Chapter two

Bella's POV

The rain was incessant as it destroyed all the dishes and cakes I had made for our night dining with Ronan.

He hadn't come for the hotel reservation I made for the both of us, wanting to celebrate our anniversary.

And I wasn't ready to give up celebrating it because of the bad incidents of today.

But then, Ronan was nowhere to be found.

I've waited since the day, making preparations for his arrival from the tracks so we could celebrate our anniversary and also his win from the competition, I called him countless times but still, he was nowhere.

When I heard the roaring engines of his car park at the pack's garage, I could tell that he had returned and I hastily began to walk to his room, wanting to speak with him.

"The weather is so cozy today. I heard from a servant that Prince Ronan had paid a high priest a large sum of gold so he could make the rain fall. He wanted the weather cozy so he could celebrate his win with Jennifer Lupin at the Grand Moon hotel like she had requested."

I hadn't reached Ronan's door when I heard his guards conversing.

I paused, unsure whether to believe what I had heard or not.

It wasn't time for the rains to fall and I had been shocked the way they fell from afternoon earlier, ruining the rooftop dinner I had made.

Overhearing these words, I couldn't steer my mind away from what I was already being forced to believe.

I turned to leave, shame clinging to my skin as I couldn't bring myself to reach Ronan's room nor to stand at the door waiting for him. Because clearly, his guards wouldn't let me in as that had been the orders Ronan always gave them.

I hadn't reached my room nor had I rested on my bed when the door suddenly went open and Ronan walked in.

"Ronan..." I called, standing up and heading towards him as I wanted to hug him.

But I paused immediately when I saw Jennifer Lupin behind him. They had truly been together.

She moved her silky hair as if trying to show me how unkempt it was. And I could tell immediately why it was that so. It wasn't that way at the tracks. And clearly, it must have been because Ronan was very close to her.

He reeked of her cologne and I could see a red hickey on his neck. He didn't even bother to hide it.

"Why are you with... What is she doing..." I wasn't able to complete my words when Ronan handed a brown envelope to me.

"Let's get a divorce, Bella. Jennifer and I have just reconciled and I do not want you to be the woman standing in my way of making her Luna of the pack. You can still remain in the pack and be my mistress," he said casually.

I held the envelope, disbelief clinging to my skin. This couldn't be. I told myself. It was impossible.

How could Ronan return home after winning the racing game just to divorce me?

"Ro..." I tried to reach out but he recoiled before my fingers could even touch him. As if I disgusted him or was trash he didn't want to come in contact with.

"Jennifer Lupin is worthy of being Luna. She's a beta's daughter and with my coronation coming up a few days from now, I wouldn't want to subject you to another round of ridicule from the pack for being......" He paused.

"But we've been mates for four years, today is even..."

I wanted to say before I paused, wondering if he had even known that today was supposed to be our fourth anniversary.

"Yes we are fated mates, Bella. That is why I am not rejecting but only divorcing you. I know that you are a weakly omega and that you're also an orphan who has nowhere else to go. You'll still maintain your position as my fated mate and continue with all the tasks you've been doing before for the pack. Jennifer will have to bear my heirs and become Luna, since she is more... fitting," he added, staring at my body with a look before he turned away in disgust.

I looked at myself from head to toe, wondering what it was about me that disgusted him.

When I was discovered to be his mate four years ago, I was only eighteen. I had been slim. He complained about it and said he loved his women having enough skin and fat, I worked on myself and became chubby.

Months later, he began to complain again about wanting me to be skinny. And again, in order to please the man I have loved for three years, I went on a diet, refusing myself food like he insisted, all so he could desire me again.

Still he complained about it. Staring at Jennifer, there was no difference between the two of us, except that she was older than I was and perhaps to him, more experienced in bed because of her history of being with different men.

She was the one he said was worthy of being Luna? What about her was worthy of being emulated?

"I've sacrificed a lot for you and Moonstone pack, Ronan. You can't just cast me off as if I were nothing. Half of the pack's success today is all because of me, I..."

"Are you trying to tell me what to do in my own pack?" he snapped.

"A Luna must strengthen the pack, Bella. You… cannot. I was forced to take you in and I had accepted you because you were my fated mate! I left my lover for you and yet you couldn't even give me an heir! How dare you talk about your sacrifices to the pack when you were unable to provide the most important thing?"

I opened my mouth to speak but Jennifer was the one who cut me off this time around.

"Stop acting all mighty and accept the divorce in good faith, Bella! Ronan is being all nice by not rejecting you. If not, you should be dead by now from the rejection pains because you're nothing but a weakling," she snapped, walking towards me.

"You succeeded in taking him away from me four years ago, but returning six months ago, I made a promise to get my man back," she added, rubbing her belly as if trying to tell me something.

It was then I clicked. The coronation ceremony Ronan was talking about. According to tradition, an alpha prince needed to have an heir before they would be considered for the coronation ceremony.

I turned towards Ronan and he didn't even seem to deny it.

"She's fertile, it isn't my fault I reconnected with her six months ago," he shrugged, as if that was supposed to nullify his betrayal.

All these times, I've been the one going to different fertility clinics and technicians, looking for a solution to our childlessness.

He never cared to follow and never accepted that he might be at fault too.

I took the blame for everything.

Sacrificed myself and my years, giving up on bike racing which has always been my dream, helping to manage their ailing pack which had been saddled with debts and famine.

I did everything I could to prove that beyond having heirs, I was also capable of being the Luna in other ways, and all for what?

For him to want to divorce me but still keep me by his side so that he doesn't lose the benefits he gained from me?

For him not to be questioned by the alpha council for sending me away— because he would be impeached for disobeying their decree if he did?

I raised my head and stared at the man I had loved since I was young, my chest tightening as memories clawed their way back—recalling how both my parents had died at the border in a fight with rogues, all because they had been trying to protect him.

"Don't think of anything stupid, Bella. Just do as I say! Not obeying the alpha in waiting counts as treason." Ronan said again.

Jennifer's face glowed, as if she had achieved what she had always wanted.

Four years, that was all it took… I thought, as I stared at my left wrist, where the priest had tied the red string that bound Ronan and I together in a union.

Four years was how long I had sacrificed, endured, and waited for Ronan to choose me. And standing here now—with our fourth anniversary celebration forgotten, with the both of them being so shameless and brazen about his betrayal —I didn't want to waste a single second longer.

"You'll be nothing without me..." Ronan began again, his tone shifting, as if he was more concerned about my future than I was meant to be—like I should be grateful for the scraps he offered.

I shook my head in the negative, something inside me finally snapping into clarity.

"No, Ronan. I will always be something without you," I replied, my voice steadier than I felt, as I took a breath—a breath that felt like the first one I had truly taken in years.

"I, Bella Moonhaven, reject you, Ronan Voss, as my mate and alpha. From today on, I sever the bond that keeps the two of us bound as mates!”

I should have done this four years ago… I thought silently to myself, as the weight of those years finally began to lift.