Chapter 6 So you rejected me??

Chapter 6 So you rejected me??


Chapter Six

Tiara’s POV

The word settled between us slowly.

Mate.

Like a stone dropped into still water, sending shockwaves through the darkness around us.

My breath caught. I stared at Maxie, waiting—no, needing—him to take it back, to claim I misunderstood, to offer anything that made this moment less impossible.

But he didn’t.

He held my gaze, raw and open in a way I had never seen before. His hair clung damp to his forehead, his skin bruised from the fight, his chest rising with unsteady breaths. He looked like a man stripped down to the truth he had run from too long.

“You were my mate,” he repeated quietly. “And I lost you.”

My pulse thundered so loudly I was sure he heard it. The forest seemed to shrink around us, the air thick and trembling. My wolf pressed close, whispering, aching, reaching for him even as I struggled to breathe.

“I do not understand,” I whispered. “If I was your mate… if we were bonded… why do I not remember any of it?”

Maxie shifted closer, gently brushing leaves from my hair. The touch was careful, almost reverent, as if he feared I would break.

“Because something happened to you,” he said softly. “Something that took everything we were.”

A shiver crawled through my spine. “What happened?”

His throat worked, his eyes darkening. “I will tell you. All of it. But not here. Not in the open.”

He reached for my arm, but I flinched before I could stop myself.

His hand froze.

“Tiara,” he murmured, voice cracking faintly, “I would never hurt you.”

“I know,” I said quickly. And I did. Deep in my bones, I knew it. But fear lives in shadows, and tonight the forest was full of them.

He lowered his hand, but the hurt flashed through his eyes like lightning.

I swallowed hard. “If I was your mate… why did no one tell me? Why did you not tell me sooner?”

He looked away, jaw tightening. “Because you died.”

The word punched the breath from my lungs.

Died.

My hands trembled. “That is not possible. I am right here.”

“You died,” he repeated, voice hoarse, “and then you came back without your memories. Without your wolf. Without me.”

A cold breeze brushed past, weaving through the trees. My heartbeat faltered.

“Maxie,” I whispered, “how could I die and still be alive?”

“I do not know,” he said. “But the moment I saw you on that border, covered in blood, breathing when you shouldn’t have been breathing… I understood that something far more dangerous than rogues was at play.”

My vision blurred. “Dangerous how?”

His fingers curled into fists. “Your presence awakened old prophecies. Old curses. Old enemies.”

I stared at him. “Including the King.”

He nodded once. “Especially the King.”

Everything inside me twisted. “But why? Why would the King hunt me?”

Maxie hesitated. His silence was too long, too heavy.

“Maxie,” I pressed, a coil of panic tightening in my chest. “Why is he after me?”

His eyes found mine again, full of dread. “Because of who you are.”

“I do not even know who I am!”

“That is what terrifies him.”

I felt my knees weaken. “Tell me the truth.”

He drew in a slow, painful breath. “Two years ago, before the attack… before I lost you… before everything went to hell… you were marked.”

“Marked?” I echoed, confused.

“Yes.” His voice was barely audible now. “With the Moon Mark.”

My breath stopped.

“I have never heard of it.”

“No one has,” he said. “Not since the old bloodlines vanished. It has been centuries since a wolf carried the Moon’s mark. And those who did could either bless or destroy their mates.”

I swallowed hard. “Which was I?”

He shook his head. “I did not know. And I could not risk your life. The prophecy said the mark would kill your mate.”

My heart twisted painfully. “Kill you.”

“Yes,” he whispered.

“So you rejected me.” The words fell with a weight that made the world tilt.

His eyes closed, his face raw with regret. “To save you. To free you. To keep you alive even if it meant breaking both of us.”

My chest tightened. “But the rogues attacked that same night.”

“Yes.”

“You thought I died.”

“Yes.”

“And now the King is hunting me because of this… mark?”

His silence was answer enough.

Tears pooled in my eyes. “Maxie, if he knows what I am… if he senses it… then why has he not taken me yet?”

“Because he does not know you are you,” he said. “Not yet. Not fully. Your aura is unstable. Your memories are shattered. Your wolf is trying to protect you by hiding who you are.”

“And if my wolf fails?”

His voice was hollow. “Then Cameron will claim you as a weapon or kill you as a threat.”

A trembling breath escaped me. “You should not have come for me tonight. You should have stayed away.”

His expression cracked open. “Do not say that.”

“If he finds out you saved me, he will see you as weak.”

He cupped my face gently, forcing me to look at him. “Let him try.”

My heart stumbled.

“Maxie,” I whispered, “this is dangerous for you.”

He leaned close, forehead resting against mine, breath warm on my lips. “I do not care. I lost you once. I will not lose you again.”

The bond flared between us, bright and blinding. My wolf surged forward, pressing into him, drinking in the warmth of his presence.

For a moment, everything else faded.

The forest. The King. The prophecy. The danger.

There was only his heartbeat. His scent. His breath.

Me and him.

Until a voice cut through the trees like a blade.

“Alpha Maxie!”

Leo’s shout shattered the fragile moment. Twigs snapped under hurried footsteps. He emerged from the darkness, his face pale, eyes wide with urgency.

“They know,” he rasped. “The King’s men found the broken window. They found your scent. They know someone escaped.”

Maxie rose instantly, placing himself between me and the direction Leo came from. “What else?”

Leo swallowed. “The King is headed this way. He told the guards he sensed something. Something powerful.”

My blood ran cold.

Maxie grabbed my hand, pulling me to my feet. “We have to move now.”

“Where?” I demanded.

“Anywhere he cannot reach,” he said. “Anywhere except here.”

Leo’s breath came fast. “Alpha… if he finds you with her…”

Maxie’s voice lowered to a lethal calm. “Then he will understand exactly who she belongs to.”

Leo stared at him. “You plan to reveal the bond?”

Maxie tightened his hold on my hand, eyes burning with fierce determination.

“I plan to survive,” he said. “And I plan to keep her alive with me.”

The forest fell silent.

Somewhere behind us, branches snapped.

Voices grew closer.

The King was coming.

Maxie pulled me against him, his gaze locked on mine.

“Stay with me,” he said. “Whatever happens, do not let go.”

His wolf surged in his eyes, wild and blazing.

My fingers closed around his.

“I won’t.”