Rejection Accepted

The biting Montana wind whipped around me, a stark contrast to the searing pain that had just ripped through my chest. Five years after leaving everything behind, the dull ache of rejection had become a constant companion, but this… this was different.

I crumpled to the forest floor, a strangled yelp escaping my throat. My wolf, Lilly, echoed my agony, a mournful howl tearing from deep within. The scent of cedar and peppermint, once a comforting promise of a mate, was now a cruel, burning iron in my heart. He had marked another.

Darkness swallowed me whole, but not before I saw Greg, the kind Alpha of the Lost River pack, running towards me, his face etched with worry. When I woke, the world was no longer just pain. I was human again, in the pack's hospital, and the truth of my secret was laid bare.