Her Return:Rejected By My Mate

Sera's pov

I woke up to soft light filtering through windows that didn’t belong to Blackridge.

The room smelled of pine and crisp linen instead of cedar and smoke. My hand flew to my stomach, panic slicing through the fog as a dull throb pulsed along my side.

“You’re safe,” a deep, steady voice said from the corner.

I turned my head. Zane Ashford stood from the chair where he had been sitting all night, I could tell by the eye bags.

He was tall, broad-shouldered, with silver threading his dark hair. He still has those eyes that had always seen straight through me. I remembered him from years ago back in Silverkeep. The powerful Alpha who came to train under my father in my pack and watched me with quiet intensity.

“Zane?” My voice came out hoarse. “What happened? Where am I?”

“Silvermark territory. Rogues attacked you on the Blackridge border and I was patrolling nearby when I heard the fight.” He stayed back when I tensed. “The healer says the child is still strong. You need to rest Sera.”

Tears burned my eyes as I pushed myself up, ignoring the protest in my muscles.

“What about Caden? Where is my husband?”

Zane looked at me with a confused look. “He rejected you. Don't you remember?”

I shook my head. “No. You have to contact him, please. I'm sure he made a mistake yesterday. Maybe it's the council or the war threats that got to him. I have to be there beside him. I have to help him, I’m carrying his heir.”

Zane’s jaw tightened, but he gave a single nod. “I already sent a messenger at dawn. Let's wait for a word.”

The hours stretched like torture as I paced the room, one hand cradling the slight swell beneath my dress. “He loves me,” I whispered to the life inside me. “He has to. I have given everything for him. I have to go through with this mission and this marriage. It can’t end like this.”

I waited for hours but no word came from Blackridge.

By midday, the door flew open and my heart leaped with Joy, until Nadia Cross strode in, flanked by two Blackridge warriors. For one stupid second, I felt hopeful so I reached toward her, my hands opened for a hug. “Nadia! You came. Tell Caden I’m…”

Nadia’s laugh cut like shattered glass. “Oh, Sera. You're still so naïve after three years of playing housewife in what was always going to be my territory. It's pathetic.”

The hope vanished from my chest. “What are you talking about?”

She waved the warriors back and circled me slowly, her warrior braids swinging.

“Did you really think he would come running and begging for forgiveness from the ordinary little wife he just publicly discarded? Like I said, it's pathetic. I heard about your little roadside accident from my contact. Congratulations on the pregnancy, by the way, but don't hope that it would even change anything.”

“You knew?” My voice rose, shaking with more fury than pain. “You were my friend. I trusted you with everything. My doubts, my hopes, my secrets.”

“Friend?” Nadia’s eyes gleamed with pure venom. “I was only tolerating you. I smiled through every pathetic tea session while you droned on about your precious ‘mission from the heavens.’ You stole Caden with that delusional story your father fed you and I've loved him years before you arrived in Blackridge with your undetectable, worthless bloodline. You were never special. Just a warm body who kept the alliances warm while I positioned myself to take what was mine.”

I stepped forward despite the ache. “I sacrificed my home, my power, and my entire identity to stand by him. I mapped every alliance, held the pack together when your combat skills alone couldn’t and you repaid me by poisoning his mind?”

Nadia’s smile turned razor-sharp. “He was already pulling away so I simply gave him the final push. That public rejection was my idea. All I had to do was to remind him of his father's own words. Ordinary bloodline destroys packs. You made it too easy, Sera.”

The words triggered memories I couldn’t hold back.

Three years earlier.

I walked into Blackridge at nineteen, with diplomatic envoy at my side, my father Aldric’s final words still ringing in my ears. “Find him and walk beside him but suppress everything until the heavens’ purpose unfolds.”

Caden on the other hand was magnetic from our first meeting. He was srong, and decisive, the exact Alpha that my soul had been sent to save.

Nadia approached me that first week, bold and laughing. “New here? Let me show you the ropes. Us girls need to stick together in a pack run by males like these.”

She taught me defense moves during training spars, shared stories of lost warriors over late-night teas, and cried on my shoulder after a patrol gone wrong.

“You’re different, Sera. Gentle but sharp. Caden needs that balance.”

I had opened up carefully, believing I had found a true sister in this new life I’d chosen for my mission.

Present day.

“I smiled through every single ‘girl talk,’” Nadia hissed, snapping me back, “while counting the days until I could rip you out. That child won’t save you.” She smiled. “Caden already has plans for a proper heir. With me.”

My fists clenched at my sides. “You’re the traitor here. I know the threats better than you do. I built those alliances. So when Blackridge starts crumbling because you can’t hold diplomacy together, he’ll see you for the poison you are.”

Nadia leaned in close, her voice dropping to pure venom. “That child you’re carrying won’t see the light of day if you ever think of coming back. Stay gone, Sera or I’ll make sure neither of you survives the next little ‘accident.’”

She turned on her heel and walked away without another glance, and the warriors fell in step behind her. The door slammed shut.

I crumpled, sobs gently as hot tears streamed down my face. “Why?” I whispered brokenly, my hands still on my stomach. “I gave everything… everything…”

Strong arms caught me before I could hit the floor and Zane lowered me gently to the edge of the bed, then dropped to one knee before me. His looked at me with burning sincerity, those intense eyes locking onto mine.

“Sera Ashwood,” he said, voice low and unwavering, “I have loved you silently since the day I first saw you in Silverkeep as a teenager. I know what you are and what your purpose is and that was why I didn't pursue you. But since Caden doesn't recognize what is standing before him, I chose this father to vow my undying love and loyalty to you. From this moment, I belong to you. I will stand beside you and raise your child as my own if you’ll allow it. I'll support you through every shadow and every dawn. And as long as I breathe, you will never be discarded again.”

Shock cut through my tears. My heart hammered wildly as I stared at him. “Zane… what do you mean?”