The Second Chance Of The Rejected Moon (Celine and Bastian) novel Chapter 3

Chapter 3

15 visher

1 leave the pack house without looking back, my backpack hanging from one shoulder as I let out a long breath of relief

I’m free.

Alpha Tanner rejected me, and the pain in my chest still burns. But it doesn’t hurt more than my grandmother’s death pr the contempt of my father and brothers.

“Celine.” Beta Christian jogs toward me with a duffel bag in one hand. “I’ll drive you to the cabin, and I’ll mark the property with my scent so no one comes near it. The forest is dangerous for a young girl like you.”

I frown when he grabs my hand and points toward his truck with the other.

Pulling free from his grip, I shake my head.

“You never helped me. Not once, except for today. You never defended me. Why are you doing this now, Christian? I don’ need your help. I can go to the forest alone. I’ve been doing it for twelve years, and nothing has ever happened to me.”

The Beta stops walking and gives me a cold look of irritation.

“Nothing happened to you because you were under your grandmother’s protection. She’s dead now, and you don’t have anyone left. My advice is that you stay deep in the forest, and if you leave, I hope it’s to find another mate and bond quickly. You need someone to protect you.”

And who exactly protected me all these years in that house? No one but myself. Humans really love appointing themselves guardians after the damage is already done. Very ceremonial.

“Goodbye, Beta Christian.” I ignore everything he said.

I shift into my wolf form, grab my backpack in my jaws, and sprint toward the forest.

1 run for more than an hour, letting my wolf stretch free in a way she hasn’t in years. My paws slam against the damp earth as I leap over fallen trees, and I catch a rabbit for dinner later, but the smell of smoke reaches me before I arrive at the clearing where my grandmother’s cabin stands.

A wolf’s howl stops me cold. My paws dig into the ground before I shift back into my human form.

It’s a cry for help.

I throw on an old dress and run barefoot toward the cabin. It’s only a few hundred yards away. Now I can see the smoke instead of just smelling it.

The cabin my grandmother left me has been reduced to ruins. Stone, splintered wood, ash.

The wolf who called for help is an old hunter, one of my grandmother’s longtime friends.

I lower my head as my brother’s words echo in my mind. You’ve got plenty of work to do fixing up that cabin.

“Miss Celine, I’m so sorry. I got here too late.” The old man looks around the wreckage. “Your grandmother wasn’t inside. Maybe she went for help.”

I shake my head, unsure how to tell him my grandmother died last night and is no longer among the living.

“Mr. Jasper, my grandmother…”

The sound of an engine shutting off behind me makes my entire body tense, cutting me off before I can finish. A car door slams, and I already know Christian is the one approaching.

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Mon, Aug 17

The Second Chance Of The Rejected Moon

“Are you alright? Any idea who might’ve burned down your cabin?”

85 vour

I spin toward him in fury. Tears sting my eyes as I shove him, even though he doesn’t move an inch.

“Don’t pretend you didn’t hear Cassius in your Alpha’s office!” I scream. My fists shake at my sides. “My grandmother died. the only thing they left me was this ruined cabin, and they stole the money she left me, Christian! They’re pushing me out of the pack so I’ll become a rogue wolf!”

Jasper lets out a pained whine when he hears my words.

“May the Goddess welcome you with open arms, dear friend,” the old man says quietly, grief heavy in his voice. “If you’d like, you can stay with me until your home is rebuilt, little one.”

I walk toward Jasper. He has always been kind to me.

“I appreciate your help. Mr. Jasper, but I can’t leave right now. I’ll work for this cabin. Tonight, I’ll set up a tent here for now.”

The old man only nods sadly.

“Alright, but I’ll send my grandson to help you. You won’t be able to do all this alone.”

Christian steps in front of the old hunter and pulls a small leather pouch from his pocket.

“I need men to clear the debris and bring supplies to rebuild the cabin exactly the way it was.” He presses the pouch into Jasper’s hands. “Can you help Miss Celine?”

Mr. Jasper nods immediately.

“I’ll return soon with my son and grandsons, Beta Christian,” he says sadly. “I’m very sorry for your loss, Miss Celine. I won’t be long.”

The old man shifts into his wolf form and disappears quickly into the trees.

“I’m not your enemy, Celine.”

I glare at him.

“You’re not my friend either, and so far I haven’t seen you cry for your sister or your mother. Your heart is made of stone.”

Beta Christian steps back, pain flashing across his face.

“My duty is to be loyal to my Alpha and his family. I visited my mother every day after Julieta died, and I also took care of you whenever I could. Who do you think found her last night, Celine?”

“You took care of me, Beta Christian?” I turn just enough to expose my back and tear open the fabric of my dress so he can see the faded scars left by Luna Beatriz’s whippings and my brother’s punishments. “Where were you when they did this to me every time I breathed too close to them? Where were you when I went days without food, or when my sister destroyed my belongings for no reason at all? You looked away and pretended they weren’t treating me like garbage. You saw it all, and you never did anything.”

Christian says nothing for several long seconds.

“Here.” He sets the heavy duffel bag at my feet. “There are warm clothes, money, and enough food for a few days. I have to leave, but I’ll send one of my off-duty Delta warriors to stay nearby tonight and bring you a tent so you’ll be comfortable.”

I only pick up my backpack.

“I told you…” He looks at me again, this time with exhaustion instead of anger. “I have to go back and prepare my mother’s funeral. Don’t make this harder than it already is. Don’t do it for me. Do it for your grandmother. I can’t stay tonight, it’s…”

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