Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Serena’s POV

The documents were spread across the dining table when I heard the knock.

I had spent the entire morning going through the files the lawyer had sent me, and the more I read, the more I realized how much of my own life I had never known about. There were property records, investment accounts, land documents and financial statements bearing my name, including several assets I had never even seen before.

My parents had always told me that I had no inheritance of my own, yet the documents in front of me told a very different story.

I was still trying to understand how much of it belonged to me when the knocking came again.

Harder this time.

"Serena, open the door."

Adrian. Of course.

I gathered the most important documents and placed them inside a folder before walking to the door.

When I opened it, Adrian was standing there with tension written across his face.

"You've been ignoring me."

"I've been busy."

"Busy enough to ignore every call I made?"

"Yes."

His expression tightened.

"What is going on with you?" I stepped aside, and he entered without waiting for another invitation.

He looked around the room before his eyes settled on me again.

"You disappeared yesterday, stopped answering my calls, and then told me nothing happened when I asked you about it. Now you're avoiding me completely."

"I have things to deal with."

"What things?"

"Things that concern me."

His brows drew together. "Since when do you keep things from me?"

I almost smiled at the question.

Since I died because I trusted you.

"I've realized there are some things I should have dealt with a long time ago."

"Like what?" I looked at him for a moment before answering.

"Like us." He went still.

"What about us?"

I took a breath, forcing myself to remain calm even though my chest had begun to tighten.

"I don't want this relationship anymore."

His expression changed immediately. "What?"

"I said I don't want this anymore."

He stared at me as though he hadn't understood the words.

"You're angry."

"No."

"You are. Whatever happened yesterday upset you, but you don't mean this."

"I do." He stepped closer.

"Serena, look at me." I did.

"You love me." The words almost made me laugh, but there was nothing funny about them anymore.

"I did." 

His face hardened. "Did?"

"I loved you enough to spend years putting you before myself."

"Then why are you suddenly acting like I mean nothing to you?"

"Because I finally understand what that love cost me."

He stared at me.

I could see the confusion in his eyes, followed by irritation when he realized I wasn't backing down.

"Is there someone else?"

"No." I replied. Bold of him to think there was someone else when he said already cheating. 

"Then what is this?" I held his gaze.

"I know about you and Elena."

Everything inside him seemed to stop. His eyes widened.

For a moment, he said nothing.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't."

My voice came out quieter than I expected.

"I know what happened between you."

His face changed.

"Serena, you don't understand."

"I understand enough."

"You've got it wrong."

"Maybe I did in my previous life."

The words almost slipped out, and I immediately corrected myself.

"But I don't anymore."

He frowned.

"Elena and I..." He stopped.

I waited.

When he didn't finish, I gave him a tired smile.

"That's what I thought."

"Serena, listen to me."

"I've listened to you for years."

I stepped back, putting distance between us.

"I listened when you told me Elena was only a friend, she's just my sister. I listened when you said I was imagining things. I listened every time you made me feel guilty for questioning you."

His expression became defensive.

"Nothing happened the way you're making it sound."

"Maybe that's what you need to believe."

I could feel my heartbeat growing faster.

The memories were coming back now. Elena standing beside him.

Her hand resting against his arm.

The child she carried. The shelter gates closing.

My own blood running down my skin.

I swallowed hard.

"I know what happened, Adrian. I know about Elena, and I know enough to understand that I was never the person you chose when it mattered."

His face paled.

"What does that mean? That's not true."

"It doesn't matter anymore."

"Serena..."

I closed my eyes for a moment.

When I opened them, I knew there was only one thing left to say.

"I don't want to spend another life waiting for you to choose me."

His brows furrowed.

"What are you talking about?"

I could barely hear my own heartbeat anymore.

I looked directly into his eyes.

"I, Serena Vale, Luna of silver fang reject you, Adrian Silver, Alpha of Silver Fang as my mate."

The rejection hit us both at once.

Pain exploded through my chest, sharp and merciless, tearing through the bond that had connected us for years.

My knees almost buckled.

Across from me, Adrian stumbled backward, one hand flying to his chest as a strangled gasp escaped him.

His eyes widened in disbelief.

"Serena..." His voice broke.

I felt it too.

The agony of severing the mate bond ripped through me, and for one terrible second, I wanted to take the words back simply because my body remembered what it meant to belong to him.

But then I remembered the snow.

I remembered the blood. I remembered standing outside those gates while the people I loved watched me die.

I remembered begging him to save me. And I remembered that he had chosen someone else.

The pain I felt now was real, but it couldn't compare to what I had endured in my previous life.

That pain had taken everything from me.

This pain was giving me my freedom.

Adrian stared at me as though I had become a stranger in front of him.

"You rejected me."

His voice was barely a whisper.

"Yes."

"Why?"

I felt another wave of pain move through my chest, but I forced myself to remain standing.

"Because I refuse to spend another life begging someone to choose me."

His eyes filled with disbelief.

"You can't do this."

"I already did."

He shook his head, breathing heavily as the rejection continued to tear through the bond.

"You love me."

"I did."

The words hurt more than I expected.

"But I love myself more now."

He stared at me for several seconds before turning toward the door.

His hand reached for the handle, but he stopped.

For the first time since I had known him, Adrian looked completely lost.

He turned back. "Serena, you're going to regret this."

I shook my head.

"No."

I looked down at the folder of documents sitting on the table.

"I already regretted staying."

His expression twisted with pain before he finally walked out.

The door closed behind him.

I stood there in silence, one hand pressed against my chest as the last remnants of the bond faded.

It hurt. God, it hurt.

But compared with the pain of my past life, it was nothing.

Back then, I had died believing I wasn't enough.

This time, I had chosen myself. And that was only the beginning.