The Alphas’ P**n Star Mate

By the time I had made it to the front door, I was confident that we had gotten away safely.

"Miss!" I heard someone call out behind me. My entire body tensed up. I thought about running, but if I did, that could be worse and draw more attention than just facing the one behind me. "Miss, wait one second!"

I turned slowly, seeing a young doctor taking long, purposeful strides in my direction, a determined look on his face. He had a phone in his hands, his hand over the receiver. Did he already call Cameron? The packhouse? Was I too late? "Miss!" I braced myself as the doctor closed the distance between us......

And then he walked right past me. I turned with him to see him jogging now towards a young girl about to head out the door.

"Miss, I have your mother on the line. She would like for you to stay and have the scan done after all, just to be safe. She's on her way to....."

My heart was hammering in my chest, the tension leaving me as I realized it wasn't me he was calling for after all. I'm so glad I decided not to run for it.

I held my head up high again, walking past the doctor and the young girl to exit through the rotating doors. Once the sunlight hit my face, a broad smile stretched across it. I was almost free.

Now comes the hard part. Making it off pack lands without alerting the guards.

I walked to the tree line, trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible. I was walking in the opposite direction of the packhouse or the training grounds, but no one was paying any mind to me. I could be getting ready to head home for all anyone else knew. "You're up," I told my wolf after I striped all the gauze and bandages off me.

She whimpered, then came forward, taking over and shifting to her true form. I grit my teeth, suppressing the urge to scream out as I shifted for the first time in a year. It hurt, but not nearly as badly as what Cortina was about to do.

"I'm scared," she whimpered, trying not to tug on her connection to Rome just yet.

"If you can't do it, don't. You don't have to. We're fast. We can get through the guards."

"But he will just follow our scent. If I don't do this, he will be able to trace you. This is the only way to hide the scent of our bond."

If she rejects Rome, Cortina will smell just like any other wolf in this pack to Cameron. Unless it's for our mates, all our scents are similar with very small notes of distinction usually only identifiable to those closest to us. Just family, but I don't have a family to claim. I don't even think Cameron would be able to identify Cortina's scent without Rome's mixed with it. He never met Cortina before we were mated. She will smell like a normal warrior of Fire Moon Pack, and once we are free, we can get a scent blocker from a nearby town. I still remember where the witches' apothecary was, and I used to be friendly enough with the older wiccan women to convince them to help. It might cost me some blood for their potions, but that's an easy price to pay.

"We can head straight to the witches and get the scent blocker," I told my wolf.

"That would only lead Cameron to them. I....I can do this," she said solemnly. "I have to."

I felt her resolve. She was scared, but she still wanted to do the rejection. Not just because she wanted freedom too..... But because she knew what I wanted to do to Cameron, and she didn't want it to be as bad for Rome as it was for her. I'm sure he would still feel it through his human, but not like Cortina did.

She paced through the path of dried leaves, readying herself for the pain to come. Then, she stood at the edge of the forest, still hidden by the shadows, but facing where she could see the packhouse. She pulled on the tether to Rome, blocking out Cameron as much as she could, which was surprisingly easier than either of us thought it would be. It was like Rome was not connected to Cameron at all at that moment.

Rome also seemed to be expecting her, and his sadness and guilt choked me with all the emotions I didn't think I would feel at that moment in time. He really did love her, and he did want her to see this through. I could feel it, and my heart broke for not just my wolf, but for Rome as well.

"It's okay, love," he told her in his deep, sorrowful tone. "I will always love you, but this needs to be done. I won't let him hurt you any longer."

"I love you too," she said in a broken whisper. "I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry it had to be this way too. Do it, Cortina. Do it and neither of you ever look back. Do what you need to do to finally be happy."

I'm sobbing inside, wishing it didn't have to be this way either. Why couldn't Cameron be anything like his wolf? How could such a selfless wolf be tied to such a selfish man?

"I," she began with a heavy heart, "Cortina, wolf and counterpart to Chloe Mills, the fated Luna of the Fire Moon Pack, hereby reject you," she gasped, breathing nervously, sadness bubbling into tears in her eyes, "Rome, wolf and counterpart to Cameron Haine, future Alpha of the Fire Moon Pack."

I instantly felt the hold the bond had over Cortina break, and the howling from Rome stabbed through my chest. Cortina buckled over, the tearing of her bond made it impossible for her to stand. When the physical pain started to reside moments later, the deep emotional pain still lingered. I'm sure it will linger for a very long time.

"Go now," Rome choked out. "Go, before he notices something is wrong."

"But....but you have to accept it. You can't....you can't leave it attached on your end or...."

"I want it to hurt," he said sadly. "I want him to feel all of it. You will be safe now, and that's all that matters."

"No," Cortina began to wail. "Rome, no. I...I don't want to hurt you."

"I'll hurt more if I accept your rejection, love. Go. Go and no matter what, make him pay. For all of it."

I didn't understand his reason, but I knew the weight of his sacrifice. I knew he was doing it for both of us.

"You need to go, Cortina, or what he's doing will be in vain."

It took her some more urging, but after Rome gave her one last goodbye, suppressing his sadness as much as he could, she finally was able to move after he sealed himself off from her. He was protecting her as much as he could, and I suddenly realized why she was never able to see Cameron for the monster he was before the fall we took down those stairs. How could she when Rome was so devoted to her?

She pushed through her pain, sprinting through the forest at her full speed. She sensed the guards before they scented her, and she managed to avoid them by traveling up a stream and waiting behind a gathering of boulders for the guards to be a safe distance away. She then used the stream to sprint the rest of the way off pack lands, running straight to the town, towards the witches that were our last obstacle to freedom and revenge.