Alyssa
"Lyssa, I want to reject our bond and get separated."
Damien's voice doesn't hold an ounce of emotion as he sits across from me in the dim
living room. I'd been waiting for him to celebrate our third wedding anniversary together. But when he arrived, there was this coldness about him. I figured he was tired from work, but then he asked me to sit down and dropped a bombshell on me.
"Why?" I blink in disbelief, he must be joking, right? But the intensity of his gaze chips away at my doubt, replacing it with a growing sense of worry. I know the reason. The one I've feared the most for so long: "His mate has returned to the pack."
Damien is the Alpha of one of the most powerful packs in Moonstone, the Silverfang Pack. I am his wife and his mate. One would think that due to being fated, our relationship would be a good one. But that's far from the truth. The truth is, I am his second chance mate.
Damien's first mate had left him just before the mating ceremony. The reason was unknown, but everyone assumed that she didn't want a relationship with her mate and loved someone else. On the same day of their separation, Damien found me and realized that I am his Second Chance mate.
Second Chance mates are rare—so rare, it can only be called a miracle that the Moon
Goddess granted Damien a second chance at love by mating him with me. He hasn't
rejected his first mate, but even without rejection, it's possible—though complicated—for someone to find a second mate. It goes against everything the mate bond stands for, yet it's a blessing for those whose first mate has either left them or died.
Damien sighs heavily. "You know about Elowen," he says, voice thick with emotion. "She wants to come back to me.
I clench my fists. "And you want to go back to her," My lips quiver, and I struggle to stop my body from trembling, but it's futile.
Despite being Damien's second chance, he is my first—my first mate, my only love, the
one my soul was made for. No matter who the second chance is, the bond with a first mate always runs deeper. It's like a first love you can never truly move on from, no matter how hard you try. Damien feels the same towards Elowen, I know, but can I simply accept it?
His face stays aloof, as if he's already somewhere else—somewhere she is. "Elowen is sick because of the torture she endured. She needs me, Alyssa. She's my
mate... and my wolf needs her.
His first mate returned a week ago, claiming she had been kidnapped by our enemy pack and held hostage for three years. The pack that captured her was destroyed during a
pack war, and the hostages were finally released. That's how Elowen escaped and
found her way back to our pack.
"I can't have two mates at the same time," Damien says, his voice steady, almost too calm. "Having two bonds is putting a lot of pressure on me and weakening my wolf. Over time, it will only get worse. I'll have to reject
one."
His words are calm, but a storm is raging inside my chest.
"And you chose her?" I whisper, tears brimming in my eyes.
I knew Damien hadn't moved on from his first mate when I entered his life, but I believed I could heal him — that I could show him I was capable of loving him even more. I did everything in my power to make him happy after we got married, yet in the end, she's the one he chooses.
When I first walked into his life, he was emotionally unavailable and rude to me, but I
stayed patient. Little by little, he started warming up to me. We worked together through everything, and he even promised to stand by my side forever.
"You said you'd never leave me. You promised me," I remind him, my voice trembling. "How can you break that promise? Because of someone who left you years ago?"
A cold presence seems to fill the room, sending a chill down my spine. "Alyssa, watch your words," he warns, his voice dangerously low. "Remember who you're speaking to."
He picks up a wand — a stone, sharp like a blade — as if needing something to ground his anger.
"And do you expect me to overlook the fact that you intentionally drove Elowen away
because you wanted to be with me?" His voice rises, filled with rage.
My brows furrow in confusion. "What are you talking about?" I ask, my heart
pounding.
He stands from the couch, towering over me now. "You think I don't know?" he snarls. "Elowen came back to the pack just one year after our marriage. She wanted to meet me... but you found her first. You threatened her — told her to stay away from me and to disappear from the pack."
"Huh? She returned one year after our marriage? How is that possible when she was trapped in the enemy's pack?" I ask, disbelief thick in my voice.
A shadow falls over Damien's tense face, making him look deadly — dangerous. I used to admire that ruthless side of him, especially when he made sure to punish anyone who tried to hurt me. But today, that same look is directed at me — with disgust.
"Because of you," he says coldly, "Elowen couldn't contact me. She couldn't tell me what happened to her. I wasn't there when she needed me... all because of you.
His accusation feels like a knife driving straight into my chest.
"I didn't," I whisper, my voice cracking.
He tilts his head slightly, as if he had expected that response from me.
As much as I wanted Damien all to myself, I knew he would always feel incomplete without Elowen. And if it meant making him happy, I would have accepted them being
together — even if it shattered me.
But how could I act on something I didn't know? I had believed Elowen had only recently escaped the enemy pack and rejoined us.
He raises a brow, his expression hard. "So you're not going to admit it?"
"Admit what, exactly?" I protest, my voice rising. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Fine, l'll call him, then," Damien says coldly. His hazel eyes glaze over as he connects through the mind link. Seconds later, the door swings open and Lucas walks in, his expression curious.
"What's the matter?" he asks, glancing between the two of us.
Lucas is Damien's Beta — someone he trusts completely.
"Alyssa denies trying to kick Elowen out of the pack when she returned two years ago," Damien says, voice sharp. "Is that true?"
I look at Lucas expectantly. He knows the truth. He will tell Damien. I relax just a little, waiting for the truth to finally clear my name.
But deep down, a bad feeling coils in my stomach.
"No," Lucas replies calmly, a subtle smile playing on his lips. "I saw her two years ago — with the Luna. The Luna did threaten her and told her to leave the
pack."
What?!
"Lucas, what the hell are you saying?" I shout, jumping to my feet in shock. "I didn't even meet Elowen!" I stare at him, disbelief and betrayal surging through me.
"Keep your voice down, Lyssa," Damien says coldly. "Lucas is only saying what he saw. I'm surprised you even thought he'd lie for you. After all," he continues, voice dripping with disappointment, "he's the one who showed
me pictures of your encounter with my mate."
Damien tosses the photos onto the table. I stare at them, feeling as if the ground has been ripped out from beneath me.
These... these are from a different time. They're manipulated. I can see it — feel it —
but who will believe me now?
I lift my eyes to Lucas, searching for any sign of the friend I once trusted. But he only smirks, victorious. He betrayed me. I thought we were good friends... but I was wrong.
My shoulders slump in defeat as I lower my gaze to the floor. This can't be happening.
"Do you have any evidence that the Beta is lying?" Damien demands.
I open my mouth, but no words come out. I have nothing. My head spins, trying desperately to process the nightmare unfolding around me.
For a few minutes, silence hangs heavy in the air until Damien gently grabs my chin, coaxing me to meet his gaze. His inky black hair falls messily across his forehead, a reminder of how soft it felt whenever I touched it.
"It's over, Lyssa," he says, his voice gentle but deep and chilling. "You knew how much I loved Elowen, yet you pushed her far away from me. Then you pretended to love me, when all you wanted was the power and the wealth that comes with being my wife. I can't let any of this slip."
Pretended to love him? After all these years, he thinks it was an act?
I know I don't have any evidence to prove my innocence, but couldn't he try—just once—to
believe in me again? I can't help but wonder: if it were Elowen standing here, accused and broken, would he have believed her without question? He probably would have forgiven her, because mates are possessive of their partners.
But he won't treat me the same. Because to him, I'm only his second chance. I'm nothing
compared to his first mate—his first love.
Tears glisten in my eyes as pain tightens around my chest like a vice. "Damien, please… I mean it. I don't care about the title, the position—none of it matters. I just want you."
He growls, baring his canines and his eyes flash with warning. "I've had enough," he snaps. "You should be grateful I'm not throwing you in a cell for what you did. So if you don't want to rot in one, I suggest you accept the divorce… and the rejection."
He releases my chin with a sharp finality and reaches for the documents. The divorce
agreement lands with a loud slap on the coffee table, making me flinch.
"Sign it," he commands coldly.
I stare at the papers, with a bleeding heart. Everything we had—every stolen smile, every whispered promise—rushes through my mind in a cruel flash. What did those moments mean to him? Were they lies when he said I made him happy? When he told me I was special? That our bond was no less powerful than a true mate's? Or was i always just a shadow in someone else's place?
I slowly bend forward and grab the pen, I sign the paper while holding back my tears. "Here, it's done," I whisper while holding the divorce agreement. For a split second, the iciness in his gaze melts, replaced by shock and hurt. But he swiftly regains his composure and accepts that paper from me.
"I didn't want us to end this way, but you left me with no choice."
A sad smile curves my lips. So this was inevitable. It didn't matter what I did—he just
needed a reason to cast me aside and bring his mate back into his life.
"When is the rejection ceremony taking place?" I ask, keeping my gaze fixed on my trembling arms. If I looked at him now, I knew I would fall apart completely.
"Tomorrow," he says, his voice clipped. "Be at the training ground by eight in the morning. Once it's done, you can stay at the pack house. Though I'd prefer you keep your distance from my mate. I don't want you causing a scene."
"My mate." The words stab into me, deeper than any rejection could.
I slowly rise from my seat, refusing to meet his eyes. "Don't worry," I whisper, voice thick with the weight of goodbye. "You won't find me anywhere near you or Elowen after the rejection is over. That'll be my parting
gift to you."
I pause at the door, sparing him one last broken glance. "Happy Wedding Anniversary, Alpha Damien," I say, my voice steady despite the shattering inside me. "Long live the king and his beloved queen."