Chapter 4 I Reject You!

Somehow, I survived Mabel’s questions. Now, we were headed to orientation.

Vanya swung her bag casually. "My dad was livid last night," she said, dodging a group of senior students. "I heard him screaming at Chancellor Vance through the study door. Apparently, Vance handpicked every single room assignment in this program. The three of us being in the same room was no coincidence. I don't know what they are planning, but those grown-ups have something up their sleeves, I tell you.”

My pulse spiked. If Vance was playing puppet master, my knowledge of the script was more than just faulty, it was a trap.

"Why would he care where we sleep?" Mabel asked, adjusting her heavy backpack.

"Control," I muttered.

Even though, I’d die before I became a pawn this time.

We reached the central courtyard. My skin crawled as we approached the spot where, in my old life, seniors had pinned me to the stone, forcing me to beg until Liandrin "saved" me.

I braced for the familiar taunts, but quietness greeted me back. Ten feet away, a different rogue freshman was being shoved into a fountain by three upperclassmen.

What? If that had changed, then my meeting with Liandrin had been altered. Then, would our friendship even happen at all?

"Hey," a voice demanding for order cut my thoughts short.

The air left my lungs as Kaelene stepped into the light.

My hands balled into tight fists, nails digging into my palms until I drew blood. This was the man who had driven a broadsword through my spine. The man whose betrayal was still a fresh wound in my memory. Seeing his face, untouched by the horrors of the war I hadn't yet fought, felt like a sickness.

The seniors sneered. Their hands were already glowing with combat magic, refusing to back down. One stepped forward, puffing his chest. "Back off, Kaelene. He’s a gutter rat, not worth your–"

Kaelene took one step into the senior’s personal space. His voice dropped into a tone so hollow and devoid of mercy that the senior actually flinched.

"I won't tell you again, and next time, I won't just ask you to walk away. I'll make sure you can't walk at all." With darkening eyes, Kaelene warned.

The seniors paled, shared a panicked look, and retreated without another word.

“Wow," Mabel whispered, her cheeks flushing. "Who is that?"

"He's got the 'brooding hero' look down. Think he's single?" Vanya added with a smirk.

I stayed silent, my teeth clenching so hard, they might clatter off. He looked… decent. Admirable. A savior. But beneath the hero’s mask, I knew the devil that lived in his marrow. I had to remind myself: He is the betrayer who stabbed me in the back.

To hell with the mate bond.

Then, he turned and his eyes… locked onto mine. The breath left my lungs. My not yet fully awakened wolf slammed against the inside of my ribcage, wailing a single word: MATE.

"A mate bond."

"Look at his eyes. He’s found his mate.” Students around started to mutter.

A sharp ache suddenly pulled at my chest. It was a gravity I knew I’d spent lifetimes fighting. Kaelene’s breath hitched. He stepped toward me, brows furrowed in a disarming confusion. He looked at me as if I were the only person in the courtyard.

“You..." He paused, lips parting. "Do I... know you?"

The question hurt more than I expected. Of course he didn't know me. He hadn't murdered me yet.

"Don't." My voice rang out, shunning him.

The entire courtyard went dead silent. Vanya froze mid-bite and Mabel looked like she’d forgotten how to breathe. I took one step back. I refused to let the bond blind me again.

"I don't know what you're about to say," I said, loud enough for the onlookers to hear. "But save it."

Kaelen froze. The confusion in his eyes deepened into pure shock.

I continued still, meeting his gaze with every ounce of strength I possessed, If you're my mate, then the Moon Goddess made a mistake. I’d rather spend my life alone than spend a day beside you."

I met his eyes. “Kaelene Carrington, I, Jeaine Caughton reject you as my mate!”

The silence that followed was absolute. Then, the whispers exploded.

“She’s insane!”

“Did she just reject Kaelene?”

“A freshman rejecting a senior?”

“A rogue rejecting a pureblood?”

I didn't wait for his response. I turned and walked away with my head high even though my wolf was writhing in pain, projecting a pain that felt as though a thousand tiny blades were stabbing my own heart.

For once, he was the one left stumbling in the dust, searching for a meaning I had already burned to the ground.

I’d do it again.

My head had started to throb when Vanya and Mabel caught up.

"Are you insane?" Vanya hissed, grabbing my arm and pulling me behind a stone pillar. "That was Kaelene. THE KAELENE!”

She shook her head in total bewilderment. “Do you know how many girls would kill to have him as a mate? Do you know how many of your kind prays for a mate bond on day one? And he’s... well, he’s objectively perfect. Why would you throw that away?"

"He's a nightmare in a pretty skin," I snapped, pulling my arm free. "Don't ask me again."

Mabel looked genuinely distressed, her curls bouncing as she shook her head. "Jeaine, please. You don't just reject a bond like that. It’s a blessing from the Moon Goddess. Not unless you're insane…”

“Maybe I am," I cut her off.

Before the girls could argue further, a discordant bell rang out across the campus, silencing the courtyard. It wasn't the standard class bell. It was the emergency alarm.

Students stopped mid-step, looking around in confusion.

A disembodied voice spoke over the PA system: "All freshmen report to your dormitories immediately. Orientation has been cancelled. Repeat: Orientation is cancelled."

"Cancelled?" Mabel blinked, looking around. "I've never heard of that happening."

A student near us muttered, phone pressed to his ear. "I don't get it. Why shut down the whole thing?"

Another student stopped, looking pale. "I heard a rumor. Lady Liandrin never showed up for the royal procession."

"Liandrin?" someone else chimed in. "Maybe she's sick."

A third voice spoke in hushed tones. “No. My cousin in the royal guard said she collapsed in her quarters this morning.”

“… they are saying it’s poison.”

What the…

I froze. The blood drained from my face.

Poison. Liandrin wasn't supposed to be poisoned. My future had changed again. Was this really my second chance...

Or had I been dropped into a trap designed to make me suffer my execution twice?