Rejected, Then Reclaimed

I sat on the edge of my bed in the guest quarters of Silverstone Pack, staring at the phone in my trembling hands. The confrontation with Bradley replayed in my mind—his flushed face, Kelsey's smirk, the casual way he'd dismissed two years of my life as an "obligation."

But beneath the anger and humiliation, something else stirred. A pull I'd been suppressing for so long it had become background noise. A scent memory of sandalwood and rain that didn't belong to Bradley. A pair of amber eyes that had watched me across a crowded room during a college pack gathering, seeing something in me I'd been taught to hide.

My wolf paced restlessly, whimpering with a need that had nothing to do with the broken contract.

*Do it,* she urged. *Call to him. He's been waiting.*

I closed my eyes and did something I hadn't allowed myself in years. I opened the mind-link I'd kept locked tight, the one that connected to a consciousness that wasn't Bradley's cold authority or my father's disappointed expectations. The one that hummed with warmth and barely restrained hunger.

*Walker?*

The response came instantly, blazing through our connection with such intensity I gasped. *Margaret.* His voice wrapped around my name like a caress, rough with emotion. *Finally. I've been waiting so long, sweetheart.*

Tears pricked my eyes at the endearment, so different from Bradley's clinical "contracted mate." *I didn't know if you'd still...*

*Still want you? Still recognize you as mine?* Walker's Alpha growl resonated through the link, protective and possessive in a way that made my wolf purr. *I've wanted you every second since I first scented you. Every day I've watched from a distance, knowing you were suffering under that bastard's contract. Tell me you're free, Margaret. Tell me you're ready.*

The words tumbled out—Bradley's betrayal with Kelsey, the broken contract terms, his plan to reject me in two weeks anyway. With each revelation, Walker's presence through our link grew fiercer, his Alpha aura so powerful I could almost feel him beside me.

*I'm flying back tonight,* he said, his tone leaving no room for argument. *I'm in Italy right now, but I'll abandon these negotiations. You're more important than any territory deal. Can you meet me at the neutral clearing by Blackwood Forest? The one with the old oak?*

My heart hammered. *When?*

*Midnight. Under the full moon.* His voice softened. *If you're sure, Margaret. If you're truly ready to claim what the Moon Goddess intended. I won't force this bond on you. It has to be your choice.*

I thought of Bradley's 999 rules, his scheduled intimacy, his cold dismissal. Then I thought of Walker's patient waiting, the way he'd respected my arrangement even when it must have torn at his wolf. The way he was offering me choice, not control.

*I'll be there,* I whispered through our link. *I'm sure.*

---

The Blackwood clearing was silver in the moonlight when I arrived just before midnight. My wolf was vibrating with anticipation, her silver markings seeming to glow beneath my skin. I'd worn a simple black dress—no white, never white again—and my hair hung loose down my back.

I scented him before I saw him. Sandalwood and rain, mixed with something wild and Alpha-strong that made my knees weak. Then he stepped from the tree line, and my breath caught.

Walker West was larger than I remembered, his wolf's power evident even in human form. Dark hair fell across his forehead, and those amber eyes locked onto me with an intensity that should have been frightening but instead felt like coming home. He moved toward me slowly, each step deliberate, giving me time to run if I wanted.

I didn't run.

"Margaret." My name on his lips was a prayer. He stopped an arm's length away, his hands clenched at his sides. "My wolf is screaming to mark you right now. To erase every trace of him from your skin. But I need to hear you say it. Tell me this is what you want."

I could see the strain in his jaw, the way his Alpha aura pulsed around him barely restrained. Two years of watching his mate suffer under another's contract. Years of patient waiting. And still, he was giving me the choice.

I closed the distance between us, placing my hand on his chest. His heart thundered beneath my palm. "I want you to claim me, Walker. I want you to mark me and show me what a true mate bond feels like. I want to be yours, the way the Moon Goddess always intended."

His control shattered.

Walker pulled me against him with a growl that rumbled through both our chests. His lips found mine, and the kiss was nothing like Bradley's clinical obligations. This was heat and hunger and coming home all at once. His hands tangled in my hair, tilting my head back as he deepened the kiss, and my wolf sang with recognition.

*Mine,* his wolf snarled through our link. *Finally, finally mine.*

When he pulled back, his eyes had shifted to his wolf's amber, and his canines had elongated. "The marking, Margaret. Once I do this, there's no going back. The Moon Goddess's bond is eternal."

"I know." I turned my head, exposing my neck where Bradley's mark had never properly set, where the skin had always rejected his claim. "Make it permanent, Walker. Make me yours."

His lips brushed my throat, gentle despite his wolf's desperation. Then his canines sank into the traditional marking spot, and white-hot pleasure exploded through every nerve. My wolf howled in triumph as the true mate bond snapped into place, flooding me with Walker's emotions—his love, his possessiveness, his absolute devotion.

When he pulled back, licking the wound closed, the mark glowed silver in the moonlight before settling into my skin. Not the angry red of Bradley's attempted claims, but a perfect permanent brand that felt right.

"My Luna," Walker murmured against my neck. "My mate. My everything."

I turned in his arms and claimed his mouth again, tasting my own blood mixed with his wild scent. This was what the contract could never give me. This was what I'd been born for.

This was home.