Chapter 6

~CAMILLE~

I swallowed hard, staring at him without blinking. Every hair on my skin stood on end; goosebumps covered me, and fluttering waves washed over me.

“Mate,” Lyra whimpered, her voice trembling with a mix of hope and hunger.

But my heart didn’t race with joy. It stumbled—confused, wary. A second chance mate? When my first hadn’t even been rejected? No… this can’t be the Moon Goddess’s kindness. She couldn’t be this cruel or kind.

This was definitely another prank from her. She wanted to make a fool of me… again.

Alpha Dante’s storm-gray eyes lingered on me. His face softened, lips tugging into a smile so gentle it almost disarmed me. Almost. Because the smile was just too good to be true. There was no way an Alpha would smile at me. I had known them. Alphas aren’t nice people.

“What did you do to make that happen? This cannot be the goddess’s wish,” I fired before thinking. That was the only logical explanation for what was happening. A second chance mate?

I scoffed.

The Moon Goddess would rather make my life horrible than give me a companion. She despised my happy moments and wouldn’t give me the opportunity to know what a sincere one felt like.

“What do you mean? Do you think I’m unfit to be your mate?” he asked, his tone quiet, coaxing, as though he were speaking to a wounded pup. “The goddess made us partners for a reason. Do you want to toss that into a pit?” He moved closer and raised his hands.

They drifted toward my head, but I leaned to the side. In fear, I hugged myself and tilted my body, eyes wide. Who knew what he would try to do? Hurt me in the face for speaking back at him just like Cassius? Pluck my hair? Whatever it may be, I wasn’t ready to take the risk.

“Don’t touch me.” My voice was shaky, and the fear in it was evident. This wasn’t right. He wasn’t supposed to feel or see my fear.

His hands hung in the air. Staring at me for a few seconds, his perfectly molded lips curved into a smile, and he retracted his hands. “You don’t have to be afraid,” he muttered. “You are safe here. No one will harm you under my roof.”

Although quiet, there was a firmness that urged me to trust his words. But he was an Alpha. I wouldn’t make the mistake of doing that again.

Safe. The word mocked me. I had been “safe” before—safe under Cassius’s sneer, safe under my mistress’s roof, safe in a pack that treated me like dirt just because I didn’t meet their standard of beauty. Safety was a lie. A façade that would harm me in the most hurtful way.

I forced myself to sit up, ignoring the ache in my limbs and the pang of pain coursing through me. “Why?” My voice cracked. “Why would you save me? Because the goddess said I am your mate? Why would you—” I swallowed. “Why would you claim me? Do not tell me you have plans of accepting me as yours.”

His hands moved, slow and deliberate, brushing over the blanket until they nearly touched mine. My body stiffened; my breath hitched. My mind subconsciously anticipated his touch. I hated that it did, but I had no control over myself at the moment. Lyra was growling and pleading for her mate’s connection. The warmth of his skin eventually ghosted over my fingers, sparking something inside me I despised to recognize.

“Because you are mine,” he breathed, “and I protect what’s mine.” Our eyes locked the moment he ended the statement.

My breath caught. His words should have comforted me. If it were before Cassius’s betrayal, his words would have made me the happiest woman on earth, because that was what I had always wanted—a mate who would comfort me and protect me. A mate who was ready to give me the whole world without thinking twice. But they didn’t. Instead, they caged me. They instilled fear in me. This felt like a prison instead of freedom.

He leaned closer, and his scent wrapped around me… dark pine, smoke, something rich and wild that made Lyra whimper with longing. My wolf pushed against me, desperate to close the distance, desperate to hold him, touch him, accept him, claim him. But I clenched my fists into the sheets.

I couldn’t fall into this trap again. Not so easily. Not ever. My dream of escaping my horrible fate through my mate was shattered by Cassius and the whole of the Silverfang Pack. There was no such thing as escaping. Escape was an unreal word. Bond, caged, betrayal, beaten… those were real. They were the realest words I had known all my life.

“I don’t trust you,” I whispered, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

He stilled. For a heartbeat, his expression froze, unreadable. Then the smile returned, soft and patient, like he had all the time in the world. I regret to admit it, but that smile kept stirring inexplicable emotions within me. The urge to tell him not to flash that grin at me surged, but I held back.

“That’s all right,” he murmured with a smile… that damn smile. “You don’t have to trust me… yet. It’s evident that you’ve gone through a lot.”

A shiver rolled down my spine. His voice carried no threat, but the way his eyes lingered on mine—sharp, searching, unblinking… made my stomach twist. He looked at me as though I already belonged to him, body and soul, whether I wanted to or not. Like I wouldn’t be able to escape him even if I tried.

Lyra whined again, but I pressed her down. No. Not this time. I wouldn’t fall for a mask of gentleness. Not again. Beneath that smile that made my heart race every moment could be a demon worse than Cassius.

“You should rest more. You are severely injured. The healer will be back soon, and the maid will come with your food. Make sure you eat, mate,” he said, staring into my eyes.

He stood and adjusted the edge of my blanket like I was something precious. “I don’t like it when my woman doesn’t feed well.” He smiled again and left the room afterward.

Even though he had left, my eyes didn’t leave the spot where he stood. He called me “mate” and “woman” when he hadn’t even known who I was. It sounded like something he had done many times, and it was nothing to him. That made him more dangerous. That made him more terrifying. The way he accepted me with open arms without knowing my story, considering where he claimed he found me…

No way on earth would I trust him. I couldn’t trust him, even though some traitorous part of me already wanted to.