Rejecting My Cruel Billionaire Alpha Mate

Serena POV：

Under the pale moonlight, my father pulled me into his arms, and we both sobbed.

We walked for miles until we crossed the pack borders. We found a cheap, neutral hotel that welcomed humans and rogue wolves alike. The room was small and smelled sharply of bleach, but it was a world away from that gilded cage.

I sat on the edge of the stiff bed and closed my eyes. I began to build a wall in my mind, brick by silent brick, completely severing the mind-link connection. It was the only way to silence the echo of Xavier's voice in my soul.

As the last brick fell into place, I felt a strange pulse deep in my chest—like something was waking up. Something my mother had died protecting.

The next morning, the harsh ringing of my cell phone woke me up.

It was Xavier. He was calling my human phone because he could not reach my wolf.

I pressed answer, and his furious voice blasted through the speaker.

"Where the hell are you?" he demanded, his tone accusing, wanting to know why I had not returned to his bed. He called my absence a direct insult to his authority.

I calmly informed him that we were at the border hotel.

Xavier let out a low, mocking laugh. "You expect me to believe you're actually leaving?" he asked, his voice laced with condescension. "Why would an Omega on the run drag dead weight along with her?"

He was entirely convinced I was just playing a game to get his attention. His voice suddenly dropped, taking on the heavy, commanding timbre of his Alpha power, a tone that demanded absolute obedience. He did not ask; he ordered me to the pack's most exclusive restaurant, informing me he had booked the VIP room to apologize to my father.

Before I could say a word, he hung up.

I stared at the black screen of my phone. I remembered the countless times he had promised me dinners, only to leave me waiting at empty tables.

But I looked at my father, who was rubbing his empty stomach. I decided to go, if only so my father could have one decent, hot meal before we left this city for good.

I didn't know then that he had already invited Sylvia.

And I didn't know that the meal would be the last time I ever saw his face without hatred.