CHAPTER TWO

At first, I thought it was a prank, but the look in his eyes showed that it wasn't.

As I took the wedding card from him to get a proper view, my hand trembled as if I had grabbed an electric wire.

As I read the content on the card with his name boldly written on it, my breath hitched, and disbelief washed over me.

Tears filled my eyes, ready to spill over, and through my blurry vision, I raised my gaze and looked at him.

His lips moved, forming words I could hardly comprehend, each syllable slicing deeper into the hollow of my chest.

“We can’t go through with the marking ceremony,” he said. “My mother… she arranged everything, and the wedding’s in a few days.”

An arranged marriage.

To another Supreme Alpha’s daughter.

A union planned since childhood… and he never told me all this while?

My knees weakened as the weight of it all came crashing down on me. I couldn't believe that I had been fooled and used both physically and emotionally by my own mate. I had given Darrell everything I have. Chosen him over my own family. I had walked away from my parents when I told them about our marking ceremony and my father was saying over his dead body.

I’ve burned bridges I could never rebuild and for what?

So he could hand me an invitation to his betrayal?

Now that he is telling me, did he want me to sing at his wedding or what?

I wanted to laugh in his face, but I couldn't even find the inner strength to laugh.

“So… you're telling me that… you are standing there to tell me that it's over between us?” I asked, my voice shaky as I forced myself not to cry. “After all this while? Am I just… just some kind of object to use and dump around?”

“No, angel, please try to understand….”

“No,” I shushed him by raising a finger. “Call me Emma.”

Angel, my foot.

“Angel…” he whispered again, stepping forward to touch me, but I moved away.

“Don’t,” I hissed, flinching away. “Don’t you dare touch me with your dirty hand.”

“Fuck you, Darrell. Fuck you.”

But instead, he pulled me into his arms like he still had the right, like his warmth could erase the chill he left in my soul. I struggled against him, hitting him hard on his chest, as I hated how my body was still responding to the man who had just torn my heart to shreds.

“A great responsibility lies ahead of me, Emma,” he said quietly, looking straight into my eyes as if his decision was the best. “I can’t say no to this. My father needs all the support he can get, as you know that Lucas is challenging his authority. This marriage strengthens our alliances. You have to understand that.”

Using all my strength, I pushed him away from me, creating space between us.

“Understand? Then what about me?” I asked, my voice cracked as tears finally spilled over. “What about everything I thought we had? Is that not part of your great responsibility? Was I not worth fighting for?”

Silence.

That was all he had for me.

No denial. No excuses.

Just guilt in his eyes and silence in his mouth.

He tried to move close to me and touch my face, but I pulled away as if his touch burned me.

But hell yes, his touch now burns through my heart. And I doubt nothing would ever quench the pain he had inflicted upon me.

“You said I was your angel,” I choked on my words. “You said I was the reason behind every smile you had… the one who brought light into your darkest night. And now, you’re ready to toss it all away for… stupid responsibility? Why do you have to carry the burden of your father? Why do I have to go through this all because of some damnnn…” I covered my face with my hands as I sobbed into them.

I hate this feeling.

I suddenly felt his hand on my wrist as he pulled my palm away from my face. “Shush, it's okay, Love,” he assured me, using his thumb to wipe off my tears, but it wasn't really okay.

He gathered me into his arms as the tears just kept flowing harder, rushing down my face.

“I'm so sorry. I'm really sorry.” His eyes lingered on my face before he kissed me, slowly.

But I just couldn't go on with it. Not after the decision he had made.

He could not fight for our love. He could not fight for me.

I broke away from the kiss and took a step back away from him.

I nodded, taking in his words and his decision. “Fine. So you have made your decision?”

Darrell looked at me helplessly, still trying to make this seem like anything less than what it truly was….a betrayal.

“Then I think this should be our final goodbye, right?”

He nodded and then said, “But I don't want it to be.”

Hearing that from him made me more angry.

“Can you please just… just stop talking and answer my question? Are you rejecting me? Or shall I do it for us?” I asked, my hands stiffened beside me as I held my breath.

It took my all to make this decision also, and I really wish it didn't end like this.

“We shouldn't do this, Emma. We can work this out. Just give me a few… few…”

“Years?” I completed his words for him.

He looked at me with those pleading eyes.

“No, or is it twenty years? Or fifty? Are you telling me to wait patiently while you bring your wife back here and play the good husband?”

“Emma, please…”

I chuckled as I found him unbelievable. “Oh my God, Darrell,” I whispered. “Were you… were you perhaps going to make me your mistress?”

His face went pale.

Wait, he can't be serious right now. So I'm supposed to watch him marry another woman, bring her back into this pack, and I would probably just keep dating him secretly and live in the shadows for the rest of my life?

Impossible!

I refused to be a fool for love twice.

I reached for the necklace around my neck, the one with our initials, the one he gave me when everything still felt real. I yanked it off and held it tightly in my palm.

“I, Emma Wilfred, reject you, Darrell Blackwood, as my fated mate.” My voice wavered as fresh tears streamed down my cheeks. “May our bond be severed.”

He stepped forward. “We shouldn't do this, Emma.”

“Then you’re free not to accept the rejection,” I interrupted coldly. “If you’re ready to give up everything and fight for our love,” I said, part of me hoping, desperately praying that he would really choose us.

He didn’t answer.

He stared at me for more than a second, and I saw fear in Darrell’s eyes. In the days we have spent together, I have never seen him so scared, and I almost regretted my decision of asking him to choose.

But in the end, Darrell chose power over our love.

“I accept the rejection,” he whispered, and the wind carried his words.

My throat tightened, my eyes looking into his grey eyes through blurry vision. I could not believe he would do this to me. After all those promises he had made to me. After turning me against everyone. I became every lady’s enemy, lost my parents' love, and now he had turned me into a subject of ridicule.

He really did me bad.

I threw the necklace at him, and with one last look around the room, I walked away, with nothing but broken dreams and a heart that would never be whole again.