Rejection

Prologue

He changed.

My eyes swept over what I could see of his body and sighed, feeling the guilt burn in my chest, the wooden bench underneath my fingers groaning as they clenched tightly at the sight of him.

He lost weight.

A lot of it.

Those gorgeous blue eyes that had once shimmered with love and trust, were now a dull grey that gleamed with distrust, anguish and lethargy. My eyes rested on the dark rims underneath his eyes, wondering if he simply didn't sleep at all because of circumstance or if he actually couldn't.

Trailing my eyes lower, I frowned as he turned around, giving me a clear view of his sunken cheeks, my mind unwillingly reminding me of a time when they had been full and a delicious pink.

Gods, I wish I could smell him. The memory of his scent was fading slowly, just like everything else I had left of him. The smell of him in his old clothes had slowly been mixed and muddied with my own scent and that of my parents until his own unique smell was gone.

What have I done?

Even now, being so close to my former mate, I couldn't bring myself to stand up and walk inside the small store he worked at. I had tried several times and each time it pained me to feel his glare on me, the malice and contempt barely hidden as he would try and ignore me for as long as possible.

His sweet voice that used to be warm with his love for me, would be void with affection and instead would be cold and monotone.

And I only had myself to blame.

I waited until his shift was over, looking at the clock several times before sighing to myself as I realized he was working overtime, again. After several hours he finally came out, shoulders pulled up against the cold autumn weather that shouldn't be affecting him.

Staying out of sight and keeping the wind in my face, I slowly stood up and followed him at a decent distance. I knew this was borderline stalking, hell, this is stalking but I couldn't stop myself from doing so.

My wolf even refused to leave our mate as it was.

So I followed him as he made his way through the busy streets, suppressing several growls as people carelessly bumped into him. The clouds above rumbled, grey and thick with rain as the wind slowly started to pick up.

It only made him walk a bit faster until he reached the convenience store, where I waited outside, knowing it would only take him a few minutes. As he was inside, I sniffed the air, opening my mouth to help me try and find any trace of pack around this place.

Surprisingly, several scents were easy to detect in the wind and once again I was both worried and confused. Packs didn't like rogues and after what I've done to him, my mate was the definition of rogue, except for the bloodlust and senseless attacks.

I even saw a pack wolf stepping out the store along with my mate, but while they gave me a warning glare for being on their territory, they seemed to ignore my mate all together.

The singular, plastic bag clutched in my mate's slim fingers seemed too light for my tastes. I felt the urge in me to run in the store, buy everything he needed and more and have it delivered to him.

I silently made a plan to do so, almost losing him in the crowd before I managed to find him once more. He was still roaming on pack territory, which worried me until he paused and walked in a familiar building.

Five minutes later, he walked out with a little girl on his hand, grinning and chatting up a storm. The wind blew in my face, bringing me their scents and I inhaled deeply, nearly drugged by the drug that was my mate's scent.

But with it, I smelled her as well. Young, delicate...rogue.

My eyes snapped open as I stepped quicker, nearly tempted to turn him around and question him. The girl wasn't related to him at all, she didn't have the smell of any blood-bond between them. Yet even if they were rogues, they both held the same, underlining scent that was unexplainably pack.

When they hit the covers of the forest just outside pack territory, I shifted and followed them quietly. Now that he finally seemed distracted, I could learn where he lived and prove myself to him, one way or another.

I was surprised when they didn't walk far. Far enough to be outside the pack's territory but not too far to be in danger of any true rogues trying to get an easy meal.

My heart pinched and I whimpered softly, tail pressing between my leg as I realized what I had pushed my mate into. I can still remember the house we shared at one point; the packhouse was enormous, fit to keep any families with young children until they grew up, where they would be offered a house of their own for their own future families.

But the shack that was standing there in the middle of the forest was nothing like the house he had once lived in. Paint was chipping on the window sills, moss and climbing plants digging into the wood. Already I could see several potential risks of his home; several roof tiles were shattered or blown away, the door rattled back open after he closed it and the windows looked to be leaking warmth everywhere.

Even through the foggy glass, I could see the vapor from their breathing as he roamed around and started a fire in the fireplace. Thick smoke circled out of the chimney  as light filled the house, several candles being placed to lighten up the room.

Soon enough the smell of food filled the house and I felt relief fill me when I saw them both sit down at the small table...until I realized only the girl had a bowl of pasta in front of her. Kyle just sat there and watched her eat, and I could hear the lie vibrate in the air when he told her he'd eat the leftovers.

There are no leftovers...

I whined and laid on the floor, forcing myself to stay and listen as Kyle put the little girl Elie to bed and then stayed up for a while longer. And the whole time I laid there, I listened to Kyle's stomach growling in protest.

I did this to him...