CHAPTER 5

Armida's POV

"Mate."

The word slipped from his lips in a low, disbelieving whisper, as though even saying it aloud was something he couldn't accept. His eyes remained fixed on me, but the cold confidence of the Alpha who had been questioning me moments ago was gone. In its place was something I never expected to see from a man like him.

Shock.

For a moment, neither of us moved.

The room seemed to become completely silent, as though even the air itself was waiting for one of us to react.

My heart pounded violently against my ribs as I tried to understand what I had just heard.

Mate.

Had he really called me his mate?

The thought felt impossible.

I stared at him, searching for any sign that I had misunderstood, but there was nothing in his expression that suggested he had spoken by mistake. If anything, he looked just as disturbed by the realization as I was.

But how could it be possible?

I didn't even have a wolf.

Every wolf knew that their mate was the other half of their soul, the person the Moon Goddess had chosen for them. It was a bond that was supposed to be rare and precious, something wolves spent their entire lives hoping to find.

Yet somehow...

I was standing in front of mine.

A man who looked at me as though fate had handed him something he never wanted. The thought should have made me angry, but instead, it left me confused.

Because deep inside, beneath all the uncertainty and disbelief, there was a quiet voice telling me that this wasn't a mistake.

The conviction in his voice had been too instinctive.

Too real.

He hadn't chosen those words.

His wolf had.

A deep frown settled across his handsome features as his entire body became rigid. His jaw tightened, and the muscles in his shoulders tensed as though he was fighting against something only he could feel.

Then I saw it.

His eyes changed.

For the briefest moment, the darkness in them disappeared, replaced by a molten gold that seemed almost impossible to look away from before fading back into their original color.

My breath caught.

I had heard stories about wolves whose eyes changed when their beasts pushed forward, but seeing it happen in front of me was different.

There was something dangerous about it.

Something powerful.

Yet, strangely, there was also something painful. Because the way he looked at me made one thing clear.

He wasn't fighting me, he was fighting himself.

The silence between us stretched longer than it should have, and despite everything, I found myself wanting to reach out to him.

The urge surprised me.

I barely knew this man. He was the reason I had been locked away.

He was the Alpha of the pack that saw me as a possible threat.

And yet, seeing the conflict in his eyes created an unfamiliar ache inside my chest. For a moment, I wanted to tell him that we would figure it out. That whatever this bond was, neither of us had to face it alone.

But then his eyes met mine again.

And the feeling disappeared.

There was no happiness in his gaze.

No relief.

No trace of the excitement I had always imagined someone would feel when finding their mate.

Instead, there was disbelief.

Confusion.

And something dangerously close to rejection.

It felt as though the Moon Goddess had not blessed him with a mate. It felt as though she had punished him with one. The realization hurt more than I wanted to admit, Only then did I truly allow myself to look at him.

He was, without a doubt, the most striking man I had ever seen.

He stood well over six feet tall, his broad shoulders stretching the fabric of his black shirt and revealing the strength hidden beneath it. His jet-black hair fell messily across his forehead, softening the sharpness of a face that otherwise looked as though it had been carved from stone.

His cheekbones were defined, his jaw strong, and every feature carried the kind of perfection that should have made him approachable.

But he wasn't.

There was nothing gentle about Alpha Demetrius.

The authority surrounding him was almost suffocating, making the room feel smaller simply because he occupied it.

He looked exactly like the ruthless Alpha the stories described, Powerful, Untouchable and Dangerous.

Under different circumstances, perhaps I would have admired him without fear.

But standing barefoot, exhausted, and wrapped in a prison blanket after spending hours trapped underground, I couldn't ignore the painful reality of the situation. My mate was looking at me as though I was the greatest mistake fate had ever made.

My cheeks warmed despite myself.

How unfair.

"Mate."

The word escaped my lips in a whisper.

It sounded strange, maybe Foreign, almost painful.

If this was truly my mate...

I had spent years imagining this moment.

I had imagined laughter, awkward conversations, stolen glances, and the slow realization that I had found someone who would choose me above everything else.

I had never imagined this.

I had never imagined meeting my mate from a pack prison while wearing a thin nightdress beneath a rough blanket, standing before the Alpha who had ordered my confinement.

And I had never imagined that the person the Moon Goddess chose for me would look at me as though he wished she had chosen someone else.

A painful lump formed in my throat.

Maybe I had been right all along.

Maybe I really was cursed.

First, I was born without a wolf.

And now, when fate finally gave me the one thing every wolf dreamed of, it felt like another thing I wasn't allowed to have. So why did it feel as though my heart was already breaking before our story had even begun?

The silence between us continued, stretching until it became almost unbearable.

Neither of us moved.

Neither of us looked away.

I wasn't sure how long I stood there, but eventually, the weakness in my body began reminding me of everything I had endured since waking up in Black Moon territory. The cold dungeon floor, the stale food, the endless hours spent wondering what would happen to me, and the constant fear of not knowing whether I would ever leave that place had taken a toll.

My knees trembled slightly, and before I could stop myself, I took a slow step backward until my back met the wall behind me. Only then did I allow myself to lean against it.

His eyes followed every movement.

"You have no wolf."

His voice was deep and controlled, carrying the same authority that had made every person in the room listen when he spoke.

It wasn't a question,It was a statement.

I swallowed before giving a small nod.

"No."

For the briefest moment, something shifted across his face.

Not pity.

Not disappointment.

Confusion.

His gaze moved over me carefully, as though he was searching for an answer hidden somewhere I couldn't see. His nostrils flared slightly, almost as if he was trying to understand something about me that didn't make sense.

The reaction made me uncomfortable.

I was used to people looking at me differently because I hadn't shifted.

I was used to the questions.

But there was something different about the way he looked at me.It also wasn't judgment. As though I was something that shouldn't exist.

His eyes narrowed slightly, but whatever thoughts crossed his mind remained hidden behind the cold expression he wore so effortlessly.

Then the Alpha mask returned.

"Being my mate changes nothing."

The words were calm, Too calm.

"As far as I am concerned, you remain a potential threat to Black Moon."

The statement hit harder than I expected.

I lowered my gaze, forcing myself not to react.

Of course.

I had known from the moment I entered this pack that I was not welcomed. Why should finding out we were mates change that?

He was an Alpha before he was anything else and his pack would always come first.

"I will not risk my people because of a bond neither of us asked for."

Neither of us asked for, the words repeated in my mind. Because he was right and neither of us had chosen this. The Moon Goddess had decided it for us.

And perhaps that was the part that bothered him the most.

He was a man who appeared to control everything around him. His pack, territory, enemies and own emotions. Yet this was one thing he couldn't command. His jaw tightened again, and for a moment, I saw the golden glow threaten to return to his eyes.

"I should send you back to the dungeon." My heart sank slightly at his words.

The thought of returning to that cold cell made my stomach twist.

But before I could react, he continued.

"But my wolf will not allow it."

Something about the way he said those words caught my attention. Not because of what he said.

But because of how much he seemed to hate admitting it.

His expression hardened, as though even acknowledging the bond was an insult to his pride and for the first time, I realized something important.

He wasn't simply rejecting me. The Alpha wanted to do what he believed was best for his pack.

But his wolf wanted something else.

And that conflict was tearing at him.

"The bond has already begun influencing him," I thought.

Or perhaps...

It had begun influencing both of us.

Because despite the way he looked at me, despite the coldness in his voice, there was something between us that I couldn't explain. Something I could feel even without a wolf of my own. A connection I had never experienced before.

And that scared me more than I wanted to admit.

Demetrius took a slow breath before finally making his decision.

"You will remain under house arrest until I decide what happens next."

House arrest and for a moment, relief came before I could stop it.

At least I would not be returning to the dungeon. At least I would not be locked away in that cold room with nothing but silence and my own thoughts.

But the relief disappeared quickly.

Because house arrest was still imprisonment.

I was still not free. I was still a stranger in a pack that did not trust me.

And I still had no idea why fate had brought me here.

"You will have no contact with anyone outside this pack," he continued, his voice leaving no room for argument. "No communication with your pack. No wandering through Black Moon territory without permission. You will speak only to me or those I specifically allow you to speak with."

His eyes hardened as he looked at me.

"Any attempt to disobey my orders..."

He paused, and the warning in his silence was almost worse than the words themselves.

"...will earn you a place in a dungeon far worse than the one you just left."

A shiver moved through me.

I believed him.

Not because he was trying to frighten me, but because there was something about Alpha Demetrius that made it clear he did not make empty threats. His words were not meant to intimidate.

They were simply promises of what would happen if I crossed him.

I slowly nodded.

"I understand."

His gaze remained on me for another moment, as though he was trying to decide whether he believed my answer or not.

Then, unexpectedly, he asked,

"What is your name?"

The question caught me off guard.

For a moment, I simply stared at him.

After everything that had happened, after being dragged into another territory, locked away, questioned, and then discovering that the man standing before me was supposedly my mate, this felt strangely ordinary.

"My name is Armida."

The words sounded almost strange coming from my lips. This was how I had imagined introducing myself to my mate?

Not beneath the stars, not during a beautiful moment where everything felt right and definitely not with hope and excitement filling my heart.

Instead, I stood inside an Alpha's office, barefoot and exhausted, wrapped in a prison blanket while the man fate had chosen for me looked at me as though he still couldn't decide whether I was a blessing or a burden.

His expression remained unreadable.

"Armida." The way he repeated my name sent an unfamiliar feeling through me.

It was quiet, it almost sounded thoughtful. For one brief moment, I wondered what it would sound like if he said my name differently. If there was warmth behind it or with some sort of sweetness or If there was something other than uncertainty and rejection. But that thought disappeared quickly as it came up.

Because Demetrius turned away.

He walked toward the office door, leaving me standing there unsure of what I was supposed to do. I didn't know if I was meant to follow him or wait for his instructions.

I watched as his hand reached for the handle, but he didn't open the door immediately. Instead, he remained there with his back facing me.

His shoulders were tense.

His breathing was controlled.

Yet something about his stillness told me he was not as unaffected as he wanted everyone to believe.

The room fell silent once again. A silence so deep that I could hear my own heartbeat. I didn't know why, but I had the strange feeling he was fighting something.

It was almost as if every instinct inside him was pulling him in one direction while his mind desperately fought to drag him somewhere else. And for a brief moment, I felt something I never expected to feel toward him.

Pity.

Because maybe he was just as trapped by this bond as I was. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, his voice broke through the silence.

"The mate bond changes nothing." My breath caught.

The words were spoken emotionlessly, but somehow that made them hurt more.

I stared at his back, waiting.

Hoping even though I didn't know why.

Perhaps some small part of me had been foolish enough to believe that maybe he would change his mind. Maybe he would turn around and tell me he was wrong. Maybe he would say that fate had not made a mistake.

But I knew better than to hope for something that wasn't there. While his hand remained on the door handle.

"Just to be clear..."

Slowly, he turned his head enough for me to see his golden eyes once more.

This time, there was no confusion between them, or even hesitation only hardened with decision.

"I do not accept you as my mate."

The words cut deeper than I expected.

For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.

I had prepared myself for anger.

For suspicion.

For rejection of the bond.

But hearing him say those words out loud felt different.

Because even though I barely knew him, some part of me had still hoped and now that hope shattered before I could even understand why I had held onto it. My vision blurred as tears burned behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

Not in front of him, not when he had already made it clear that he wanted nothing from me. Before I could stop them, the tears gathered, but I blinked them away quickly.

Demetrius opened the door and walked out without another word.

And just like that...

I was left alone.

Alone with the impossible bond that tied us together.

And the painful reality that the very person fate had chosen for me was the same person who wished it had chosen someone else.