Reborn, I Rejected My Mate

I was still gasping for air, my heart pounding from the memory of the enforcers dragging me away, when I heard Damien's voice cut through the haze.

He was out there, living it up with some fresh-faced she wolves, while I was bound to a rod, my life slipping away.

Then, out of nowhere, this ethereal voice whispered in my ear, soft as a breeze but heavy with meaning.

"Samantha, your heart's too tangled to move on." The voice rumbles like a wolf's growl. "The old ones grant half a moon's reprieve-fifteen nights till the full moon. Don't call it kindness."

Then my eyes snapped open, and I was standing in the lobby of a downtown loft. Polished concrete floors reflected the glow of recessed lights, and a handwritten card propped on a marble countertop caught my eye: "Cheers, Damien-here's to outrunning Samantha and finally breathing easy."

The lights flashed, the music roared, and the crowd howled like a pack in heat.

This loft-the Moon-was where Damien and I had formed our sacred bond.

I never imagined that while I was being torn apart by those enforcers, my mate was throwing a party with his pack to celebrate my death.

"Samantha! You're so shameless to show up here!"

A voice laced with ice snapped me out of my daze, and before I could blink, a pair of strong hands clamped around my throat.

I looked up into Damien's eyes, blazing with raw disgust and rage.

My mate, the wolf I'd given everything for, stared at me like I was a stain on his world.

All those days I was held captive, he hadn't spared me a single thought. I laughed at myself silently, bitter at how I'd clung to hope.

The crowd around us didn't hold back either, their jeers cutting deeper than any blade.

"Samantha, didn't you say you were done for? What's this, putting on a show to rise from the grave?" one of them sneered.

"You faked your own kidnapping to stop Damien chasing Chloe-other packs? What's next? Crawling back as a ghost?"another wolf mocked.

I opened my mouth to argue, but Damien's grip tightening, choking off my words.

His eyes burned red, and I had no doubt he'd end me right there if he could. Just as my vision started to blur, a soft voice broke through.

"Damien, stop it."

His hands loosened, and I gasped, sucking in air like it was my first breath.

My gaze landed on her-Chloe Aldridge, the she-wolf my pack treated like a precious gem. My cousin.

Damien's sweetheart.

"Look at that," someone taunted.

"If you hadn't stuck your nose in, Chloe and Damien would be living their happily-ever-after."

"You drove Chloe out of the pack, and now that she's back, you're clinging like a leech. Samantha, you're the worst she-wolf in Argentum Town!"

I stared at the two of them, standing so close, so perfect together.

Once, I would've lost it-charged in, pulled them apart, and marked my claim on