Page 21 of Rejected By My Stepbrother Alpha
I didn't even have time to processwhat I heard.
Right after Evelyn hung up and disappeared into the crowd, the watch on my wrist beeped. It was time for the mating ceremony to begin.
Still reeling from what I just heard, I took my place under the flowered archway. When I faced my pack, a silence fell over the crowd.
“Thank you for coming to our pack’s most sacred tradition—our mating ceremony,” I said in a loud voice. “Let us bow our heads and thank the Moon Goddess for providing us with Fated Mates, the one person in life who is truly meant for us.”
I couldn't help but think of Ivy when I said those words. But I gritted my teeth and forced her out of my mind.
After a moment of silence for the Moon Goddess, the ceremony began.
Every member of the pack who had turned twenty over the past year would participate. As the first girl—Aurora—walked slowly down the aisle toward me, I scanned the crowd for Ivy. I knew that she would be participating in the ceremony tonight.
When I spotted her, I forgot how to breathe.
She looks so beautiful.
It was tradition for the women to wear wedding dresses for the mating ceremony. Ivy was wearing a dress similar to the one she’d worn to the gala. This one had long, sheer sleeves, but the gown itself was strapless. Her auburn hair was down and flowing in the wind, and her plump lips were painted a dark red. She was the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen, but my heart only felt resentment when it came to her.
Whenever I looked at Ivy, I was reminded that she was working with her scheming, gold-digging mother. Ivy was no better than Evelyn. During Evelyn’s phone calls that I had just eavesdropped on, Evelyn had said that she and Ivy were going to be set for life. And I just overheard Evelyn admitting that Ivy was in on her schemes. My hands clenched into fists when I remembered Evelyn saying Ivy had already begun to seduce me.
My neck burned with embarrassment and fury.
For a fraction of a second, our eyes met, and an electric current seemed to pass between us. An image of a soft, warm body pressed against mine flashed into my head and was gone in the next instant.
I tore my gaze away from Ivy. I wanted nothing to do with my greedy stepsister.
Once Aurora was in front of me, I began her ceremony.
“Aurora, take this ceremonial knife and cut your hand. If your Fated Mate is our pack, they will bleed too and have an identical cut to yours. These scars will last forever connecting you two and solidifying your mating bond,” I said, and held out the small pointed knife in the palms of both of my hands.
The scars on two mates' left hands were similar to wedding rings.
With a shaking hand, Aurora picked up the knife and cut her left palm. For one moment, there was silence. Then there was a shout in the crowd.
“Aurora!” yelled Micah—someone I’d gone to school with. He ran up the aisle, showcasing his bleeding hand. “I knew that the Moon Goddess would know we were meant for each other!”
I smiled. I knew that Micah had always held a torch for Aurora.
The two sealed their union with a passionate kiss. I’d never seen someone reject a Fated Mate bond before. It seemed wrong to question the Moon Goddess like that.
Next up was David. He seemed nervous as he stood in front of me and ran a trembling hand through his blonde hair. After David sliced the palm of his hand, nothing happened. I waited a full two minutes, but I knew what this meant.
David did not have a Fated Mate in our pack. That didn’t mean he didn’t have a mate. It just meant he had to find them on his own, or they were seventeen right now, and he would have to wait until they came of age.
During my ceremony last year—six months before my dad married Evelyn—the Moon Goddess hadn’t blessed me with a Fated Mate, much to the disappointment of my pack and father. I wasn’t that disappointed. I knew that I would find her someday.
Now, it was Ivy’s turn.
She walked down the aisle toward me, lifting up the bottom of her long dress so she wouldn’t trip. Our eyes met, and I couldn’t look away if I tried. My body grew warm, my heart began to beatrapidly, and my hands shook as I wiped off the ceremonial knife with a white handkerchief.
Damn it.
I wished my body didn’t have such a strong reaction to her.
I went through the same speech quicker than I had for the others, wanting to get it over with as soon as possible. When our hands touched as I handed Ivy the knife, she gasped at the contact, and the sound was strangely familiar.
Everyone was quiet as Ivy brought the knife to the palm of her hand. I watched with bated breath as the knife slid down her pale skin. A flare of jealousy sparked within me as I imagined a man from the crowd coming to claim her as his mate.
