Chapter 2

Selene

Axel can't do this to me, I thought, on the verge of collapse.

Axel and I were in a bad way, but I thought it was a bad season in our marriage since we had never, in our first four years of marriage, argued about anything. I never imagined that the man who claimed me as his own when I had my first shift would want to separate from me. 

I was in shock and couldn't stop my body from shaking, so the guard came over to help me. Seeing his eyes and pitiful expression, I knew immediately that everyone in the sanctuary knew what Axel would notify the council.

I couldn't stop the tears from flowing harder from my eyes.

“It's not the wisest decision, Alpha. There is no legal reason to remove our Moon or for you to divorce her. She is not just another woman; she is your mate, your fated mate, the only woman who can make you happy,” Aria said, and I almost broke down listening to her. “We have to understand the reasons for you to make such a drastic decision. Selene Moon has done invaluable work in Crescent; she is one of the most beloved people—”

“Selene no longer serves me,” Axel said, and I opened my mouth in surprise. “Her main purpose is incapable of fulfilling it. I have no offspring—no puppies—and I'm not going to waste my time with a woman who can't give me what I want. She doesn't make me happy; that's why I don't want her by my side.”

I closed my eyes tightly, and a part of me wanted to disappear at that moment.

Kate growled so angrily in my head; I was about to scream.

Confront that wretch; he doesn't deserve a single one of your tears, Kate said hatefully.

At that moment I felt the she-wolf's pain, and although it was the same as mine, I realized that she was trying to protect me.

I took a deep breath, wiped away my tears, and stood up straight.

I took courage at Kate's words, so I opened the door immediately.

“Alpha, you should go get answers in—”

The counselor who was about to speak immediately shut up when he saw me.

At that moment all the counselors turned their heads in my direction and looked at me in surprise; however, Axel didn't turn, so I walked straight towards him in anger.

The dark-haired, handsome, tall man who had promised me a happy life looked at me with surprise as he turned when he smelled my scent.

“What are you doing here, Selene?” Asked Axel incredulously, and I smiled wryly.

“I came to find out who my mate is,” I said painfully. “I never thought you would be so unmanly as to do this behind my back. It's baseness, even for you who are the Alpha.”

“Who let you in?” asked Axel with annoyance.

In that instant I realized that the man I could give my life for no longer looked at me the same. He seemed jaded with me, and it was killing me inside.

“It doesn't matter how I get into this basement; it matters that the subject of the meeting is the subject of the meeting, so go ahead and explain to me why you didn't tell me to my face that you want to divorce me,” I said so painfully that I couldn't hold back the tears. “Why are you looking for the pack council to be the one to inform me that my mate no longer wants me by his side? Are you so useless as to confront me and tell me that you can't be with me one more minute because I'm no longer of any use to you?”

There was a collective gasp that I ignored.

I knew I was openly defying Axel, but what he was doing to me was a public humiliation, and I wasn't going to let it go.

“Don't challenge me, Selene! You're my subordinate—”

“And you're my fucking husband! Have you forgotten my place?” I shouted so loudly I trembled. “You could have spared me this whole circus and told me I was no longer of any use to you because I'm not a fucking incubator who gives you what you want.”

“Please stop!” Aria said before stepping closer and trying to mediate between the two of us. “This confrontation isn't necessary; you're hurting each other.”

“Get out of here, Selene!” yelled Axel, and I scoffed.

“I'm not leaving. I want you to tell me everything to my face, with witnesses and no shields. I want you to be able to tell me in no uncertain terms what you told the members of this council,” I said so sternly that Aria grabbed my arm.

I saw the change in Axel's look and immediately knew that he did not love me.

“You are an infertile woman I don't need by my side. Crescent's future is more important to me, and you've become a liability. Since you don't do your only job, it's better to dismiss you, not only for my sake but for everyone's sake,” Axel said with such seriousness and coldness that I felt my body freeze.

I shivered helplessly and nodded.

He's so fucking ungrateful, Kate said angrily.

“You know what the saddest thing is? I was coming to tell you that—”

“Shut up, Selene!” Shouted Axel and interrupted me," “I'm sick of excuses; you won't give me children; you're a useless barren, and I can't stand to have false hopes. No more!”

I opened my eyes in surprise and could see Axel's true face.

I wiped my tears calmly and looked at him with hatred.

“You don't need to be mean and cruel to be sincere,” I told him calmly. “However, I thank you for showing me your true and hideous face.”

“I no longer care what you think,” Axel said in a deadly tone of voice, and as I looked into his eyes and saw black rings around the irises, I knew immediately that his beast was on edge. “I have been proven right, and the one with the problem is you.”

At that moment the basement door opened and in walked a tall, elegant, red-haired woman with a seductive smile. She opened her black coat and showed her slightly bulging belly proudly.

It took me a second to realize what was happening, and I looked at Axel immediately.

He couldn't do this to me; it was impossible, I thought in horror.

If I had known if Axel was cheating on me, as the mate’s bond was so strong, I would have felt pain. Something was wrong at this moment. It could not be true.

I am sorry to tell you that, if Mal shared with Axel and was not involved in the betrayal, the possible infidelity. That kept us both from feeling the pain of betrayal, Kate said, and I closed my eyes tightly.

If Mal, Axel's wolf, had to resort to doing something like that so I wouldn't suffer, Axel didn't deserve a single one of my tears.

I opened my eyes, and Axel went to find the redhead; they both held hands, and he smiled at her excitedly, as he used to smile at me.

The council members were in complete silence; they were all looking at me, and I could understand that they were waiting for me to lose my mind.

“This is Clare; she's my concubine, and she's expecting my child,” Axel said, and I clenched my hands tightly. “It's clear that the one with the fertility problem is not me, so I need Selene to be removed from the position of Moon so Clare can be my new Moon so I can give legitimacy to my heir, the future of Crescent.”

I faltered at those words.

Nick was quick to grab my other arm, but I pulled away from him.

Nick and Eugene had to know everything about the deception.

“Selene, our marriage is irretrievably broken, so I want a divorce,” Axel said, looking at me seriously. “I want the chance to be a father as nature, inheritance law, and traditions dictate.”

If Axel had shot me with a silver bullet, it would have hurt less.

Don't break down, accept the divorce with dignity, and stay away from that wretch, Kate said with so much pain that I restrained myself from screaming.

I looked at the board members and saw not only sadness but also resignation.

Aria hugged me as a comfort, but that felt forced; the council would never go against the wishes of its Alpha, not when those wishes were in favor of the pack. Precisely why I wouldn't stay where I wasn't wanted, so I looked at Axel earnestly.

“Well, I think you've made yourself clear; there's nothing more to say here. I accept our separation. Now that I've met you, I can no longer be with a man like you,” I said with dignity. “I accept the divorce and the rejection.”

There was another round of collective gasps, and for a moment Axel looked at me with surprise, as if he didn't expect me to accept right away. I could refuse the separation because of our mate bond; I had that right, but it was a waste of time.

From this moment on, Axel Dubois is nothing to me anymore, I thought with a broken heart.

“I ask you to take a few days to think—”

“There is nothing to think about,” I told Aria immediately.

The counselor looked at me seriously, and at that moment, Axel let go of the redhead.

He approached me carefully, and I could notice his puzzled expression, but I ignored him.

“Selene, I'm sorry,” he said.

“Don't be sorry; you had this planned. You had the time to get your mistress pregnant so you could convince the entire council to have this meeting without me,” he said earnestly. “You betrayed me, your Moon, your mate, the woman you shared five years of your life with and who gave everything to help you restructure Crescent after the war. I couldn't go on with you in any way.”

Axel nodded and whispered the cruelest words a mate could hear.

“I, Axel Dubois, Alpha of Crescent, reject you, Selene Belmont, as my mate and Moon of Crescent.”

Immense pain shot through my body, and I screamed as I felt the Goddess erase the mate mark from my neck.

Axel stood, as if breaking the mate’s bond would not affect him, so I was strong and said the right words before I fell unconscious, “I, Selene Belmont, accept your rejection, Axel Dubois.”