Chapter 3

  Allene’s POV

  “What did you just say?”

  Leonard rose from the bed, moving away from Jessica’s side where he had been lying only moments ago. His six inches dick dangled as he did and he didn't even bother to cover himself with a towel.

  He snorted, then let out a mocking laugh.

  “You want to reject me?” he repeated, turning toward Jessica as he laughed again, waiting for her to join him in the ridicule. As though the idea of me rejecting him was the most absurd thing he had ever heard.

  “You have no one, Allene,” he said suddenly, the laughter dropping from his face. “You’re an orphan. And on top of that, you’re an omega—a wolfless one at that. If you reject me, do you even understand what that means for you?”

  His seriousness startled me.

  I held his gaze, refusing to look away.

  “You never wanted me as your mate,” I said quietly. “You hate me more than I even realized. My scent, my status, my existence as an omega. You love Jessica Sanders. You want her as your mate and Luna. So why should you care what happens to me if I reject you, Leonard?”

  I didn’t spare him my gaze, even as tears threatened to spill. I forced them back, holding myself together with sheer will.

  “Reject her, Leonard,” Jessica said smoothly as she rose from the bed and joined us. “Isn’t this what we’ve always wanted? Reject her and banish her as a rogue, and we can finally be together without worry. After all, she asked for the rejection. Not you. The Alpha Council will understand.”

  Always what they wanted.

  I whispered the words to myself as memories flooded my mind.

  All the sacrifices I had made over the past five years, hoping I could make this union work. Hoping that one day, he would look at me and see more than a burden.

  The dreams I had buried for him.

  The talents I had poured into training him, shaping him into the best biker he could be. They had all been nothing.

  I remembered the day I had begged him to race to save my friend, Kennedy, when she suffered liver failure and needed an expensive transplant. Neither of us had the money.

  There had been a competition then. I had pleaded with Leonard to race for the prize money as it was enough to cover Kennedy’s hospital bills.

  Kennedy had lost her parents in the same rogue ambush that claimed mine.

  I thought he would consider that. Thought he would race as a way of thanking me for years of loyalty, for being his coach when I was denied racing myself.

  But he had refused.

  He called the competition beneath him.

  And yet today, he had raced.

  Not for money nor duty. There wasn't even a prize attached to today's race. But because another team had argued with Jessica and made a bet with her. He raced to defend her pride, even when there was no prize attached.

  The memory made bile claw up my throat, but I forced it down.

  “If this is about Jessica being the coach of my biking group, then drop it, Allene,” Leonard said suddenly, irritation creeping into his voice.

  I didn’t understand why my rejection unsettled him so much.

  He had done everything over the years to push me away. From humiliation to neglect and then cruelty, hoping I would leave on my own. Hoping the Alpha Council wouldn’t blame him for rejecting their decree.

  I had endured it all.

  And now that I was finally choosing to leave, he was afraid?

  Was it the constant abuse or the ridicule from the pack?

  Was it when he allowed the servants to disrespect me at every given time?

  The public humiliation rituals?

  The manipulation and gaslighting?

  I had endured all of it, clinging to the foolish hope that one day he would change.

  But that day never came.

  And now that I was finally rejecting him and choosing to leave on my own, just like he had always wanted, why wasn’t he letting me go? Why was he suddenly shocked? Why was he staring at me as though I had committed a crime?.

  Why was he surprised that I wasn’t on my knees, begging and pleading the way I always did?

  “I’ve told you time and time again, Allene,” Leonard said coldly. “Your skin color isn’t presentable. Your face isn’t attractive. Your body is covered in scars and your skin isn’t smooth. On top of that, you’re an omega and wolfless. Someone like you cannot be the coach of my group. You’d embarrass me wherever I go.”

  He was explaining.

  Leonard Amari never explained himself. He believed he was always right. That his word was final.

  So why was he explaining now?

  “Come on, Allene,” Jessica chimed in smoothly. “Leonard doesn’t want to reject you because he’s kind. He doesn’t want you banished and branded a rogue. If this is about him acknowledging me instead of you in public, you must understand he’s embarrassed by you. He needs someone classier and educated. Someone hot and who can stand beside him in public. Not a wolfless mutt. Nor an orphan.”

  I swallowed the bile clawing its way up my throat.

  Wasn’t it Leonard’s fault my skin was like this?

  Every day, I labored in the pack’s kitchens and farms with the servants because he commanded it. He didn’t want me idle. Didn’t want me freeloading off what his pack provided. I had to earn the roof over my head, the food I ate, and even the reputation of being his mate.

  “Return to your chambers and reflect on what you’ve said, Allene,” Leonard ordered. “I’ll spare you punishment tonight since it’s late. Tomorrow morning, I’ll make sure you receive a beating that reminds you of your place.”

  I didn’t move after bus orders. Not even an inch.

  “Come on, Allene,” Jessica said sweetly as she stepped closer. “Don’t tell me you’re doing all this because I’m pregnant and you’re trying to disrupt my sleep. The heirs don’t like being disturbed.”

  She turned slightly and whispered to Leonard, “I’ll handle her. Leave her to me.”

  Then she faced me again.

  “Stop looking at me like that, Allene. Didn’t Leonard tell you? Your bloodline is too lowly to carry his heirs. That’s why he always used seed blockers whenever he was forced to consummate with you. Don’t be jealous that a worthier woman from a beta family, is pregnant for him. You were never meant to carry his pups.”

  Her voice was sweet and gentle.

  “Is this true, Leonard?” I asked as I turned to him.

  “We’ve been mated for five years,” I continued, my voice shaking despite my efforts. Memories of the rooftop dinner I had prepared which was now ruined, flooded my mind.

  “In all those years, you never acknowledged me. Still, I sacrificed everything for you. For this pack. Is what Jessica said true?”

  A tear slipped down my cheek.

  For years, I had been branded barren and called cursed, a dry land incapable of conceiving. Did he expect me to believe that while he humiliated me for infertility, he had been deliberately preventing pregnancy all along?

  “You’re forgetting your place,” Jessica snapped. “I am Jessica Sanders—Leonard’s first love and Luna-to-be. I’m carrying his pups. Did you truly believe someone like you could ever replace me? Did you think my leaving years ago meant you could have him?”.

  Leonard said nothing.

  The realization shattered something inside me. When she left him, I had been the one there supporting and standing by him, loving him. And the moment she returned, I ceased to exist.

  I wanted to scream.

  Instead, I lifted my head.

  “Leonard Amari,” I said loudly, my voice clear and unshaking. “Future Alpha of SilverFang Pack—

  I, Allene Paccotti, reject you as my mate and Alpha. I renounce this bond that binds us together.”

  The power snapped.

  Leonard crashed to the floor as the bond shattered.

  And just like that, half a decade of endurance came to an end.