Chapter 3: Rather Die Than Be With You

Valeria’s POV 

Lucien didn't even bother to push Jessica off him. He just let out a dry, condescending laugh that cut through the room like broken glass, staring at me as if I had lost my mind.

"Reject me?" he sneered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he stood up, not even caring that he was half-naked. "Are you out of your stupid head, Valeria? You're an Omega. A wolfless, useless Omega. You don't have the power to reject an Alpha like me!"

He took a step toward me, his shadow towering over my shaking frame, his eyes flashing with ugly arrogance.

"You think because my father forced me to marry you after your pathetic parents died trying to save him, you actually matter?" he growled, pointing a finger right between my eyes. 

"You are nothing without me! You have no family, no pack power, and nowhere else to go. Kneel down right now, beg for my forgiveness for uttering such nonsense."

Jessica giggled behind him, pulling the bedsheets around her bare body as she leaned her head against his back.

"Honestly, Valeria, you're so lucky to have such an amazing man as Alpha Lucien," Jessica chipped in, her tone dripping with fake pity and malice. "Stop being such an ungrateful bitch and do what your husband says. You should be thanking him for keeping you around."

I held my ground, swallowing the thick lump in my throat. I didn't back down. I didn't drop to my knees. For the first time in five years, I looked Lucien straight in the eye without fear.

"I am standing on my decision, Lucien," I said, my voice cold and firm. "I am done. I am leaving this pack, and I am leaving you."

Lucien’s face twisted into a menacing grin. He stepped even closer, his hand coming down onto my shoulder, squeezing hard enough to leave a bruise.

"You're not going anywhere," he whispered darkly into my face. "I own you, Valeria. You are my property until I say otherwise. Maybe I'll let you go... after you finally conceive a child for me and give me an heir."

Jessica burst into a loud, mocking laugh, clapping her hands together like it was the funniest joke in the world.

"Oh, Lucien, darling, don't tease the poor girl!" Jessica smirked, her eyes shining with pure evil as she looked at me. "How is she supposed to give you an heir when you've been slipping seed blockers into her food every single day for five years?"

My entire world stopped spinning.

The air rushed right out of my lungs, leaving me suffocating on the spot. I stared at Lucien, my jaw trembling, my eyes wide with horror.

"W-what?" I gasped, the word barely escaping my throat. "Seed... seed blockers?"

Five years. Five agonizing years of crying myself to sleep every time my period came. Five years of taking disgusting, bitter herbal teas, going to pack doctors, praying on my knees to the Moon Goddess, and enduring the humiliating whispers of the pack members calling me a defective, barren woman.

And it was all him.

Lucien didn't even look guilty. He just shrugged, looking down at me like I was a piece of trash he had stepped on.

"I couldn't risk a weak, wolfless Omega carrying my pureblood line.” Lucien said, his voice flat, indifferent to the blade he had just shoved through my chest. 

Something inside me snapped so violently it felt like a physical explosion. The last tiny piece of love, respect, and humanity I held for this man dissolved into pure, burning ash.

"You monster..." I screamed, tears bursting from my eyes as I gathered every single drop of rage, pain, and soul left in my body.

I glared straight into Lucien's eyes, raising my right hand high in the air.

"I, Valeria Lonax, hereby REJECT you, Alpha Lucien, as my mate, my husband, and my Alpha!" I roared with everything I had. "I sever the bond! I sever the mark! I release you from my soul forever!"

The moment the words left my mouth, a sharp, invisible force slammed into the room.

A guttural scream of intense, agonizing pain ripped from Lucien’s throat. He staggered back, clutching his chest with both hands as his eyes flared bright gold. The rejection bond burned through him like liquid fire, tearing at his Alpha pride and his soul. 

He collapsed onto his knees on the carpet, panting heavily, sweat pouring down his face.

"Accept it, Lucien!" Jessica shrieked, panicking as she rushed to his side, grabbing his arms. "Accept her rejection. You can tell your father and the Alpha council that she rejected you first. And they won’t find fault in it. This is what we’ve been waiting for."

"No..." Lucien snarled through gritted teeth, his face pale, his body shaking from the burning pain of the rejection. 

He lifted his bloodshot eyes to look at me, a terrifying, possessive rage filling his gaze. "No! I... I refuse! I do NOT accept your rejection, Valeria."

He forced himself up off the floor, reaching out his large hand to grab me.

Seeing that he wouldn't accept it and let me go, survival instincts took over my body. I turned around and ran.

I threw the door open and bolted down the corridor as fast as my legs could carry me.

"GUARDS! CATCH HER!" Lucien’s voice boomed down the hallway, echoing like thunder. "BRING HER BACK TO ME NOW!"

Footsteps thundered behind me. I didn't look back. I slammed through the front doors of the mansion, bursting into the freezing night air. 

My bare feet slapped against the sharp stones on the dirt path, but I couldn't feel the pain. All I could feel was the desperate need to be free.

Behind me, the howling of pack wolves filled the night. Lucien, Jessica, and a dozen guards were chasing after me, their dark shapes closing the distance fast.

"You can't run from me, Valeria!" Lucien's voice echoed through the trees.

I ran blindly into the dark forest, branches tearing at my dress, thorns scratching my face and arms, but I kept pushing forward until the ground suddenly gave way.

I gasped, stopping right at the edge of a massive, jagged cliff. Below me, hundreds of feet down, roaring ocean waves slammed violently against sharp, deadly rocks.

I was trapped.

Seconds later, footsteps surrounded me. Lucien, Jessica, and six pack guards emerged from the trees, forming a tight semicircle, blocking every single path of escape.

Lucien took a step forward, breathing heavily, his chest heaving as he held out his hand to me.

"Game over, Valeria," he said, trying to soften his tone, but the cruel authority in his voice was clear. "Step away from the edge. Come back to the pack house with me right now, and I might just forgive you for this."

"Lucien, why are you still trying to take her back? Just let her go.”  Jessica whined, standing right behind him. 

“Shut up!” He ordered.

I looked at the guards stepping closer, their hands outstretched to grab me, ready to drag me back.

I looked down at the crashing water below. Then I looked up at the bright, glowing full moon hanging in the night sky.

Moon Goddess... I prayed silently in my heart, tears running down my dirt-stained cheeks. Please forgive me. I gave everything I had. I tried so hard. But I would rather die a thousand deaths right now than ever go back to him.

"Valeria, don't you dare!" Lucien yelled, realizing what I was about to do, his face twisting in sudden, desperate panic. "GRAB HER!"

The guards lunged forward.

I looked Lucien in the eye one last time, gave him a small, cold smile, and stepped backward right off the edge of the cliff.