Rejected By Him Claimed By Another

Corinna Walker POV:

The heavy, ornate oak doors remained firmly shut. I turned my back on the sickening scene inside, my heels clicking softly against the marble floor as I walked away. I headed straight through the freezing woods, returning to the cold, empty house that served as my marital prison.

I walked into the master bedroom, a room Jerrod hadn't stepped foot in for years, and pulled a thick, heavily sealed file from the bottom drawer of my desk. It was the prenuptial agreement Jerrod had ruthlessly forced me to sign five years ago, right before our forced mating ceremony.

The degrading terms were permanently burned into my memory. In the event of a divorce, I would only receive a pitiful one million dollars and this isolated, drafty house on the edge of the territory. It was a sum so insignificant that even my biological parents, the Smiths, would scoff at it. Jerrod hadn't drafted it to protect his vast assets, he had designed it specifically to humiliate me, to constantly remind me that in his eyes, I was worthless, a cheap commodity he was forced to acquire.

Well, tonight, he could keep his damn money and his miserable house. I didn't want a single penny that belonged to him.

Armed with the file, I walked back to the Pack's main administrative manor, bypassing the noisy ballroom, and pushed open the slightly ajar door to his private study without bothering to knock. As of tonight, I was entirely done with the submissive courtesies of a dutiful mate.

He was standing with his back to me, facing the massive floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the Pack lands. One hand was casually tucked into his tailored pocket, the other held a half-empty glass of amber whiskey. His tall, broad-shouldered silhouette was stark and intimidating against the pale moonlight.

He didn't turn around, his sharp Alpha senses already identifying my scent. "I thought I told you not to bother me tonight," his voice was laced with extreme, grating irritation. "Go back to your house, Corinna."

I walked directly to his massive mahogany desk and slammed the heavy file onto the polished wood. The sharp smack echoed loudly in the quiet room.

"I'm not here to bother you, Jerrod," I said, my voice surprisingly steady and chillingly calm. "I'm here to end this."

He finally turned. His eyes, the color of rich, dark earth, landed on me with a scrutinizing and thoroughly disgusted expression. His handsome face, which had just been smiling so warmly at Geri, was now a mask of cold, unforgiving indifference.

His gaze dropped to the file on the desk.

"What pathetic new game is this, Corinna?" he sneered, lazily picking up the document. He glanced at the bold 'Divorce Agreement' heading and let out a harsh, mocking laugh that grated against my ears. "You think threatening me with this makes you interesting? Let me remind you of your place. You are my property. You can't even compare to a single strand of Geri's hair. She is kind, elegant, and beloved by the Pack. You are just a manipulative mistake. Without my protection and my name, you are nothing but a worthless stray on the street. No one wants you."

His vicious insults, clearly meant to break me down and shatter my fragile self-esteem, had the exact opposite effect. They only fueled the icy, unbreakable resolve solidifying in my chest. I felt an overwhelming sense of relief that I was finally walking away from this monster.

"I don't need your protection, and I certainly don't need your money," I shot back, my eyes blazing with a fierce independence he had never seen before. "Keep your millions and your empty house. I'm leaving with nothing but my freedom."

I took a deep breath, looking directly into his arrogant, mocking eyes, and enunciated every single word with absolute clarity. "I, Corinna Walker, reject you, Jerrod Preston, as my mate."

It was the first, and most crucial, step of the rejection ritual. Once spoken into the universe, the words could never be taken back. The sacred bond could only be severed.

The look of cruel mockery on Jerrod's face froze instantly, replaced by pure, unadulterated shock. His pupils contracted violently. He clearly never, in a million years, expected the submissive Omega to say those words to him.

A sudden, searing pain shot through my soul, the brutal backlash of tearing the Mate-bond. I dug my nails so hard into my palms that they drew blood, forcing my trembling legs to remain standing. I refused to show him any weakness.

Jerrod swayed slightly, his hand flying to his broad chest. A flash of intense agony crossed his sharp features, but he quickly suppressed it with the sheer, terrifying force of his Alpha will.

He stared at me, his brown eyes now blazing with a dark, consuming fury. "Are you insane? Do you have any idea what you're saying?"

"I've never been more clear in my life," I answered coldly, lifting my chin. "Now, according to Pack law, you just have to say 'I accept your rejection,' and we'll both be free. You can finally marry your precious Geri without sneaking around like adulterers."

Jerrod suddenly burst out laughing, a dark, dangerous sound full of disbelief and twisted, psychotic control. "Free? You think dropping that pathetic little box outside the ballroom doors escaped my Alpha hearing? You're throwing a massive temper tantrum because you stood in the hallway and saw me having a drink with Geri tonight? Stop dreaming, Corinna."

He took a menacing step forward, his overwhelming Alpha presence pressing down on me like a physical, suffocating weight. "You are bound to me by the Goddess. I will not accept your rejection. You'll stay in that house and rot if I tell you to. You belong to me, and I decide when this is over."

"Watch me," I didn't flinch under his crushing aura. I just gave him one last, long look of utter, profound disgust.

With that, I turned on my heel and walked out of the study, my spine perfectly straight, without a single backward glance.

As I walked down the dimly lit hall, I reached out through the Mind-Link, bypassing the Alpha and directly contacting Elder Miller. He was the oldest and most just Elder in the Pack. More importantly, he was the only one who truly pitied me, having quietly watched me endure years of brutal bullying and exclusion from my own family.

"Elder Miller, this is Corinna. I need you to draft the official documents for a dissolution of the mating bond. The Alpha has cowardly refused to complete the ritual verbally."