The mate bond struck me like lightning, a sudden jolt that left me breathless. I was still standing near the edge of the room, trying to blend into the background, when Jason started walking toward me.
Every step he took felt like a pulse in the air, and my heart pounded harder with each one. His scent—pine and cedar—wrapped around me, filling my senses with warmth and comfort. My wolf stirred for the first time that night, a soft, eager whisper in my mind: Mate.
Jason stopped a few feet away, his piercing blue eyes locked onto mine. For a moment, I felt like the ground had disappeared beneath me. This was it—the moment I’d been waiting for, the moment I’d dreamed of.
But the flicker of recognition in his expression was gone as quickly as it came. His brows furrowed, confusion clouding his features before twisting into something else—disbelief.
“No way,” he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for me to hear. “This can’t be right.”
The warmth in my chest turned to ice. I opened my mouth to speak, to say anything, but the words wouldn’t come.
And then, as if summoned by the tension in the air, Jessica appeared at his side. She leaned against him casually, her glittering gown catching the light as she gave me a saccharine smile.
“Oh, please, Jason,” she said, her voice loud and dripping with mockery. “Eva? Your mate? The Moon Goddess must be drunk.”
The laughter started small, a few stifled chuckles in the crowd, but it quickly grew, spreading like wildfire. It was a sound I’d heard before, but never like this—never so loud, so cruel.
Jason didn’t laugh. But he didn’t defend me, either. He stood there, silent and stiff, his jaw clenched as he stared at the floor.
Jessica stepped closer to him, her hand brushing his arm. “Jason, you’re not actually going to let her think—”
“No,” he interrupted, his voice sharp and firm. “There’s no way I’m accepting this.”
The room fell silent. My heart shattered.
Jason turned to face me, his expression cold and unyielding. The words that came next hit harder than I could have imagined:
“I, Jason Duvall, reject you as my mate.”
The laughter was gone now, replaced by stunned whispers. My vision blurred with tears as I stumbled back, the weight of his rejection pressing down on me like a physical force.