The night had been peaceful on the outside, and Thalia had hoped it would continue being like that—but apparently, just like all her other hopes, it had failed. Everything from the night before was still as clear as day in her mind, and she knew it would always be like that—because among her kind, no one could ever forget their mating ceremony, let alone being rejected on the mating slab itself.
Thalia smiled at the irony in the solitude of her room, but at least she was still going to be Luna of Silver Springs Pack—and that was the only thing that mattered. Not forgetting, she had a few happy memories to cherish from the mating ceremony:
The way her best friend Mia's dark brown eyes had shone while telling her she looked enchanting in the traditional armless scarlet round gown every Luna wore to the mating ceremony.
And the fact that her dark red hair was seen as a sign that she truly deserved to be in the coronation dress—which had later proved not to be the case, though.
The moon had been shining brightly as Thalia walked from the pack hall toward the silent forest and through the narrow pathway leading to the mating slab. She felt a bit nervous because of the presence of all the pack members, who had shifted into wolf form with their heads bowed and tails tucked between their legs as a sign of respect and submission to their incoming Luna. They had organised themselves in approximately equal numbers on both sides of the pathway, and despite being in her human form, Thalia could smell all the scents emanating from the flowers laid along the path—and the distinct new scent she guessed came from the red blood silk cloth on the mating slab.
For a fleeting second, she wanted to believe everything was going to be just like in the books—Alpha Cornelius would be smitten by her the moment they looked into each other's eyes, and he would mark her, and then they'd live their happily ever after. But she didn't let herself do that, because she very well knew that reality was far harsher than that. And with that in mind, she strode ahead with her head held high and didn't even flinch or smile when the whole community of wolves raised their heads, snouts, and howled in unison as she finally reached the mating slab and bowed her head in respect to the six elders dressed in grey cloaks surrounding it.And Mia, who had acted as her escort, did the same and remained standing slightly behind Thalia.
"We are all gathered here today to celebrate our union,"
Lucas, the head of the elders, stood with an air of authority and a booming, confident voice that one could only acquire after presiding over such ceremonies more than just a few times. He momentarily paused—just for effect—and as if he was not, just like his intelligent, old, fading eyes were staring at everyone at once.
"And not just a physical union but an eternal and spiritually coaxial union at the same time," he continued.
Despite all her reservations about the ceremony, she stared at him with all the confidence she could master—because she knew exactly what he was searching for,not the dreamy, excited eyes of a teenager looking forward to being the Alpha's object of obsession, but a steadfast woman who knew that being Luna did not mean belonging to the Alpha, but to the pack—and all the other packs under Alpha Cornelius.So, she gave him exactly that.
Thalia's train of thought came to a halting stop and all of Lucas' words became like a faraway whisper. She felt his presence before she even saw him.And when she did, she did not need to think what it was—because the inner warmth and peace, together with the strong physical yearning she felt, could only indicate one thing: Her mate was nearby.
For a split second, all the foreign sensations had made her forget about the big flaw in all this—what would Cornelius be doing here at this time? He was supposed to be in the caves until the moon was totally full, which was still about an hour from now.But before Thalia could think of any possible reason, Alpha Cornelius emerged from the shadows—and with one lazy leap, he was standing on the mating slabs.
His presence amplified the already booming voice, and as she stared at him—disheveled, jet-black hair, a firmly set jaw with thin lips pressed into a thin line, and emotionless, steel-grey eyes—she knew he was up to no good, at least on her side.
He first remained silent while inspecting the pack members, all at once, and Thalia could sense their yearning under the Alpha's scrutiny—save for the elders who just stared on in confusion.
She stared at Cornelius' shirtless body, but underneath all the scars and muscles and attractive body, she could feel the pride and arrogance coming off him in strong waves.And in her heart, she knew that if it was not for the mate bond, she could feel entirely nothing for this proud and arrogant brute.
"I, Alpha Cornelius Laurent, reject Thalia Stevenson as my mate but leave her with the authority as Luna of Silver Springs Pack and all other packs under it."
Cornelius said in a calm, unbothered voice and left—without even sparing a single glance at his supposed mate or giving the stunned pack members a chance to protest.
Thalia felt disappointed, and a part of her was hurt. She wanted to cry, but no tear came—because despite the mate bond making her feel like she had lost a very big part of her life, the more rational part remained strong and continuously reminded her that Cornelius was just a stranger who had been summoned to mate with because the pack witch Cassandra had found out they were mates. And she knew she could do a lot better without him.
Even after telling herself all that, her mind was still conjuring up a thousand scenarios where she would have been happy with Cornelius—had he not rejected her.
And as Mia and her uncle, Zacharias, led her back to the pack hall, all the soothing and encouraging words just hit a wall and couldn't distract her ears.
"Thalia, come on, you need to open up."
Mia's continuous pleading voice snapped Thalia from her memories of the night before, and a part of her wondered for how long she had locked herself inside her room. Out of reflex, she touched the left side of her bed to pick up her alarm clock—but to her dismay, she only felt an empty space.
On looking around, she realised with a start that this was actually not her room, but an entirely different and foreign room. Her familiar, uniformly pointed white walls were now replaced with expertly painted charcoal grey ones. And instead of her bed as the only furniture, this room had a well-varnished study table and two adjacent chairs in the far left corner. The sheets were an appealing grey, but of very good quality.
Without expecting much, she opened the closet and was impressed to see that someone had made an effort to transfer all her clothes and other important things from the pack house to her new room. She smiled to herself—because being the Alpha's mate sure has its perks, even for a rejected one.
She drew the curtains, and the bright sunray immediately made her squint. The dense forest cover almost in her backyard did nothing to obstruct it from hitting her square in the face. She cursed silently at her ignorance of what time of the day it was, but decided to head to the bathroom anyway.
She spotted her blue alarm clock placed on the bathroom sink and frowned at the location—but decided to leave that for later, because one glance at the clock told her it was way beyond mid-day. Now she understood why Mia's knocking had been pleading. But she decided to compose herself first before opening the door. Because she knew opening it would mean opening not only to Mia and Uncle Zach—but the whole pack too.
And what they expected to see was a broken, rejected Luna. But she intended to give them an independent Luna. And all that started with making herself physically presentable.
Perfect. Here's the revised Chapter 2: Power and Weakness — polished for grammar, clarity, and dramatic pacing without losing your intensity. I also added a short Trigger Warning at the top, as requested.