SWNOVELS Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
The entire room went quiet and I thought I heard him wrongly. It has never been heard of for a female to reject her mate, I don’t even know if it is possible for that to happen.
“Is that possible?” Rachel voiced my thoughts and I heard Helena give an exasperated sigh.
“You wolves are so sexist and backwards,” she rolled her eyes, “Yes it is possible.”
I turned to Zander, “All I have to do is reject him?”
He nodded, “If you don’t want to be tied down to him; that’s all you have to do. It’s just a few easy words.”
I was still hesitant and in disbelief so he leaned in and whispered, “You are more powerful than you realize, Lyla.”
Purchase completed
I stood there in shock as I processed Zander’s words. All I needed to do all this time was say some words and I would have been free of his bond. A part of me couldn’t believe’that it was this easy the entire time. It felt too good to be true.
“Hey,” it was Helena who spoke. She walked over to me, “It’s not a trick; you can be
free of him.”
Her words were the encouragement I needed because I turned to Zander, “Tell me what to say.”
“Just state your name and that you’re rejecting him.”
“No!” I wasn’t expecting to hear Derek’s voice.
I was more shocked though when he pushed through his siblings and stormed over to Zander and pushed him squarely in his chest.
Zander didn’t even budge but the resounding gasp that went through the room made the scene worse than it probably should have been.
Zander was a lot taller than Derek, almost five inches if I am not mistaken and the
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way he stared down at Derek with contempt and disgust was enough to make any male cower but Derek has always liked false bravado because he stared up at Zander with a sneer on his mouth.
“She is my mate and she isn’t rejecting me,” he shoved Zander again, “So why don’t you take your little cronies and get the fuck out of my pack.”
I was stunned that he was speaking like that. Zander was the prince, and he could have Derek executed in a second.
His siblings must have thought the same thing because I heard Danielle whisper his name harshly but Derek ignored her.
“Didn’t you hear me?” he spat, “Get out.”
He started to move closer to Zander but Alexis and Kate rushed over to his side. Alexis grabbed onto his left arm and whispered something harshly in his ear. I thought he was going to listen to her but instead, he pushed her away. She stumbled so much that she would have fallen on her ass if not for Kate holding her
- up.
Derek turned back to Zander but then three royal guards walked up to him and seized him by the arms. He fought against their grip harshly and he tried to flail around but the grips they had on him were tight and unmoving.
“Listen here boy,” Zander finally spoke, “I can have your title revoked in an instant so think about that before you even consider speaking to me wrongly again. I am not a member of your pack, I am the Prince and I will have my respect even if I have to force it out of you.”
Zander’s voice was low and calm but the threat was clear and if it wasn’t obvious before then it was now. It had finally dawned on me that Zander was the prince and he was not going to be insulted or messed with at all; much less by a lower ranking wolf like Derek.
Zander made his way over to me and although he didn’t touch me, I felt the searing heat of his skin all over my body. I had to crane my neck to look up at him and when I did, his features softened a little. He didn’t smile but he was a stark difference from the menacing prince he was playing before.
“The choice is yours if you want to reject him.”
CHAPTER 6
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I snuck a glance at Derek who was now standing with his siblings and rubbing his shoulders. Zander followed my line of sight and placed a finger under my chin to force me to look at him.
“Don’t look at the boy, look at me,” I swallowed, “It is your choice. If you want to reject him then you know what you have to do.”
I turned to my friends who were holding onto each other for support and they gave me identical nods of encouragement, I knew that no matter what choice I made now, they would protect me and support me.
It was that knowledge that had me nodding and walking over to Derek. He had fire in his eyes probably from being embarrassed in front of everyone. He knew he couldn’t direct his anger at the source of his embarrassment so he was directing it
at me.
At that moment, I realized what a small male Derek had always been. He would only oppress the weak, the ones who could not fight back. He would never pick on someone his own size. I stared straight ahead into the dark look in his eyes that promised vengeance if I did what I was planning but I was too far gone to care.
I inhaled deeply before speaking, “I, Lyla Archer reject you, Derek Creed as my mate.”
As I said the words, it felt like a sword had gone through my chest. I knew that rejections were supposedly painful but nothing prepared me for the blinding pain that I felt as those words left my lips.
Everything in me burned as I felt my heart being pulled and tugged right out of my chest. I pressed a hand to my chest in an attempt to ease the pain but nothing seemed to be working. Breathing became hard and spots started to dance around my vision. I didn’t even realize when I had fallen to my knees.
“What is happening to her?” I heard Rachel scream.
“I was skeptical about it before but now I know,” that was Anastasia, “females aren’t supposed to do the rejections.
“Will you both just shut up?” from the tone and the snark, I knew it was Helena.
My ears grew fuzzy after that and it felt like someone was ringing a bell inside them and doing construction work in my brain. For a few seconds, I couldn’t hear
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anything at all past the sound of rushing blood in my system.
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“You have to accept it,” I heard someone say to Derek- I don’t know who, “Or you both will die from the pain.”
“Then let us die,” he said through gritted teeth.
The pain became worse and I let out a blood curdling scream. I silently prayed to the moon goddess with all my strength that Derek accepts the rejection because I knew if the pain continued, I would be forced to shift and I am not ready for anyone to know I have a wolf.
I heard Derek groan and he fell to the floor next to me.
“Please,” I whispered.
It felt like I was going to black out at any second as the pain crashed through me but then as quickly as it came, it eased and I noticed Zander had taken a spot closer to me. A part of me wondered if his presence had anything to do with it.
His eyes met mine and with hate in them, he finally said the words, “I accept your rejection.”
In that moment, I could have sworn that I heard something snap and I felt like
something cut through my heart- the bond was broken. The pain left as soon as it came but I was still on my knees breathing hard and deeply.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw Rachel, “Are you okay?”
I nodded, “I’ll be fine; I just need to catch my breath.”
“What you need,” I heard Helena begin, “Is rest; come with us. We will make sure that you’re well rested.”
“No,” Anastasia took a protective stance in front of me, “Why should she go with you?”
“Because her ex mate has been staring at her with murder in his eyes and I don’t trust that he won’t do anything stupid.”
I turned to look at Derek and she was right. He was looking at me as if he wanted nothing more than to kill me slowly and the only thing holding him back was his brother’s hand on his shoulder.
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I turned to Anastasia, “It’s fine; I’ll go with them.”
788 Watchers
CHAPTER 7