Rejected by my Mate, Desired by his Enemy.

"No." I whispered to myself, slowly at first.

I wanted this to be a joke, but it was not, it was happening right there. My chest went tight, I couldn't breathe, I walked towards the ceremony.

"Stop!" I shouted and all eyes were on me.

My chest even went tighter than before. I looked at Nadia, she looked back at me, I was searching for any bit of remorse in them, they were just staring back at me.

Tears were beginning to form and then I looked at him. He looked at me, he looked like he would kill me if he had the chance to.

"What is going on?" I managed to ask.

No answer. It felt like the eyes on me only increased.

"I said, what is going on?" I shouted this time.

"The only thing going on here is you crashing the ceremony i'm having with my luna to be." Donnovan said with the most stoic expression ever.

The words still didn't sound right to me. I was supposed to be his Luna, he had been with me for years and Nadia, she was my friend, my best friend so what episode did I miss where the both of them fell in love and now she was about to be his Luna?

"Nadia," I called her name softly.

"How could you?" I asked her, the tears were threatening to fall, I blinked to keep them from falling.

She called out. "Athena."

"Everything is not always about you, that's why you never saw the signs, Donnovan, was all about me." She added, placing her hand on his back when she called his name and he drew her close.

The tears were falling now.

"You’re a disgrace Athena, Nadia is better than you in ways you could never think of. You're worthless." He said and that was it, the final straw, my heart skipped four beats.

"Donnovan, don't say that." I begged.

"I never want to see you again, you disgust me." He said turning back to Nadia as he held her waist.

"Elder, carry on, ignore the miscreant and begin with the ceremony." He said.

The crowd gathered kept looking at me and my chest tightened. Nadia knew about this, that whenever I was anxious, I struggled to breathe.

She knew how much I hated being stared at, yet she stood beside Donnovan and watched me struggle in front of the entire pack.

I looked at her, waiting to hear something from her that might make this less humiliating, but she only adjusted the hand resting on Donnovan’s arm.

“At least say something,” I pleaded. “Lie to me..tell me I have misunderstood what is happening.”

Nadia tilted her head. “Would that make you feel better, Athena, or would you simply find another reason not to accept it?”

I stared at her, unable to believe what I had just heard.

“You could have told me.”

“And what would you have done with that information?” she asked. “Stepped aside for me?”

“You’re my best friend!”

“That is exactly why you should understand.” Her fingers curled around Donnovan’s arm. “You have had him for four years. Did you really think that meant nobody else could ever want him?”

A few murmurs rose from the crowd.

I looked at Donnovan, expecting him to correct her, but he remained beside her as though this conversation had nothing to do with him.

“Did you know?” I asked him. “When you were telling me we would stand here together, had you already decided she would take my place?”

His jaw tightened. “You are making a spectacle of yourself.”

“You made me believe I was going to be your Luna!”

“And I have changed my mind. Must I explain myself to you in front of everyone?”

“Then explain..why her?” My voice cracked despite my efforts to control it. “Why my best friend, Donnovan? Was I the only person who didn’t know what was happening?”

His expression hardened.

“You were the only person who believed being with me made you untouchable.”

The words silenced me.

He stepped forward, making sure the people near us could hear him clearly.

“You mistook my affection for a promise that I would spend the rest of my life pleasing you. I allowed you to believe you were special, and now you cannot accept that I have chosen someone better suited to stand beside me.”

I shook my head. “You told me you loved me.”

“Did I promise to love you forever?”

I couldn’t answer.

He gave a humourless smile.

Nadia looked away for a moment, but when I caught her eyes again, she seemed more annoyed than ashamed.

“Please don’t turn this into something ugly,” she said. “The ceremony is supposed to be a happy occasion.”

I almost laughed at the absurdity of it.

“You think I’m the one making it ugly?”

“I think you should have enough pride to leave when a man has made it clear he doesn’t want you.”

The crowd grew quieter.

I searched her face for even a trace of the girl who used to sit beside me late at night, listening to me talk about Donnovan.

She had known every hope I had attached to this day, and now she was using those hopes to make me look foolish.

I turned back to Donnovan. “Four years.. four years and this is how you choose to end it?”

“This is how it ends because you refuse to understand that it is over.”

“You could have spoken to me privately.”

“And give you another opportunity to cry until I changed my mind?” He glanced at the crowd. “No, Athena. I would rather everyone hear me clearly the first time.”

My face burned with embarrassment.

He wasn’t merely rejecting me. He wanted to make certain that nobody in the pack wouldn’t mistake my place in his life again.

“Then say it,” I whispered.

His brows drew together. “Say what?”

“Look at me and tell me that every promise you made was a lie. That I wasted four years loving a man who never intended to choose me.”

Donnovan paused.

I held his gaze, hoping that somewhere beneath his cold expression, the man I had loved was still there. I wanted him to hesitate, to look away, or to show some sign that hurting me cost him something.

Instead, he leaned closer.

“You want the truth, Athena? I cannot imagine anything more exhausting than spending the rest of my life with a woman who believes she deserves me simply because she loved me first.”

He straightened and turned towards the elder.

“Carry on. I will not allow this interruption to ruin my day.”

I stood emotionless as the elder prepared to continue. Nadia moved closer to Donnovan, and he wrapped an arm around her waist. She looked up at him with a small smile, and he returned it.

That smile was the final answer I needed.

I turned away before either of them could see my face crumple and walked towards the exit. I heard a few whispers as I passed, but I refused to look at anyone. The doors seemed impossibly far away, and by the time I reached them, tears were streaming down my cheeks.

I kept walking until I reached the path leading to my quarters. Once I was certain nobody was following me, I stopped beside a tree and pressed a hand against my chest, struggling to steady my breathing.

I had imagined this day so many times, but never once had I pictured leaving the ceremony alone while Donnovan stood beside Nadia. I had believed that whatever difficulties came our way, we would face them together.

Instead, he had made me feel as though loving him had been a mistake I should be ashamed of.

When I finally returned to my room, I shut the door and leaned against it. I cried until my throat hurt.

I remained there until the worst of it passed, then washed my face and changed out of the clothes I had worn for the ceremony. I could still hear the distant sounds of the celebration, reminding me that Donnovan was continuing with his day as though nothing had happened.

I went to the window and looked outside. The pack grounds were still busy, and I knew that by morning, everyone would have heard about what happened. Some would pity me, others would gossip, and Nadia would wake up as the woman chosen to become Luna.

I refused to remain there and become a reminder of Donnovan’s discarded past.

For years, I had imagined my future within Ashari Pack, but that future had disappeared in a matter of minutes. I had no reason to remain in a place where the man I loved had rejected me so cruelly and the friend I trusted had helped him do it.

I opened my wardrobe and stared at my clothes, wondering how much I could carry without drawing attention to myself. I had no idea where I would go, but I knew I could not spend another day living under the same roof as the people who had made me feel so unwanted.

My hands trembled as I reached for a bag.

Donnovan had made his decision in front of everyone. I would make mine without asking for his permission.

That night, I would leave Ashari Pack.

As I pulled clothes from the wardrobe, a wave of nausea hit me. I stopped, pressing a hand against my stomach until it passed, then continued packing. I blamed the stress and the fact that I had barely eaten all day.

For once, I would be the one walking away, never imagining that I was leaving Ashari with more than a broken heart.