Chapter 23
714words
Cassia sat by his bedside, her eyes as empty as a soulless doll's.
From the moment the scandals broke, to her miscarriage, to the violent fight with Aiden, her life had become a runaway roller coaster hurtling straight to hell.
Her love for Aiden had long since vanished with the phantom fetus. All that remained was hatred and the resigned helplessness of someone forced to compromise simply to survive.
She knew she was finished.
Her reputation was destroyed, her family had abandoned her. If she left Aiden, she would be forced to wander as a Rogue, and might even be torn apart by a vengeful pack.
She had to cling to this last lifeline.
With that thought, Cassia pressed the call button.
Healers rushed into the room. After a frantic effort, Aiden finally regained consciousness late that night.
After his brush with death, he looked at the haggard she-wolf before him, and there was not even hatred left in his eyes.
Only a profound weariness, as if he had seen through the ways of the world.
After all, he and Cassia were both guilty in this tragedy. They were both Elara's murderers.
After a long silence, Aiden spoke, his voice hoarse.
"Let's perform the Rejection."
Cassia's entire body jolted as if she had heard something unbelievable, and she shook her head frantically.
"No! I refuse the Rejection!"
She fell to her knees by the bed, tears instantly streaming down her face as she begged him humbly, "Aiden, please don't send me away! I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have used black magic to trick you. I shouldn't have hurt Elara... I'll change. I'll do whatever you say. Just please, don't do this."
Aiden closed his eyes, unmoved.
"You were wrong, and so was I. People like us shouldn't be together. We only poison each other."
"After the Rejection, I'll give you a sum of money. It will be enough for you to live out the rest of your life in the human world. Let's just part on good terms."
Just as Cassia was about to plead again, the door was thrown open.
The former Luna stormed in and raised her hand to strike Aiden.
"Reject what?"
"Do you have any idea what the pack is going through right now? If you kick Cassia out, we'll become a complete joke! Your father said that if you can placate Cassia and have another pup, he'll consider letting you back into the council of elders!"
Aiden looked at his mother's greedy face and suddenly laughed.
It was a desolate, ironic laugh.
He had already lost everything, the person who loved him most, his Alpha dignity. What meaning did all this power and status hold for him now?
No matter how the former Luna threatened him, Aiden's mind was made up.
A few days later, Aiden and Cassia made headlines in the werewolf world once again.
The last time, it was for a scandal. This time, it was for a bloodbath.
At the public notary's office for the Rejection ceremony, just as the priest began to recite the incantation to sever their bond, the previously silent Cassia lashed out.
She pulled a long-hidden, poison-laced silver dagger from her clothes and, with a crazed and desperate look in her eyes, plunged it straight into Aiden's heart!
"If you won't let me live, then we'll die together!"
Fortunately, the guards reacted quickly, kicking Cassia away before she could land a second blow.
Aiden was rushed to the ICU, his life hanging in the balance.
For the attempted murder of a former Alpha, Cassia was sentenced to life imprisonment and exiled to the most desolate of the frozen wastelands.
Watching the chaotic, bloody scene on the news, I couldn't help but sigh.
The dashing young Aiden who had once vowed to conquer the world with me, the Alpha who had promised to make me the happiest Luna in the world, had ended up like this.
He was now lying in the pack's medical center, sustained by special herbal infusions.
He could forget conquering the world; it was uncertain if he would even wake up to see another sunrise.
