Word Count : 2196

Harper

Harper was relieved when the last bell rang, she'd made it. All she had to do now was get out of here without running into anyone or seeing anyone. She cautiously stuck her head out of the library door, sniffing the air, trying to catch a hint of the smell that had been nagging her nerves all day. She caught a small whiff of it, but it was very faint, indicating that whoever it belonged to was nowhere near. She was slipping out the door when Celie approached smiling so widely that her face looked like it might split open.

"He's here, Harp!" Celie said excitedly, "I caught his scent a few minutes ago and it's heading toward the parking lot, come on let's go find him!"

"C, I know you're really excited, but my stomach..." Harper trailed off, she needed to get out of here before she ran into hers, but the look on Celie's face stopped her. Celie was her best friend, she couldn't let her find her mate alone, all she could do was hope her own mate was nowhere around Celie's mate.

"Please Harp?" Celie said. "I need you there for moral support! Don't you want to see him?"

"I do, Celie." Harper said, giving it one last try "But maybe you could just bring him by the house after you two hang out for a bit, I don't want to intrude, you should have a few minutes alone."

"No, Harp!" Celie insisted. "I need you there with me."

"Celie, please don't make me go out there." Harper begged.

But Celie just grabbed Harper by the hand and headed out of the school.

Celie stopped, excitedly scanning the parking lot, her head lifted, taking in great breaths of the amazing scent when a hard voice said.

"Oh Goddess No! You have got to be kidding me."

Harper's stomach clenched, bile rising in her throat, she knew that voice, she knew the scent, she knew what was about to happen. But she straightened her spine and turned slowly, glancing around at all the people now staring at them.

Reese Crawford, soon to be alpha of the pack was staring at her. His dark brown hair messy from running his hand through it, and his chocolate brown eyes, squinting at her, his full lips pressed into a hard line. His eyes moved up and down her body and stopped at her eyes, for a split second, there was something, almost like happiness, but then they turned hard and cruel.

"This is fucking ridiculous!" Reese practically shouted, people were already staring at them, but his loud words brought them even more attention. "An ugly pathetic loser for a mate. Really? No, I don't think so."

Reese shook his head, a disgusted look on his face as his eyes moved over Harper again.

"I, Reese Bryan Crawford, reject you, Harper Angelina Young, as my mate." Reese yelled in Harper's face.

Harper stood perfectly still; it took every ounce of will power she had not to show any reaction. She just stared at him for a few seconds, the pain flooding through her chest took the breath out of her so she couldn't respond. But when she was finally able to pull in a deep breath, in a calm, steady voice she said. "I, Harper Angelina Young, accept your rejection."

Reese's eyes widened in shock and he grasped his chest and staggered back from the wave of pain that hit him at her words, Zach grabbed his arm to keep him from falling. His wolf was going crazy, howling in pain, bucking against his control, trying to take over and go to his mate.

Harper felt a small surge of satisfaction watching him stagger, she'd shown no reaction, but he'd been nearly knocked down by the pain. She lifted her head proudly, and turned and walked away, ignoring the laughter, the spiteful names called at her, the insults. Tears pricked her eyes, but she refused to let them fall or even gather in her eyes, she refused to give those sorry wolves the satisfaction of seeing her pain, she refused to give them more reason to laugh and insult her. Her wolf was absolutely silent, she didn't even howl or try to reach out to her mate, Ria was devastated, but she would be strong for her human and not give in to the pain either.

So caught up in her pain and her urgent desire to get out of there Harper didn't see the shocked look on Celie's face or notice that Celie was staring straight at Adam, she wasn't looking at Reese or the scene that had just unfolded in front of her.

Harper did notice one face as she walked back toward the sidewalk to make her way home. Mrs. Barnes stood to the side near her car in the teachers parking, staring in horror, her hand on her chest, tears streaming down her face, now understanding why Harper had hidden in the library all day.

It took Harper nearly 20 minutes to walk home, and she was able to calm herself down in that time, she still kept the tears in, though they had surged and threatened to fall many times. As she neared the house her stomach dropped again as she saw her brother Callum walking toward his car in the driveway.

"Congratulations on your big rejection." Cal laughed at her, the juicy news having made it to him almost immediately. "Can't say I didn't see that coming. Didn't think the moon goddess would be so mean to Reese though, to give him such a joke for a mate."

Harper said nothing, she just walked past him as if he didn't exist and went into the house. For a few moments Callum stood looking at the door, the smile sliding from his face. He felt a stab of guilt for saying those words to her. There was no one around to admire his insult, it hadn't been necessary, and it was cruel to his sister. He thought for a few minutes about going in and apologizing to her but shoved the desire down, telling himself she didn't deserve an apology, even though he knew she did.

Celie

Celie stood rooted in place, she couldn't have moved if her life depended on it, part of her screamed to go after her friend, to comfort Harper and support her through the pain she must be feeling. But she couldn't, she could only stare at her mate, who was staring in equal shock back at her. Then he glanced around at his friends and turned away from her, listening to them laugh at Harper for being rejected.

Adam felt like he would throw up as he watched the guys laugh at Harper. He couldn't believe Reese, he stared at his friend in horror and disappointment, he didn't understand how he could have just done that in front of everyone. But Adam knew what he had to do now; he had no other choice if he didn't want to face the disappointment of his alpha and ridicule from the pack for the rest of his life. So he turned and walked toward Celie.

"Can I speak to you alone for a few moments?" Adam said and watched the tears gather in her eyes as she realized what was about to happen. Celie just nodded and they walked around the corner of the building and toward a small stand of trees. Once they were out of sight, Adam turned to Celie, there was a look of sorrow and pain on his face.

"Celie, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Adam started.

"Are you really going to do this, Adam?" Celie whispered, her voice cracking.

"I don't want to Celie, but..." Adam said, fighting back tears, his wolf was going crazy inside him, telling him not to do what he was about to do.

"Then don't do it, please Adam, please don't do this." Celie begged, tears streaming down her face. "I'm your mate, the goddess wants us to be together. Please don't do this. Please Adam, don't do this."

"I have to, Celie. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Adam said, his voice barely a whisper, a tear slipped from his eye as he took a deep breath. "I, Adam Richard Monroe, reject you Cecille Amanda Jacobs as my mate."

Celie dropped to her knees in the dirt, the pain making her grab her chest and curl in on herself as she cried.

"Please Adam." Celie sobbed, but he just turned and walked away, leaving her kneeling on the ground.

Harper

It was time. Harper had hoped this wouldn't happen, she'd hoped she wouldn't find her mate and she'd be able to spend the summer getting ready for college, but she couldn't stay here. Not now. Not in this house with him. Not when everyone in school had witnessed her rejection and laughed at her, Callum already knew, so she knew the whole pack would know soon if they didn't already.

Harper got her bag out of the closet, it was mostly packed, she only had to throw the last few articles of clothes and personal items she had in there to be ready to go. She was grateful for the money she'd saved from her vet hospital job and the money her parents had saved up for her to go to college, she was confident she could live easily until she graduated medical school. She was also grateful she hadn't told anyone which college she had planned to attend or even which ones she'd been accepted to. She had applied to and been accepted by every major college in the country, she had settled on South Florida but told everyone she was going to go to the university of Colorado. She'd known for a long time she was going to leave the pack if she was rejected, and she'd known she was going to be rejected so she'd covered her tracks pretty well. She'd already resigned from her job, withdrawn all her money from her savings account, stashed a wad of cash, and opened a new bank account no one knew about.

Harper felt bad for doing it this way, she knew it would upset Luna Sophia, and she didn't want to hurt her. She'd been like a second mother to Harper, the Luna hadn't known about the bullying and Harper didn't want to tell her, she didn't want to create problems for them. Sophia was so busy running the pack with Alpha Lucas that Harper didn't want to be more of a burden to them, so she'd kept quiet, worn long sleeves and wore concealer to hide the bruises. She would have talked to Sophia about leaving if anyone but Reese had been the one to reject her, but she couldn't go to the Luna and tell her that her own son had been the one to reject Harper. Sophia would be angry, she would try to get involved, and there was no way in hell Harper was going to be there for that. Harper couldn't imagine anything more horrible or humiliating than having the Luna and Alpha try to force their son to accept a mate like her.

Text Message – Celie to Harper

I got rejected too.

Harper's heart almost stopped beating when she saw the message. It broke her heart as much as being rejected herself, she couldn't help but remember the happy smile that had been on Celie's beautiful face this afternoon when she'd set off to find her mate. Harper was about to type a reply when another message came through.

Text Message – Celie to Harper

Can I go with you?

Seeing that made Harper even sadder, she wondered who it was, a simple rejection shouldn't have been enough to drive Celie away from her father and little brothers. It must have been really bad.

Text Message – Harper to Celie

Of course you can. I'm packed up and was about to walk

out the door, how long will it take you to get ready? I'd like to be out of here soon before everyone gets out of work.

Text Message – Celie to Harper

I'll be ready in less than 30 minutes.

Text Message – Harper to Celie

Perfect, I'll call the cab now and pick you up.

Harper helped Celie put her suitcases in the trunk of the taxi, smiling a little at the amount of luggage Celie had brought to run away. Harper had one big duffle bag, but Celie had two large suitcases, a garment bad, a tote bag, and toiletry case in addition to her enormous handbag.

"Who was it, Cel?" Harper asked quietly, as they rode toward the train station.

"Adam." Celie said quietly, her chin quivered, and tears started streaking down her face. Harper pulled Celie into a tight hug and held her while she cried, Harper's own tears soaking into Celie's hair. Harper hadn't cried for herself, but she cried for her best friend. "It hurts so much Harp."

"I know." Harper whispered. "But we'll survive, we'll be ok. I'll always be your hetero-sister-life mate."

"Promise?" Celie sniffed.

"Promise."

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