Rejected by My Alpha Mate

I maintained a stoic expression and nodded. "Alright."

Without waiting for their response, I returned to the bedroom to gather my belongings. Since I had decided to leave for good, I wanted no trace of myself left behind.

Through the closed door, I could hear laughter from the living room, which made my hands, busy folding clothes, freeze momentarily.

"Let's name the pup Holly King, in memory of Lena. This way, even if she calls someone else 'mom' in the future, she won't forget you, her birth mother."

Even though I couldn’t see Alpha Demetrius’s face as he spoke, I could easily picture his expression full of emotion. But my heart had already been shattered by him.

I suddenly recalled last month when I rushed home with a souvenir I had bought especially for Alpha Demetrius from abroad. Instead, I was met at the door by him and Lena, returning hand in hand from a stroll.

Alpha Demetrius looked shocked to see me, while Lena simply gazed at me with confusion, asking if I was at the wrong house.

"Are you lost? This is my home."

I said nothing, my eyes drawn to Lena’s prominently pregnant belly. Ten months away, and my mate had moved his old love into our home—pregnant, no less. The events of those months were painfully clear.

Alpha Demetrius quickly stepped in front of Lena, hastily introducing me. "This is my mate, Anika."

I expected Lena to back down, but instead, she assumed the role of the lady of the house, inviting me inside.

As we brushed past each other, she whispered just for me to hear, "I heard you’ve been mated to Alpha Demetrius for three years? A replacement will always be that—a substitute. You can never compare to me."

"The moment I returned, you willingly stepped aside, didn’t you?"

Fury surged through me, and I could no longer restrain myself. I slapped her face, my longing over ten months apart from Alpha Demetrius turning into pure rage.

It wasn’t long before our arguing caught the attention of a pack member who called the warriors.

We were all taken to the pack hall, but since it was considered a private family matter, the Gamma could only send us home with a warning.

Back at the house, Alpha Demetrius’s parents, Luna Eileen and Alpha James, confronted me with harsh words, reprimanding me for causing such a scene and embarrassing them in front of the pack. They criticized me for squandering my education as a healer by resorting to violence, threatening not to let it go if anything happened to Lena or the pup.

They fully supported Alpha Demetrius and Lena, viewing her as the perfect Luna, while I remained in the dark.

A bitter taste rose in my mouth.

Alpha Demetrius, his eyes red-rimmed, approached and tried to take my hand, attempting to reason with me.

"Anika, I never meant to betray you. But Lena’s health is declining, and the healers say she has at most six months to live. Her only wish is to be a mother, to have a pup of her own."

"She saved my life once, after all. I couldn’t bear to let her die with regrets..."

"I did consider discussing it with you, but you were far away in another pack. I feared telling you would disrupt your work as a healer and distract you, so I thought it best to wait until you returned home."

"If you’re willing, we could raise this pup together, okay?"

My wolf whimpered in the back of my mind, a sound of pain and betrayal. I clenched my fists, forcing myself to stay composed.

"You didn’t think I deserved to know, Alpha Demetrius?" I asked, my voice steady despite the storm inside me. "You didn’t think I had a right to decide whether I wanted to share my mate with someone else?"

He looked at me, his expression pleading, but I saw no real remorse. Only the weight of his decision, and the expectation that I would fall in line.

I turned away, my resolve hardening. "I’m leaving," I said quietly, my voice carrying the finality of my decision. "And I won’t be coming back."