Rebirth Of The Rejected Luna Chapter 83: Lie And Regrets 1

**Derek's POV**

Time always moved too soon which I found annoying most of the time but sometimes I was grateful for it. One moment, everything’s perfect, and the next, you’re standing on the edge of a lie that stretches out farther than you could’ve ever imagined. I guess I should start with the truth, but who am I kidding? The truth died the moment I rejected her and accepted her stepsister Selena.

Tiana. My mate.

For a while, there was almost nothing I could do. I simply wallowed in self-pity. It wasn't like I knew her well enough to be bothered but there was just something about her that made me regret my actions.

My father and the beta went on a trip before she disappeared, and they hadn’t known about Tiana running away. It was only when they returned that they started asking questions. But by then, there was nothing to tell. We had searched, but we found nothing. No scent of her body either alive or dead, no sign of her at all. It was as if she had vanished into thin air. I couldn’t explain it, and neither could anyone else.

At first, my father and the Beta were furious. He wanted answers—demanded them, really. Why wasn’t she there when they returned? Where had she gone? But I couldn’t tell them. I couldn’t tell them that I had rejected her and she left after that. Instead, I told them that she had left, that neither her brother Victor nor I knew where she had gone, and that there was no sign of her anywhere even after searching endlessly.

The beta was concerned, which was odd considering how he treated her and ignored her when she was alive. Strangely he just wanted to find his daughter, to know where she had gone. And he didn’t understand why she was missing.

“Where’s Tiana? Where could she have gone?" he asked me one day, his voice full of worry. “Have you anything yet?"

“I don’t know,” I said, avoiding his gaze. I wasn’t sure if I was lying to him or myself at that point. “She left. There’s no trace of her.”

But there was a trace.

There was a bond between us that seemed to be stronger than the regular mating bond because even after severing it by rejecting her, I was left to deal with the consequences...

To make matters worse, Selena—Tiana’s stepsister clung to me and I couldn't push her away completely because she was another person other than Victor who knew what I had done to Tiana. I had no choice. I had to continue the lie. I had to pretend Selena was the one I had chosen. Because that was what everyone expected. It was easier that way.

Victor, Tiana’s brother, hated me. He blamed me for everything that had happened. For Tiana’s disappearance. For what had happened to her.

“You destroyed her,” Victor would say. “You rejected her, Derek. And now she’s gone. You did this.”

The pain in his voice was unmistakable. And it hurt me to hear it. But there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t bring her back. I couldn’t fix what I had broken. I couldn’t undo the damage I had caused.

But I didn’t argue with him. How could I? He was right.

Eventually, life went on. We all moved forward, pretending like nothing had happened. Victor went back to training. Selena stayed by my side. The pack moved on, and everyone forgot about Tiana. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, when everything was quiet, I would feel it—the dull ache of the mate bond. It never went away.

That was the worst part. Knowing that she was still out there, that I could still feel her, and yet I had lost her.

Today, that ache was worse than ever. Ryder, my wolf, was going insane inside of me. His agitation was becoming unbearable. Something was wrong. I didn’t know what it was, but Ryder could feel it, and it was making him frantic.

“Calm down,” I muttered under my breath, but Ryder was beyond listening. He was growling, pacing, scratching at the walls of my mind like he was trying to break free. I couldn’t focus. The pain was growing stronger, sharper. It felt like the bond between us was pulling me apart.

I couldn’t understand it. I hadn’t seen Tiana in months. There hadn’t been any word from her. No sign. But here I was, feeling her pain like it was my own.

I stood up and walked out of my room, trying to shake the feeling off. I needed to get some air. I needed to get away from everything, to clear my head. But no matter how far I walked, I couldn’t escape the constant ache in my chest. Ryder wouldn’t stop.

It was supposed to be simple. Reject her, move on but now it wasn't simple.

The reason I had rejected her was not because she was ugly— hell, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever set my eyes upon. I was very much attracted to her but my pride won't let me. Everyone in the pack looked down on her. They hated her and she was even lesser than the servants even as the Beta's daughter.

My pride was not going to allow me to announce such a person as my mate.

I leaned against the cold stone wall outside of my chambers, staring out the window at the end of the corridor into the moonlit forest.

Ryder, my wolf, had been restless for days now, pacing in my mind, snarling at me for what I’d done.

Tiana.

Her name echoed in my thoughts like a haunting melody, one I couldn’t shake no matter how hard I tried. I should’ve been able to forget her by now, to move past everything but the pain still refused to fade away.

I tried to pretend I didn’t care but I was falling apart.