Jake could barely control his anger as he waited for the two idiots to explain themselves.

"We were just taking the blind girl to her cell..." Elvis said uneasily.

"Is this her cell?" Jake yelled angrily.

"No." James' voice was quiet.

"Get out of my sight...Now!"

"But...what about the...the girl?"

"I'll take her there myself." Jake said struggling to stop his wolf from making him beat the two guys to bloody pulps.

They must have taken in his shaking body, change of eye color and obvious struggle for control with his wolf an indication of his angry wolf because they left the corridor in a hurry.

"Bastards." Jake hissed.

He helped Ciara to her feet, led her down to the basement and to the nicest cell room he could find that had a private toilet with a less bug-ridden bed in it.

Then he sat on the bed beside Ciara holding her hands and wondering how to officially reject her.

"You're the boy who came to my room the other day?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm Jake."

"What do you want from me? Why did they move me from my room?"

"The Luna ordered them to."

"Who is the luna?"

"She is the official mate of the Alpha of our pack."

"Oh...does that means she's married to Alpha Donnovan?"

"You know my d...Alpha Donnovan?"

"Yes, he visits me when he can and we do fun stuff together...It’s the only time I'm allowed outside my room."

Jake was shocked, he couldn't believe that his father would have the time and patience to do 'fun stuff' with a blind girl but Ciara was telling the truth because he, like most alphas and alphas-to-be, had the ability to smell a lie.

"Ciara, do you know about true mates?" Jake asked tenderly brushing a stray lock of hair out of her eyes.

"Yes, Vanessa said they are a person's other half...that two people are made from one lump of clay and without the other person's heart, they're just halves. Did I get it right?"

"Yes." Jake said thinking of how to tell her his reasons for not wanting to mate with her.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Ciara asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I just...Do you want to hear a story?"

"Not really, I just want to go back to my room."

"I really need to tell you this story to explain something to you."

Ciara finally nodded her head somewhat reluctantly.

"Um...Once upon a time, there was a pack called the Brandit Pack. They weren't too populated but they were powerful enough to be left alone just like our pack. One day, the alpha-to-be of their pack found out that a human was his true mate and so he mated with her. The other packs saw the human as a weak-link to the pack and some months after their mating, a large group of rogues funded by a few other packs who wanted the pack's land and resources attacked the pack. The Brandit pack stood no chance and they were defeated and that was how the pack dissolved. What do you think would have happened if the alpha-to-be hadn't mated with the human girl?"

"The other packs wouldn't have attacked?"

"Exactly."

"But Alpha Donnovan told me this exact story once but he never said it was because of the human mate that they attacked the pack, he said it was because the brother of the alpha wanted the pack for himself so he convinced the other packs that the human mate of his brother was a weak-link and helped them infiltrate the pack."

Jake was unconvinced, his mother had always told him the story he just told Ciara but she had never included the part Ciara just spoke about. He decided to just question his father about it.

"I'll be right back okay?" He said to Ciara then placed a gentle kiss on her cheeks.

Then he ran straight to his father's office because if the story was truly the way Ciara had just put it, he planned to make her his mate without hesitation.

When he got to his father's office, he stood in front of the door for a few minutes then knocked.

"I really don't feel like talking to you right now, Jake." His father called out without inviting him in.

"I know...I just really need to speak to you."

"Come in." His father's reluctance to see him was obvious.

"Look Dad, I need your help. Can you tell me why the Brandit pack were attacked?"

"What brought this on?" His father frowned.

"Dad, just tell me." Jake urged impatiently.

"Well, after the alpha mated with a human, some territory-greedy packs funded a large group of rogues and they attacked with the help of the alpha's brother, who wanted to lead the pack and so convinced them that the human luna's weak bond with the pack would assist them to defeat the Brandit pack. With his help, they managed to defeat the pack."

"Really? Dad are you a hundred percent sure about this?" Jake rubbed his eyes with his hands feeling horrified.

"Yes, I got the information from the council, why? What’s wrong?" His father asked.

"Mum...she...Gotta go dad, I'll see you soon."

Jake ran out of the room and straight to his mother's room trembling with anger. When he got to her room, he pushed the door open and stalked into the room to meet his mother seated at her dressing table casually combing her hair.

"Mother! You lied to me!" Jake yelled.

"Lower your voice Jacob."

"You lied to me..." Jake lowered his voice.

"About what?" His mother asked trying to feign surprise at Jake's accusations but Jake could see through her act.

"Well first of all, about the Brandit Pack..."

"How do you know that?"

"That’s not the issue, mum, the issue is that you lied and I want to know why. Tell me mum, what’s your real reason for not wanting me to mate with Ciara?"

He could see in his mother's eyes that she didn't really want to tell him the real reason but the predatory gleam in Jake's eyes must have told her that she wasn't only dealing with her impressionable son but also with his wolf so he would easily smell her lie no matter how cunningly she put it.

She sighed heavily before answering, "I knew her mother...when I was a teenager, she came here to the pack and your father was about to become alpha, he had planned to choose me as his mate but when she came along, I became an afterthought. Your father ran after her with all he had but she was already in love with another man and she rejected him." Jake's mother paused to eye him warily. "That was when your father chose me as his mate. You can't trust her Jake, she is just like her mother thriving on attention anywhere she can get it. Besides, do you think you can mate with her?"

"Huh?"

"I'm asking if you can mate with a blind girl and care for all her needs while doing your alpha duties?"

"I can just hire a nurse..." Jake said with a shrug as he sat on his mother's bed.

"And what about the public dinners? All those alphas coming with their beautiful mates and socializing...imagine yourself coming in with your blind mate and leading her around all day long...how would you ever bond with other alphas and make alliances?"

Jake realized that his mother was right mating with Ciara would just add to his burdens.

"And what about your reputation everywhere, among alphas, among your friends and even among pack members. Do you think anyone can respect a blind little fool or a luna who doesn't even know where she is going or what she is doing? And in case you don't know, Ciara can't read or write? Who do you think will represent our pack in the Luna Convention held every year where no alphas are allowed?"

Jake sighed accepting the undeniable fact that there was no way he could mate with Ciara. "You're right, she'll just make me a laughing stock...that means I still have to reject her."

"I can help you if you want?" His mother suggested.

The glint in her eyes prompted him to quickly refuse her offer. "No, thanks...I'll do it myself."

When Jake got to Ciara's cell, she was hugging her knees to her chest and resting her head on her knee. Her eyes were wide open and blindly staring at the wall opposite her.

"Who is there?" She asked as soon Jake opened the cell door.

"It’s Jake." Jake whispered.

Ciara immediately sat upright as Jake came in and stood directly in front of her.

"Did you confirm the story with your dad?"

Jake cleared his throat before answering, "Yes, you were right."

Ciara only nodded and there was a long moment of silence before Jake cleared his throat again. "Look Ciara...there is something important you have to know..."

"Which is?"

"You're my true mate." Jake whispered.

"Huh?" Ciara's tone of disbelief helped Jake proceed with his rejection speech.

"You're shocked right? I was too, I mean how could the gods have made such a mistake as to give someone like you to me as my mate seeing as how I'm alpha-to-be and being with you will just be adding to my burdens and responsibility."

"Adding to your burdens?" Ciara's voice was a husky whisper and when she didn't say anything more, Jake decided to continue.

"Yes...I'm sure you understand that there’s no way the Thurman pack can cope with a blind human luna who even needs assistance to take care of herself so...so that’s why I need to reject you and you need to reject me back so we can sever the true mate bond and release each other to mate with people fitting our status in life. Okay I'm just going to say it now...Ciara, I, Jacob Donnovan officially reject you and refuse to mate with you."

Ciara started shaking for a few minutes and Jake had to lean down to see that she was sobbing silently. He was lost for words, because seeing any girl or woman cry just scattered his thoughts to the wind.

When she didn't stop sobbing for about five minutes, Jake was about to take her hand and console her but as soon as his skin touched hers, she recoiled as if his skin was poisonous. "Don't touch me! Just get out and leave me alone!"

"You haven't rejected me yet." Jake said in a soft voice.

"Fine, Jacob Donnovan, I, Ciara officially reject you and refuse to mate with you...That’s all, right? Now don't let me ever come in contact with you again."

With those final words, Ciara turned to the opposite side of where Jake stood on the bed and faced the wall.

Edited: January 25, 2019