The air inside had turned suffocating—stale with perfume, politics, and pretense.
Velessa needed out.
She slipped through the side doors of the grand estate, leaving behind the music, laughter, and champagne flutes. Her heels clicked against the stone path of the garden, echoing her need for silence. Cool air kissed her skin, the scent of night-blooming jasmine and damp earth grounding her.
She didn't go far. Just far enough to be alone.
Beneath an arch of ivy, she found a worn stone bench and sat. Her shoulders eased for the first time that night. No eyes watching her. No forced smiles. Just her, the stars, and the hum of something... strange. Something primal.
Her wolf stirred.
She tensed.
The moment she felt him, she knew.
Footsteps approached from behind. Slow. Purposeful. Heavy with the weight of fate.
Rhydan.
Velessa didn't turn around, but her spine straightened, jaw locked.
He stopped just a few feet away, close enough for her to hear the shift in his breath.
"You felt it," he said, voice low, almost accusatory.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. "I did."
She stood, facing him in the dim garden light.
For a moment, they just stared. The mate bond pulsed between them—alive, undeniable. His scent wrapped around her like smoke and fire, and it took everything in her not to flinch.
"I already have someone," Rhydan said. "Someone I love."
"I'm not asking for anything."
His jaw ticked. "Then let's end this."
She nodded once, the weight in her chest sinking. "Alright."
Rhydan drew in a breath, shoulders squaring as if preparing for war. "I, Rhydan Vale Thorne, Alpha of the Ashvale Pack, reject you, Velessa—"
"Velessa Rae Hale," she interrupted, her voice firm.
He paused, eyes narrowing slightly. Then finished. "—Rae Hale, as my fated mate."
The words struck like a blade made of ice. Her wolf cried, but Velessa held her ground.
Heart pounding, she looked him straight in the eye. "I, Velessa Rae Hale, accept your rejection."
The moment the last word left her lips, something inside her shattered.
The bond snapped.
It felt like a tether had been cut—no longer a magnetic pull, just silence. Emptiness. Her wolf whimpered softly, curling deep into herself.
Rhydan's expression didn't change. No remorse. No regret. He gave her a final glance, unreadable, then turned and walked away without another word.
Gone.
Velessa stood frozen for a long time.
Only when the night quieted again did she return to the party's edge, staying hidden in the shadows. She couldn't leave alone, her parents weren't done.
When they arrived home, it was already midnight.
Velessa was exhausted.
The silence of her room welcomed her like a familiar ghost. She didn't change out of her dress. She didn't turn on the light. She just dropped onto the edge of her bed, eyes fixed on the wall until the tears spilled.
But they weren't for him.
They were for everything she'd ever lost.
For the mate who never wanted her.
For the girl who still hoped someone someday would.
"I won't cry again," she whispered, voice cracking. "Not for him. Not for anyone."
She curled beneath her blanket, letting the final sobs take her. And when sleep claimed her at last, her heart was quiet.
And she didn't dream of him.