The Mate Who Returned

Chapter Fourteen - The Mate Who Returned

Selene’s POV

The sun was soft that morning. The sky glowed with the kind of peace I hadn’t felt in a long time. For once, I wasn’t waking up with fear. No nightmares. No blood. No battles. Just warmth… and Ronan’s arms around me.

His breath brushed the back of my neck. Steady. Safe.

I closed my eyes again, wanting to stay like this for just a little longer. The way his fingers traced lazy circles on my stomach made my body hum. My heart felt like it had finally found a place to rest.

I turned in his arms, facing him.

His silver hair was slightly messy, his lashes long and still. He looked younger in sleep—like the scars of everything we’d been through had softened. I touched his cheek. He stirred, then smiled when he opened his eyes and saw me.

“Good morning,” I whispered, voice still hoarse from sleep.

He kissed my forehead gently. Then my nose. Then my lips. And I melted all over again.

It was too easy to fall for him.

Too easy to want this every morning for the rest of my life.

We stayed in bed a little longer, tangled in each other, stealing soft kisses, quiet laughter, and warm skin. I’d never known something could feel so intimate, so healing—just being held by someone who wanted all of me.

Later, we got dressed and stepped outside together. The pack house had been cleaned up and decorated. Red ribbons were tied to the trees, and lanterns hung in the air. It was Lucien’s doing, of course.

He came up to us, grinning like a child.

“I hope you two are hungry,” he teased. “Because we’re celebrating.”

“Celebrating what?” I asked, arching a brow.

He winked at Ronan. “You’ll see.”

I didn’t think much of it then. Ronan just shook his head and chuckled, leading me to a bench by the stream. It was quiet there, surrounded by trees that rustled gently in the breeze. He told me to wait.

And then… he came back holding something small.

A box.

My breath caught.

“Ronan?” I asked, my heart already racing.

He sat beside me, his eyes searching mine like he was trying to memorize my face. His voice trembled just a little when he spoke.

“Selene… you’ve changed my life. I didn’t think I would ever feel again. I didn’t think I could love again. But you… you made me believe. You brought me back.”

I blinked fast, trying not to cry.

He opened the box slowly—and inside was a silver ring, shaped like two wolves curled into a moon.

“Will you…”

A loud howl tore through the forest.

The air snapped.

Everything changed.

Lucien ran toward us, his face pale, his hand on the sword at his side.

“She’s here.”

Ronan stood slowly. His body went stiff. His face dropped.

“Who?” I asked, my voice cracking.

Before anyone could answer, the crowd at the front gates began to scream—not in fear, but shock.

We rushed forward. I didn’t know what I was expecting. But what I saw… I could never have prepared for it.

She stood at the gate like she owned the world.

Tall. Pale. Silver hair cascading down her back like snow. Her eyes sharp, familiar… too familiar.

She looked exactly like me.

Only colder.

More dangerous.

And wrapped in power.

Sasha.

The name passed from lips to lips like a curse and a prayer.

Ronan stopped walking. He didn’t move. Not even a breath.

I turned to look at him. His face was frozen. His mouth slightly parted. His hand dropped the ring box.

My heart shattered a little right there.

She walked through the gate like she belonged.

And all eyes turned to her.

She didn’t smile. She didn’t bow.

She walked straight to Ronan.

“It’s been a long time,” she said, her voice velvet and venom all at once.

I stepped forward, planting myself beside Ronan.

She looked at me then.

And her smirk deepened.

“So this is the girl everyone says looks like me.”

My breath caught. My skin froze.

She didn’t even blink.

“You must be Selene,” she said.

I didn’t answer.

Isn’t she the one Kael mentioned—the one Ronan denied ever having.

And yet…

The way he looked at her now—

Like a ghost just stepped out of his past.

“Sasha…” he whispered.

He didn’t move toward her.

But he didn’t move toward me either.

The ring box was still in his hand, unopened. Forgotten.

Sasha’s eyes slid to him.

“What’s wrong?” she asked with a twisted smirk. “Didn’t expect me to come back from the dead?”

She walked toward him. Her fingers touched his chest.

And that was when I stopped breathing.

He flinched.

But he didn’t move.

Just one inch back. That’s all he gave me.

And in that inch—I lost everything.

I saw it in his eyes.

Longing. Regret. Familiarity.

Things I’d never seen before.

Not for me.

For her.

The woman he once loved.

The woman I never knew existed.

The woman he lied about.

Sasha’s voice turned to venom as she looked at me.

“You thought you’d won, didn’t you?” she said. “That the Luna title, the house, the Alpha—all belonged to you. But this life? It was built for me.”

I wanted to speak.

To scream.

To fight.

But I couldn’t move.

Because I remembered Kael’s words.

“He had someone before you.”

“He’s just using you to fill the space.”

“You’ll see when she comes.”

Sasha turned to Ronan again, her voice slicing through me.

“Tell her, Ronan. Tell her how you picked this ring for me. Tell her how you dreamed of me. Tell her how this house, this future… was ours before I disappeared.”

Ronan’s throat worked, but no words came.

Silence.

That silence destroyed me.

And then—

She kissed him.

Forceful.

Possessive.

And he let her.

Just for a second.

But it was long enough to rip my soul apart.

I felt my knees buckle. I gripped the chair beside me like it was my last breath.

My tears fell before I even noticed they were there.

I remembered Kael again.

“You were never chosen. You were a substitute.”

Ronan pulled away, finally.

“Sasha, stop—”

Too late.

The fire had already consumed me.

I turned to him, eyes full of pain he’d never understand.

“You told me I wasn’t a replacement.”

His mouth opened, but I stepped back.

“Don’t lie to me again,” I whispered. “Not now.”

Sasha laughed, cruel and victorious.

“He doesn’t have to choose, Selene. He already did. You were just the meantime.”

More tears. I couldn’t stop them. They burned.

I walked out slowly.

Each step was pain.

I didn’t run.

I didn’t scream.

Because I knew if I let go now, I wouldn’t come back from it.

Behind me, Ronan didn’t chase me.

He just stood there.

Still holding the ring.

And in that moment, I understood something that hurt more than Kael’s betrayal. More than exile. More than any scar I’d carried.

Ronan didn’t break my heart.

He lied to it.

He made me believe I was the one.

But I was only standing in the space someone else left behind.

And now… she had returned.