Where is your dignity?

Alina

"This is Alpha Serena..."

"My chosen mate," he delivered carefully, like he wanted every single word to register—and it did, to the pack members, who were already clapping.

But to me? It didn’t. Not in the slightest.

In one second, I was shaking my head in total disbelief. And in the next, I was nodding, desperately trying to convince myself I had misheard.

Yes. That was the only logical explanation I could come up with. There was no way my fated mate and my best friend had just introduced another she-wolf as his chosen mate on our mating night.

It had to be confusion—a deep and ugly misunderstanding.

"Asher? What did you just say?" I found myself asking, hating how weak my voice came out, and hating the vulnerability that clung to that question.

For a moment, there was a flicker of guilt in his eyes, but it was wiped away seconds later. Seriousness morphed into his features as he stared at me.

There were no traces of the warmth that had bathed his face earlier while he looked at her.

I held my breath, trying to be hopeful, although deep down, I could join two and two together—the guilt, his earlier words that I was still denying, and the absolute annoyance that framed those perfect features when his gaze held mine. But I was still unwilling to accept it.

"I am sorry, Alina," he expressed, and I nearly scoffed.

Sorry? I didn’t need his sorry. I needed him to tell me that Serena was a distant relative, a friend’s daughter—not my replacement, and that he and I were still going to walk into that tent, strip under the pack’s gazes, and mark each other...

"I can’t make you my Luna, Alina."

Those words, whispered so softly like they were supposed to soothe me, were instead like a hot dagger buried deep into the confines of my heart.

"You..." I opened my mouth, only to close it the next second, because if I didn’t, I would cry.

"You can cry if you want to. There is no need to act strong," he added, and as the meaning behind his unspoken words sank in, I felt the world beneath me shaking so violently that I staggered back.

There is no need to act strong, because you are not. That was what he intended to say, no?

I can’t make you my Luna because you are not strong enough.... A bitter smile twisted my lips.

I couldn’t believe that Asher, of all people, had just said that to me. He didn’t even need to shout; he didn’t need to conclude—the punch landed anyway, all the way to my gut.

"You are my fated mate, Asher... I am the one the moon chose for you, for this pack, for this night..." I whispered, desperation clinging to my voice as I tried to reason with him, to knock some sense into him by stating the obvious.

I was his fated mate... his goddess-given mate. How could he reject me for some Alpha Serena?

"Mistakes happen, Alina," he stated, his voice carrying an amount of patience that had me wanting to scream, to curse. He was literally driving a dagger into my heart, and he had the guts to act so composed—as if he were merely placating a misbehaving child.

"We all make mistakes... the Moon Goddess does," he added, and I looked away. If I had looked at him for another second, maybe I would have landed a slap on his cheeks.

He was the man I had loved for years. He was the man who had been a constant in my life for eighteen years.

And the union he was so casually branding a mistake? It had been my prayer for over ten years.

Ever since I could remember, I had always wanted to be Asher’s fated mate. And when the Moon Goddess finally granted that wish a month ago, the joy hadn’t allowed me to sleep for a week straight.

And now? In front of the whole pack, everyone, he stood before me and labelled me and our bond a mistake.

God, I wanted to stay strong, to show him I wasn’t hurting even when every nerve in my body was screaming—but I failed. A deep and miserable sob tore past my lips, followed by a string of tears that traced an uneven path down my face.

At that moment, I couldn’t give a damn about my dignity. F*ck dignity, f*ck self-respect—and yeah, double f*ck Alpha Serena.

I sank to my knees, my hand gripping Asher’s strong legs as I lifted my head to peer at him from below.

"My Alpha?" I whimpered.

"Let’s forget about the bond..." And under the stunned gazes of everyone—the pack members, Serena, who wore an amused smile, and Asher, whose jaw was tightly clenched—I decided to spill a secret I had carried for eighteen years.

Maybe... maybe if I told him I had been in love with him for eighteen years, that would change his mind?

"I have loved you for eighteen years, Asher..."

"I have never loved another. I have never seen a life aside from one with you, Asher..." I begged, confessed, and then held my breath, hope mimicking my heart’s rhythm as I waited for his answer.

"Look at you, Alina... Where is your dignity?"

My heart didn’t just sink when he asked that question—it went still.

Where was my dignity? I wanted to ask myself that, too. I had always been so proud, but for him, I chose to beg, to kneel—and all I got?

A look filled with disgust and disapproval as he looked down on me.

"This..." he said, pointing a finger at me.

"This further proves my point. You are not Luna material."

"You don’t have a wolf, and even your pathetic attempt to overcompensate by becoming a warrior is useless too." He spat, impatience framing his face, and as his words sank in, I froze in place, more tears flowing from my eyes.

"Serena is a more viable Luna choice, an Alpha, elegant, and with class."

I was still on my knees when he said those words, and I tilted my head until our eyes met.

"And now, if you don’t mind, I have a Luna to mark..." He paused, smiling. "And mate with..."

He stretched his hand her way, and she held it delicately, gracefully.

Together, they traced a familiar path to the tent.

It should have been me following behind him. It should have been me undressing for him...

"And Alina?"

Just before he could close the door behind them, he paused, and my heart stilled. I didn’t know why. Maybe hope. Maybe fear.

"White means purity, elegance..." he said.

"You look ridiculous in red."