THE AFFAIR AND REJECTION

"Oh, you shouldn't have seen this, Luna," Sarah said. She was surprised, but she did not attempt to prevent Zuri from seeing the scene before her eyes in any way.

It was very obvious what they were trying to do here, but Zuri couldn't care less about that right now, because all she wanted to do was to separate that adulterous couple.

Her beast roared angrily because of this betrayal. She was seeing red when she marched toward the two of them, while Faye was still kissing Xaden. With her arms wrapped around his neck, the girl forced him to bend his body, so he could accommodate her height.

Zuri must be crazy, because she watched how that woman opened her eyes and was fully aware of her presence, yet she continued what she was doing anyway.

"What are you doing here?" Zuri asked darkly, her eyes were ablaze with anger, and the two of them finally separated. She glared at the woman, who just kissed Xaden and had the audacity to pretend to be afraid, as she hid behind the alpha's body.

"I- I am sorry, Luna…" she stuttered. She looked like she was about to cry, as she knelt down in front of Zuri. "I am really sorry, Luna. Please forgive me."

Zuri wanted to laugh. There were so many people, who kept apologizing to her today and she wondered why they kept doing wrong to her.

"Zuri," Xaden called her name, he looked calm and this made Zuri mad. How could he be so calm after what happened? After what she just witnessed?!

"Is this what you wanted to tell me about 'mind our own business'?!" Zuri was livid. This was a humiliation for her and she couldn't accept it.

"Zuri, go back to your room," Xaden said. He didn't look remorseful at all, only a little bit annoyed.

"Go back to my room?" Zuri narrowed her eyes. "Do you think I am a child?!" He did not only humiliate her, but also insulted her by saying something like that in front of the servants. "Is this your omega mate?"

"That's none of your business."

Zuri was fed up when she heard the same sentence come out of his lips again, she raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face.

Her pride didn't allow her to be trampled upon like this. This man didn't have any shame to say those words to her face after what he had done.

There was no apology, nor was there any remorse, not even an explanation.

"I, Zuri Arandelle, reject you as my mate. May our bond be severed for good," she said, her voice was calm and collected, but the moment they could feel the mate bond between them snap off, Zuri groaned and fell to her knees with an audible thud. She could feel this burning sensation on her neck when her mark disappeared because of the rejection that she made.

She was not the only one, who felt this pain, but Xaden as well, he groaned dangerously and then snarled at Zuri.

"What do you think you are doing?!"

However, no matter how he wanted to protest, there was no saving it. He couldn't prevent Zuri from saying the words.

The burning sensation that he felt inside his heart was enough to bring him to his knees.

Yet, Zuri felt something else was wrong, because along with the pain of the severed mate bond, she felt another pain, this sharp pain that came from her stomach. She felt like her insides were being twisted and stabbed.

"Ah!" Zuri bent her body, as she held her stomach.

"What happened, Luna? What happened?!" Sarah immediately approached Zuri, as did Esther, while Xaden was too angry about what Zuri had done to care about her.

"My stomach…" Zuri said between her tears. This was even more painful than when Xaden marked her, or when Sarah poured the hot water on her shoulders. This was more painful than any of that.

"Call the healer!" Xaden hollered when he realized what happened. Despite the pain, he approached Zuri and carried her in his arms.

If she felt pain in her stomach, it must be because something was wrong with the baby. Xaden wouldn't bet on the safety of his baby.

Therefore, despite the pain, he carried Zuri back to their bedroom.

"I- I will call for the healer," Esther said. Yet, when the alpha had disappeared from their sight, she didn't immediately do that.

"Did you put that thing in her food?" Faye asked, her facial expression changed. She was livid that Xaden had chosen to take care of Zuri instead of staying behind with herself, but she could understand.

"Yes. I put it in excess to make sure it will be more effective."

Faye nodded in agreement. She smiled. "Take your time to call Sera. She must be resting now."

*** 

The pain was there, but then the pain was gone and when Zuri opened her eyes, she felt exhausted, as if she had not just woken up from her deep slumber, but was run over by horses.

She looked around her and found a few familiar faces that she recognized.

It was her mother and father. The two of them were bickering with each other, but the moment they realized their daughter had woken up, they stopped.

Alpha Roland approached his daughter, while Zuri pushed herself from the bed into a sitting position.

However, the first thing that Alpha Roland did when he was close enough to Zuri was to slap across her face so hard, she felt her ears ringing painfully.

"Stop this! Don't do this here!" Karina, the Luna of the River Creek pack tried to stop her mate.

"How dare you reject him?!" Alpha Roland was livid. "How dare you ruin this important union!?"

Zuri shook her head lightly and then faced her father. "He cheated on me. I saw with my own eyes how they kissed each other."

"So what?! That's not enough reason for you to reject him!"