Two choices

Alima POV

I stood in front of the Alpha’s door, my heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst out of my chest. I didn’t want to be here. I didn’t want to face him. But I had no choice.

He had requested to see me.

My mind kept spinning with questions I didn’t have answers to. Why was this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this?

I hesitated, then raised my hand and knocked softly. No answer. I waited, biting my lip nervously. I knocked again, a little louder this time. Still nothing. My breath quickened as I raised my hand a third time, then his voice sounded.

"Come in," his voice came at last, cold and...

I swallowed hard and pushed the door open, stepping inside. The room was a bit dark from the dull lamp that illuminated the room, the scent of leather and pine filled in the air.

Alpha Marek sat at his desk, his broad shoulders tensed as he scribbled something on a piece of paper. He didn’t look up, but I could feel his power radiating through the room. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

I just stood there, frozen. My eyes stayed fixed on the floor, I was too afraid to look at him directly.

"Close the door," he ordered.

I quickly obeyed, my shaky hands fumbled with the handle before I managed to shut it properly. My throat felt dry, and I tried to swallow, but the lump in my throat wouldn’t go away.

"So..." he started, finally lifting his gaze to me. His blue eyes felt like they were piercing right through my soul. “You've turned out to be disobedient?”

"I...I…" I stammered, not even sure what to say.

He sighed heavily and stood up, his chair scraping against the floor. My heart jumped as he began walking toward me. I instinctively stepped back, and then again, until my back hit the wall. Then he stopped just inches away, so close to me that his presence felt so suffocating.

"I thought I made myself clear," he said, his voice cold, causing every fear in me to rise. "What happened between us stays between us. So why," he continued, his tone darkening, "did Madam Vee come to me saying you told her something?"

My breath caught. Madam Vee? I hadn’t told her anything… had I? My mind raced back to the earlier events, trying to remember every word I’d said to her. Or had she come back to him after I left to say something different?

"I didn’t," I said quickly, shaking my head. "I swear, I didn’t say anything!"

His eyes narrowed, and he leaned in closer. "Don’t lie to me, Omega," his voice a low growl.

"I’m not lying!" I pleaded, tears already pricking at the corners of my eyes. "I swear, I didn’t tell her anything! Please believe me."

But he didn’t believe me. I could see it in his eyes.

"You’re lying," he growled.

"I’m not!" I cried, shaking my head again. "Please. I'm not lying."

He grabbed my neck suddenly while I gasped, my hands flying instinctively up to claw at his fingers. His grip was tight, cutting off my air.

"I hate liars," he hissed, his voice colder than I’d ever heard it.

"Please," I choked out, tears streaming down my face. "I didn’t… say… anything…"

He didn’t loosen his grip. If anything, it tightened the more. My vision blurred as I struggled to breathe, that I almost thought he might actually kill me. I tried to pry his hand off, but he was too strong.

"Alpha…" I gasped, my voice barely audible. "Please…"

Finally, he let go, and I collapsed to the floor, coughing and gasping for air. My whole body trembled as I tried to catch my breath. Tears poured down my face, and I clutched my throat where his hand had been.

I thought it was over, but he wasn’t done. He squatted down in front of me, grabbing my chin roughly and forcing me to look at him.

"Do you think," he began, and it was obviously clear how irritated he was just squatting next to me, "that just because you felt the spark, I’m going to accept you as my mate? Is that what you thought, Omega? That I’d make an omega my equal?"

I shook my head, sobbing. "No," I whispered with a trembling voice. "I didn’t ask for this. I never wanted this either."

"Quiet!," he spat, releasing my chin and stand up. He turned his back on me, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"Because it will never happen," he continued. "I don’t care about the bond. I won’t let it control my life. You mean nothing to me, and you never will."

Each word felt like a dagger had been pierced into my chest. I clutched at my heart, the pain unbearable. "Please," I begged through my tears, "Don’t do this to me. Don’t reject me." I won’t be able to last the pain.

I’m not saying he should accept me but he shouldn’t reject me.

He scoffed, his back still facing me. "What do you think you are, Omega?" He questioned. "That I will let go of my fiance and choose someone so weak and useless like you are?" Then he turned to face me again, this time his expression was hard. "I am an Alpha, and the least I can ever do is mate you. So don't even in the slightest way think that I will ever acknowledge you as my mate."

I wish I could run away from there, go far away from everything and start afresh.

If he rejected me right there, especially when he’s an Alpha. I will become so weak that I won't feel like a human and might die from the pain.

He stepped closer, towering over me like he was going to strangle me like he did before. "I, Alpha Marek Blackwood, reject you, Alima Simpson, as my mate."

The words hit me so hard like a physical blow. I screamed as the pain tore through me, clutching at my heart as if it might stop the agony. I haven't felt this kind of pain in my life. This was way stronger than any heartbreak. I felt like after this moment, there was no point living.

A rush of drain through my vein like I’m being stripped off my life.

I didn't want this. I never asked for it either. But what choice do I have? To realise my mate, only to be rejected by him on the same night? Can my days ever be better?

"You want to know what I think? You have two options. Serve me as my slave, or leave. Those are your choices." Hatred laced in his words as if I’m the cause of why he’s mated to someone like me.

"Please," I cried, collapsing to the floor. "Don’t do this. Please…"

But he didn’t listen. He stood there, watching me with no emotion in his eyes. Like I was nothing. Like I didn’t matter.

I was his mate!

I lay there on the floor, sobbing, wishing the ground would swallow me in whole. And for the first time, I truly understood what it meant to be broken.

Drowning in pain and despair, is this the end of me?