken.

Pathetic.

If I can’t shift, what kind of wolf am I? And what does that mean for my future with the pack, with Dalton?

Everything is going to change, and not for the better.

“You’re already mated,” Adeline snaps. “There’s no going back on that.”

“How can a latent be an alpha female?” Dalton looks me over like I’m sickening him.

Adeline squeezes my hand, ignoring his vile words. “I’ll fix this,” she promises. “Somehow, I’ll fix it.”

But I hear the doubt in her voice because there is no fixing this.

I am beyond repair, and that terrifies me.