Five Years as His Backup,My Mate Was Rejected

"You're donating bone marrow? That's dangerous-"

My voice cracks, the werewolf in me trembling at the thought of his life at risk.​

"I didn't call you here to object."

I'm his mate, but his wolf has never claimed me.

I bare my teeth in a mock - smile.

"Because the pack laws demand a bonded mate's seal, don't they?"

His jaw tightens, a low rumble vibrating in his chest. "Sign."​

The nurse thrusts the consent form into my hands.

I snatch it, the paper crumpling under the force of my grip.

As I scrawl my name, my werewolf hearing picks up Alice's weak whimpers.

Alex releases Alice.

Just before he steps into the operating room, I howl his name: "Alex Brown!"​

He turns, his eyes cold as the moonless night.​

The moment the door clicks shut, my wolf's howl rips from my throat.

Tears stream down my face.

So his love for Alice Smith is deep enough to risk his life.

And my Five years of infatuation? Just a self-directed joke.

The OR lights blaze like suns, reducing the corridor to the ragged rhythm of my breaths and Alice Smith's soft whimpers.

I huddle on the bench, fingertips numb as frostbitten twigs, while she sits across from me, eyes swollen raw, her gaze flitting to the sealed door every few seconds.

Finally, she sniffs, voice a mere thread: "Miss Luis, I'm sorry. for all the trouble."

My eyes lift to hers.

Sunlight streams through the window, turning her tear into a diamond shard on her cheek.

"I never thought."

"After all these years, Alex still burns for me.

For my birthday last year, he flew to Tossa del Mar just to press that ring into my palm-the very one I'd mentioned in passing. Can you believe he remembered? But I was feeling spiteful, so I flung it back and slammed the door in his muzzle."

My nails gouge crescents into my palms, blood welling like rubies.

I recall the velvet box he'd tossed me after that "business trip," the diamond-studded ring inside. I'd hidapartment it in the safe, too terrified to wear it-turns out, it was nothing but a bone she'd rejected.

"And the Christmas before last," her voice breaks into a wounded keen, "I posted a tantrum about my boyfriend, and Alex materialized that night. He stood outside my apartment until dawn in a blizzard-his lips blue, his coat dusted white, but he wouldn't dare scratch at the door."

An icepick stabs my heart, cracking it like thin ice.

That Christmas Eve, he'd been ravenous, claiming me ten times in a frenzy. I'd thought it was passion, but when I woke to an empty bed, I'd made excuses for the scent of snow on his collar. Now I see: he'd been standing in her snow, a lone wolf howling at her window.

"These past Five years," Alice croons, swiping at her tears,

"I ignored his messages to teach him a lesson, but he wrote to me every single day. " How many nights did I see the study light burning, carrying in coffee only to find him asleep over scattered papers? I'd thought them contracts, but they were love letters.

That Christmas night," she continues, "the storm was so fierce that even the strongest werewolves cowered indoors. But he? He waited downstairs for 8 hours, his body trembling from the cold and the force of the wind. I chose to ignore."​

I close my eyes, trying to block out the image she's painting. I remember that Christmas. He'd come home drenched, his eyes wild with despair. And I'd foolishly thought it was because of pack business, not knowing it was all for a love that wasn't mine.​

"Ten times that night," she laughs, a cold, mocking sound, "he reached out to me through the pack bond, his emotions a maelstrom of longing and pain. It was all just pent - up frustration, a desperate attempt to win back my heart."​

My knees go weak, and I have to lean against the wall to steady myself.

"He risked his life to hunt down an African Diamond raw stone," Alice whispers. "He faced down a rival pack, fought tooth and nail to claim it. But what did I do? I tossed it back in his face, rejecting his gift and his love."​

I remember the day he gave me a box, his eyes shining with a tenderness I'd never seen before.

I'd treasured it, keeping it hidapartment away, afraid to even look at it too often, afraid that my touch would taint it.

And now I learn it was something she'd thrown away, a rejected offering from the man I'd loved for so long.​

Before she can unleash another memory, I lurch to my feet.

"I have to go." I flee the hospital.